(Luis Royo, all rights reserved by the artist)Because, between the right wing types saying we need more security and if "they'd only been able to carry a concealed weapon!!!" and the left wing types saying "those damned dirty guns just jump off the shelves and kill people-what do we do about the rampaging gun menace!!!???" Ive been a bit at odds with myself. No one has a right to insinuate that what any of those students at Virginia Tech did was wrong. Have you ever been shot at? If you can't answer yes you have no place posing your opinion as a viable alternative to what they did. IF you HAVE, you still don't because everyone reacts to violence differently. Some become 'the machine' and drive on, some retreat into their mind to a 'happy place', 'spiritual center', or some other such metaphor in the hopes that they will awaken when it is over. Some run, some cry, some piss their pants, some seek physical gratification with the man or woman next to them-a cuddle, a hug, sex, whatever. The point is is that regardless of whether or not I can say ive been shot at (I have, in a controlled situation) or that I am comfortable with firearms and their uses on other human beings (if appropriate reasons dictate such usage-local laws apply) doesn't mean anything in the face of something like this.
Am I somewhat disappointed that the recidivism in this country that is taught to us from a very early age is alive and well in what should have been a large bunch of hormonally charged, virile, college aged men and women? Yes. Do I have a right to hold that against them? Hell no. Does the situation bear some thought? Yes, I believe it does. In the face of horrible violence human beings usually triumph and show amazing motivation and action. Sometimes that can be as simple as dying with a middle finger extended to the world. In the case of VT we have students, new at life, faced with terrible vengeance enacted by a fellow student, for an unknown reason and at unknown demons. What they were thinking we will never know, but I hope that their loss brings to bear even a thought of "what would I do?". Even if you don't actually carry the thoughts out and save the day, the "thinking" is the important part.The human mind learns by doing and can't tell the difference between thinking a marathon and running one. Think of the ones you love today and what you would do to protect them, or to protect yourself for them.
Blessings to the students at VT, may they find peace in chaos.
