The shootings at Virginia Tech and the terrible tragedies they created are now being eclipsed by a dizzying display of fingerpointing and calls for more gun control/less gun control/firings, etc. See http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20298.
What happened to the grieving process? What happened to waiting for all the facts to come in before engaging in irresponsible speculation and assigning blame?
This same dynamic happens all the time whenever something bad happens. Immediately, conspiracy theorists and others begin imagining scenarios in which tragedies could have been magically avoided. This isn't "24." We just can't reposition satellites, hack into building schematics, and use space-based infrared technology to find people inside buildings on rural university campuses.
The beauty of university campuses is that they are open, purposefully, in order to encourage interaction and just to be nice places for students and faculty. The downside of this openness is that campuses are ripe for mischief or worse.
So what's the answer? How do we prevent these types of attacks from occurring? At this point, we don't know, because we don't know all the facts. Let's exercise some patience and, whatever we do, let's remember to blame the person actually responsible -- the killer.
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