The Virginia Tech Tragedy: Lessons and Hope for the Future

First and foremost, I cannot begin to express my deepest condolences and sympathies to anyone who lost a family member, friend, or classmate in the awful massacre at Virginia Tech. The precious lives lost are absolutely irreplaceable and I feel nothing but profound sadness for the families.

In the somber aftermath of this event, I hope that Americans take some lessons away from it, so that this type of carnage can somehow be avoided in the future. If society does not learn from its errors, find out exactly what caused or contributed to this nightmare, and take action, then what good is all this extensive media coverage of the disturbed individual who did this? What will prevent or stop this from happening again? The answer, in short: nothing.

In my mind, there are 4 key lessons that Americans should take away from this tragedy:

1. Tighten gun control standards or get rid of guns altogether: This is perhaps the most controversial and debatable of all my suggestions. I firmly believe that all handguns should be banned from sale and use. If people need to hunt or protect themselves, why use a gun with the capacity for killing so many people? What good can possibly come from a handgun ? The gun lobby's opposition argument revolves around the fact that normal citizens need to protect themselves from *evil-doers*.

But let's consider the implications of having a society of armed individuals walking around - each of us like John Wayne in the old west, ready to take out anyone who threatens our freedom or rights. Would you trust normal everyday people to use firearms responsibly, with perfect accuracy, only in the truly necessary situations, and avoiding collateral damage to the innocent? The fact of the matter is that trained, professional soldiers cannot even live up to this high standard (just look at Iraq's collateral damage) so what would make you think that Johnny Hothead on the street will do any better? Given the choice between an armed society and a disarmed one, it should be clear that an armed citizenry is too risky, dangerous, and chaotic to become a practical reality.

If compromise on this issue is absolutely necessary (and it usually is), then at most allow sale of hunting rifles or other guns where a reload is a time-consuming process. Can you imagine if Hui had to constantly reload? There are no guarantees, but the number of deaths would have likely been much lower. And make required, extensive, probing, and downright annoying background checks on both state and federal levels to get the firearm in the first place.

2. Improve Emergency Response Measures: As we have all heard, there was a 2-hour window between the shootings at the dorm and the classroom. It was enough time for the perpetrator to mail out a package to NBC News.

Hindsight is, of course, 20/20. Anyone can play Monday-morning quarterback. I fully understand that and I am not assigning blame. However, the fact that an RA (resident advisor) was one of the first 2 people killed should have been a huge warning sign to the authorities that more danger could be imminent. Finding one person shot to death in a college dorm is bad enough, but then finding an RA also? Come on, most people know that an RA is generally a first responder in a dorm. In my opinion, finding an RA shot and killed was the critical moment when law enforcement should have gone on a heightened state of alert and stepped up police presence in every dorm and classroom building on that campus. How many police would it take to put 1 officer in every vicinity of the campus for the rest of that day? That would have been a small price to pay for the benefit of a much quicker response when the perpetrator resumed his killing spree later that morning.

3. Teach young people not to taunt or bully others. Teach the golden rule. Teach respect for others. If you remember Columbine, you will recall that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were taunted, perhaps cruelly, by their peers at school. They were isolated from others and this fueled anger and resentment within them. Parents must teach kids from a very early age about the hurt caused by intolerance of others who may be different from them. Hui, the Virginia Tech shooter, was also taunted for being different. He was probably very quiet and introverted. In many high schools and colleges, this type of personality is isolated. How else could he have developed a "me vs. the world" type of mentality?

4. Improve treatment for individuals identified as mentally ill. It is not enough to merely identify someone who is having mental issues and put them "through the system". The system is not working. There has to be follow-up. I am not saying that these individuals should be treated like criminals, but I am saying that they should be required to meet with someone on a regular basis to assess their mental state and overall progress. Does society truly believe that mental illnesses are as serious and urgent as any other human illness? My impression is that they don't.

Even if all the suggestions above were implemented, there are no guarantees that this tragedy could have been prevented. But the steps above would definitely have reduced the chances. Ultimately, that's all I am saying.

I am certainly open to hearing other ideas on these issues, so feel free to sound off, agree, or disagree with my points above.