[punkass]

First, and maybe only venture into the politics forum. I read most of this big thread because the shootings at VT really hit home to me, for no apparent reason. I didn't know anyone involved. I went to college for a couple years, I'm in my 20's, and I'm Korean. Those are my only ties to this. I will preface my remarks by saying I'm generally liberal, but I don't follow any "suggested" guidelines. I will be the first to say that I don't know enough of a subject to form an opinion yet. This topic is one of them.

For those countries that do not have guns and have gun control laws, the laws work. It's much easier to enforce the ban of something when there was very little to begin with.

Obviously there are guns aplenty in the US. A universal ban on guns will never work now or in the immediate future of this country. All the law-abiding citizens will follow, and the criminals will still have them.

There's no easy fix. The massacre that occurred at VT was an act of madman. There is nothing in our laws that will prevent an act of madman. Neither less guns nor less violent videogames would prevent such an act. The only thing that could have made this carnage avoidable may have been an early detection of his unstable mental well-being. And I believe the shooter did receive counseling. But the damage was done and possibly irreversible.

These things are going to happen. The count is now 32 victims, the most ever to die at the hands of a shooting spree. Will this number be the all time high? No. There will be more in the future. I only hope that these occur few and far between, but there will always be unstable people, there will always be access to violent weapons, and there will always be access to people. I do not understand what makes someone do this kind of drastic harm to so many people, but I am glad I do not understand. I would be afraid if I did.

So I sit here, having listened, watched, and read about the many many stories that stemmed from the shootings. This is what we as a people, as a country, as a society, should focus on. The heroics of many that we've heard already, and many that we have not. I am encouraged by the unselfish acts of the few who tried to save the lives of the many. This is what our country is about. This is what the story should be now.

Should the laws be changed concerning guns? Maybe. I do know that everyone having guns is not the answer. But neither is trying to get no one to have guns. As with almost all aspects in life and politics, the optimal place to be is the middle.

Thanks to those who read the whole thing. It was not all about politics, so I apologize. But I think we should be careful about the ideas that are so freely being suggested here. I am afraid our leaders will show the same knee-jerk overreactions protrayed here. And that is the last thing we need. I hope discussions and debate is spawned. I still have hope that our government can do that.