The Shootings in the US

I need to write but I'm not sure where to start. That school shooting in Virginia has really affected me. I don't know anyone that was involved in it but I can't shake it from my consciousness.

Maybe it's the teacher in me but events like this really get to me. There is no understanding something as senseless as this.

You read all the stories and in all honesty I don't know what anyone could have done to prevent this. The killer was mentally unstable. There was no way to predict he would do this. Even if you could have predicted he might what could authorities have done? Nothing. Until the shooting they had no way of charging him with anything.

People like him will always exist.

His victims are so numerous. I was reading about them in the Post today. The story of the Professor Liviu Librescu really devestated me. Here you have a man who survived the Holocaust, to be killed by a deranged college student. Death never makes sense but this is more wrong than words can ever express.

This professor saved his class by blocking the door and making himself the target. That is bravery and courage beyond what most people could muster. This man is a true hero. But the real issue here is that he shouldn't have had to be one. He should have been able to live out the rest of his life in peace and safety. He did not deserve this.

Reading the post there was an blurb about a student who was thought to be the shooter who has a blog in which he proudly displays his gun collection. He said that if the student had the right to carry concealed guns to class this shooting would have been averted.

In times when something this tragic happens everyone is always searching for answers and for solutions. They want to know how it could have been prevented. No matter what I do not believe that the solution to the problem of school shootings is to carry a concealed gun. Violence only begets violence.

I think it is an awful thing to own a device that sole purpose is to end the life of a living thing. Beyond that I don't know what to say. People will ask how you are supposed to defend yourself against someone with a gun. I don't have the answer. But I don't believe that holding a gun yourself makes everything better.