Libercontrarian

Crushed between the wheels of capitalism and big government.

A Day Like Every Day In Iraq

Except today, the slaughter came to our country.

A gunman, possibly aggrieved at a girlfriend, shot and killed 32 innocent students at Virginia Tech today. He then turned the gun upon himself, which every American wishes he had done PRIOR to taking that firearm out to harm the first victim, his girlfriend.

I am deeply saddened at the loss of these defenseless students to the most senseless of all tragedies, random violence. I can only imagine their complete and utter horror as the victims ran to the doors, attempting escape, only to discover the demonically insane gunman had chained the doors shut to maximize his opportunity for slaughter by minimizing their opportunity for escape.

I can only, and sadly, wonder at what would have happened if one student - just one kid - violated school policy and had carried his concealed weapon into the classroom, and shot that maniac before he could kill the 32 victims he managed to murder.

Such an event was ruled out by the Virginia state legislature, however. Some four months ago, a bill was defeated that would have specifically protected concealed carry of weapons by licensed holders onto the campus. Such a law would supersede the school's already absolute restriction on weapons of nearly every kind, including fencing foils. This restriction, however, had no demonstrable effect on the viciously criminal behaviors exhibited by that gunman, as do most laws on the lawbreakers. Laws protect society from the tender disobediences of the largely non-criminal majority, and have only force and bearing on those people who are fearful of the penalties.

For the mad dog who is only interested in slaughter, only three things can make him quit: suicide, attack by an organized security force, and disarmament by the pool of as-yet uninjured victims. The first two have the annoying tendency of coming well after the terminus of the event, thus resulting in the highest casualties. The last is what stops cold the attack, but requires the will to not be like the citizens of Babi-Yar, who marched nervously to the unending hammering of the machine guns, telling themselves that the Germans were giving them delousing showers. This perhaps requires the greatest courage: to take the chance that by risking more, personally, you may end the affair before it reaches the originator’s intent. That is the Warrior Spirit.

I am not sure that there is an answer here. I would, however, prefer to be armed if I was to be locked into a room with a crazed gunman. I would hope for a bit of the Warrior Spirit to rely upon in any case - I could conceive no worse end than pleading with some twisted individual, on my knees, living my last several moments knowing that I was unable to prevent my death because of my fear of losing the opportunity to get away without confronting the evil that has revealed itself before me.

If you are religious, say a prayer for the souls of the 32 people who saw an early and unworthy end this morning. Pray for the consolation of their relatives, and pray for the people of our nation to have strength to face this loss. Remember that the people of Iraq see this type of thing happening on a daily basis - our suffering in this world is not unique, nor are we alone. Pray for some positive outcome that will reveal itself from this event, although in our current state of grief I think that it is not an easy task.

posted by: underwhelmed at April 16, 2007 20:01 | link | comments |

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