Stopping Measures
There's another consideration about the Blacksburg massacre that I'd like to see addressed.
It seems to be a common, implicit opinion (and noto nly on the gun-control side) that if Cho could not buy his guns at the shop, the massacre would not have happened.
Is it actually so?
Cho, that is clear, was a seriously disturbed individual. A paranoid schizophrenic, he exhibited the willingness to die in order to complete his murderous plan. If the sale of guns had been denied to him, would he have given up his intentions?
I frankly doubt it. I think he was too far gone to recover - except maybe with strong and mandatory mental health treatment. There are many other methods that a determined individual can use to kill a large number of people - especially if he does not care about getting away: bombs, fire, poison... A technical university like the one he attended almost surely stores a number of chemicals that can be used for mass-murder (and be happy with this paucity of detail about it). My take is that the only way to stop Cho from causing mayhem would have been to institutionalize him - or kill/disable him in the early stages of his rampage.
Both these alternatives are harsh and unpleasant, but there seems to be no better one.
It seems to be a common, implicit opinion (and noto nly on the gun-control side) that if Cho could not buy his guns at the shop, the massacre would not have happened.
Is it actually so?
Cho, that is clear, was a seriously disturbed individual. A paranoid schizophrenic, he exhibited the willingness to die in order to complete his murderous plan. If the sale of guns had been denied to him, would he have given up his intentions?
I frankly doubt it. I think he was too far gone to recover - except maybe with strong and mandatory mental health treatment. There are many other methods that a determined individual can use to kill a large number of people - especially if he does not care about getting away: bombs, fire, poison... A technical university like the one he attended almost surely stores a number of chemicals that can be used for mass-murder (and be happy with this paucity of detail about it). My take is that the only way to stop Cho from causing mayhem would have been to institutionalize him - or kill/disable him in the early stages of his rampage.
Both these alternatives are harsh and unpleasant, but there seems to be no better one.
postato da Fabio alle
21:53
1 Commenti:
Fact is, the Gun Control Act of 1968 forbids to sell weapons to people with precedents of mental illness, as apparently Cho was. So if the sale was authorized there must have been some major screw up at BATF or other law enforcement level (they are the ones suppose to check). If that's the acse, we are in the presence of an episode in which gun control failed in disarming a deranged individual while, with the "gun free" university policy, succeeded in disarming law abiding citizens.
Di
Anonimo, Alle
21/4/07 19:08
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