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The VT Shooter & Gun Control |
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Written by Andrew Olson - View Profile
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Friday, 20 April 2007 |
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Now that the abhorrent shock of the single most devastating shooting in U.S. history has begun to wane, I feel I can write somewhat objectively about the subject. In turn, I hope that you as a reader can also begin to take various arguments in stride, without retorting in contemptuous rage or indignation.
To begin, I would like to start with the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho. I personally believe Cho is a coward and an ersatz of the cowards who have come before him. I originally thought Cho’s massacre was one that potentially had more substance than another Fox news labeled snapping. I thought perhaps Cho’s motivations, which at the forefront were ambiguous, would materialize into a methodical and intellectual reasoning. The reason I took a certain solace in the possibility of Cho being an intellectual savant, perhaps even a perverted philosopher, was in the hope that it would debunk certain myths and stereotypes of school-shooters. The Marilyn-Manson listening, video game playing, drug-using outsider. Cho wasn’t that, nor was he an intellectual, his act and his discombobulated and incoherent ‘rants’ prove that.
Cho, who went to town on rich kids and religion, showed nothing to support his angst against these groups in his act. Instead he simply shot at and killed randomly, those innocent to any retribution Cho believed he had the authority to exercise against. If Cho wanted to rub his thumb in the face of religion and the rich, perhaps he could have looked at the middle-class house his family lived in, or the college he was attending. Financially, Cho more than likely feel into the majority income level as the rest of his peers. On the other hand, we’re talking about Virginia Tech. Not Oxford or Yale or Stanford. In addition, as I’ve stated, Cho’s victims weren’t members of society’s high affluence. In his video, Cho says that we forced him into a corner, and that the spilt blood is on our hands and can never be washed off. How exactly, is this true, or relevant? That is what I would like to ask Cho. The fact that Cho sat up creating QuickTime movies with meaningless monologues that mean nothing only highlights Cho’s faux sinister revelation meant to somehow enlighten or scare us. As Cho attempted to make his voice lower and more menacing in the tape, it makes me wonder that if he knew we would simply think of him as sad, pathetic, and cowardly individual might even have been enough to stop such indiscriminate bloodshed. Cho’s screams are nothing more than a sad attempt at obtaining a fictitious fame, from an attention deprived punk without a spine. For those who have suffered, hopes, dreams and memories, shall live on. Be assured of that.
On the second note, can we finally start talking seriously about gun control? Did anyone else find it ironic that only a few short days after the shooting, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court held up ban on late term abortions? This is not meant to be an abortion debate, it is meant to make do a double take on the conservative right. Full arms rights, so people like Cho can easily buy handguns, semi-automatics, etc. without hesitation. What is the point of preserving life, if we don’t protect it? Mostly I want to see gun laws change so that we don’t end up with other countries arms’ laws. Perhaps soon enough hunters will not be able to buy 12 gauges and 30.6 to hunt because of indiscriminate shootings like at VT. Give us rights where we deserve, but why do we have to legalize the purchase of M-16’s, sniper-rifles, and handguns? What good do they really do? Gun collectors? Fine. Not to many people go berserk with Colt .45’s, but lets track the ones that are collectables, and get the ones that are useless except for gang-banging, the military, and school-shootings.
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Ravings, rantings, and gibberish. (36)
writen by: Drew
What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew |
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
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|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
| | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
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|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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