Monday, Bloody Monday.

What a horrible thing... on SO many levels.

1. Cho had a history of mental problems and depression. The back ground check performed when he purchased his weapons failed to mention this. All the signs were there. Nobody took the lesson from Columbine... a troubled student needs to not only be monitored, but a billion red flags should be thrown up when he or she tries to purchase a firearm.

2. In January of 06, Virginia shot down a bill that would allow CCW holders to carry their weapons on college campuses. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hinckler was quote in saying that he was pleased with this decisions. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

Now... hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, and you can't hold this misstep against anybody... but this horrible irony just goes to show you the ignorance of the belief that REMOVING guns is a solution. This was a WEAPON FREE ZONE... as all schools are. Columbine was a Weapon Free Zone... as if the people who have set their heart on mass murder are going to obey those rules. Schools are also drug free zones, and even in my high school I've witnessed first hand students smoking weed just around the corner where there is no surveillance.

3. After the first two murders, police should have swarmed that campus. They had no idea at the time that the killer would come back to slaughter 30 more people... but regardless, there was a MURDERER on the loose, and their response was most certainly not on a large enough scale.

Here's the simple truth. There are some TRULY messed up people in this world. You can sit here and blame it on guns, blame it on video games, movies, religion, bad parents, society, or even George W. Bush (yes, I have seen somebody claim that it's Bush's fault... give me a frikkin break)... but all you're doing is promoting the thought that we as individuals are not responsible for our own actions.

Cho had some major problems. Having access to a gun was mere convenience... Clearly he wanted to kill these people with severe devotion... and he'd have done it one way or another. Guns are just a convenient and efficient way of killing people. A bomb would have been more devastating... so let's thank God that's not what was used. He could've hopped in his car and ran people down. He could have used any of a thousand different ways to kill people... but let's be glad he didn't.

Removing guns won't solve it. The bad guys won't obey gun restrictions, who in their right mind would believe that they would?! They're bad enough to commit CRIMES with guns, what on EARTH makes anybody think that they'll obey the law about OWNING a gun?

I happen to own one of the types of gun used in this massacre. I own a 1989 Glock 17... 9mm.

In 1989 when the gun was introduced, it came available with a 17 round magazine. The Glock is not a particularly powerful or accurate hand gun, but it's durable, light, and easy to use. Aside from that, it's relatively inexpensive, and so is 9mm ammunition.

I own this weapon. Never in my WILDEST imagination could I conjure up a situation where I would use it to harm another human being for any other purpose than self defense or the defense of another.

I also own an AK47, which is simply put the most feared and revered rifle ever made. It's accurate, powerful, durable, and cheap. It's been in every battle since it's creation. Some countries put them on their flags.

I NEVER want to find myself in a situation where I have to use my gun as a weapon. I own the Glock because it's fun to shoot at the target range. I own the AK because it's fun to shoot at the target range. Plus, it looks damned cool and it's kinda cool to own such a legendary firearm.

I'm not the bad guy here, just because I own a Glock, which is a gang members hand gun of choice, and an AK47, which is an insurgents weapon of choice. I own them because I'm born of American citizenship, and I have a RIGHT to own them... a right to live free.

You take away my guns... and you've just taken away an innocent, good persons means of defense against the people who will ALWAYS have guns, despite the laws that are put into place.