Editor’s note: The following letter has been significantly truncated by the Opinion Editor to meet space requirements.
1) Can it happen here? \nYes. It can happen anywhere. As a nation and a world, and most importantly as a generation, we should have accepted it by now. Unstable and violent people exist in high school, middle school, college, the workplace, the military, the government, everywhere, and in far greater numbers than we like to accept. \n2) Is gun control to blame? No. Had he not been able to buy a semiautomatic pistol, he could have gone to Wal-Mart and bought a semiautomatic rifle. If he could not buy a semiautomatic rifle, he could have made a gun himself with the proper amount of time and the right instructions from the internet. \n3) Is violent media to blame? No, not even remotely. 25,000 people are playing Halo 2 online at any given moment, and I’ll be damned if one of them actually uses a Magnum on their classmates. There are thousands of times more people who play violent videogames and watch violent media that do not commit real crimes.\n4) Who is to blame? No one. People will commit murder regardless of how many laws we pass, how many help centers we set up, and how many churches reach out to the needy.\n5) How can we stop this from continuing to happen? Stop paying criminal profilers, psychologists and psychiatrists such low civil-servant wages, and put more of them in the field. Potential violent offenders are out there, and in most cases the warning signs are very obvious.\nBut the real moral of this tragedy is that life is far too short; it could all be snatched away in the blink of an eye, so appreciate your friends, family, and your life while they’re here.
