Monday, April 16, 2007
More gun carnage in America
I was very saddened to learn of yet another gun tragedy in the United States, this time in Virginia, which according to the BBC has left 31 people dead and 10 injured.It is the worst campus shooting in US history.
Police have said there were two separate shooting incidents - at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a student dormitory, and Norris Hall, an engineering building. The incidents were about two hours apart and the police believe there was one gunman and that he is dead.
The BBC have a host of emails from eyewitnesses at the campus. Here's one from an Irish student called Nicola:
"I'm from University College Dublin and now on exchange in Virginia Tech. A murderer on campus on our first day here is as bad as it could get, this is unbelievable. Find it hard to believe that 20 people can really be dead. Sitting in dorms right now, waiting for further news. People starting to be released, seems worst may be over."
It seems like we hear about incidents like this every year in the United States. Some nutcase with a chip on his shoulder decides to get a firearm, without any difficulty of course, and then proceeds to murder numerous people before either turning the gun on himself or getting shot. It's madness.
Can you imagine something like this happening on a campus here in Ireland? I can't. Why? Because over here we don't hand out guns as if they were toys. They're not. GUNS KILL PEOPLE.
It is now time for the American public to cop on and seriously reform their gun laws. It is high time they dismissed calls for tighter regulations as some "liberal agenda", "leftist BS" etc. Get some common sense and realise that if guns weren't so readily available, tragedies like this would not happen.
Update: Latest reports indicate that 33 people were killed and 15 others were wounded.
# posted by United Irelander @ 8:12 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
