VT
I know I haven't blogged for ages ... I've been really busy with uni work etc and wasn't too inspired to write something voluntarily beyond the loads of compulsory coursework. The events of the last few days have disturbed me enough to blog again...
Virginia Tech -- a school known for engineering and college football has now become a household name for the worst possible reason - a horrific tragedy where 33 lives were lost on 16th April 2007.
I lived in Blacksburg during my first two years in the United States when I attended VT. Blacksburg was an idyllic univerisity town and the small and secure community helped me to made it easier to adjust to university life in a foreign country. Blacksburg was the safest place I have lived in the US- so much so that I could not believe it when I initially heard the news of the shooting on Monday - I was convinced it was the Northern VA campus near DC until I saw the coverage of the campus on TV. I have wonderful memories of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg as a beautiful and peaceful place. My friends and I often complained Blacksburg was boring but the word unsafe never came to our minds- after all it was a huge joke that the crime of the year was the theft of a bike being stolen which had actually been reported in the Collegiate Times! Thats the way a university should be - a safe haven for students - where they come to gain an education without fearing for their lives.
Over the next few days the press will write loads more about the killer, his motives, his mental state etc - the liberal press may write on the fact that VA has the most lax gun laws in the country - anyone can buy guns (ask me - I lived near the NRA headquarters in Fairfax, VA) but unless the government actually acts or does something seriously about access to guns or gun control theres a limitless potential for more tragedies to occur at universities and schools by pyschos who have access to heavy duty guns!
posted by mightypen @ 4:50 PM
1 Comments:
I'm glad you wrote! I so agree with you about the need for gun regulation: this far, the entire debate has revolved around the mental instability of the culprit and the slight ineptitude of university officials --- NO ONE has seriously spoken about the big-picture/long-term role of the NRA! I had a conversation with someone about it, a self-identifed "liberal" "Democrat" and this person actually said what's the point of regulation? People will find illegal dealers or loopholes in the law! Which is true, but really, you can't *not* regulate just because someone will find a way to break the law! Ridiculous!
Anyways, keep blogging!!
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