>
>But Cho got his gun exactly because the U.S. laws make it so easy. If there were a law requiring mental screening and evaluation, maybe Cho wouldn't have had a gun. Or maybe something would have been done about him before he could get his hands on an illegal one. This guy was a complete nutcase. If a complete nutcase wants to buy a gun, maybe the authorities should be notified rather than simply handing him one.

Our gun laws vary from State to state and I certainly have no problem with the idea of controlling access however you can ( i think the 3 day or 5 day 'cooling off period' isn't a bad idea )

But criminals have their own channels. The more laws there are ( and the less serious prosecution of gun crime ) the more lucrative those channels.

As to crazies - Your point is spot on and exactly the one raised by Krauthammer in today's column


>
>>
>>Everyone should read Krauthammer every day but particularly today : ( may have to log into Washingtonpost.com first - free )
>>
>>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902543_pf.html
>>
>>If we want to derive any social lesson from this we might ask why we tolerate the whores in the news media and politics from capitalizing on tragedy. ( and if you take Obama seriously be sure to read the Krauthammer column )
>>
>>
>>
>>>>but the point is there are good guys and bad guys. when bad guys have guns it is nice if there is a good guy with a gun and the skill to use it effectively. No one advocates 'blazing away' but guns are not mystical. The shoot where you point them, much as code does what you say. And there is a skill level involved in employing them correctly. One good guy, one firearm, one shot could have ended this tragedy much sooner. The hysterical image of all the students pulling guns and suddenly randomly blazing away doesn't really negate the arguement that the problem is not guns - it is bad guys having guns when there is not a properly trained and armed deterent.
>>>
>>>
>>>May be. But also you have to look at a decaying society where these things happen. Compare that with other countries (most of Europe, Asia, South America). Compare that with our country in the 50s and 60s.
>>>
>>>We have a culture of violence where kids are fed it through TV, movies and games. I played cops and robbers, cowboys and injuns as all kids did at the time (50s 60s, and before). Did these things happen? Only now, only here (almost as there are very few exceptions; let's not count Iraq into this as it is a leeetle different scenario).
>>>
>>>There are a bunch of mentally sick people out there with easy access to guns. Things like this are to be expected. It wasn't the first. I won't be the last. The ante has been upped (with special thanks to NBC for their help in upping it). Maybe we should've read the 2nd Ammendment for what it says years ago. May be to latte by now. Too many people misread it and took it to heart.