Shootings on Virginia Tech Campus

Yet another school shooting, this time at Virginia Tech. At least twenty dead, numerous wounded and a lot of scared students, parents, faculty and staff.

A shooter entered two buildings and shot at least one person in the first building, then apparently, the remainder of the shootings happened in the second building. Students are reported to have been lined up in a classroom and shot. That's still speculation as far as I know. Other students were apparently injured when they jumped out windows to get away from the shootings. Reports are that there was only one shooter.

Police are still sorting out the reasons why this happened. One student reporting via phone to Fox News says he heard that the shooter was looking for a girl. Still speculative, but let's go with that theory for lack of another reason. Should other reasons come up, we'll look at those.

At first glance, this looks like a girlfriend/boyfriend relationship that went awry and the boy decided that if he couldn't have her, no one would. Or maybe that if he could just make her listen to him, he could change her mind. Change her mind at gunpoint. Yeah, that would work for me.

Why is it that our young people today seem to think they can get someone to pay attention to them at gunpoint, or by killing people? Personally, if anyone I knew tried to get my attention by killing people, sure, that would get my attention, but not in the way they would want. I would be horrified that this person could think that I would admire what he did "for me".

I am not a gun control proponent, although situations like this could make me think it wouldn't be a bad idea. However, I also realize that what the NRA and it's advocates say, that if you take away guns, then only the bad guys can get guns. And it's true, the "good guys" need to have protection from the bad guys who will get guns in any way possible. It creates an underground black market where anyone can get a gun who has the know-how to get them.

Until a few weeks ago, I had three handguns, two rifles and a shotgun in my house. My husband brought them home from his father's house when his stepmother didn't want them in their house. I wasn't thrilled at having them here. I'm not versed in firearms, and I know it was years since my husband had handled them. I decided that if they were going to be in the house, we would both take courses to be able to use them properly. Well, my husband passed away and I never got around to taking the courses. My in-laws moved to the country a few months ago. When my father-in-law asked if he could have them back, I was more than happy to return them to him.

No, I will never be a proponent of gun control. I might not want guns in my house right now, but there might be a time when I do want that kind of protection. If and when that time comes, I don't want to be denied the right the Constitution guarantees me to bear arms and I don't want someone with a legitimate reason to have a weapon be denied.

I don't think I'm wrong in asking that those who do have guns know how to use them, that the weapons are registered so that if they are stolen, law enforcement has a way of establishing ownership, and that they are properly stored when not in use to keep the weapons from those who have no business using them.

Will keeping weapons locked up stop people from getting to them who shouldn't have them? I wish I could say yes, but you and I both know tragedies will continue to happen. It's happened too many times to believe that.

Police are now reporting 32 dead. The "good" news is that the shooter is also dead. That's one bullet that wasn't wasted. Sorry, I can't feel badly except that this is another life ended too soon. And I feel badly for the shooter's friends and family. I can't waste a tear for the shooter, but for those he killed, his friends and family, yes, I will pray for and I will mourn.