Virginia Tech Tragedy Perpetrated by One of Its Own

A 23 year old student committed the horrific murders at Virginia Tech yesterday. Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korean English major legally studying in the U.S., pulled the trigger countless times causing death, carnage, mayhem, and in one doctor’s word “amazing” wounds. The University must be in shock that their current nightmare came at the hands of one of their own.

As the world wrestles with the tragedy, more questions will be asked. Some will focus on the shooter’s mental health. Others will target the weapons. How were they acquired and what type of ammunition caused such “amazing” wounds?

Surveying letters to elected leaders last night on Congress.org, the various political lobbies already spun the events to their advantage. Pro-gun folks made the point that an armed professor or student could have stopped the gunman well before the 32 death toll. Anti-gun letter writers gave almost an “I told you so”, blaming the widespread pandering to America’s powerful gun lobby.

Now is not the time to be defending gun access or screaming for it to be reduced. It’s time for all Americans to hold the hand of the fallen, the wounded, and the grieving. It’s time to pick up a bucket and mop and clean up the residue from conflict that cannot be managed peacefully. We must wash away the dried blood left from our intent to purposefully harm others physically or in spirit.

The roots that grew the horror in Blacksburg exist within each of us. Running to the next battle seems the last thing our country needs to do now. Yet, with America's incapacity for self reflection, that is exactly what we’ll do...