Columbine!

I recently read Columbine by Dave Cullen.  Cullen spent 10 years on Columbine with his book coming out in 2009.  I was surprised by how many myths and misconceptions were alive and well in the early days and even years afterwards.

Columbine was a tragedy that affected many.  One of the things that struck me from Cullen's book was that both Eric and Dylan came from good families with parents who cared, by all accounts.  Yet, the parents were vilified since both boys were dead and everyone needed someone to blame.

Columbine was emotional for me.  I was still in my 20's at the time, and it reminded of a close friend who died while I was in high school.

As I looked up more on the tragedy, I was encouraged by the stories of the survivors and the victim's families 10 years later.  Nothing can bring those loved ones back, but how the rest choose to move on is inspiring.

Tragedy in Virginia

"Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech. We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers, and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today."--President George W. Bush, April 16, 2007

I will never forget how I felt 8 years ago when the Columbine shootings happened. I think it hit a nerve with me because of my own brush with death in high school, having a close friend that had committed suicide. I knew how those teens felt having lost their friends in such a traumatic incident.

So to see yesterday's trauma exceed Columbine was sad indeed. When I first tuned in they only knew about 17 being injured. Before I knew it they had announced that at least 20 were dead and the death toll was expected to rise. By the end of the day the total was 33 dead with the killer being among them. It is the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. History.

It is hard to believe that so many could be killed without anyone being able to stop the killer. Yet, I am a little disturbed by everyone being so quick to assign blame. Until we know the full story, I am a little reticent to assign blame to anyone except the killer himself.

The gun-control advocates are already out in full force. Yet, truth be told had any of these students been armed themselves we might have been dealing with a much smaller death toll. Gun control is not the answer. Many have pointed out that a gun bill was contemplated that would've enabled those on the campus to carry handguns but it was shot down.

Others blogging:
Flopping Aces
Gateway Pundit
Hot Air