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My heart and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims of
this tragic incident. I am sure that many of us have read about situations
like this one and not given second thought to the fact that it could indeed
happen to you. I know I am guilty of that. Today I have spent some time
thinking about the incident, about how unpredictable life can be, and how
sad it is that we spend so much time wasting life instead of living it well.
THis man is obviously a very, sick and troubled man. Whether or not he was
on drugs or in therapy does not matter. Unfortunately improving the mental
health system probably wouldn't make a difference either. Unless someone
knows they are not well, seeking help for mental illness is not something
people do regularly. I don't think stricter gun control laws would make a
difference either. As someone already pointed out, these were not registered
weapons. In addition, my vague recollection is that most of the gun control
legislation that is being sought is not about AK-47s or whatever automatic,
uzi-type weapons (can you tell I know nothing about guns?!?!) are called. I
could be wrong but, I also don't think that too many of these
"multiple-shooting" sprees have been done with anything but automatic
weapons. So what difference would gun control make to these types of
situations. (Don't get me wrong, I am pro-gun control. I think it would help
with some of the inner-city murders that take place.)
I think we should all take a moment to recognize the victims, their
families, and friends, in our thoughts. It could happen to anyone at anytime
(especially around the holidays when depression seems to hit harder on those
of us who struggle with it). Here's hoping and wishing that 2001 brings
fewer of these types of incidents, and help to those who are in need. Happy
New Year.
Kathi Jan DeGuzman
Senior Technical Writer
Kathi -dot- Deguzman -at- nextel -dot- com
When I hear somebody sigh that "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask,
"Compared to what?" ~ Sidney J. Harris
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