What happened at Virginia Tech is simply scary. Why does it seem that so many incidents of major violence occur at places of learning (whether it be colleges or high schools)? At least, that’s how it seems to me. Since I work in academia, maybe it’s just that I can relate to it a bit more. I mean, in some ways I can see it happening to me since I’m in a similar environment day in, day out.<\/p>\n
Then again, maybe such murders take place in suburban office parks and hospitals, too,\u00a0but I just don’t remember them since that isn’t my life? I don’t know. I suppose it’s all about association.<\/p>\n
Then again, how does that explain my irrational fear of fast food restaurants? Yep, you heard me…I can’t enter a fast food restaurant without thinking I could get gunned down. I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t like fast food and go years without entering a Mickey-D’s or BK. And during the rare instances that I do go\u00a0(usually road trips) I’ll either use the drive-thru or request that we eat on the road and not in the restaurant. There must have been a fast food mass-murder over the past 20 years to put that thought into my head.<\/p>\n
Anyway, as expected, the media is running with the Virginia Tech murders and putting the stupidest people on the news. This morning I witnessed a woman from Texas (natch) who said this wouldn’t have happened if we had LESS strict gun laws (as a side note, her parents were shot to death in Killeen, TX back in 1966). She believes that guns SHOULD be in public high schools and post offices and anywhere else people want to carry them and believes gun murders only happen in places where there are gun restrictions (she’s a concealed weapons advocate – if you can’t tell).<\/p>\n
I think that’s the WORST idea. Our public school teachers are over-worked and under-paid. If anybody is going to crack under pressure some day – it’s them. And they aren’t any less flawed than any other person (hence the occurances of teachers having sex with students….teachers make bad decisions, too). The last thing we need is for them to have access to weapons in their class room. We also don’t need STUDENTS having access to the weapon (how hard would it be for a few kids to sneak up on the teacher and steal the gun?).<\/p>\n
Ugh – I don’t know. Coincidentally, when Mark was here last weekend we were talking about murder rates. In Paris, the murder rate (not necesasrily by gun) was 2 per 100,000. In recent years Boston is hovering around 12 per 100,000…and we’re one of the safer cities in this country! I know crime happens everywhere, but for this Texan to claim that gun violence happens only\u00a0in places where guns aren’t allowed is ludicrous.<\/p>\n
Ok – I’m off my soapbox. I need a drink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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