[JohnZ]

There are individuals in every society that are mentally disturbed to varying degrees. It's an unavoidable fact of life. The cause of their illness could be rooted (and it is an illness) could be traced to a number of sources such as organicaly based psychotic disorders (dementia, schizophrenia, brain tumor, bipolar syndrome, paranoia etc.). Perhaps it was drug/alcohol abuse. Who knows? Whatever. But I don't think that societal changes are the root cause. Societal pressures are a factor to be sure. But advancing that hypothesis and concluding that increased violence on TV or cinema or society is a major if not the single factor isn't logical. That hypothesis is disproven by the fact that we are all exposed to violence in the media and we're not out there gunning-down innocents. The fact that we live in a free society is not the cause of this horror either. We don't know all the facts in this particular case.....but I read that the shooter was an English major, a senior, who's writings were alarming enough to prompt at least one professor to recommended counseling for shooter. I feel reasonably certain that Cho Seung-Hui's classmates are exposed to the same violence in the media.....why aren't they shooting innocent people? There are usually signs (some subtle and some not so subtle) manifested by the mentally ill or emotionally disturbed that are observable as evidenced by the notation of at least one professor. Perhaps this could have been prevented if serious attention were given to the signs and swift and severe action were taken. We live in a free society and that, admitedly, has consequences. We are all ultimately responsible for protecting ourselves. So what's a potential solution? Huh? Gun control advocates are going to have a feeding frenzy with this one. A single sane armed student with a good eye and a steady hand (and a carry permit) could have done something. But no. A no-gun-on-campus policy at VT precluded that. The reality is, gun control sealed their doom. I'm angry too. I'm angry that the dead students were penned up like sheep for the slaughter in a dumb "gun-free-zone". A better way to describe the situation is a "self-defense-free-zone" or a "danger-free-zone" for the criminally insane. Here's a question for the group. If you were in a classroom with Cho Seung-Hui forcing his way through the door with the obvious intention of pumping a few rounds into you or your mates, would you want a gun or not? Right. I thought so. The can-o-worms is open in the TOTV forum. Gotcha riled-up? Opinions folks?