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Virginia Tech tragedy - how do we prevent some more? |
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The Virginia tech massacre left the whole world in sorrow. In this article, the author explains his point of view on how to prevent such tragedies in future. |
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| Author: Kind To All |
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What prompted Cho Seung-Hui to do such a heinous crime? How did the weapons land in his hands? Was this the first time he became violent? How can we prevent such crimes from happening again?
Most of the profiling done on the killer revealed that he had violent tendencies for a long time. Old roommates say he was a loner; some say he wrote violent plays that disturbed even him. Unfortunately, all these analyses come after the crime, in a reactive mode, after incidents that cannot be reversed.
One of the questions which is being raised is on how he was able to secure the guns for the shooting. Authorities have confirmed that Cho Seung-Hui obtained them through legal channels, after showing as many as three ids.
We, in America, believe in freedom – and that freedom includes the freedom to hold weapons. This is a constitutional right as well. I believe that there is no better time than this, to examine this particular right, which we take for granted. This is not going to be easy and is definitely bound to raise many eyebrows, but like any debate, there would be pro and anti advocates for this case.
Let’s analyze our past for a few minutes. Before our independence, the British Empire made sure that it was illegitimate for us to hold weapons.
We were an oppressed lot, we didn’t have the freedom to have many things, and weapons were no exception. That’s one of the reasons why our constitutional experts included the freedom to hold weapons as one of our rights. And it’s these very rights that are being abused now.
I’m not saying that we should ban our rights to hold the weapons altogether. Like many other legal practices, one of the things we should consider raising the age limit for people to buy weapons. While renting a car, why to the companies charge anyone less than 24 years more, when the legal age to get a license is 18? It’s because capitalism has won where our federal laws have failed us. The rental companies realized that it’s riskier to rent automobiles to people less than 24; hence they hiked the prices for these drivers. I urge a similar set-up should happen at the arms level and this time, the Federal government should step in. They should raise the minimum age to buy weapons to 24, or even 30. Of course, this assumes that people above the age of 30 are more sensible and family-oriented and would be in the process of settling down; not just a bunch of binge-drinking teenagers. Statistics show that people above the age of 30 have more worldly knowledge and are less prone to act without thought.
As we grow older, we tend to be more compassionate and show more rationale in our actions.
As I said before, the right to possess arms was important when we won our freedom. Is that as important as it was before, even now? Think again - Aren’t we the only country in the whole world where this is still legal?
We used to do business by Scout’s honor. There was trust everywhere and it was the foundation of our capitalism. When Enron and WorldCom happened, Congress stepped in and came up with the Sarbanes-Oxley.
The accounting scandals struck at our very basis of trust and had to be dealt with by SOX regulations. In short, we amended our constitution when we found that some things were not working the way they were designed. I think our right to possess arms is another one of these rights, which demand our attention. Congress and Senate should step in and review this right and revoke it, if required.
This is not the first time mad men have shot at innocent victims. There were shootings in schools, colleges and recently even at shopping malls. We should prevent such attacks at least in the future.
Let’s be proactive at least from now on – it’s better to save lives even if it means some sacrifice to our constitutional rights.
About Author
Dayal Sukumaran works as a software engineer in Miami. He enjoys reading NY times, WSJ and listening to NPR (Marketplace is his favorite show).
Article Source:
http://www.1888articles.com
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