1 Year VT Massacre Anniversary

Today is the One Year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. All of our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those involved. This time last year i was talking on AIM with two of the members of the Virginia Tech Paintball Team. One was one floor below the first shooting the other one floor above in Ambler Johnston, a dorm. A few of my paintball friends could have been there if only 1 or 2 things different happened. One friend who plays with Arsenal has classes in one of the rooms that was shot up only one hour after it! When I went to VT i had most of my classes in that building, in the same area. Dr. Loganathan was one of my professors when I went to Virginia Tech and was one of the most happy men you would ever talk to. I respect the courage that all of the students, professors, and faculty on campus have and even more important I have great respect for those who decided to return back to Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech Paintball team actually attended a CFOA Tournament a week or two after the shootings and played pretty well considering everything they had gone through and are still going through because of that horrible day.

Some people have stated that there need to be tighter gun controls and they should allow professors to carry guns on campus. I think this is stupid. The SWAT, ATF, Police, FBI, etc were on campus during the largest part of the shootings and they couldn't do anything about it. It's really brought to my attention how bad terrorism could get in any country and that instead of fighting over oil we should perhaps be focusing on how to better prevent outbursts like this. There are a million "what-if" stories, but the fact is it's happened and shootings seem to be getting more and more common. We need to not only check people's backgrounds for handguns but also for shotguns and rifles and black powder guns. All guns can be used as a weapon. I know we have the right to bear arms, and i support that, but it seems we need tighter legislation on the background checks, especially if someone with a mental disorder is allowed to purchase guns. Anyways, i think we need to figure out a way to prevent something like that from happening again not only on campuses around the country but everywhere there are large concentrations of people.

My heart goes out to all of those who lost their lives during the shooting and hope that they have found their peaceful place and know that the whole world was deeply saddened by what happened.