Virginia Tech

The recent awful events at Virgina Tech serve to remind me of the following recurrent thought. At some time or other in our lives we have all been angry enough, albeit fleetingly, to do real harm, given the means of inflicting harm quickly. We might regret our anger a few moments later but had we been armed when the red mist came down, all the regret in the world could not unpull the trigger. If we're unarmed, however, then all we can do is beat our fists on the floor to vent our frustration.

Yes, the massacre at Virginia was brutally premeditated in a sense that my scenario above is not, but the same principle holds. Take away the access to firearms and the tiny minority of crazed social misfits who would visit such senseless destruction on their fellow humans will be forced to join the harmless fist-bangers.