The Political Universe 04.17.07
Posted by Jason Easley on 04.17.2007
I think that when a mass murder occurs, it can't be ignored. In today's column, I'll look at what happened at VA Tech yesterday as a reminder that terrorism and murder come in all colors and nationalities. What is the lesson that we can learn from yesterday that will help make America safer? Also, I wonder if the shootings at VA Tech will revive the gun control debate in this country. All this and plenty more can be found in the Tuesday edition of this column.
Mass Murder at VA Tech
A gunman shot and killed two people at a dorm, and then two hours later opened fire in a class room building killing 30 more people, before taking his own life at Virginia Tech University yesterday morning. This incident is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Here are the facts according to university president Charles Steger, "Now here are some of the facts as we know them. At about 7:15 this morning, a 911 call came to the university police department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later, the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded."
.
Besides the 32 people who were killed, unofficial reports number the wounded at 26. The university president and campus police are already being criticized for not doing more to secure the university during two hours between the two incidents. Steger said that authorities believed that the first shooting was a domestic dispute, and they thought that the shooter had left campus. "We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur. We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it." The president also said during a news conference that classes were not canceled, or the university put on lockdown after the first shooting because there were 11,000 people commuting to campus at the time, and they could not alert all of them.
Let's stop here for a second, what kind of university has a shooting occur in its dorm, with the suspect in that shooting still at large, yet they go on with business as usual? If they would have had or used a basic emergency plan, they might have acted sooner to cancel classes, lock down the students who live on campus, and send the commuters home. The president's reasoning would be solid, if there had not been a two hour lag between shootings. Once students were at their 8 am classes, the buildings could have been locked down, or everyone sent home. Remember the second shootings did not occur until 90 minutes later. A comprehensive emergency plan, and communications system, would have allowed the administration to instantly notify all buildings, and appropriate safety measures should have been taken until this shooter was apprehended.
In most circumstances a school would not be lucky enough to have an incident happen that should have served as a warning. The administration at Virginia Tech got a warning with the dorm shooting, and ignored it. Once again, it doesn't matter if they thought the shooter was not on campus. A shooting had occurred at their university. Security and emergency measures should have been put in place automatically. It is always best to err on the side of caution. Even if they would have locked down and canceled, only the morning classes, this situation stood a better chance of being prevented.
Many students are enraged that they didn't receive an email notification about the first shooting, until after the second one started. There is a reason for this delay, universities that have had incidents in the past often try to minimize bad publicity by dragging their feet on the release of information. Too much bad publicity can affect future enrollment, which can affect an institution's bottom line. President Steger's reason for the delay is essentially that it takes a long time to email 26,000 students. A well organized administration could have an email out in a matter of minutes, not hours.
I have been very critical of the administration at VA Tech thus far, but it must be pointed out that the reaction at Tech isn't all that different from what it would have been at almost any other college or university in the United States. Universities have long known that they could be easy targets for this type of violence, but they have collectively suffered from the naïve belief that it could never happen to them. These killings happened at VA Tech, but it could have just as easily have been Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, or Southern Cal.
The worst security mistake that any school, town, city, state, or nation can make is to convince themselves that it could never happen to them. It was this thought that lead many of our officials not to take the threat of terrorism seriously enough before 9/11, and it cost us dearly in terms of human lives. The vast majority of colleges and universities are soft targets. They are large, publicly accessible, mostly under or even unsecured facilities. I think that there is very little that can be done to completely secure an area as large a campus, and prevent this kind of violence, but what can be done is better more comprehensive emergency planning, so that the amount of injury and loss life can be minimized.
As I am writing this, this story is still developing. At some point more facts may come to light which demonstrate that the administration at VA Tech did all they could to prevent the shootings. My gut feeling is that the facts will probably reveal that whoever made the final decision to treat the first shooting as an isolated incident made a terrible error in judgment. The lesson I hope that all public institutions, educational or not, learn from this horrible day is that human judgment should not enter into the picture. A well communicated, well taught emergency plan needs to ready to be implemented at all times. There should be no discussion needed about how to handle, or what to do when a situation presents itself. I can't shake this feeling that some of those deaths might have been prevented. I might be completely wrong, but I believe that this incident is going to change campus security around the country forever.
A revival of the gun control debate?
I have a feeling that the tragedy at VA Tech is going to lead to a reopening of the gun control debate in the United States. It took no time for gun control advocates to release statements blaming the gun for the violence. The president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Paul Helmke released this statement, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the Virginia Tech University community, and to the families of the victims of what appears to be one of the worst mass shootings in American history. Details are still forthcoming about what motivated the shooter in this case to act, and how he was able to arm himself. It is well known, however, how easy it is for an individual to get powerful weapons in our country."
The Violence Policy Center released a statement too, "Mass shootings have come to define our nation. Today's shooting at Virginia Tech — the largest mass shooting in U.S. history — is only the latest in a continuing series over the past two decades. These tragedies are the inevitable result of the ease with which the firepower necessary to slaughter dozens of innocents can be obtained. We allow virtually anyone the means to turn almost any venue into a battlefield. In the wake of these shootings, too many routinely search for any reason for the tragedy except for the most obvious — the easy access to increasingly lethal firearms that make mass killings possible."
On the other side of the debate, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "As far as policy, the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly, bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting numbers — I don't want to say numbers, because I know that they're still trying to figure out how many people were wounded and possibly killed. But obviously, that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for. "
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said, "We have to look at what happened here, but it doesn't change my views on the Second Amendment, except to make sure that these kinds of weapons don't fall into the hands of bad people. I do believe in the constitutional right that everyone has, in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, to carry a weapon. Obviously we have to keep guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens."
The person who carried out this attack could have just as easily used a bomb as a gun. Because of the lack of campus security, this was a unique incident that should not be lumped in as part of the gun debate. I have always thought that if someone is intent on killing they will find a way. Removing all guns isn't the answer, but I do think that we need to ask ourselves why does the U.S. have so many more violent incidents like this compared to the rest of the industrialized world. It isn't an easy question to answer, and I don't think the solution is as simple as taking away all the guns. I am far from what would be considered a "gun nut," but to me it is clear banning guns, except assault weapons, isn't the answer. I think our societal problem rests more in the hearts of the individuals that carry out such actions than in the instruments that they use to kill others.
A Brief Commercial Break
If you want to hear a good discussion about race and America, then check out this week's Political Universe Radio Show. Shawn Struck from the Games zone was our special guest this week.
Be sure to check out…
Joe is back from vacation, and rewards our patience with a new edition of The Rivett Report Why is the GOP obsessed with flip flopping? I don't know.
Matt needs a break, so we thought we would let you, the readers, try your hand at The Weekly Monitor.
Dan Martin tears apart Josh White's global warming column in his latest titled Why People Should Care About The Future. I think this one was a little too easy for Dan.
Well guys, we have reached the end of another column. Hopefully when we see each other again, we'll be able to talk about fun things like politics. I could have written all about politics today, but it didn't feel right to ignore what happened at VA Tech, so I'll see you Friday.
STAY CURRENT