First it was hate speech. Imus took the rap and Sharpton, Limbaugh, Coulter and Jackson continue to get a pass. The "guns" in their cases are their mouths and the "bullets" their words.
Then its the Virginia Tech massacre. I know what it is to be a depressed college student but I didn't go and get a gun. Despite a father that was in law enforcement and an NRA member as well as guns in our home, it never occurred to me to do something like that. I have a carry permit but I wouldn't think of turning a gun on others in a fit of rage or hate.
The issue of gun control in the U.S. comes up time and again. Columbine, Waco and now VA Tech. NYC has very strict gun control laws yet there have been shootings within blocks of me. Anger is rampant. Some is justified, most isn't (in my opinion).
I don't know what the answer here is. I'd welcome all input. And prayers for our world and the families of those who were killed at Virginia Tech.
India, Israel Mourn Professors Killed in U.S. University Shooting By GAVIN RABINOWITZ
Families in India and Israel on Tuesday mourned two professors among the 32 people killed in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, while the leader of Australia slammed U.S. gun culture.
Monday's massacre was the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, with the unidentified gunmen cutting down his victims in two attacks before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
Liviu Librescu, 76, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer, tried to stop the gunman from entering his classroom by blocking the door before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," said Joe Librescu. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."
Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 and then moved to Virginia in 1985 for his sabbatical, but had stayed since then, said Joe Librescu, who himself studied at the school from 1989 to 1994.
Another foreign professor was also killed. Indian-born G.V. Loganathan, 51, a lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was felled by the gunman, his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Palanivel said he was informed by Loganathan's wife, who had identified the body.
"We all feel like we have had an electric shock, we do not know what to do," Palanivel said. "He has been a driving force for all of us, the guiding force."
Loganathan, who was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai, had been at Virginia Tech since 1982.
Local media also reported an Indian student at the university was missing.
Indian officials said they were trying to assist the families and determine how many Indian students were involved.
"We are in touch with our embassy (in Washington). Our consular offices are in touch with the dean of students and also with the Indian Students Association," said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.
"Consular officials will be traveling to the site this morning," he said.
The shootings, which dominated media reports in many countries, drew widespread condemnation.
In London, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Monday saying, "The Queen was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the shooting in Virginia."
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, are scheduled to visit Virginia May 3-4.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing sent a note of condolence to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
Asked about speculation the gunman who witnesses described as "Asian" was Chinese, he said, "We shall not speculate on this as the investigation is ongoing."
There was harsh condemnation for U.S. gun control laws.
In Sydney, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday the university shooting in Virginia showed that America's "gun culture" was a negative force in society.
Howard, who staked his political leadership on pushing through tough laws on gun ownership in Australia after a lone gunman in his country killed 35 people in a spree, said the Virginia university shooting was a tragedy of a kind he hoped would never be seen again in Australia.
"You can never guarantee these things won't happen again in our country," Howard told reporters.
"We had a terrible incident at Port Arthur, but it is the case that 11 years ago we took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country," he said.
He offered his sympathies to the victims of the Virginia shooting and their families.
In India, which has some 80,000 students in the U.S., commentators called for greater protection and stricter gun laws.
"It's not a question of an Indian professor getting killed in the firing. This is related to the American gun laws," said K. Subrahmanyam, a former member of India's National Security Council.
"We can't do anything about it. It is something which has happened in the United States. They have got to change the law."
Comments