You know there's something I really don't get about the USA. It is pretty obvious that allowing people to buy guns off the rack without proper license spells trouble, even if, say, there has never been a bloodbath involving guns in the past to prove that it's dangerous to allow any tom dick and harry to buy a gun. I mean, come on. Any person thinking logically would be able to figure that out, and yet, even after thousands of cases of homicide and suicide and even after the Columbine School shootings, the US still allows people to buy guns if they want to, as long as they're above 18. I just don't get it. Look what happened. Leniency isn't always rosy-cosy ok. And to think I was even considering going to university in Virginia, one of the easiest places to buy guns! duuuude.

So anyway, I was just swimming in my own thoughts about the latest shooting (probably more to come if they don't do something major about the whole lack of gun control NOW) and so I browsed around for more info on the shooting and I also found some stuff that really baffled and horrified me. Feed on this:

~The Brady campaign - named after Jim Brady who was wounded in the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan - says there are an estimated 193 million guns in America while some estimates range as high as 250 million, almost one gun for every man, woman and child in the US.

~Current federal law requires criminal background checks only for guns sold by licensed firearm dealers, which account for just 60% of gun sales. This means that two of every five guns acquired in the US change hands without a background check. This includes guns bought at gun shows, through classified ads, and between individuals. There are between 2,000 and 5,000 gun shows held every year.

~According to the pro-gun control group, the Brady Campaign, gun shows are largely unregulated arms bazaars held around the country where the public is able to purchase firearms from both licensed and unlicensed dealers. The US justice department describes gun shows as "a forum for illegal firearms sales and trafficking". The two students behind the Columbine high school killings in 1999 were under 18, but managed to buy weapons at a gun show because they had a friend with them who was 18.

Why isn't anything being done about this??

I also read Cho's English plays which he wrote before he went on that shooting rampage. If you're interested, just google "Richard McBeef" or "Mr. Brownstone". I won't comment about the stuff he wrote because clearly, the guy was going through a lot. It was evident enough just through reading his assignments. I just wish he had known Jesus...

I hope my aunt and uncle are doing fine in New York.
I hope Siyan's safe.
I hope the Asians in the US will not be treated differently because of what happened.
I hope the victims' families are coping well.
I hope the family of the killed Indonesian who sold their car and possesions to finance his education are doing well.
I hope things will change for the better.

I feel really sorry for everyone involved and implicated in this shooting, but I'm also feeling, I dunno, guilty? for not being able to do anything MORE than just feel sorry for them and campaigning for US gun law changes on my blog(har har) It's always the case with me when some tragedy happens, you know, always feeling like I should somehow be able to literally FEEL what they're going through rather than sit here and rant and feel sorry and not DO something about it. But oh well, I could pray? =) And please, if you're reading this, do remember them in your prayers. Especially the Indonesian who got killed. I just felt super sorry for the family.

Pretty depressing post huh. I'll leave you to swim in your own thoughts now =)