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Kharmine · 04-18-2007, 09:17 PM

I saw her picture and read her bio this morning and was struck by the same thing. One of those connections that struck a chord if we had nothing else in common...

From everything I've read about about the killer, he was marked as disturbed and disturbing for some time -- teachers tried to get him into counseling, women he paid unwanted attention to complained to the cops, his fellow students avoided him after they read his ranting work in English class...

And yet, in our society, his rights were preserved -- no one could make him go to counseling or get a psychiatric examination, his behavior was not illegal, he could easily buy weapons and ammunition with a one-minute background check, no one talked to his parents to let them know so many people were alarmed about him. If he had a juvenile record, I'm sure it was sealed. If he was ever treated for mental problems when younger, I doubt the school or the gun shop knew about it.

I'm a journalist, a defender of free speech and the right to just be "weird" if one wants to be. But somewhere between the absolute "right to privacy" and the obligation to defend the public from any and all "potential" risk, there should be a middle ground. Because the price we pay for individual "freedom" should not be a mass killing.

04-18-2007, 09:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kharmine V.I.P. Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Foot of the Rocky Mountains Posts: 1,755	I saw her picture and read her bio this morning and was struck by the same thing. One of those connections that struck a chord if we had nothing else in common... From everything I've read about about the killer, he was marked as disturbed and disturbing for some time -- teachers tried to get him into counseling, women he paid unwanted attention to complained to the cops, his fellow students avoided him after they read his ranting work in English class... And yet, in our society, his rights were preserved -- no one could make him go to counseling or get a psychiatric examination, his behavior was not illegal, he could easily buy weapons and ammunition with a one-minute background check, no one talked to his parents to let them know so many people were alarmed about him. If he had a juvenile record, I'm sure it was sealed. If he was ever treated for mental problems when younger, I doubt the school or the gun shop knew about it. I'm a journalist, a defender of free speech and the right to just be "weird" if one wants to be. But somewhere between the absolute "right to privacy" and the obligation to defend the public from any and all "potential" risk, there should be a middle ground. Because the price we pay for individual "freedom" should not be a mass killing. __________________ What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about? Last edited by Kharmine; 04-18-2007 at 09:20 PM.