I have one question for you, the dean keeps saying that they thought this was an isolated incident. Haven't we leared that we have to be ready to expect the unexpected. They should have had a system implemented that protected these children. I hope this is a wake up call. YOU CAN NEVER BE TO PARANOID and prepared especially when our children are in your hands. I think it's time to stop trying to defend themselves and give these parents some answers.

Well for one, people who are 18 years old and up are not children, so please don't try to turn this into a 'Won't somebody please think of the children' appeal to emotion. What happened yesterday, the atrocity that was committed, is bad enough. They did the best they could with the information they had, and couldn't reasonably be expected to do anything more. To judge the actions of the administrators of Virginia Tech yesterday morning by the information we have today is nothing more than Monday morning quarterbacking. It's not fair, and it changes nothing.

If the students at V-Tech are children, just remember that the shooter was also a student...was he a child, too?

Let me re phrase the Children issue. These were all def. someones children, most I am sure their parents supporting them through college, so yes until they are out on their own they are Children. I don't care if my children are 50 years old, they are still my children.

I know I'm posting this late but I must reply.....Children is exactly the word I would use yes some were adults a little older a little wiser..but nevertheless CHILDREN. I agree with you totally and most negative remarks about this will come from people who don't have CHILDREN and don't realize that your CHILD may grow up and become an ADULT but will always and I do mean always be your CHILD...when people ask how many children do you have...they don't ask how many adults do you have....yes your answer may be "# but they are grown now" but the fact remains it's still your CHILD....And to add yes the killer was somebody's "CHILD" too...

So what you are saying is that we should get old people to write the articles so they can call their 40 year old child children. Once a child hits 18, they become a legal adult. I don't know of any place in the law where it says they are not a child until they are out on their own? Since 15+ year old "children" can be prosecuted as an adult in court, I think the term "Children" might only refer to "children" even under the age of 15. I would hate to be a 50 year old child of yours and not earned the respect to be treated like an adult!

I blame this country for all of this! T here is little to no help for people with mental illness in this country unless you have good insurance I know because my son suffers from mental illness ans I know first hand how he was treated and how hard it was for him to find good help it took years! And to allow asault weapons to be sold is just plain stupid they are only used for killing they have no other perpose So if they sre going to be allowed to be sold what do you think they will be used for? How stupid the leaders in this country are. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this but it is time to take a good hard look at this country and how it lets this continue and then to be shocked by it. When murder weapons are sold that is what they will be used for. I am not talking about weapons used for hunting there is a big diffrence between hunting guns and murder guns

I guess we Americans are such bad people we need to be blamed for everything, including bad weather. Actually, this is happening right now. Al Gore IS blaming us for the bad weather. Since we are so bad, why not take the next plane out and live in a dictatorship. A dictatorship has the strictest gun control in the world. Meanwhile we Americans must all hang our heads in collective shame. We're guilty of every bad thing that ever happens, whether we're really guilty or not.

I am not talking about weapons used for hunting there is a big diffrence between hunting guns and murder guns ----------------------- Do you neam if you murder someone with a Winchester 94 in 30-30 or a Remington 700 in 30-06, its not really a murder? A gun is a piece of metal, it has no will of its own. People murder People. Whether you you use a Remington rolling block or a AK-47 it doesnt make any diffence.

And to allow asault weapons to be sold is just plain stupid they are only used for killing they have no other perpose Sorry, but neither of the guns was or could be called an assault weapon.

And to allow asault weapons to be sold is just plain stupid they are only used for killing they have no other perpose I just love it when people who can't be bothered to learn to spell want to tell me what I should or should not be able to do. It's "purpose"! The only intrinsic "purpose" of any firearm is to expel a projectile at high velocity. All else is a matter of application - what the person using it is doing with it.

If all we had to worry about was how someone else spells then our world would truly be a better palace....oops I meant to type place!

If all we had to worry about was how someone else spells then our world would truly be a better palace....oops I meant to type place!

If all we had to worry about was how someone else spells then our world would truly be a better palace....oops I meant to type place!

So sorry for the multi post

I dont understand why everyone is trying to turn this around on the school, the police, the EMT's and the firemen. This was not their fault, they didnt go in there shooting people, this boy did. Think about this, had the police ran in there and started shooting there may have been more injured or killed. I feel for the families and friends of the tech students and it has effected everyone around the area and in the united states. This was a major tragedy BUT this was not the board members fault or the president of the schools. This was simply one boy on a rampage and there is only one person to blame, and he shot himself. STOP the whole blame game, blame the person that is responsible not the people that were there to help. They felt that they were doing what was best. I have a child of my own and i dont know what i would have done in that situation but i sure wouldnt be blaming the school. IT WAS ONE MAN AND ONE MAN ONLY.

I have to say that everyone is to blame. I'm an RN, and the clinical signs were there. All of this guys behaviors, his writting..they all point to what I like to call his "Psych-Break"...kind of like a nervous breakdown but of his psychological well being. So in otherwords, he was going through little red flags that no one took seriously, and he eventually cracked up. By the little information given on the news, it looks like Schizoaffective Disorder, which could have been managed well with medication and therapy. Just look for those signs and do something about it. you know?

What you've brought up, reminds me of a conversation we had, in my office, just last week. I'm in metro Detroit and, last week, a man opened fire in his previous CPA office, that he'd been fired from, the week prior. He killed one person and wounded two others...he was captured and is awaiting a psych evaluation. My point? The Michigan man legally purchased a gun, although he had a strong history of mental illness (according to news reports). He was turned down for a CWP, but that didn't mean he couldn't purchase a gun, legally? He walked into an office, with the gun in plain view and forever change the lives of everyone involved. Why is someone with a history of mental instability allowed to purchase weapons? I don't understand that and, while I, in some ways, agree with the right to bear arms, can't fathom that our current society can, in any way, justify legally allowing this to happen. I believe that there has to be a uniform system for allowing the purchase of a gun...throughout the nation, with a nation-wide database to check applicants through. Maybe I'm naive, but, maybe it would help, at least in some of these cases of mass-murder.

Why is someone with a history of mental instability allowed to purchase weapons? I don't understand that and, while I, in some ways, agree with the right to bear arms, can't fathom that our current society can, in any way, justify legally allowing this to happen. Because the ACLU stopped the NRA and others from adding in the medical conditions to the Brady law. This can and should be changed.

I believe that there has to be a uniform system for allowing the purchase of a gun...throughout the nation, with a nation-wide database to check applicants through. Maybe I'm naive, but, maybe it would help, at least in some of these cases of mass-murder. There is. In all 50 states, one must pass a Federal background check to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer. The problem is that what is reported to the database those checks are performed against is not consistent. Lack of a background check did not contribute to this tragedy - poor reporting of the shooter's mental problems did.