"BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16 — Thirty-two people were killed, along with a gunman, and at least 15 injured in two shooting attacks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute on Monday during three hours of horror and chaos on this sprawling campus.
The police and witnesses said some victims were executed with handguns while other students were hurt jumping from upper-story windows of the classroom building where most of the killings occurred. After the second round of killings, the gunman killed himself, the police said.
It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history and came nearly eight years to the day after 13 people died at Columbine High School in Colorado at the hands of two disaffected students who then killed themselves."
The police and witnesses said some victims were executed with handguns while other students were hurt jumping from upper-story windows of the classroom building where most of the killings occurred. After the second round of killings, the gunman killed himself, the police said.
It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history and came nearly eight years to the day after 13 people died at Columbine High School in Colorado at the hands of two disaffected students who then killed themselves."
No NY TIMES de hoje.
É oficialmente o maior massacre registado em território americano, ultrapassando em mais do dobro as vítimas de Columbine.
E embora se pudessem tecer (e isso acontecerá até à exaustão ou filme de Gus Van Zant??) muitas considerações sobre a mensagem que isto envia sobre a nossa modernidade, a questão que me fica na mente é somente uma.
É arguível que o problema terá necessariamente de transcender a questão do acesso tão fácil a armas de fogo, mas esta questão é perfeitamente determinante. O acesso a armas de fogo com este grau de facilidade torna uma agressão deste calibre apenas algo dependente não de meios, mas de uma desregulação comportamental grave, geradora de tragédias que dificilmente cicatrizam.
A violência não se faz somente de vontade, mas de oportunidade e meios.
E este é um caso onde fica exposta a flagrante desresponsabilização de um país que acha normal o porte de armas de fogo, mas depõe um presidente adúltero e ruge em uníssono quando uma artista mostra a mama no Superbowl. No Estado da Virginia, as coisas são ainda mais complicadas:
''Virginia imposes few restrictions on the purchase of handguns and no requirement for any kind of licensing or training. The state does limit handgun purchases to one per month to discourage bulk buying and resale, state officials said.
Once a person had passed the required background check, state law requires that law enforcement officers issue a concealed carry permit to anyone who applies. However, no regulations and no background checks are required for purchase of weapons at a Virginia gun show.
Virginia’s gun laws are some of the weakest state laws in the country,” said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “And where there have been attempts to make some changes, a backdoor always opens to get around the changes, like the easy access at gun shows.”
Aguardam-se os próximos desenvolvimentos de cenários que tendem a repetir-se demasiado e que não deixam de lançar questões sobre o estado da descompressão social e dos monstros que dela derivam.
Virginia’s gun laws are some of the weakest state laws in the country,” said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “And where there have been attempts to make some changes, a backdoor always opens to get around the changes, like the easy access at gun shows.”
Aguardam-se os próximos desenvolvimentos de cenários que tendem a repetir-se demasiado e que não deixam de lançar questões sobre o estado da descompressão social e dos monstros que dela derivam.
Arrepiante.
