In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, I sincerely hope that one single, burning, indisputable fact remains at the forefront of any and all discussions:
This atrocity was the responsibility of one individual, one person who decided — for whatever reason — that this life was no longer tolerable and chose to leave it, and — damn him to hell — to take over 30 others with him.
This deed was not committed by a weapon, a political movement, or some failing of society. It was not carried out by a video game, a rap song, or pornography. This was, ultimately, the fault of exactly one man — and we can’t punish him for it, as he has already chosen to enact the ultimate sanction upon himself.
To deny this monster the full credit for his heinous deeds is to deny his free choice to carry it out, and to diminish the responsibility that lies at his feet, and his feet alone.
Keep that in mind when the inevitable occurs, and people start using his slaughtering rampage to argue for increased gun control, or looser concealed-carry laws, or restrictions on entertainment, or even arguing against flouridation of drinking water. Any or all of those might or might not have had any bearing on the incident, but in the end it remains that had the as-yet unnamed gunman not chosen to go on a killing spree before taking his own life, none of this would have happened.
