My Home Town

Today 32 people were murdered in my home town in the worst shooting in US history. I very sad about it. I'm sad for those people whose lives were ended. I'm sad for their families. I'm sad for the decision makers, the university president, the head of the police. I listened to them being questioned. If I faced such questioning, I would have broken down and tearfully said, "Look, this is the worst day of my life. I wish I could go back in time to yesterday. I just want to go home to bed and cry". Even if they made wrong decisions, they don't deserve the lifelong sorrow, torment, and regret that they will be living with.
I'm sad that our social contract is so fragile, that a single crazy person can do so much damage. Sometimes when I cross the street in front of several cars, I think about the fragility of life. Just one unbalanced person behind the wheel could end things for me. Just 1 person did all of this. Just 2 people paralyzed the Washington area with terror in 2002 with their random shootings. Its hopeless.
I'm sad that they manufacture such powerful weapons. I've always been in favor of gun control, but if these weapons exist, people will get them legally or illegally. What can anyone do in the face of a weapon that can fire dozens of bullets within a few seconds? Courage won't help. The police can't react quickly enough. You can't act quickly enough even if you are packing heat. Is there some way that we can restrict the power of these weapons?
I'm sad that there's no answer or solution. Can we banish guns? Even if they stopped making them tomorrow, there are millions available. I think it might help. But there will still be unbalanced people out there. And they can be very creative. In the next few days and weeks, people will talk about making sense of it all and of healing. But it doesn't make sense. There's no reason for it and no logic to it. It happened and can't be undone. And the talk of healing is nonsense. Those 32 people can't get their lives back. Their families will always be scarred.
I'm sad that for the rest of my life, when I tell people I'm from Blacksburg, this is what they will remember. If I go to my high school reunion this summer, this will be the topic of most of the conversations. Very silly and kind of selfish to think about that, I know. I wish we could go back to yesterday.