Just hearing the sad news of a school shooting in Erfurt, Germany with 18 fatalities. First I hope Chris, belligerentyouth, and those he knows and loves are all right...please let us know you're okay guys. And, knowing how devastating the news of the Columbine, Colorado school tragedy was to me and the US as a whole, my heart goes out to the families of the victims, and the German people, who are facing the horror and loss of this painful ordeal.


The Only WO'N!

Thanks for your concern, Whitman. I wasn't directly affected by the shooting. I have only ever been through Thueringen once in fact, on my way through to Dresden and Leipzig. As you might expect, the social and political shockwaves from the slaughter can be felt nationwide.
In an attempt to look for a sliver-lining I can mention that the support has now, (sadly only now) arisen to rethink gun ownership laws. One proposed change (raising the legal age of gun ownership to 21), would have gone a long way to preventing this shooting. See, the boy who committed the crime was only 19 and a legal gun owner - what a farce. One can surely argue that more should have been done pedagogically to avoid such thoughts even entering the student's mind, but I don't think this is feasible. Very distraught teenagers are 'normal'. We all wanted to 'pay back' our teachers at one point. This young man was (IMHO) not some rare sadistic mind, but a confused, hormone-intoxicated teenager suffering from serious feelings of isolation, disjointment, and self-loathing. How can I be so sure? I can't really, but I can speculate based on my own (recent) experience as a teenager. It is my view that the Schuetzenverein (traditional German shooting club) who supported this boy's acquirement of, and proficiency in various lethal weapons should also be held partly responsible for the massacre.
A lot of such earnest dialogue will inevitably follow the carnage, but will unfortunately do precious little to help fill missing beds and heal the deep scars that such shootings leave for those caught up in them. As far as I know, the children and families are being offered the best possible professional help available.


'Rache trägt keine Frucht. Sich selbst ist sie die fürchterliche Nahrung; ihr Genuss ist Mord und ihre Sättigung das Grausen.'
- Schiller

Good to hear you're okay and not directly affected, Chris. Thanks for checking in. I know the overall emotional affects must be tough on everybody.

The Only WO'N!