the Centrist

            This week marked the worst mass murder in American History.  It occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech (VT).  Thirty two individuals were senselessly slaughtered by a psychopath whose primary goal was to gain his fifteen minutes of fame.  He wanted the world to revere his flight into evil’s abyss … as if it was justified … and unfortunately NBC obliged.  I refuse to give him his fifteen minutes … his name will not be mentioned in this forum.  I strongly feel we should be honoring the victims … not the murderer.   

This calamity brings up serious issues about our first two amendments.  For instance due to the explicit coverage of this event we will likely see copycats.  If we do the media will blame every aspect of society but itself.  While we will always have the psychopath amongst us … it is time to realize that, just as the Second Amendment (right to bear arms) has been limited, it is time to limit the First Amendment (freedom of the press).  Media over kill, along with rap lyrics and slasher movies can only encourage these crazies. 

When criticized for its coverage NBC countered with the tired explanation that it was the people’s ‘right to know’ and society’s obligation to ‘understand them’.  Understand them?  That is an oxymoron.  One cannot understand the illogical.  Aristotle was the first to posit that communication is impossible without logic … it was true in 400 BC and it is true in 2007 AD.  We cannot understand nonsense.  The only thing which we can speculate from this action is that when a psychopath is determined to make his/her mark, it is almost impossible to stop them in an open society. 

            And so it was on the campus of VT last week.  The psychopath, who seemingly easily wrought this carnage on the otherwise innocent, had the only weapon on campus.  While refusing to curtain the first amendment, critics claim we need more gun laws.  Authorities had previously determined that his psychiatric past should not be part of his ‘personal record’ due to his ‘privacy rights’ (also a First Amendment issue).  Therefore, it was not available for the FBI back ground check.  Although the basic human right of self defense is the right to bear arms, background checks must be altered to include psychiatric problems. This should not in any way inhibit the right to carry a handgun in a concealed manner.  This Second Amendment right is the single greatest deterrent of violent crime.  The mere revealing of such a weapon is credited by the FBI to thwart over 250,000 violent crimes each year.  And that is why the Founders placed the 2^nd Amendment into the Constitution.  It is interesting that when this Amendment is curtailed, as in ‘gun free zones’, crime increases, rather than decreases.  Criminals understand that when laws prevent citizens from arming themselves for protection, that they will have the only weapons in the community.  Last Monday on the campus of VT this killer was well aware of that fact … the result was thirty two dead and many wounded. … but if one had allowed his psychiatric history into the background check, or prevented him from being the only one carrying concealed … it may have ended differently.  While I agree that background checks must include psychiatric records, I also contend that it is time to do away with harmful ‘gun free zones’ and for the media to be edited in explicit reporting of such events.

 

Two interesting facts:
One must not confuse the psychotic with the psychopath.  There is a difference.  The insane, the psychotic, have no connection to reality.  They see rays or visions, hear voices, etc.  But they live in their own little world and although it is difficult for them to contribute to society they are not harmful to it.  The mass murderer is different.  He/she is aware of society and usually dissatisfied with some aspect of it.  They ‘learn’ to hate whatever facet they target and plot to destroy it. 

I can remember studying the criminally insane in college.  We asked about the difficulty of incarceration … i.e. ‘wouldn’t it take several guards to keep them imprisoned’.  My instructor’s answer has stayed with me through the years … he said just the opposite.  That the psychopath was self involved to the extent that they could not co-operate with other inmates, even for a revolt or prison break.  These folks had to be protected from each other, but not from banning together.  In short the emphasis was that they are loners by definition and incapable of co-operation with society or individuals on any level.

Moreover, the mass murderer is different than a serial killer.  Although both are psychopaths, the mass murdered is bent on ‘getting even’ with society and plots one event which ends in suicide.  On the other hand the serial killer gains gratification from the torture and killing of his/her victims and do all they can to get away and continue their crimes.