OK, to smartntalented, Cho was first held in an psychological institute and later released. His counselors had asked him and recommended many counselors for him to see after they read his creative writing. It was very dark and gloomy. One of his stories, read from msn, is his story included a father and son. Apparently the son was mistreated and suffocated his father with a rice krispie treat. Anyways, firearms is a huge issue here. Criminals are as well armed or better than the cops due to our flabby laws over firearms. People making such purchases need to be marked or something. We have to much freedom with power such as this. I think we need more limits on weapons in general. Maybe do a background check on all purchasers or make sure they haven't been hospitalized for any phsychological reasons, etc....

No, not to my knowledge.

I just did a search on the topic and found two incidences: a fourteen year-old was arrested for injuring a classmate with a firearm and another attempted to initiate a shooting.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_25_37/ai_73827824
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmtpi/is_200605/ai_n16385615

I read an article regarding the relationship between literary expression and physical violence a few years ago. I thought it might be interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/opinion/13CHAB.html?ei=5007&en=e08e585ef55c305e&ex=1397188800&pagewanted=print&position=

Has there ever been a student shooting by a girl?

What is it about guys that leads them to this kind of action?

I understand about all these things going on about virginia tech, but this is the time we need to take action. We need to do something to help. I bet if somebody reached out to the killer, he probably wouldn't bring the gun. If somebody really cared, i bet he probably wouldn't shoot those people and himself. My teacher told me it was a process in being. He didn't just brought the gun for nothing. He had a purpose. And if we had student action groups we could reverse the process and change it into a process of being a better person.

So these purchases weren't out of the ordinary EXCEPT for the fact that he had so many magazines. My understanding is that to reload that many bullets would have taken a lot longer than just rotating a magazine.

I still think a college kid making this type of purchase should have been flagged at the store.

-- see my blog post ---

Cho actually didn't stockpile ammunition. He killed 33 people and wounded another 50 or so....let's round it up to a hundred, total. That's one box of ammunition. I know that when I go out shooting, I generally bring a few hundred rounds of ammunition. Last Saturday, as a matter of fact, I fired both a 9mm pistol and a .22 caliber carbine - both of the ammunition types that Cho used, and both incredibly common. In the space of an hour, my stepbrother and I fired 2 small boxes of 9mm ammunition - 100 rounds - and half of a larger box of .22 cal, around 250 shots. Since bullets are so small, ammunition is sold en masse in groups of 20, 50, 100, 250, or 500.

Cho carried many magazines, but only a hundred rounds or so. From what I've heard, he killed himself with his last bullet - so we are fortunate that he did not carry MORE ammunition and kill MORE people. As a matter of fact, he owned two very popular guns which it would NOT be out of the ordinary to own thousands of rounds for. I am not surprised that he was able to acquire the weapons, as aside from his mental history (which there seems to be some legal discrepancy with) everything seemed to be legal and in order.

Hereos, I know you are pro-gun.

How was Cho able to stockpile enough ammo to do what he did without getting flagged?

I feel that the most disturbing things about the shooting are the things that the media hasn't really talked about.

The killer, Cho, was armed with a Glock 19 compact 9mm pistol and a Walther P22 .22 caliber pistol. Neither of those weapons could be described as high-power; it is not uncommon for people to survive over a dozen 9mm shots, and from my experience with .22LR, it can barely be described as lethal. The Walther had a 10-round magazine, while the Glock 19 could have had a nearly 20-round magazine depending on what aftermarket products Cho had purchased. He had plenty of ammunition and spare magazines. Still, given that he killed 33 people and wounded 50-something others, he had to reload a few times.

The point I'm trying to make is that the weapons he used were both legal and rather insepid. When he killed those 33 people, he chained the doors of a classroom shut and went from person to person, shooting them calmly in the head...

Another disturbing fact is that the school's lockdown procedure did nothing to help its students. It caused them to stay in one place, together, for the killer to find. This affects me because my school follows the same procedure - and HAS NOT CHANGED IT after the killings!

A third disturbing fact is that under a year before the shootings, the Virginia General Assembly struck down a bill that would have allowed licensed concealed carry on the VA campus. It is known that several of the dead students were licensed to carry concealed weapons. Would things have been difference? Funny that when the bill was defeated, Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Virginia Tech, said "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus." Hah.

Another item that disturbs me is how the gun control lobby will twist events to further their goals. This deeply, deeply troubles me, and is partially why I've followed this sad story from the beginning.

I have found a few excellent websites that break down the tragedy in a meaningful way.
http://boortz.com/nuze/200704/04172007.html
http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/004772.html

A favorite quote - "Murdoc's no hero. Murdoc's not tough. Murdoc's certainly not well-trained.

But Murdoc had better be one of the first guys you shoot, because if there are no other better immediate options he's going to be in your face. And if you kill him when he comes for you, the types of people Murdoc associates with are probably going to be all over you while you climb out from under his dead body.

I sure hope I'd be able to act that way. I sure hope I never have to find out."

It IS interesting that nobody attempted to fight back. If those 33 dead had charged at once, maybe he would only have gotten 10.

My heart goes out to those men and women who died without reason.

I have been watching the news in disbelief for two days now. I find it almost impossible to undersand how anyone could ever get to the point of hoplessness and loneliness that they could hurt so many innocent people and do something like this. But it makes me think whether anyone would have been able to help this person no matter how hard they tried. It's times like these when I really wish someone could give me the answers to these difficult questions.