A year after the massacre at Virginia Tech by the troubled Cho Seung-Hui, what has been done to address the root causes of that event – the worst at any American educational institution? Dietmar Ostermann writes for Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, “The debate over gun control erupts loudly and often, yet it’s a discussion without consequences. The way people with psychological problems are handled, however, is a silent scandal. Even after Blacksburg, American society is so uncomfortable with the topic that it was quickly suppressed.”
Ostermann goes on, “Even more than the U.S. mania for weapons, this bloody killing spree represents the often tragic consequences of a system in which mental suffering is not only ignored – it is criminalized.”
By Dietmar Ostermann
Translated By Ulf Behncke
April 15, 2008
Germany – Frankfurter Rundschau – Original Article (German)
Shock. Horror. Outrage. Frustration. A year ago, the usual pattern that the United States has of dealing with bloody killing sprees repeated itself once more, after the worst-ever massacre at an educational institution. On April 16, 2007, Cho Seung Hui, for whom a judge had arranged psychiatric treatment two years earlier a student at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, shot and killed 32 fellow students and professors, then himself. Shock and horror were followed by outrage. Proponents of stricter gun controls were indignant about the fact that someone like Cho, who a judge had declared dangerously mentally ill less than two years before, was able to purchase firearms unimpeded.
Gun rights advocates were indignant, because the university forbids the carrying of firearms. If the victims in Norris Hall would have had guns, so the logic goes, Cho couldn’t have killed 32 people.
Shock. Horror. Outrage. Frustration. Somewhere amid all of these emotions, reforms are inevitably promised. In the case of the Blacksburg massacre, there were hopeful signs. A commission of inquiry appointed by Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine noted in its final report two primary factors that made possible this act of madness: Loopholes in the gun control laws and a health care system in which mentally ill people often get no help. The debate over gun control erupts loudly and often, yet it’s a discussion without consequences. The way people with psychological problems are handled, however, is a silent scandal. Even after Blacksburg, American society is so uncomfortable with the topic that it was quickly suppressed.
Even more than the U.S. mania for weapons, this bloody killing spree represents the often tragic consequences of a system in which mental suffering is not only ignored – it is criminalized. “Virginia’s mental health laws are flawed and services for mental health users are inadequate” the Blacksburg Report found.
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