Killing at VT

Watched the TV8 news coverage on the VT Killing last night, which included an interview with a man who graduated from an uni in the States. Loosely translated, his comments were: 'The security measures in States campuses are adequate. For example, there are telephone booths in every few hundred metres in the uni where I studied. If any student needs help, these telephones will come in handy... This incident does make us worry but nobody should worry too much. It's the same in Singapore where students may carry knives. In the States, they carry guns. There is not much of a difference between a knife and a gun; both are weapons'.

My toes laughed, and laughed hard they did. Mobile phones are definitely more convenient than telephone booths that are few hundred metres apart from one another. Though one may argue that the latter would be useful to those who do not have their mobile phones with them at the moment troubles hit them, running to a telephone booth to seek help may sometimes be too late.

A knife and a gun have little difference between them? Maybe. Both have handles. Both kill. Both are intimidating. But it's the one difference that counts - guns kill from a distance. Had the Korean gunman turned up with a knife on that fateful day, how many victims do you think there would be. Most likely zero. It might even turn out to be a joke among the students in VT if he really did.