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No. No. No. No. A thousand times no. Why do we keep coming back to this question every time one of these tragedies occurs?

I just read the most recent articles about Steven Kazmierczak (the shooter at NIU this month) and none of them, not even one, mentioned that he was an above average consumer of movies or video games. Not one. They did, however, mention that he had a history of mental illness and was able to access guns easily.

The same applies to Cho Seung Hui, the shooter at Virginia Tech in April 2007. No mention of music or video games in the millions of profiles done about him, however they do mention he had a history of mental illness and was able to secure guns with no problem.

One final commonality: Cho used the same online weapon dealer as Kazmierczak.(1)

Anyone who cannot see the common thread by now is severely delusional, or has some agenda versus culture that uses violent imagery. I can interpret it no other way. Two shooters with history of mental illness, and no noted obsession with video games or aggressive music, yet people keep blaming games and music. It's time to stop. The more time wasted pursing that agenda, the more this problem will remain un-addressed, un-solved, and the more people that will die.

It's time to address the fact that we need to increase awareness of mental illness, and prevent easy access to guns. One obvious line of questioning: Why is the dealer that so easily supplied guns and accessories to a man (Cho) who murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech still in business? Wasn't there any ramification for selling him weapons? Have they tightened up their security in any meaningful way? Can't they be shut down, if not for any legal reason currently on the books, then just for being the obvious supplier-of-choice for campus murderers?

No? Okay, well then let's drop that angle come back to an old favorite: blame music and video games.

Aside from the complexities of limiting access to guns, awareness of mental illnesses would go the farthest to preventing these incidents. Mental Illness is the other common thread. Both young men struggled with it. Those around them were likely oblivious to any signs of impending breakdown. As seen in the popular Tom Cruise vs. Brooke Shields debate over post-partum depression, for some (in this case, Cruise) there is a stigma attached with turning to medicine to handle mental illness. There should not be. Our society needs to educate itself more about mental illness and any treatment that can work, whether it be lifestyle change, or therapy, verbal or medicinal.

Just as we are taught in first aid to recognize the signs of a stroke, a heart attack, or shock, people should be taught to notice and quickly address warning signs of mental illness.

Signs of depression identified and a plan of action executed by those around these two shooters might have saved lives. Implementing that type of education and response system will not be easy, but it's what's needed and surely more productive than going through the motions of yet another "Are video games or music to blame?" debate.

FOR REFERENCE:
1. CNN Website updated 10:32 p.m. EST, Fri February 15, 2008. "Company: Gunman, Virginia Tech shooter used same Web dealer ." http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/ 15/university.shooting/index.h tml

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