Loss of human life to mindless violence is always sad. But this latest episode at Newtown, Connecticut is especially unfortunate. Twenty school going kids were shot to death ... in their school. Those young lives were cut short even before they had had a chance to begin to understand how messed up this world is. And the ones who survived will be left to wonder the rest of their lives about this incident, and about how messed up this world is.
It is quarter past four in the morning where I am. I haven't had a wink of sleep all night. As sad as this incident is, I have had this one recurring thought - how could he pull the trigger at those kids so many times. You see, initial reports suggest that he was carrying two weapons. Both of them pistols. These were not automatic weapons where you pull the trigger and a continuous volley of bullets is spit out. He had to have pointed his gun at one kid at a time and then pull the trigger.
Another thought that has been bugging me is that he used his mother's legally owned gun to wreak this havoc. Given the incredible loss of life this may sound callous and unseemly, but may be it is time the policy makers mandated that the manufacturers incorporate biometric identification into their weapons. A la Walther PPK that Q provides to James Bond in the latest flick. Of course, it was a movie, and the technology even if already there, must still be in the nascent stages of development. In any case, a gun tied to its owner with a biometric identity check will ensure that only the rightful owner of the weapon can use it. And once electronics has made its way on to the hand held weapon, the day will not be far when each and every bullet that has been loaded into the cartridge and fired can be recorded. Wishful thinking?
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