From my Journal on the Virginia Tech Shootings

4/21/07
Two days ago some guy going to Virginia Tech opened fire on students in several classes and killed 30 some people and wounded 20 some more. Very sad. The last major shooting rampage at a college was 1966 when whats-his-bucket at UT shot people from the top of the Kniker carillon. The nation is in shock, candlelight vigils are proliferating, and the media is abuzz with editorial. There are starting to be discussions about how to keep it from happening again, and what security measures to inflict.

Today I had a scripture come to mind about it.

Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God;
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
(3 Nephi 12:21-22)

Christ hit the nail on the head. The violence is not the problem, but the symptom of the problem. The real problem is anger. They need to start targeting anger and put effort into anger management, more than security measures.

In my experience, the best way to deal with anger is to pray about it. I take it to Heavenly Father and tell Him everything I feel and why and then I ask Him to help me not be angry any more because I don’t like it. I can’t quite describe what happens afterward, because I never quite remember how it happens, but I end up much more calm.

If people learned to control anger, not only would there be no shooting rampages, but there would be no road rage incidents, no spousal or child abuse, no murders, and so on.

In one of my classes the teacher brought the subject of Virginia Tech up. She talked about security measures and wondered if carrying concealed weapons might have made the difference. I spoke up and told about the above scripture and made my view known. That was the end of the discussion.