Daily Lesson from Life 04 April 2009

"New York immigrant center shooting leaves 14 dead Sat Apr 5, 2009 Reuter

BINGHAMTON, New York (Reuters) - A man armed with two handguns killed 13 people at an immigration services center before apparently turning the gun on himself, authorities in Binghamton, New York, said on Friday.

Police Chief Joseph Zikuski told a news conference the gunman blocked the back entrance of the building with a car, walked in the front door and shot two receptionists, one of whom died, before entering a classroom and killing 12 more people and then apparently committing suicide.

One of the receptionists survived, pretending to be dead before crawling under a desk where she managed to call police, Zikuski said. She was in critical condition in a hospital.


"We have no idea what the motive is," Zikuski said, adding that the man was no stranger to the center. Indications are the gunman was an immigrant from Vietnam and the car he used was registered to his father. Local media reported the man was in his early 40s.

All the shots were fired before police reached the scene on a main street in Binghamton, a town of some 45,000 people about 150 miles northwest of New York City.

The American Civic Association building is used to teach English and provide other services to recent immigrants to the United States who are preparing for U.S. citizenship.


Zikuski said police believed the gunman was among the dead because the body of a man wearing a satchel holding ammunition was found, as well as two handguns. Police also tracked down the owner of the car who had lent it to the suspect

There have been several mass shootings in recent years in the United States, where guns are widely available for purchase and the right to own weapons is enshrined in the Constitution.

Last month, a man killed 10 people, many of them family members, in a shooting rampage in Alabama. On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia, became the site of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history when a student gunman killed 32 people and himself.

"When are we going to be able to curb the kind of violence that is so fraught and so rapid we can't even keep track of the incidents?" Paterson asked at a news conference."

Another senseless killing with guns in the USA. It is not the 1st time and neither will it be the last time as this is almost an accepted resignation that gun control will NOT see the day light in free USA!

Lessons for me are:

1. weapons can save life, rare if we are all peace loving folks and have no access to weapons in the 1st place for ALL. But it definitely can take life!;

2. in a civilized society that we all clamored in to live in, why do we still cling on to the notion that we need the right to own guns? For what? Some proponents said to protect ourselves? But to protect ourselves from who? If it is against the neighbourhood thugs who have illegal supply of weapons and terrorized the people then the law enforcement agencies must have failed miserably! But is that the case? Have USA come to that stage? I hope not if it still wants to the leader of the free world!;

3. tradition is hard to change even if some felt there is a need to change. Lobbyists have held sway. Anti-gun advocates have argued for years for a nation-wide ban without success though more states are recognizing the need to implement tighter control or ban totally. It is up to the American public to once again debate, soul search and decide if they want to see this type of tragedy repeat itself in the future. If gun is not control, such incident will happen again. It is just a matter of when and how many innocent people will lose their lives for no bloody good reason!

May those killed rest in peace and the living make peace with their passing!