Daily Lessons from Life 13 October 2011 - Eight killed in California hair salon shooting

"Eight killed in California hair salon shooting - AFP 13 October 2011

LOS ANGELES: Eight people were killed and one remained in critical condition on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire in a packed hair salon in a small California beach town, police said.

The suspected gunman, a white male, was arrested a short time later about half a mile away from the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach, on the Pacific Coast Highway south of Los Angeles.

KCAL9 television reported the shooter was related to one of the hairstylists in the salon, but police could not confirm this. "There may be something to the motive as to a relationship with somebody in the salon.

The shooting is the most deadly ever in Seal Beach, a small town of 25,000 people some 30 miles south of Los Angeles, said Bowles, calling the attack "unusual and tragic."

Multiple shootings are an all-too-familiar occurrence in the United States: only last week a gunman killed three people at a quarry in California's Silicon Valley, while three were also killed in Carson City, Nevada in September.

Among the most notorious, and deadly shootings of recent years are the Columbine massacre in April 1999, when two teenage boys shot and killed 12 students and a teacher.

In April 2007 a student shot 47 people at Virginia Tech, killing 32 before he commits suicide, in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States."

A tragic senseless killing. Whenever this type of mindless massacre happened, the debate of if the freedom to own arms resurfaced. Then, die down. No punt intended!

Lessons for me are:

1. in a civil society, there is no need to own arms. Is USA a civil society? I think the answer is: Yes. Yes?;

2. in a rational manner, the need to own arms as a tradition has no place in modern society. In the early days of Wild Wild West, the need to own arms to protect your family and possession is quite real. Surely USA has progressed past that stage after more than 250 years. No? If not, USA must STILL be a developing nation and NOT the only super-power it claims to be!;

3. it is always interesting to learn how those who advocate freedom to own arms will respond when their own flesh and blood were the victims. Will they still insist it is not due to freely available arms that caused the arms to kill but the people are irresponsibly used the arms to kill! Will winning that technical argument help them to bring back their innocent lost ones?

Overcoming tradition is hard unless the incumbents, enough number of them, realize the need to change. When that happened, making the 1st step to change easier will be critical. May USA be free from owning arms privately and that the mass mindless massacres stop! No more innocent loss of lives.