DON'T BLAME THE GUNMAN FOR HIS ACTIONS, BLAME SOCIETY

Cho shouldn't be blamed for his actions--though he did kill people.

Cho shouldn't be blamed for his actions--though he did commit a crime.

Cho shouldn't be blamed for his actions--though he did buy a gun.

Cho should not be blamed at all.

Why?

Because though he was a murderer, it wasn't him who caused this massacre to take place in the first place.

It was society.

Society says that we can own guns. So we go out and shoot people. Society says that we can write whatever we want, so nobody picks up on the hidden clues or meanings--in case things go bad. Society says that we can act or say whatever we want because we live inside an institution which grants us certain inalienable rights.

And so--through society--we have set into motion events that will have lasting repercussions. And when someone kills students like they did in Columbine and in Virginia Tech--we immediately blame the gunmen who pulled the trigger; without realizing that it was society who gave them the means to do it.

So in a sense, we are all to blame for what happened on April 16th.

Because we--not people like Cho--are the guilty triggermen.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

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