They do a fairly good back ground check on you and you have to be a us citizen, or at least in the us legally... This guy had a green card so he was cleared... I think they should add a pysch eval in as part of the screening process as well... That in itself probably would have gotten this guys application kicked back.

I"m pretty fluent in mental ilnesses and something in him definatly snapped. I read he was on antidepressants, but if someone is misdiagnosed and given the wrong medication, all **** can break loose. Usually suicide is the final step if no one steps in or they don't seek help.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

no one did anything when it came to complaints, i can relate, true ppl didn't need to die, but there is only so much you can do these days, this will always happen, you complain about a weird behavior and they shrug their shoulders as "it wouldn't happen to us"

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Happy to be Single!

If you mean his disturbing behavior and writings? Well, you can't force anyone into treatment or to see a doctor. You can't jail someone for being wierd. The only way you can make him seek help is if he is threatening his life or others. There weren't any direct threats. Apparently he did see someone at some time if he was on antidepressants, but if he saw a bad doctor or just went to comply with a suggestion from a school counselor, he probably did more harm than good. If someone has a true mental disorder, it takes them actually wanting help for anything to work.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

As the old saying goes,... "Hindsight is 20/20"!
People can talk all they want to about how "they should have known" or "they should have done something". But how do you predict something like this?
Just because someone is acting strange and writing bizarre disturbing things doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to go on a rampage.
Look at Stephen King!
You also can't lock people up just because their behavior is bizarre or strays from the norm. If that was the case they would have locked ME up long ago.
The problem is you have reasonable, logical, rational people who would have to try to second guess the occurance of a completely unreasonable, illogical, irrational act.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I agree with Merlin. It is easy for everyone to say "They should have do this or that" now that they know what this kid did. I feel bad for the VT Dean. Everyone is second guessing his decisions of that morning. After the first incident was thought to be a domestic situation there would have been no reason to totally alert all 14,000 people on the 2600 acre campus. If someone near your home is murdered the police don't call you or knock on your door. It is just a horrible senseless tragedy.

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Kelly

My pets:
Leopard Gecko ~ Ducky
Rabbit ~ Chester
Kitten ~ Lil Fang
Black Bear Hamster - Charlie
Parakeet ~ Ray
Eastern Box Turtle ~ Ollie
Hermit Crab ~ Mr. Crabs
Teddy Bear Hamster ~ Poppy RIP 7/12/07

the problem is there are no real answers. People want to place blame on someone, ANYONE. It makes them feel closure.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I don´t want to start a political discussion, here - far from it - ...but IMO the major problem is the free access to guns. It seems to me that it is too easy to buy guns in the US.
And when they end up in the wrongs hands...things like this happen.
What could be another suicide of a kid with problemas, turns out to be a massacre (prior to that same suicide).

I know many people in the US have strong feelings about "self-protection" and having their own gun and everything...but this events are happening too many times and I believe some serious thought should be given to this aspect.

Again, I do not want to start a political issue or discussion. This is just my view on this tragic events

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Regards,
Joao

You are right that the people in the US have very strong feeling on guns and gun control.. on both sides of the issue.

But is is one of our constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. But I think that there does need to be stricter controls on who can buy guns. I live in the state of Pennsylvania. A very big state for hunting. We also do have fairly strict gun laws. You have to go through a criminal and mental background check and there is a three day waiting period for hand guns. If you are a convicted felon and/or were ever admitted to a mental institution you are not supposed to be able to buy a hand gun. Unfortunately there are many ways that people can buy guns illegal off of the street.

This is a very tragic and unfortunate event and is getting a huge amount of publicity worldwide. But please don't think that this type of thing happens in the US all of the time. This young man had serious mental issues that were ignored by many people and he continued to get worse until this happened.

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Kelly

My pets:
Leopard Gecko ~ Ducky
Rabbit ~ Chester
Kitten ~ Lil Fang
Black Bear Hamster - Charlie
Parakeet ~ Ray
Eastern Box Turtle ~ Ollie
Hermit Crab ~ Mr. Crabs
Teddy Bear Hamster ~ Poppy RIP 7/12/07

That's the main problem. That guns are too easy to get "off the street". Most crimes are committed with unregistered guns. Here in Canada we have problems in Toronto with shootings and I've never heard yet off one committed with a registered weapon. We can only buy a handgun if you have a membership to a gunclub with a shooting range.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa