The fact is, there really is no way of preventing this. They obviously want to commit suicide but don't know why they have to take many others with them. The NIU one obviously baffles many people because he was an honor student at NIU, wasn't bullied and had no trouble at all. Another thing is, he was off his meds, but he bought the 2 handguns several days before the shooting. So he methodically knew what he was going to do but why didn't he do it at U of I instead of NIU? Just really strange overall. As for trying to prevent these shootings, there's really no way you can, short of putting metal detectors at every door, however that won't stop a determined student from opening fire in the quad or somewhere outside on a nice warm day. As for gun rights, i'm not in favor of allowing all students to have concealed weapons but I wouldn't mind if Professors were allowed to pack some heat. With some good training, a couple quick shots can end the threat with only a few shots fired from the suspect instead of 55 rounds shot by the NIU guy. Wouldn't totally stop someone from doing an attack but would definitely save some lives. This was the 7th school shooting in the last 2 weeks that I know of. 2 HS shootings in Memphis (targeted gang related incidents), 2 HS shootings in Dekalb Co, GA (targeted gang related), a HS shooting in Oxnard, CA where only 1 student was hit & killed, the LA Tech College shooting where 2 girl students & suspect was killed and then the NIU incident. All in just the last 2 weeks, craziness out there.
Jason