I’m intrigued by the notion held by some that the situation at Virginia Tech would have been idyllic if everyone had a gun. (This is the microcosm of the perfect world in which all of us are armed. You know, like in Iraq.) Oh, I know, they really mean “the right person” — the hero — but let’s take it to the logical extreme where everyone at VPI carried a gun.

How does this fantasy play out? Cho approaches the first two people he killed and draws a gun. Now what? Does one or do both of those victims shoot him on the spot? Hooray! Do they hesitate until he shoots one of them first, then the other kills him? Let’s say he got the drop on them in spite of their weapons. On to the classrooms. Students hear gunfire and all draw their weapons and run to the hallway. When do these 30 students start shooting? When they see he’s dressed in black, armed, Asian?

I get the simple version: a guy points a gun at you and you shoot him first. But in a classroom in chaos, when and whom do you shoot? When the guy next to you draws a gun and starts shooting, how do you know he’s a good guy and not another psycho? Thirty-three people start shooting. How many die? mjh

PS: I wonder if Cho watch Saturday Night Live last Saturday. One sketch involved one roommate shooting another. Third person enters the room and is shot. Then a fourth. Then a couple of cops. Everyone ends up dead. Now that’s comedy.