something I blogged about, almost exactly a year ago (April 24, 2007), in response to the Virginia Tech shootings. Here's the second part of it; you can see my inspirational source right away... "Someone emailed the Marc Steiner show yesterday and suggested that we've confused the word "closure" with the word "vengeance". Violence is really the only way we can be satisfied with punishment. One of the panelists floated a statistic: from a poll of juveniles currently detained in the juvenile justice system in the U.S., almost half declared that they would agree with the statement, "I have the right to shoot someone if they have disrespected me." And these kids aren't all mentally deranged misanthropes. And they certainly aren't acting alone!I have the RIGHT to shoot someone if.... (fill in the blank) When do YOU feel you have the right to shoot someone? To SHOOT someone with a gun, assuming that person will probably die as a result? I bet almost every American has an answer for that statement; some circumstance that justifies this. This is the problem.No civilian has the right to shoot anyone. I don't have the right to shoot someone. Now, I may be in a situation where I DO shoot someone (how the gun gets in my hand I'm not sure.) But I may shoot someone to protect my life, or save another. But I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea of being comfortable with that. Comfortable enough with such a violent idea, that I think of it as being among the many things that I simply have the right to do. Gang members kill each other pre-emptively. Do I have the right to shoot someone, if I know he is planning to kill me tomorrow? After all, my life IS in danger. Or what if I'm just paranoid? Justified violence, is, by its nature, debatable in its justifications. Satirists often skew and exaggerate our culture's deeply held beliefs, in order to expose and reveal our flaws to ourselves. Unfortunately, the mentally ill hold skewed and exaggerated beliefs, too. But maybe it's time to examine what's been uncovered here, instead of sweeping up and shaking our heads helplessly."