We already have a law, sort of...

... that would have prevented the massacre at Virginia Tech earlier this week. But there were "loopholes."

A judge's ruling on Cho Seung-Hui's mental health should have barred him from purchasing the handguns he used in the Virginia Tech massacre, according to federal regulations. But it was unclear Thursday whether anybody had an obligation to inform federal authorities about Cho's mental status because of loopholes in the law that governs background checks.

Cho purchased two handguns in February and March, and was subject to federal and state background checks both times. The checks turned up no problems, despite a judge's ruling in December 2005 that Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness."

If we're going to bother to have laws, they need to be enforced, they need to be compatible, and they need to make sense.

After Columbine, and with all the violence that shows up in the news day after day from around the world, I admit that my first reactions to this tragedy were somewhat numbed and detached, until I learned that my second cousin, who works at the college, had actually been on campus at the time of the shootings. Fortunately, she's fine, and was able to make it off campus before the lockdown.

Then I started remembering what it was like to be in college, what a vulnerable time it is, and how completely freaked out those kids must have been, the ones who witnessed it and survived and the ones who didn't.

This incident is bound to start plenty of "dialogue" in this country (i.e. in the media, including NBC News) but I just hope it goes beyond racial/ character profiling and the usual rants (I don't think blaming the parents seems to apply in this case) and begins to touch on some of the deeper issues here, as to why this kind of violence isn't going away. It's a trend we can't afford to tolerate, and there's no quick-fix law or platitude that's going to solve it.