Early in the morning on Dec. 14, as elementary students were arriving for class in the central Chinese village of Chengping, a man armed with a knife launched an attack. By the time it was over, 22 students and one adult had been injured and seven of the students were in hospital. Although no-one was killed, two of the students had to be transferred to larger, better-equipped hospitals elsewhere because their injuries were too severe. The perpetrator was caught and taken into custody.

At roughly the same local time on the same day half a world away, Adam Lanza, 20, walked into an elementary school in the New England town of Newtown, Connecticut. He was carrying an assault rifle and two hand guns, and when he finished shooting, 20 of the small students were dead, together with the school principal and several of the staff. A short time later, it was discovered Lanza had also killed his own mother who was, surprisingly, the owner of the guns he had used. In this case the perpetrator also killed himself.

This was not the first time someone had attacked school children, or even the worst such attack, in either country. In China, several assaults with eerily similar patterns killed some 22 students and injured more than 50 a couple of years ago. In each case the attacker was found to be a man who was mentally unstable and who, for one reason or another, couldn't cope with what was happening in his life. The mystery was why the attacks were directed against school children.

In America there have been several attacks involving schools. As far back as 1927, a man with a bomb killed 38 children, four adults and himself at an elementary school in the state of Michigan. In 1966, a man trained as a soldier took a high-powered rifle into a high tower on the campus of the University of Texas and picked off 13 people and an unborn child before being shot by police. In 1999, two senior students at Columbine High School in Colorado murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher, injuring another 21 before killing themselves. The deadliest shooting rampage by a single gunman in US history was also directed against students when a man launched two separate attacks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, killing 32 and wounding 17. Americans, with their easy and legal access guns, are very efficient killers. The guns, of course, are bought strictly for self-defence…at least that's always the reason given.

Such atrocities are not only confined to China and the US - they have also taken place in Canada and Russia, among other places.

When something like this happens the first question that springs to mind is why. There is no answer because the acts themselves are so illogical that a logical explanation, one that might satisfy the rest of us, is not forthcoming. In America, and probably in China, the seemingly senseless killing of innocents is by no means confined to schools. In just the past few months in the US there have been two other mass murders, in a movie theatre and in a shopping center. In America, and again because people carry guns, the killers often end up blowing their own brains out, further complicating the problem of learning why they did what they did.

A better question, and one that might actually produce some sort of answer, is what can be done to prevent future tragedies. In China, school killings have prompted the posting of security guards across the country. However, these personnel can't be everywhere all the time and perhaps the best they can do is to limit the damage. In the US, elementary schools are supposed to have their doors locked once the students are inside. Obviously, that didn't work either, since the attacker shot his way in.

The problem is that when you are dealing with an irrational mind it's extremely difficult to apply rational solutions. It is tempting to suggest that every time someone irrational is found they should be locked up before they can do something horrific such as attacking a school. That, of course, begs the question of the definition of an irrational mind, not to mention the difficulty in finding all these people. The shooter in the US was, apparently, autistic; but locking up autistic people or all those with other mental weaknesses is not a viable alternative. Besides, there wouldn't be enough facilities in the country to accommodate them all. It's unfortunate that students these days must go to school behind locked doors and, at the upper school levels where students must move about, it is also impractical. I despair of the day that teachers will have to go around armed but I'm afraid it could come to that.

The school shooting in the US last Friday was followed by the almost unheard of sight of an American president with tears streaming down his face as he mourned the deaths during a televised news conference. Finally, there is a glimmer of hope for those of us who think the infatuation of Americans with their firearms is ridiculous. There are now calls from many people for new legislation to make the purchasing and carrying of guns more difficult. The gun lobby in the US, spearheaded by the National Rifle Association, is very powerful, however, and any politician who moves against it is risking his career.

American gun laws are the way they are, of course, because Americans like their cowboy image and a lot of them want to be able to arm themselves. Still, there is some possibility, however faint, that politicians may finally be getting the message that allowing average citizens to walk around carrying guns has contributed significantly to the deaths of innocents. When the victims are small children, as was in the case of the recent Newtown school shooting, politicians may finally be shocked into action, although I'm skeptical. Talk is already turning to just limiting access to rapid-fire assault weapons with extended magazines. Even that would be some improvement but it won't solve the problem.

Brad Franklin is a former political reporter, newscaster and federal government employee in Canada. He is a regular columnist for China's English Salon magazine and lives on Vancouver Island.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn

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