6 Dead at Northern Illinois University

For the forth time in one week, a gunman opened fire at a US school.Today, Thursday, a gunman, identified Stephen Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. according to university President John Peters, "As many as 18 people were injured, then The shooter took his own life.He described the scene aftermath of the incident as terrifying and chaotic."Some girl got hit in the eye, a guy got hit in the leg," Gaynor, a senior geography student, said outside just minutes after the shooting occurred. "It was like five minutes before class ended too."Witnesses said the young man carried a shotgun and a pistol. Mr. Robinson, another student at the scene commented, "It was almost like he knew who he wanted to shoot," Robinson said. "He knew who and where he wanted to be firing at."Another student in the hall, Jillian Martinez, described how the gunman came into the hall by the lectern and just started shooting."He just started shooting at all the kids," she said. "He just started shooting at people, and I ran out of there as fast as I could. I ran all the way to the student center; when I got there I could still hear shooting.Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said he did not know what his motive might have been.authorities said they found out Two of the weapons — the pump-action Remington shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun — were purchased legally less than a week ago, on Feb. 9th. Kazmierczak had a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card, which is required for all Illinois residents who buy or possess firearms.Campus Police Chief Donald Grady told investigators, "He had stopped taking medication and become somewhat erratic in the last couple of weeks,"The shooting was the fourth at a U.S. school within a week. It makes one ask... what is wrong with us as a society?This is an enormous tragedy. As a parent, I can feel for the loss that the families of the victims are experiencing, yet I not truly imagine that level of pain. You work hard, make sacrifices needed to send your child to college, and then in a second, the 're gone. It must feel as if all of the air had been sucked out of your world, that the sun and starts stopped shining, and all that is left is darkness and pain.

In an attempt to understand, I am left with some questions:
Why are these tragedies happening in ever increasing frequency? And why are people with know mental problems able to go out and load up on weapons? What happened to the idea of a 7 day waiting period?

I have great respect for people on all sides of the political fence, but clearly our system is broken. We can not keep allowing mentally unstable people to go out at a moments notice and fill their shopping cart up with guns.
Larry Lubell