[Wyody]

Once again, I think the problem AND the solution are bigger than just the issue that VA Tech brings to mind.
1) you can't put anyone with a gun around students. students will absolutely force gunfire just by being young, energetic, irrascible, obnoxious, overly smart, etc. Put a gun in a teacher's hand - someone will get shot. Put a gunman around students, someone will get shot ... and chances are high that it'll be the wrong person(s) getting shot.
2) I usually try to raise The Dufferz on this sort of stuff - but here's the deal: Our education system has far outlived it's usefulness. It's not this system's fault - it's just that the rest of the world has passed it up. Computers, Blackberries, Raspberries, PDA's, Cell-phones, cameras that talk, play, shoot and send, MP-3's.
It's time for Star-Trek. Gad, the social implications of not having kids in school - of being left to the "sound wisdom" of their parents - ....
We're Dinosaurs, Ladies and Gentlemen. I doubt that we can even fathom what the next step is - but there is a next step ... and somebody better come up with it pretty soon. Those "Hallowed Halls" we walked are obsolete. Those "Pep Rallies" we used to jump and cheer at - obsolete. Those bleachers we used to learn to smoke under - obsolete. Study Halls, cafeteria-lunch, choirs, bands, teams - obsolete. What are we supposed to do now?
(See, I told you we were dinosaurs).