It is time the U.S. woke up and did something about guns in their country. What kind of country allows someone who has been declared by a judge to be "an imminent danger to himself and others" eighteen months ago to purchase two weapons in a matter of minutes? No one thinks twice about people having to have training and obtain a license to drive a car. But nothing - absolutely nothing is required to buy a gun. Perhaps Americans could worry about distributing weapons of mass destruction in their own country and not worry quite so much about non-existent ones in other countries.

D. A. Anderson, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

Stop trying to read a moral lesson in to the random acts of a nihilistic madman. Everyone it seems is ready with a pre-prepared misanthropic narrative. His dream has come true and he is world famous for a disgusting cowardly act of destruction. 200+ were killed in Iraq yesterday - a direct result of the actions of elected politicians in the West. This IS something we can do something about. Second-guessing lunatics produces merely fear and loathing throughout an already fractured society.

Dave Humphrey, Manchester, England

I find it amusing the way the media 'agonise' over the decision to show such material ....and then show it anyway. What a surprise. Is there no level to which the broadcast media will not stoop. Answer - No.
Surely this material is evidence to be viewed in court only and not for general consumption and titilation.

Steve, Salisbury,

A lot of people seem to think that just by changing the gun laws, that will solve all of the problems with people attacking other people. While it is true that stiffer gun laws would help deter this kind of incident, it will not eliminate them completely. I am not a fan of guns. I do not own one nor do I have a desire to. However, when someone is determined to wreak havoc and destruction on other people, they will find any way they can to accomplish their acts. Hind sight is always 20/20. It is very easy to look back on something and place blame, state regrets and state all of the would've, should've, could've reasons. Instead of slinging accusations and blame around, we need to be focused on the here and now. Right now there are a lot of people grieving and people who are still in hospital as a result of what happened. We should be focusing on them and on trying to help the students and faculty of VT be able to move forward and deal with what they've been through.

Julie, Tucson, USA/Arizona

Exploiting this tragedy is irresponsible. Nothing good can come of it. It may bring about readership, but at what expense?

J. Cotton, Cincinnati, US

The role of the media is not to protect us from what might upset us.
Of course what NBC and others, including The Times, have shown will upset the victims and their families- but can you imagine what would happen if the media never showed or said things that would upset those most affected? Don't show the war- people have died. Don't report about soldiers killed- people will be upset to hear and see their loved one's name in the press..
At this point there is simply no evidence that Cho's rambling presentation will lead to copycat crimes. It is also silly to suggest that Cho is somehow having a laugh at us from the grave- as if only the official investigators should see these images and the rest of us should just trust them to sum it up in a news release.

Bill, Penns, USA

As with the Columbine killers, I would like to know where the heck this kids parents were. If everyone else in the town noticed this idiot was sick, how could his parents not have? Did they pay any attention to him?


And I really don't want to open up a website and see a gun pointed at my face. Really, let's have some sensitivity.

Lis, U.S.,

of course chris brandon(from the U.K!!!) does not believe in self-defense.Promise an englishman a goodie-bag and cheap suit and he'll surrender in a second.

an american, magnolia,

I might just skip all news sites until things are back to "normal". I'm totally sick of seeing pictures of this boy pointing things at me.

starling, Lancaster,

The broadcasting and publishing of the killer's tapes is disgusting. Just what he wanted. Future killer's take note!

It's a pity that these mad kids don't do their massacres in a Newspaper office or TV studio. it might wake the press up to a sense of responsibility.

Stanley, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Why all the blaming of America ?
This attention- seeking nutter could have done this in any country he happened to be living at the time of his mental breakdown.

Charles Vorster, Durban, South Africa

All this talk about banning guns. How long do you think it would take to gather up all the guns in the USA especially from the criminal element in this country? Do you suppose that they would (in their best interest ) drive over to the local cop shop and turn them in? Who are you trying to kid. If an armed school administrator or a security professional had been in place perhaps the outlook would have been substantially diffrent. As some one once said "if you ban guns in this country only the criminals, lunitics and cops will have guns". That would be one scenario that I would want to avoid.

David M. Wirfs, Hillsdale , Illinois USA

To anyone who is trying to link this to Islam, I say there is no direct connection,but I can detect a similarity between these actions,and those of the young suicide bombers who put on explosive belts ,and detonate themselves in a crowded area,and in the process ending their young lives, together with those of the innocent who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In that sense Cho was a suicide bomber, who thought he was going to be a martyar.
What were his motives?!,despair comes to mind, anger at society at large, is another. While most of the young suicide bombers in the Middle East do it for a cause,that they may or may not beleive in, the suicide bombers of the West, like this guy,and the two of Columbine before him,are doing it to take revenge on a society, that ignored them,or as a result of disenchantment with it. Growing up in Colorado or Virginia is definitely much better than growing up in a Gaza slum, but the despair and its consequences, are the same.

Sam, Dallas, USA

No Michael in Evansville we have not forgotten all those bombings in Europe nor who can carry the can for a lot of it - Madrid and London came after the awful 9/11 attacks - but the total number of people killed by the Mafia, ETA and the IRA is so much more than the people who died that day and what did America do against this? They helped fund and supply the IRA for years and sent many more Europeans to their deaths in Iraq to fuel their arms business and lust for oil and boost their President's ego - oh and friendly fire incidents anyone? So before you start criticising other people get your history and your facts straight. Many Europeans have had to cope with decades of home turf terrorism where this is new to your country yet you oblige the rest of the world to come and sacrifice themselves to do your country's dirty work. So don't patronise us Europeans and go read some history books!!!

Kris, Yorkshire, England

make all bullets REALLY HARD TO GET.

Ben, bremerton , wa

It worries me that the article seems to suggest that everybody is branding the guy a wacko, and therefore it must all be his fault and nothing is wrong with the environment where this happened.

It may well be that he was on completely the wrong planet, but I'd bet some money on there being a whole group of people now thinking that perhaps they shouldn't have been so nasty to the kid.

Don't misunderstand me, I think this is a terrible tragedy, but I also think there must be lessons to learn about ourselves as well as individuals like this so that we can better support loners - preventing this from happening in the future.

Oh and stop selling guns!

Paul, MK,

I don't need an anonymous editor at NBC deciding for me what news I'm qualified to know and what news I 'm not qualified to know. News is news, NBC is in the news business, and this psychopath's video is news. I want to see it. I need to see it. It adds to my knowledge of the human condition and the fragility of the world in which I live. Those who cannot abide reality need not watch the video. So what if this psychopath wanted us to see his video? He was right. We need to know about those among us like him. Perhaps this will raise public consciousness enough to in future avoid the obvious institutional mistakes which allowed this deranged individual to purchase handguns and live in a university dormitory with the victims upon whom he would employ those weapons. Heads out of the sand, please.

Michael Grable, Silver Spring, MD/IUSA

What kind of Freeddom US Govt. wants to give their citizens! You can buy a gun and shoot 32 people is it freedom ? Why US Govt cannot clamp down arm sale? what are the forces who are stopping them do this . Thousands of people dies in US just because of this.

When we are able to see any law on this. On the contrary US is very quick to impose ban on any country on this planet!

Nitin, Dubai, UAE

Helpful, Middlesex, I am right with you. I just know that Islam will get the blame for this, even though the gunman compares himself to Christ.

robthomas, morristown, nj

The US gun laws are never going to change. Why? Because of the substantial amount of cash that the pro-weapons lobbyists provide to the ruling party.

This boy, regardless of being mentally ill or not, was most vocal about what he saw as an unfair system. What needs to be addressed is the unimaginable gap between rich and poor in the US, the gaping hole of poverty and need that is on a par with the third world. That's the issue here. Secondly, having read some of this boy's plays, someone needs to investigate what on earth happened to him as a child.

Susie, London,

Curtis,

you have been seeing far too many movies. 90% of American adults DO NOT OWN GUNS. Millions of Americans want more rigid laws.

And when was the last time, an American tried to commit mass murder on a subway system.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

Marlene Koenig, Alexandria, VA/USA

Men like Cho Seung Hui can be categorised as Mental patients, suffering from ADD- Attention deficit disorder coupled with aggressive behaviour to camouflage their unsocial habits of a loner and a solitary man. It is indeed very very sad and tragic to see innocents being killed by a psychopath . Such persons often give out some forewarnings or early triggers, before commiting these horrendous crimes. Picture clippings and video excerpts show an underlying sense of frustration along with solitude. Such persons act like a ticking human bomb, willing to explode at a spur of the moment . They form a commune of like minded delusioned group, as is shown on the chat cum interactive-website with nefarious and criminal ideas brewing among the group. Fed. Govt should take serious cognizance of this fact and keep a tab on such persons who propagates tacit terrorism.It is not the gun, but man and his mind that uses the gun, kills the victims.Banning guns and firearms may not a longterm solution.

Sanjeev Dheer, New Delhi, India

The broadcasting and publishing of the killer's tapes is disgusting. Just what he wanted. Future killer's take note!

It's a pity that these mad kids don't do their massacres in a Newspaper office or TV studio. it might wake the press up to a sense of responsibility.

Stanley, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Considering his plays, it seems that he probably has experience of people making him appear as if he was something bad when he wasn't, and getting him into trouble. He seems to concentrate on others getting their own way at his expense. He seems to feel ridiculed and looked down upon when he just wanted to get along with people. In the end he considered everybody his enemy as he was so full of hate. He was rejected by people and gave his life in order to save others from a similar fate -- people in America should certainly think twice about treating weak children with contempt from now on -- which is probably why he associated himself with Christ. He may be right, he might have been completely deluded. This will probably only make sense if we know his life from his childhood up until now.

Chris, Suffolk, UK

Clifford from kenya. If not the media's fault, why would it be the schools (or the government's) fault that this kid was completely off his rocker?

That makes as little sense as blaming the media. Also, many foreign students (though Cho was an American citizen) go to school every day in the U.S. and don't proceed to go on a shooting rampage.

He we obviously deeply disturbed. Who knows what factors in his general environment caused him to be that way. (Was a girl mean to him? Poor boy......Sorry being sarcastic, I have 0 sympathy for this pathetic excuse for a person...) And once again I would question where his parents were in all of these years when everyone else noticed he was disturbed.

Lis, U.S.,

To everyone non-American in this forum, can you please post something else besides "America needs to change gun laws". You all who say the same thing bore me because you act like it is so easy to do. I will try hard to enlighten you all. Ever hear of lobbyists? Ever hear about money controlling things? It is not as simple as you make it, yet every non-American here posts the same silly statement about gun laws. I understand guns kill people, and sure I wish they would crack down on them too, but we have a Constitution in place and it would have to start there. Even if the laws were tighter, people would go to black markets or the streets to obtain them. I can't believe some of your statements here. Do you not think that if a madman wants to commit such a bloody crime, that a "law" would stop him or her? NO, it wouldnt. Cash talks here, so they would be able to get guns illegally to commit these crimes.

Chris, Tampa, USA

#1. Why has it become so easy to gain access to guns in our country? We are a nation of gun nuts. We have the right to bear arms... Does out government care about the affect these instruments of violence have caused? The answer is NO.

#2. Mentally ill... psychotic this man was! Knowing that he was insane and volatile and... having been previously admitted to a mental hospital with all the salient warning signs, you would think that he would be kept off of university grounds if not constantly monitored at all times. No, nothing was done.

Enfuriating is what it all is. I feel so bad for the innocent victims and I HATE THAT MY OWN COUNTRY FAILS TO PROTECT IT'S CITIZENS.

P-oed, New Brunswick, U.S.A.

Censorship is never a key to a successful modern society. The videos have to be made public to better understand people like Cho and try our best to help them and avoid further occurencies. Closing our eyes and ears to pretend that we live in a peaceful world surrounded by rational, kind and harmless people, and hoping that less "traditional" people, like Cho, don't hear this (and not copy-cat) is plain wrong. In now way am I trying to defend the killer. As a graduate of a university, I can almost imagine how horrible it must have been, but to place all the blame one one individual seems all too convinient to me. People don't like to blame themselves. We all to happily would rather point a finger in any direction, instead of looking in the mirror and asking "what could/should I have done?", especially if the person we are blaming is dead and cannot say anything in defence. That is why the videos and other documents can be helpful, but NO, no one, it seems, even wants to hear that!

Average Joe, Any Town, Earth

"We’ve made the decision because by showing some of this material, perhaps it will make us understand or answer the question why, why did it happen."

Baloney! NBC made the decision to release the video because it would help their plummeting ratings. Obviously, the killer wanted the video disseminated to a broad audience -- he wouldn't have filmed a video and sent it to the media if he didn't want the video disseminated to a broad audience.

NBC gave the murderer his wish. What about the victims and survivors who didn't want the video released? NBC ignored their wishes because it didn't fit into NBC's bottom line.

American journalism is bankrupt.

Time to look overseas for objective, thoughtful, reporting.

Steve, New York,

Once we've lived with this tragedy for awhile, and after we've heard explanations from all the psychologists, I'd like to hear from the anthropologists. America loves its tragedies. I'm not being critical - it's just part of our culture and society. But, I'd like to know, "Why do we need our tragedies from time-to-time?" Tragedies somehow satisfy us, if we're not too close to them. We create the environments; then, we're surprised by the consequences. But, we don't change. We won't try to change, I suppose because the environment of tragedy is only a side-effect of the overall system we love. Tragedy is rare, but inevitable in America. So, let's not overreact, we know it's going to happen again and again, and be very much like the one before.

adamsrw, longwood,

I find it more disturbing that people who'd i'd like to think can be intelligent can make comments like "Of course without weapons there would not have been this massacre" err Dunblane massacre. Banned hand guns in Britain but still plenty of gun crime? "Take the link of that video off your website!! How horried and Macabre and potentially dangerous". This incident itself was a copycat from a long trend starting in the 70's and i don't think there was a video tape aired after that one! Oh yes and don't forget to blame the doctors and the teachers and the parents and the law but if it had been your kid that day that shot 32 people, you probably wouldn't have known what they were going to do if you'd have given them a big kiss on the cheek that very morning and sent them on their way.

Millsy, Birmingham, England

It is all very well to criticise the actions of this young man. Which were obviously horrific.
However perhaps instead, we should look at it from a different point of view. He was a very lonely person and was clearly finding life difficult, anyone could see this from his disassociation from the rest of the world.
It is people such as this who need the most help, not to be ignored and labelled a loner.
I believe it should have been up to people around him to be observant to things such as this and offer help, even if he didn't want it, it would have atleast made him know that there was people who cared and that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was.
It should be up to us and everybody in society to help people in need, before terrible occurances happen like this again.

Alex Glover, Kingsbridge, Devon

I grew up in the rural South of the US in the 1970-80s and EVERYONE owned guns. Almost every boy in my high school went hunting and shooting on a regular basis. And how many mass shooting were there in the 1970-80s? None. Same thing for the 1980s. Easy availability of firearms? You could order guns BY MAIL from Sears, etc. into the 1970s. And yet, the worse violence we ever had at our schools was the occasional fistfight. The problem is not guns in and of themselves, the problem is people who are willing to use them to murder large numbers of innocent people. These Colombine-style tragedies were unheard of even 20 years ago and can't be blamed simply on gun ownership.

In fact, the most violent cities in the US (Washington DC, New York, Chicago, LA) are the ones where law-abiding citizens aren't allowed to own firearms. Go figure.

Rafael Argos, North Carolina, USA

Get this deranged kid off the pages of all newspapers. We've seen the horror. Enough.

Roger Abdell, newton, MA

The media will stop selling violence when the public stops buying.

R. Jones, Dallas, USA/TX

I wonder how many of you who claim to be "disgusted" by the publication of this video have actually watched it in spite of your noble objections. The media will keep selling violence and tragedy as long as the public keeps buying.

R. Jones, Dallas, USA/TX

The whole thing is horrible...but USA has put his video out on tv but moan about Janet Jackson showing a boob ???
Madness.

CLARE Mountain, Ilfracome, DEVON UK

If guns were banned from the USA he would probably have used a bomb, or several bombs. Many more could have been killed if he did. We must remember that guns were the tools used to kill, and not the reason. Stop discussing the use of particular tools, and start discussing the problems within modern society. Why have there been so many shootings of children in Britain lately? Our focus is not on the problem, and if this continues we shall always live in fear.

Chris, Suffolk, UK

There is a medical view of acute -imminent and chronic - latent. By using the same cognitive ranting dissociation I immediately thought of Ian Brady and his outbursts. The objections of failure most increase latent killing urges when the humiliation shared by none integration occurs in the twisted psyche. What is most prominent is the need for self publicity, for making news as such damaged minds do. Infamy, not boredon, and reliving films of absolute fictional violence invades the minds of those with little in it.

Clearly, like Ian Brady the language courses and connotations fed some extreme form of paranoi exhibited by attacking the scientific world they could never aspire to. By removing all visuals of the criminal, he or she is invisible - just dead. Infamy is a state of mind that media makes by publishing the deviances exposing the identity. Deny, deny, deny, and these monsters who are damaged will become normal when there is no cost benefit in glory as they see it. Insanity.

PaB, On Location, UK

The media will not stop "selling" violence until the public stops buying.

R. Jones, Dallas, USA/TX

For the people who think banning guns is the simple solution, you have to face facts. We are not a small country like Britain. We have a vast southern border where we can't even stop the drugs. The guns would still be here, just like the drugs. Instead of Government oversight with backround checks, ID,waiting periods, etc., gangs would be trafficking the guns. This would create new gang gun-runners, more violence between them (like the drug-runners), and a whole new illicit industry that the Police would be battling. Just like the drugs, it would be never-ending and never stopped.We tried Prohibition, and it was a disaster.Again, it spawned an illicit industry and more violence.This is a huge country with 300 million, not some small place with a small pop. that is easier contained.The guns will still be here and mostly in the hands of criminals who commit most all of the gun crimes already. It wouldn't be better, it would be worse. Solutions that won't work are not solutions.

Mary Catherine, Elmhurst, USA/IL

i have read some of the comentary that English citizens and politians have written about the unthinkable ease it is to get a gun in America. I for one as a 42 year old American living just 45 minutes away from our nations capatal agree with the rest of the world. We don't need gun contrl laws, we need gun bans. No one should own a gun in the US except police. Our second ammendment allowing us to have arms was written to help us prepare for war againist another country , not to have for personal use or enjoyment. Of the many issues the US need to deal with as the sole super power, Gun banishment is the single most important. We are killing each other and it must stop.

Morris, Baltimore, MD. , USA

This is typically a classy newspaper - I often find it a pleasant break from the reporting in the U.S. However, seeing the barrell of this killer's gun pointing at me is disgusting, I wish the times showed better taste.

Tony, Dallas, TX/USA

Desist from blaming the media please. There is no record that Cho was influenced by any act of the media. It does not take a long stretch of imagination to realise that Cho was a victim of what American society really is…The I don’t care attitude to the non-Americans. The result is a disaster as you have seen. The main concern here should not be to blame the messenger but to use the massage objectively and make adjustments where possible. Blame the law enforcement officers and the school administration but not the media please. As much as I strongly condemn the act of cowardice and brutality demostrated by Cho, I support the airing of the video footage because it exposes the reality of the failure within the entire aministration system.

Clifford Derrick Otieno, Kenya

Clifford, Nairobi, Kenya

I am completely against the media airing the vidoes and pictures, but, unless you are in favor of censorship, it is their choice to do so. If we really want to get the point across then we have to stop watching and reacting to these stories. Please don't misunderstand me; I'm in no way trying to downplay the seriousness of the incident that occurred at Virginia Tech.

As for American gun policies, criminals are criminals because they break the law. Acquiring a gun illegally is easy enough to do in any country, especially for someone as dedicated to committing his/her crime as Cho Seung Hui was. In fact, many statistics show that most violent crimes involving guns are NOT committed by licensed gun carriers.

Brian, Florida, USA

Military personnel were on the fated 9/ll flights, and at least two military personnel are listed in the Norris Hall victims, one cadet, and one professor. After 9/ll, a cadre of military volunteer officers suggested that the millions of eyes on the prize needed to protect every shopping center, school, and other soft terror target in America could only be affordable, if the millions of military volunteers already paid within defense budgets, were ordered on Presidential authority alone, to carry their sidearms, at all times. This zero cost order would put millions of long service veterans paid by the government, on annual requalification and fitness evaluation, as anti-terror responders, at less than zero cost, since reserve retention costs would fall, when a 48 paid drills, and two weeks active training each year are used in "flash crowd response to terror events", using PDAs to put armed, volunteers in contact with the terrorists, to stop the killing, instead of to die, unarmed.

Franklin Lomax, ALEXANDRIA, USA/Virginia

The CBC in Canada made a decision to not air the photos and video and I agree with this. Sure you can see it online but it's a different environment than public broadcast. The massive over-publicity both gives the killer fame and "inspires" other unstable youth to copy his deeds (as he was influenced in turn by Columbine publicity when he was younger).
The most striking feature of his rant to me was his focus on blaming everyone else for his deed -- "you made me do this; it's your fault." In this, he is merely aping the entire culture of the US, where from the top down nobody in authority is ever to blame for anything bad, it is always someone else's fault and the perpetrator of misdeeds is really a victim of something or other. America, grow up!

Ruperic, Victoria,

Too disturbing. The media just cannot leave" bad ehough" alone. I guess this is how they get viewers and readers.

Claudia P, Ranch Cucamonga, CA. United States

The killer may have been hell bent on destruction but he would certainly have killed far fewer people if he didn't have easy access to guns. As for wishing his family would come forward and say what they knew about him, I can't recall any families of Columbine or other US school shootings or even 911 murderers coming forward. We can expect such killers' families to be grieving as well but some may be in such a deep state of shock or even ashamed of their murderous offspring. Some may even be in self-denial mode and may close ranks to protect the rest of their family members. It would not be surprising that a few may even decide to change their family surnames to escape any form of backlash.

Yang, Shanghai, China

Guns,Guns,Guns, What does it take for you to understand,he was crazy.Plus he was an student at an engineering school,do you not think it psssibly could have been even more distructive if he would have built a bomb. that seems to be the preference for you EU types is Spain,Italy,Great britain or have you forgotten

Michael, Evansville, In USA

Publishing this kid's plays, showing his videos -- it only tells other unhappy people who feel unappreciated that you can make yourself famous by killing.

Jim Houghton, Los Angeles, USA

All the gun control proponents are wrong in this case. Had this Psycho not been able to find a gun, he'd have built a bomb or stalked individuals at night like Jack the Ripper. He didn't want to shoot people, he wanted to kill people.
We need to sort out our licensing and background check requirements for sure, but with 250 million firearms in this country today, an outright ban on any type of firearm would cause more problems than it would solve.
If it weren't for the medical records that were kept in secrecy, his mental illness would have been in his background check and the shop owner would not have sold him the pistol. That is the real problem with the background checks here. I say this as the proud owner of multiple firearms for hunting and recreation. I keep a baseball bat for home defense.

Taylor, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

Chris Brandon says that self-defense is not a good reason to own a gun. May I ask why not? The suggestion seems to be that when faced with an armed attacker, one is obliged to lie down and die. But that means one has neither a right of self-defense nor in fact a right to life. What it means, ultimately, is that one has no rights whatsoever. It's sad to hear such sentiments expressed from the citizens of the nation that gave us John Locke.

Stian of Amsterdam asks a good question: why didn't Cho's mental illness show up in the background check? The answer is that the finding of imminent danger was initially made by a magistrate but then contradicted by a physician, and the physician's (false) diagnosis is what carried the day. If magistrates could overrule physicians in these matters (or the magistrate's finding was merely sufficient to create a record), Cho would have been involuntarily confined and/or ineligible for gun ownership, and none of this would have happened.

Irfan Khawaja, New York, NY, USA

A person named Helpful from Middlesex said, "how long before an Islamist connection is made to this!" Any Americans like to get the ball rolling?" Well if you want to drag that into the equation then we can do that. As an American, it didn't even cross my mind to use an analogy with moderate Muslims. But I see where your going! Poor Muslims are being discriminated against the West. They think we are all terrorists, blah, blah. I know that vast majority of Muslims are good, law abiding people, but the Arab world shows these post massacre videos all the time after a "martyr" blows himself up in the West Bank, Baghdad, etc.Their media never condemns their actions instead they blame the West for the "martyrs" sinister actions, and then the everyday Arab glorifies the shaheed to trumphant ,immortality in the after life. This is even more dangerous than showing Cho's video, because this young man didn't have a bent religious philosophy that was shared by mill.of people throughout the world.

Rob, Phx, USA

I understand that you are reporting the news but is it not enough to show stills and refer to the video. But to post it like a youtube link? It's like the video of Saddams hanging. Surely you are sensationalising an even that should be dealt with delicately and and in this particular case giving this sick young man his glory.

Tom Andrews, London,

Im guessing this has taught everyone a lesson.. If you know someone who is suicidal and does things like this gunman did, then report immediately before it is too late. Also the number of messages and hints given to the university and several others shows that we do not take account of the hints. This follows after many terrorist attacks - such as 9/11 and 7/7. Both of which police and government were warned against.

Jazz, London, UK

The son of the american society.

M.C., italy,

I agree with many of you. Remove this video and focus on the lives that are gone. Pay tribute to the innocent people who contributed beauty, grace and love to this earth rather than those who spread violence and death. Not all Americans believe in wearing holsters to church. Not all people believe in hate. Focus on the positive and you will receive positive. Focus on hate and you will get that too.

Salen, Nashville, USA

"Get rid of small fire-arms and assault rifles, as they have done in the UK, the results speak for themselves". The results do indeed speak for themselves. It hasn't worked. Gun crime and shootings have gone through the roof since the banning of hand guns in the UK.

Dave Scroll, Manchester, UK.

Absolutely agree with Van Zandt and Horowitz -- airing these videos is highly irresponsible and bound to encourage copycat killers.

Linda , Lawrenceville, NJ

I find the phrase 'law enforcement authorities' quite ludicrous. Not much sign of law being enforced at Virginia State. How dare they object to any publicity when they signally failed to protect the uni?

And are the media getting holy about showing violence? P...lease! The fact is that they constantly bombard our society (all of us, not just in the USA) with images of real-life brutality and only play the nanny card when a new spin will gain readership.

What a sick world we live in.

wokrightinn, Rudkøbing, Denmark

If this guy was hospitalised for mental illness, shouldn't that have shown up in the background check they ostensibly do before selling guns to people? Perhaps a stronger gun control wouldn't have precluded the massacre, but why make it easier for distorted individuals to get their tools to kill others?

Stian, Amsterdam,

How long before an islamist / muslim connection is made to this man? Any American friends care to get the ball rolling?

Helpful, Middlesex, Middlesex

Irrespective of the mental instability of this person. whatever deep and irreconcilable comlplex he had developed, there is a catalogue of errors here. Crucially, and most importantly, how does someone with mental problems come into possession of TWO powerful handguns.

America needs to sort out its gun ownership laws and gun
safety controls. Self-defence should not be a good reason to own a gun and gun ownership restricted to those with supportable reason for doing so, under strict use control. In the UK we are screened and checked even for a simple shotgun licence. It works, The law is simple to follow. How many more people need to be shot?

Chris Brandon, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, England

i agree with katie - the media are consistantly going too far with their coverage of certain events in the world today, how blood thirsty are the modern public that they need to actually see this guys video.............if they argue that people will just find it on the net, then fine - let those who wanna see it search for it; but do the media think that constant airing of that video on national news is healthy for kids?

eamonn , manchester, england

In a country that worships guns and religion on an equal (and dangerous) level this is always going to happen. Sad thing is the majority of the American public will not accept any restraints on the gun laws, which in essence is saying 'we dont care enough about this tragedy to change'. This is going to happen time and time again with greater regularity, teens and young people are going to be troubled all over the world, US is not the only country with mental health problems, however it is one of the few civilised cultures that allow these people ready access to firearms. And to those who say if other students were allowed guns on campus it would have been okay because they would have shot him, that an idiotic 'fighting fire with fire' approach.

G, Chicago and London, US / UK

America must face facts. Mental illness happens - everywhere. Guns dont. When this issue calms down The USA need to think about the future. People with guns feel empowered. Ask the Basques, the Irish, Ethiopians and Iraqis. Think about the US civil war, the NA indian. Guns in in emotive, difficult situations kill dialogue, kill democracy. Guns assist extreme positions. Good laws are made for particular moments. The freedom to bear arms is an old law poisoning the present and will be the end of the US as faction turns on faction because political and social democracy is not truly imbedded in the US. US democracy is unable to assimilate and support ethnic differences. Fear and frustration is the result. The gun is on hand and provides immediate power. Why wait on democratic and social process to run its slow course? Ask the Basques and Northern Irish - guns have provided marvelous results for them. In 10 years time the 2nd Civil War will make these two examples look like child's play.

Hugh Stronge, S. Cruz, Portugal

Declared mentally ill and then released on his own responsibility. Usually with a crazy diatribe we ask "What's he on?" In this case, it's clear he should have been on something but was allowed not to be.

Mental disease isn't an exact science - but then neither is cancer treatment (yet), but we have enough sense to cut out a tumour before it kills us.

When does responsibility to society rank alongside responsibility to patient? Maybe doctors should have the wording of their hippocratic oath revised. Epidemiologists are allowed to confine infected people in the public interest (with court agreement). They need to take their responsibility vis-a-vis mental patients just as seriously.

KR, Stockport,

What amazes me is that this self-righteous "special community" of Virginia had years to notice that this man was in deep trouble, but he wasn't helped. Few saw his disturbance and fewer cared. Cho was spot on when he said he had given his victims thousands of warnings: everything he did and everything he said. I'm not excusing what he did, not at all. But it's something that all communities should learn from so that this doesn't happen again. An infected wound causes revulsion, but if it is ignored it will cause death. I understand about the disgust this incident has provoked. But the idea that a dead man is relishing media attention from beyond the grave? Pur-leeze! Why didn't he get attention when it could have helped? No man is a island. See what one sick soul has done to hundreds of people. It could have been prevented by his "special community" if they had seen, cared and acted decisively long ago.

Ruth, Johannesburg, South Africa

When it is unrestricted access to fire arms for individuals, “we” the rest of the world out side the US consider it unnecessary. Does the same logic apply to Groups, militias, etc? Accepted thinking is the same, weapons are not required. When it comes to Countries? The logic is stood on its head. When will the world learn? Nation states kill a lot more people than deranged individuals. On the same day 200 people where killed in Baghdad.

Ravi Abay, Colombo, Sri Lanka

How about trying something different. How about plastering the front pages with pictures and stories of the amazing lives that this underacheiver has tried to wipe out. We'd still be made very aware (if not more so) of the tragedy that has just occured. I'd like to see what they have managed to acheive to date. This guy like many others seems to have forgoten the value of a life. Why not remind us!

P.s. Take his video off the site. The people he killed deserve their 5 mins of fame far more.

Richard, Staines (west side!), United Kingdom

Shame on all of the broadcasters (NBC, etc) who have aired this video. They have done an incrediblely stupid thing.

You have to wonder whether any other deluded crackpots out there will feel empowered by the showing of this bilge. It scares me that the broadcasters can show such poor judgement. This isn't entertainment !

Remove the links at once.

RJA, Nottingham, UK.

It's interesting to contrast reporting of this event and other events elsewhere.

Some 200 people were killed yesterday in Bagdad. Strange that there are equivalent headlines expressing revulsion at the individuals who can slaughter hundreds of innocent people in a market place - though no hesitation in hurling abuse at US or British troops for misconduct or even fabricating misconduct for dramatic effect.

H, London,

This should not have been aired. You fools in the media have succeeded in giving him a forum. Not airing this and giving him no opportunity to gain publicity for his actions would have denied him his death wish. It only encourages other maniacs to do similar for the notoriety.

Colin Dean, Manchester, England

Stop selling guns..........

S farmer, blackburn, lancs

I saw a bit of video on the Dutch news. Either the boy was completely paranoid (well, he was obviously quite mad), or he was having a go at a specific person. But who? Is somebody hiding something?

starling, Lancaster,

why is everybody diffusing the videotape the turned between the shootings? this will generate emulation, which is exactly what this person wanted to achieve. it`s not so diffucult to understand!

gabriele sarais, london,

I think its safe to say that if guns were illegal in the USA, it is more likely that firearms would not have been used in this attack, and if fate had meant for him to go on a destructive rampage that day you could be very sure that the numbers would not have reached 33. It still blows my mind how the American culture still accepts guns as part of everyday life, with the amount of massacres that they have, it seems at least annually, and still, they fail to protect themselves from further attacks for fear of what? That they won't have a gun to hand if someone else takes goes at them with a gun? Get rid of small fire-arms and assault rifles, as they have done in the UK, the results speak for themselves. They claim to be the greatest democracy in the world, yet still practice such barbarisms as the death penalty and torture? How many more times has another incident like this got to happen before the people will finally take note?

Curtis Anderson, Gloucester, UK

I agree with Mary Catherine that he was bent on destruction, gun or no gun. But because he was able to purchase two deadly weapons with almost laughable ease, he was able to destroy many others as well.
The gun shop owner (who sold the gun used), when interviewed on telly last night, seemed to blame the deaths of "23,000 unarmed students".
It takes a special kind of mindset to perceive the problem of there not being enough people with guns rather than guns being freely available to any nutter who wants one.

C Nugent, London, uk

"I think it's obvious that, gun or no gun, he was bent on destruction."
What does it mean? Of course without weapons there would not have been this massacre.
I think that the people should not be able to get weapons so easily as in US it happens. How many of these cases do you have to hear before to understand it? Do you feel safe?

Gabriele Valentini, Italy

Gabriele Valentini, Rome, Italy

Much as he needed help his actions do not justify the end means.he was a calculated killer who killed innocent people and the mental health professionals have got it wrong again. he had all the signs.

Robert jaggwe, London, United kingdom

Take the link of that video off your website!! How horried and Macabre and potentially dangerous. Other ill, impressionable people may watch and be 'inspired' by it.

Katie, London,

We can wonder why doctors and teachers who noticed in which point he was sick didn't think that he could be dangerous for the other students and the teachers and avoid this disaster

nono, massy, france

AS with Bryant in Australia, the authorities knew of the danger but failed to act. This is typical of the do gooders trying to protect people, when in fact they are creating problems. The police or medical authorities won't or cannot act becuase of the threats of lawyers and civil rights. WE have created a toothless authority hamstrung by lawyers and activitists. The failure of the law and process to remove this person from socitey has show the consequences. Do not blame the tool he used, instead blame society for creating and then not handling the monster it created, correctly in the first place.

David, London,

I think it's obvious that, gun or no gun, he was bent on destruction. He apparently is the one who made the bomb threats also. It is difficult to hold people for long who are mentally ill as it can be somewhat subjective and doctors ' have various opinions. It is also difficult to know or say with certainty what someone MIGHT do. Medical privacy laws can contribute to the dilemma too. I guess his family is in hiding, and though I can understand they are grieving also, I wish they would come forward and say what they knew about his stability or how much contact they had with him. It's all very sad.

Mary Catherine, Elmhurst, USA/IL

Enough about this guy, already. It's very sad that he lived such an unhappy life, but now he is getting exactly the attention he had hoped to attract.

He took the lives of young, innocent, hopeful and productive people who had in no way ever personally harmed him. Let us focus on them, their families' losses and what we as a society have lost in losing them and their aspirations.

Carmen, Nashville,

He was absolutely crazy!

Kora, St Petersburg, Russia

It is perhaps an exception, this case. I nevertheless do sincerely think that we, the future generation need to think about this gap between the rich and poor that is widening by the passing day. Even this gap though is not justification enough for someone to go ona killing spree like that. Does this say something about the social structure in USA, is everything as hollywood is showing it to be? What is this world heading for?
If this doesnt move the concerned people , most probably nothign will.

Muhammad Anns, Lahore, Pakistan

That second ammendment the u.s. raised way back in 1791 needs sadly updating. 30 something thousand per year killed by guns and now another terrifying masacre at yet another educational institution. Why does the land of the supposedly free feel such a burning need to own so many guns? Even sadder still - i feel also that it's too late to turn the tide. Y'all may as well lock 'n' load.

Steph Kadwell, Melbourne, Australia

i think he is a mad man and thank goodness he is dead. but what baffles me is how come he had all this in him and no one ever took him serious. i mean am sure he says things that are weird and scary. am just bothered no one seem to think or act before now. hope fully this is a big lesson to everyone aware of this story.
my sincere sympathy to families involved.

Honnie, liverpool, U.K

I think that this guy is complete phsyco. Something should've been done earlier when court ordered that he was "mentally ill". He should have been kicked off campus. But you know what could they do they couldn't just kick a kid off campus for being "weird". The backround should have been reviewed more carfully when he purchased one of the guns because he lied about being "mentally ill". Cho should not have been able to purchase either of the guns because of the court order.Nobody would've thought this kid was capable of such a tradgedy. He kept to himself and was known as a "loner". Roomates say that they didn't think he was weird until after about a year or so when he began stalking girls.

I have my prayers out for the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.

Taylor, Christiansburg, U.S/ Virginia

i wish condolences to all victim family member.as iread through this article,Cho has been identified by the doctors as mentally ill,the question is,should u kept a mentally ill students in public place.the school admin should concern about this or another massacre will be happen.

rezita, seremban, malaysia

If that babbling insect was against wealth, Christianity and hedonism, what the hell was he doing in the USA? Why didn't he go over to North Korea and suck communism from that red devil's rotting brain? If anything disgusts me more than this imbecile infecting freedom in the West, it's the weakness of the West to deal with him and his ilk, and even more than that, these feely-touchy idiots feeling sorry for this lowlife who's just brought himself a wealthy, Christian, hedonist first class ticket to hell.

Eugene, Heidelberg, germany

wow

terry, Indianapolis, IN USA

mental fellow.........

kiruba, erode, india

Yeah, they did not notify the students because they thought that it was just one of them "Domestic Cases".

I guess if he had shot a man first, the reaction might have been different.

Karen , Santa Cruz, CA, USA

I find it interesting how he is described as a "lone disturbed individual" and all over the media there is the immediate need to distance ourselves from him -- surely this was the problem - he was isolated in the first place by society. He wasn't rich, he felt left out, he felt let down, he felt bullied - he is a product of society. There are no individuals without society - he couldn't exist and be who he was without the rest of us yet we like to think that he was an aberration, an abnormality - but the fact is - he wasn't. Speaking to a University counsellor here in Ireland they told me that if guns were available here it probably would have happened several times already. Yes personal responsibility must be placed upon his head but society needs to take a serious look at how it/we produced him.

Noel, Cork, Ireland

Americans are going to go through this time and time again. The world is full of sickos and if you have a society in which they can get guns with ease, well everyone knows the consequences. Why are the 'leaders' in America so weak? Why can't they bring in effective gun control?

Gordon Callan, Shanghai,

30,000 amercians a year shot dead in America, 82 a year shot dead in the UK. The statistics speak for themselves, you not only havea gun problems, you have people problems too.

JB, leeds, UK

I am coming to grips with what has happened. As I read the profile of the teachers and students who perished, I couldn't proceed through them all...I just couldn't fathom the lost of lives of all of these individuals who had contributed to their societies and who would have continued to do so if only they were given the opportunity. As a lecturer in a university college, I do what I do for the sheer love of nourshing young minds with the hope that my scholars will pursue meaningful endeavours. It breaks my heart so many times over to see how these amazing people's lives was shortened at the hands of one lone disturbed individual. I pray for their souls and the loved ones they have left behind...I can't begin to imagine what they are going through.

Jaspal Kaur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I feel that they should have taken CHO much serious than they did. With all of his behaviors before the killings took place. I think this could have been avoided. I mean even his teachers were worried that things were not right with him. But that's they our system works today. Nothing gets taken seriously until something like this happens. And I believe that after the first shootings, the campus should have been placed on lock down immediately. Since this happened at the school and the shooter was unknown at the time. I feel our system failed. I feel sorry that Cho never received the proper medical attention that he needed, and I also feel bad for the victims and their families. Everyone involved is in my thoughts and prayers.

Trina, Columbus, Ohio