4 year old comments regarding Virginia Tech Shootings

On the Tuesday after the VT shootings, Ella and I were listening to CNN on XM when the anchor mentioned Virginia Tech. Ella immediately perked up and said "Mom, that man said Virginia Tech on the radio...why?"

So I said "well, a man was really angry and hurt a lot of people at Tech." She asked me what happened to them. I said that he shot a lot of people and some of them died. She thought for a moment and then became very animated and said "Mom, guns are very bad and people shouldn't use guns because they hurt people." I agreed with her that guns can hurt people and that kids shouldn't play with them. I told her that Mom and Dad have made the choice to not have guns in our house. I did want to take the opportunity, though, to make sure I didn't head too far to the left (even though we are very liberal) and share with her that owning and using guns is a fundamental constitutional right. She's only 4 right now so I don't expect her to remember that nugget!

So, the conversation continued to progress after the gun talk. She said to me "But Mom, doesn't that man know he's going to go to jail?" I was surprised by her comment but said "Yes, honey, he would go to jail but he died." She asked how and I shared that he shot himself. I know that many of you may like to pass judgment on me for being too open with her but we prefer her to know the truth and not avoid it.

After I told her that he shot himself she got very quiet. The next thing she said almost leveled me. She said "Mom, didn't he know that just because you die doesn't mean you get happy?"

Another random thought by Ella Weber. - 4/17/2007