To have to have one such grisly shooting happen is bad enough, but two in just a few days just makes the situation all the more surreal.

The first:

 Police pin UW shooting on victim’s ex- boyfriend

A University of Washington resear cher was shot to death in her office Monday morning by a former boyfriend who then turned the gun on himself, police said.

Officers responding to reports of gunfire found the two dead in an office on the fourth floor of Gould Hall, the university’s architecture building, Assistant University Police Chief Ray Wittmier said.

The 26-year-old woman was granted a restraining order last month against Jonathan Rowan, according to court documents. University police said he was not affiliated with the school.

Small comfort that is.  The fact is this is a grim and heartbreaking tale of an obsessed ex lover and a woman who tried all legal means to ensure her protection and safety.

“I cannot find him but he can find me (knows my place of work),” the victim, identified by colleagues as Rebecca Griego, wrote in a restraining order petition filed against Rowan on March 6 in King County Superior Court.

Lance Nguyen, who worked with Griego at the Runstad Center for Real Estate Research, said the victim had become increasingly worried about her former boyfriend in recent weeks.

“She said it’s a psycho from her past,” Nguyen said.

One frustrating thing emerging in the aftermath is that the police are quick to note that they had not officially served him with the restraining order.

Uh…so friggin what?  Are you suggesting it would have made a difference?  I highly doubt it. 

Another idiot comment was this:l

Campus police were not aware of the restraining order, Wittmier said. He also said he did not think the man had permission to carry a handgun on campus, where firearms are banned.

Well duh.  Thanks, that’s helpful.  I will address the firearm ban in a moment.

The second story:

Gunfire at CNN Atlanta Complex Kills One

 A domestic dispute erupted in gunfire at CNN’s headquarters complex Tuesday, killing a woman and critically wounding the ex-boyfriend who pulled a gun on her, authorities said. The man and woman were arguing near the main entrance of the complex when the man shot her, police officer James Polite said. The armed man was then shot by a CNN security guard.

The woman was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, authorities said. The man was in critical condition.

As this story progressed though it had an even more incredible aspect:

Witness Charles Williams was riding up the escalator toward the Omni Hotel lobby when he saw Mann pulling Riddles by her hair with his left hand.

Riddles, an Omni employee, was screaming and crying and holding on to her hair close to her head with both hands, Williams said. (Read more witness accounts)

“I was walking directly toward them and he and I were eye-to-eye, and so I started looking at his right hand to see if he had something,” said Williams, who works in technology services for Turner Broadcasting.

The suspect warned Williams, “Get out my way, pimpin’.”

“I knew you don’t say that to someone unless you got something,” said Williams, who said he tried determine if the man had a weapon in his right hand, but could not get a clear view.

Williams moved out of the man’s way and quickly motioned for the nearest security officer to come to him.

“I was saying, ‘Come here quickly, come!’ ”

Then Williams lost sight of the couple as they turned into a hallway outside the CNN.com newsroom.

The officer radioed in a disturbance report and soon other security officers were on the scene.

It almost appears that the guy was dragging the woman around for a while before shooting her and it will remain a point of quiet contemplation whether a faster intervention might have saved her life.

Now earlier I mentioned guns.  Of course some of the lefties are all a twitter over guns being the problem her.  But as others have also mentioned, they could have been the solution.

Bryan Suits and John Carlson of KVI am radio both asked the same question:  did anyone ever suggest that the woman in Seattle cowboy up and get a concealed weapon permit?

And would it have made a difference if she had?

I tend to agree.  In her case, she did everything she could aside from leaving town completely. She had moved, changed her phone number, warned coworkers and campus police, and even applied for and was granted a restraining order, which is about as effective to a homicidal idiot as a chalk line.  Our system clearly could not protect her and the harassing notes and threats continued.

So would it have helped if she had been armed?  For that matter, if more people on campus were armed?  Was the campus “gun free zone” a contributor?

I can’t help wonder.

The spokesperson for the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN) was on the radio with John Carlson and Ken Schram, and she directed her comments to the societal acceptance of violence and all manner of psycho babble, but completely refused to advocate self defense.  Running was better.  She and Ken comforted each other with pseudo data showing that guns kill their owners more then the attackers, which is patent nonsense.

The problem is that flight is not always a realistic solution, as some people cannot leave and start their lives over, and in the era of the Internet, doing so would not guarantee safety when public records allow people to find others daily.

So the question looms:  When is it time to fight?

Frankly I tend to agree with Bryan and John. At some point personal protection and a concealed weapon have to be considered. 

I still plan to get my carry permit soon.  But not only that, I think it is time to take my daughter down to a range and make sure she is not so afraid of a gun that her fear will become her enemy.

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