There was a shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC on June 10, 2009 at 1:00 pm EST. There are reports that the Holocaust Museum shooting could be a targeted shooting or a hate crime. There were reports of 3 gunshots. The suspect was shot and is in critical condition in the hospital. A security guard was shot too. The suspect is James Von Brunn, 88 years old. He is a hard-core Neo-Nazi and may belong to a white supremist group.

The Holocaust Museum was opened in 1993. It was designed to stop hatred and genocide in the human race.

JLHanna , a 22 year old college student and I, a 48 year old out of work due to a severe back injury, had a discussion about this shooting and whether we feel there is any reason for anyone to have commited this brutal attack.

Introduction

Me - The Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC shooting is a brutal attack against innocent citizens of the United States. To me there is no difference between this and terrorism.

JLHanna - I am shocked to have read this, for some reason I thought as a society we were beyond this. Did we not learn from Hitler, among others, that this sort of thing can lead to nothing good?

1. Do you think that anyone would have a reason to commit such a brutal attack?

Me - It is very unfortunate that anyone in this day and age could have such anger against a certain race of people and then take this anger to this sort of level where he shoots innocent people cold-blooded.

JLHanna - I could see why people get mad with certain people, but to hold it (whatever "it" may be) against a whole race is ridiculous. There is no excuse for these behaviours from people in these days and people need to smarten up.

2. Do you think the Holocaust Museum was a targetted shooting?

Me - I cannot say this for sure but my feeling is yes, this was a targeted shooting. James Von Brunn is known as a white supremist and also a hard-core Neo-Nazi. With this in mind, this has to be a targeted shooting.

JLHanna - I also cannot say for certain it was targeted. It could have just been some idiot who felt, for whatever reason, to outright murder a bunch of people and himself. Okay, this definitely wasn't the case. I don't think I have ever heard of someone just slaughtering a number of people for no reason at all. There was a reason behind why he did this and I beleive it had something to do with him being a white supremist and neo-Nazi.

3. How can hate crimes be stopped?

Me - I think the only way to stop hate crimes is to nip them in bud at an early stage in life. Parents and schools should educate children early in life about love and peace and not war and hate. There are so many incidents of war and hate anymore that it may just seem to be second nature to us. We must educate everyone we can that hatred and war are not the answers.

JLHanna - I also agree, it needs to be dealt with early and children need to learn that these behaviours will absolutely not be tolerated. I think that people can or think they can get away with way too much these days. The parents need to take responsibility for their children and need to be able to discipline them much better. If we are having people doing these kinds of things then giving your child a spanking when they are misbehaving should be allowed until things like this stop happening.

4. Do you think that gun control shoud be tightened?

Me - I think guns should be banned from every household in the world. Without guns, a lot of these crimes would not take place.

JLHanna - Banning guns isn't going to help and it's not guns that are the problem. You could easily kill someone with a pair of scissors. It's the people who have possesion of the gun and if they didn't have a gun they would just find some other way to kill whoever they wanted. You can't punish the hunters (and yes there are still hunters who really do hunt) anymore for someone else's actions then we already have.

5. Why do you think there is such hatred in this world?

Me - I think there is so much hatred in the world because it is taught in the home or at school at early ages. This must be stopped to prevent further crimes like this.

JLHanna - There is so much hatred in the world because people just can't get along. Today on the bus, for instance, a lady comes on the bus all in a huff and sits down. The bus driver asks nicely where her pass was and she chews him right out, up one side and down the other. I thought to myself okay, you obviously know your being a witch and how can you not know that was extremely rude. This is the kind of people that starts fights and just don't care what other people think. If everybody made an attempt, even the smallest attempt, to put a smile on their face and stop being rude things would be so much better.

Conclusion

Me - This is a sad day on this planet to have someone perform such a horrid crime against humanity. I'm sure the effects of this crime are going to be felt worldwide.

JLHanna - I feel that what happened today is very sad and wrong. I also feel that if everybody would just stop being rude and ignorant things would be so much better. People need to start caring more about what other people think.

• June 10, 2009 - 4:45 PM EST - One of the guards, Stephen Tyrone Johns, died as a result of this shooting. He was a member of the staff of the museum for six years. Our deepest condolences and sympathy go out to friends and family members of Stephen.