The recent tragedy at the nightclub in Rhode Island is sure to have people up in arms, and demand more stringent safety requirements in buildings. This bothers me.

It already appears that the club was violating established requirements when they ignited fireworks. It doesn’t matter if you have 50 laws or 500 laws… if they’re all going to be ignored, then you can chalk up the additional 450 laws as a waste of time.

The silver lining to this tragedy, as with most tragedys, is that people learn from it. Patrons are going to take a better look around when they go into a club – make sure they know how to get out. If they find it getting crowded, people may decide to start leaving voluntarily. On the flip side, keep an eye on what happens to these club owners. When they get sued for all they’re worth, or charged criminally, watch the lesson learned by other club owners. Want to go to jail like those guys?

As awful as it is for something like this to happen, it will serve to educate, and if society learns their lesson it will not happen again. Additional laws do not make this problem go away.