Va. Tech shooting...

[Tashtego]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tashtego
No, it would be "I want to live so I'm going to run away from this guy before he shoots me."

fixed.

OK.

[fett]

The killer was one sick person. There is no way to prevent a person like this from "acting out" all the perceived wrongs he felt. If he didn't have guns, he would have figured out another way to right his wrongs. He could have set a gigantic fire in one of the dorms. He could have made a fertilizer bomb. He could have poisoned the air conditioning. A person this crazy can not be stopped. And, that is what is really scary.

[Evol]

What gets me the most is that people want to immediately find the "cause" of why this happened. To assign blame on anything BUT the person themselves that committed the violent act is stupid and irresponsible.

Oh,it's the rap music,oh it's the violent video games,oh it's the movies,oh it's the media.Columbine keeps coming up as the example that was set for what happened at VT,but in reality there worst massacre of this nature occured quite a bit before,for those of you too young to remember or just don't know about the event :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman

Now since video games weren't invented by then,and most of the music was rather docile,I hardly think any of that is to "blame". If anything mental problems seem to be the common ground in all of this. I mean you ever notice when a tragedy happens and the perp leaves behind a manifesto or some note that it's always rambling and incoherrent?

The unfortunate thing is that there is no way for us to predict when a person may become mentally unstable.Someone may be a law-abiding gun owner for 20 years,and then snap suddenly and start shooting.Are the gun laws to blame there? Of course not. It could have just as easily been an ice-pick or piano wire,or hell guitar strings for that matter.

More laws and regulations will not make us more safe,it's a simple logical fact.

[fett]

Rational people, by defintion, can't know what is going on in a person's mind that has gone out of wack. We can do a follow-up and see the signs after the fact. We can find the "Causes" for the irrational behavior, after the fact. The tragic issue here is that this dude was "Committed" and released. What do we do? Lock up everyone that is deluded? 20 years ago, we decided to let the loons out on the street. There wasn't the money to keep these people off the street. So, this guy was "Nuts" and they knew it and they let him go. That's life in America.

[shreddermon]

And the fucknut copycatting begins...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18203613/

[fett]

Of course it does. That's the downside of instant worldwide news. I liked the good old days when a crazy bastard could do what he or she did and it stayed local. Nobody anywhere else knew about it and that was that. Lizzy Borden was the start of media hype. And, now you can't even do a hatchet job without the whole world knowing about it. I am free-thinking now so you must forgive me. More beer.

[guitarsjb]

yeah, the media really adds to the problem. Yes, they should report the news..but not sensationalize the killer and make copycats want to "out do" him/her. It's just nuts nowadays.

[xenophobe]

Why? Because I'd be scared shitless. The first thought in my mind would not be "I'm going to be the hero so everyone will talk about how I saved the day."

That's exactly why you are neither competent to protect your own life, or own firearms.

Nobody thinks "I'm going to be the hero"... are you freaking stupid or what? Or are you just trying to be condescending and insulting?

Defending yourself is not about being a hero or talking about how you're so bitchen.

Jesus christ man, are you like 10 years old?

[lerxstcat]

It's natural to be afraid facing gunfire, but if you can set that aside to deal with the threat, then having that weapon could save lives in this kind of situation. Even if the toll was cut in half because someone was there to engage the guy, it would be better than what we have today.

[guitarsjb]

No one can say what they would do it ANY situation until they are REALLY in it. You can talk all the shit you want, when the bullets are flying over YOUR head in real life, then, and only then will you know how you will handle it.

[hippietim]

You guys are assuming that a bunch of armed college kids would have made things better? I have my doubts. I agree there is a possibility that the outcome would have been better. But I suspect the reality would be that far more people would have gotten hurt. As soon as multiple people are firing guns it would not be particularly obvious who the right person to be shooting would be. If it's just one good guy shooting, then the odds of a better outcome increase - at least as long as the good guy is not taken out of the equation.

[skorb]

it's just like having the pilot be able to carry on a plane.

college students should NOT be allowed to CCW. the one person in authority (in this case the professors) should have been allowed to carry had they wanted to. knowing most professors, the majority would not even consider it, they are usually too pacifistic and liberal, but if there was just one in that bldg who did CCW then this goddamn prick would not have been able to go on shooting fish in a barrel and the death toll likely would have been much lower.

[hippietim]

What gets me the most is that people want to immediately find the "cause" of why this happened. To assign blame on anything BUT the person themselves that committed the violent act is stupid and irresponsible.

Oh,it's the rap music,oh it's the violent video games,oh it's the movies,oh it's the media.Columbine keeps coming up as the example that was set for what happened at VT,but in reality there worst massacre of this nature occured quite a bit before,for those of you too young to remember or just don't know about the event :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman

Now since video games weren't invented by then,and most of the music was rather docile,I hardly think any of that is to "blame". If anything mental problems seem to be the common ground in all of this. I mean you ever notice when a tragedy happens and the perp leaves behind a manifesto or some note that it's always rambling and incoherrent?

The unfortunate thing is that there is no way for us to predict when a person may become mentally unstable.Someone may be a law-abiding gun owner for 20 years,and then snap suddenly and start shooting.Are the gun laws to blame there? Of course not. It could have just as easily been an ice-pick or piano wire,or hell guitar strings for that matter.

More laws and regulations will not make us more safe,it's a simple logical fact.

These are all good questions. Some things are not predictable or stoppable. And these people need to be held accountable for their actions - that is often not a problem because they end up dead anyhow. Finding blame is not useful. Slamming the police, counselers, schools, teachers, gun laws, etc. is not going to solve the fundamental problems.

The one thing that seems to be pretty common throughout all of these attacks is that the attackers are people that have been throttled and abused in some manner for an extended period of time. Of course that's no excuse but shit like this should make people think about their own fucking actions as well.

School time can be the worst possible part of some people's lives. My own had it's ups and downs but all in all it went pretty good - I had enough friends, I had music, I had girlfriends, I didn't have too many problems with anyone, and my parents were able to provide a reasonable middle class home.

But think back.

Think about the kids that were ruthlessly picked on, abused, etc. We had some in our school. Fuck they were treated horribly. One ended up being committed - he was the most wonderfully kind and downright brilliant people I've known in my life. A couple others dropped out or went elsewhere. Is it an excuse to come to school and start shooting people? Of course not. But it is at least a significant contributing factor in pushing people past reason.

Those of you that are parents, I hope you are teaching your children to be responsible with their words and how they treat people. Being cruel to someone has very real consequences. And it is not cool. And it does not make you stronger or better in any way.

[hippietim]

No one can say what they would do it ANY situation until they are REALLY in it. You can talk all the shit you want, when the bullets are flying over YOUR head in real life, then, and only then will you know how you will handle it.

No kidding. Probably the most real (and surreal) thing I've experienced in my life was staring at a machine gun pointed at me just a few inches away from my chest. I am proud that I did not shit myself Fortunately no bullets flew that day.

[skorb]

The one thing that seems to be pretty common throughout all of these attacks is that the attackers are people that have been throttled and abused in some manner for an extended period of time. Of course that's no excuse but shit like this should make people think about their own fucking actions as well.

I don't agree, at least in terms of this lunatic and what he did.

this is not a time to blame anyone or anything other than the murderer.

everyone gets teased. many people who do get teased a lot, bring it upon themselves. some don't, but many do. this lunatic obviously had a defective brain, and his taking pride in projecting the sullen menacing loser psyche in class and to strange girls led to ostracism. that's just the way things are with people.

plenty people get teased in school. it's part of growing up and dealing with it is part of maturing as a person. people with defective brains are just that. the teasing is NOT what created this monster, he was created the day he was born.