I plan on raising a family one day, and one of my responsibilities will be to protect them. If that means having a gun around to ward off intruders, then so be it. Owning a gun can make all the difference in a life or death situation.
Although I would never contemplate owning a gun, I do not believe that that the world should be rid of guns as, like most inventions, they do have a role to play. Nonetheless I question the idea of buying a gun to protect your family as, if I'm not mistaken, most people who get shot in home invasions get shot with their own gun.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
As a lot of you know, I work at a university. This issue hits very close to home for me--in fact, it's a sort of nightmare scenario I've played in my head before--so I don't particularly appreciate the cynicism. Let's find out what motivated the lunatic who shot up a building on a peaceful university campus before we start blaming the culture.
Very well said Hardy..I can't imagine being in your profession, and how vulnerable a tragedy like that makes you feel. I'm sickened for the families.
Like me, I'm sure many of you are busy tracking the news stories out of Blacksburg, Virginia. A person, presumably a student, armed with two semi-automatic pistols has hilled at least 32 people. The shooter is dead. Whether by his own hand, or at the hands of law enforcement, is not yet known.
As the initial shock wears off you can bet that the anti-Second Amendment people wall be coming out of the woodwork. By the time the evening network newscasts hit we will have no shortage of spokesmen for various anti-gun groups stepping forth to issue their tired call for an end to the private ownership of handguns.
This is undoubtedly the worst school shooting, high school, college or otherwise, in the history of our country. There are some facts, however, about some of these school shootings of which you probably are not aware. Do you know, for instance, that at least three shootings in high schools were stopped by civilians with guns? Civilians, not law enforcement. In one case a civilian was traveling past a school when he saw children running from the building. One told him that there was a student inside shooting people. The civilian pulled his gun, ran in side, and confronted the student. The student put down the gun and surrendered. In another case a high school vice-principal heard that there was a student in the hallways with a gun. He sprinted a half-mile to his car. He had a gun in his car so he had to park off campus. He then sprinted back with the gun to confront the student. Lives saved.
The point here is that you are never ever going to get the guns out of the hands of those who want to use them for carnage. Never. Gun control programs will only succeed in getting the guns out of the hands of people who want them and need them for self-defense. Never, in the history of America's gun control movement, has anyone set forth a viable program to get the guns out of the hands of those who would use them to commit crimes. Similarly, the gun control movement will never give any fair coverage at all to the people who use guns to save their own lives, or the lives of others.
We'll have much more to say about this tomorrow. For now, you should know that earlier this year the Virginia General Assembly failed to act on House Bill 1572. This bill would have allowed college students and employees to carry handguns on campus --- with appropriate permits, of course. It died in subcommittee. Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Virginia Tech, the site of today's carnage, said "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
Well .. how's today for safety?
If it had been legal for students, employees or faculty members with permits to carry guns on the campus, is it at all possible that there might be some students alive today who didn't make it through the carnage? Do you think the actions of the Virginia General Assembly stopped the gunman from getting his guns and carrying them to the campus?
As of right now we don't have all the facts, we don't even know the name of the killer. Like others have said, let's get all the facts before we judge what happened.
I have a child away at school and next year will have two away at college. I worry all the time about them and I can't imagine the thoughts of the parents who were calling their kids today and not getting an answer. My thoughts are with all those families.
As for the gun debate, I am with the pro-second amendment group. Banning guns will never stop these types of events. Just my opinion.
I also really don't want to hear it is because of the American culture. I kind of like our culture, thank you.
I must say, I find it extremely offensive that a thread about the tragic deaths of 33 people is being used as a platform for snarky gibes and/or self-righteous political manifestos. Jesus, people, get over yourselves and show a little dignity -- there are 33 families who are in unspeakable shock right now.
Statements from Vick and Hall on tragedy at Virginia Tech campus
April 16, 2007
STATEMENT FROM ATLANTA FALCONS QB MICHAEL VICK REGARDING MONDAY'S TRAGEDY ON THE CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
"First and foremost, I am shocked and deeply saddened about the tragic loss of life that took place early Monday on the Virginia Tech campus. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones involved in this terrible tragedy. It is my hope that the university community can pull together to help the students cope with this senseless and unfortunate ordeal."
STATEMENT FROM ATLANTA FALCONS CB DeANGELO HALL REGARDING MONDAY'S TRAGEDY ON THE CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
"Words can't describe how sad I am right now. Everyone who knows me understands the affinity I have for Virginia Tech. My prayers and thoughts are with all of the loved ones and family members involved in this horrible tragedy."
It's a horrible thing that happened! All these psychotic shootings makes it so depressing. As a high school student, we recently received a threat from a sophomore that intended on causing some sort of harm to the middle school, and they had to be locked down. To think that this could happen in the Chicagoland suburbs is a bit unsettling to me, and that just made me think of if some kid went crazy and Columbine on us at the school. It would be tragic.
My condolences to the victims and their families.
Where do these psychos get off doing these things anyway? Sick, sick people.
Obviously I have sympathy for the familys and friends of the victims and I realise that Americans are not going to change their attitude on gun ownership, and maybe they shouldn't. But the easier it is for people to get guns the more often things like this will happen. The UK has had several stabbings and shootings recently in London and it's massive news, because it doesn't happen all the time. I'd imagine that if guns were available to kids in this country, whether bought themselves or taken from their parents, we to would have school shootings. Children who are bullied at school would want revenge. Difference is this is not an option and the mere fact that there not easily accesible makes things like this alot less regular.
Anyway the gun laws aren't going to change in America, so I suppose you will just have to put up with this sort of thing every year. What a price to pay just to have the right to own a gun.
As for the gun debate, I am with the pro-second amendment group. Banning guns will never stop these types of events. Just my opinion.
quote]
How can you say that when the whole of Europe bans firearms and In my lifetime I have never heard of a shooting like this in any european country. Not just a coincidence me thinks.
More Virginia Tech students would be alive right now if...
students had been kept from going to class after the first shootings
14%
there were stricter gun control laws
1%
people with concealed carry permits were allowed to carry guns into Virginia Tech dorms and classrooms
85%
More Virginia Tech students would be alive right now if...
students had been kept from going to class after the first shootings
14%
there were stricter gun control laws
1%
people with concealed carry permits were allowed to carry guns into Virginia Tech dorms and classrooms
85%
I support the 2nd Amendment, but your use of this tragedy to grind a political ax is reprehensible. Of course Boortz readers are going to poll this way. I imagine you would get similar results if you polled gun shop owners or NRA members.
Why don't you go run for office or something, instead of posting this stuff on a Bond forum?
To most everyone else looking at this thread: perhaps an explanation is in order for my sensitivity on this topic. When I was a freshman at Cornell in 1983, a gunman killed two students in the dorm next to mine. I remember studying for finals at my desk next to a window facing the other dorm, then hitting the floor in response to the police bullhorns urging everyone to do so. Eerily enough, the killer back then was a young Korean man, just as the Virginia Tech killer was, although the Cornell killer was not a student. Very weird.
So, please excuse my visceral reactions, but this incident has dredged up some unpleasant memories I didn't know I still had. This explains my complete lack of tolerance for political grandstanding and blame-gaming on the subject, for which I do not apologize.
Someone mentioned that guns were "nasty killing machines". Strange comment from a fan of James Bond 007. Fleming never wrote a novel about a .25 Beretta or Walther PPK going around the world killing villians.
"oo" agents were men, not guns. I submit that the "nasty killing machine" is located between the ears of a human being. The insturmentality is not relevant.
Yes, well, this thread is taking the usual course in these situations, commiserations put alongside argument and slightly provocative discussion...
Bearing in mind just about every office I've worked in has some nutter working there (and I don't mean me...) the idea of allowing them to have a gun is kind of scary.
But it seems in the US we have a chicken and egg or Catch 22 situation. Weirdos have guns ergo if more normal people had guns, everyone would be safer...
I'm in agreement with Sir HB, Hardyboy, and Monique. We should give a moment's silence for the ruthlessly and needlessly slain. And not a penny's worth of self indulgence more.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited April 2007
I had a feeling that this thread was going to take a nasty turn quickly hence my reluctance to respond here - not that it matters to alot of you...
It's not about us, posters. Something very horrible happened to alot of people and they had families that will be grieving over the loss of loved ones for the rest of their lives. There's a bigger picture here than our own beliefs and convictions.
No one's a winner in this and it doesn't matter what flag is waving over your heads... We're bigger than this so let's stop lighting fuses and bickering.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Well said Rogue. The tragedy here is that so many young minds, and so much potential, have been robbed of us and left this world far too soon. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
Agreed that our thoughts should be with the victims and their families.
What worries me is the self-serving and slick way our institutions and media deal with the news.
Just read and compare the first chapter of "Goldfinger" in which Bond reflects on killing the "capungo" with the last movie when Vesper asks Bond if killing bothered him.
More details emerge by the hour, maybe the minute. I want to say that I am tremendously moved by the heroism of Professor Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old man (that's my father's age) and a Holocaust survivor, who barricaded the door to his classroom, holding off the shooter while his students jumped out a window. Professor Librescu was eventually shot and killed through the door. That a man who suffered so much in his lifetime would lay down his life for others, in the face of unmitigated horror, is something that gives me hope for our species.
And I certainly hope it's Professor Librescu who people will remember in the future. All the attention now is on the murderer. The portrait that's emerging of him is of a sad, sick, tortured soul, someone who rejected friendship when it was offered and who sullenly and bitterly saw himself as a perpetual victim and the rest of the world as victimizers. This story isn't about guns, politics, or culture: it's about someone who hated both himself and the world around him and who decided to leave the world in a blaze of what he felt was glory. Forget the killer, but remember his deed and remember those who triumphed above it.
My thoughts are with t he families of the victims of the incident and although nothing can return their friends or children to them I hope that they take something from the fact that most people in America and around the world for that matter, its all over the news over here too are all thinking about them.
It hits me rather hard because I am a similar age to the majority of the victims and the idea that people like myself have been taken from this world far too early by a person is quite hard to think about.
what happened to the gunman may I ask? I didn't catch that part of the news report.
I do think that all our thoughts should be with those that have suffered as a result of this tragedy at this time.
It is highly unlikely that UK & US citizens are ever likely to agree on the issue of gun ownership judging by the interviews I have heard following this appalling incident. Wouldn't it be better if we steered away from this subject for the sake of Anglo/US relations?
What gets me is all these people giving interviews saying "If students and teachers were armed this would not have happened". Come on that's such a ridiculous thing to say, that could have easily exacerbated the situation and/or cause more similiar situations. I would also say the debate on the issue of guns generated by this terrible incident can only be a good thing and it can only be a good thing to discuss it. Maybe changes brought about by this tragedy can help to stop anything similiar happening in the future.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,991Quartermasters
It is highly unlikely that UK & US citizens are ever likely to agree on the issue of gun ownership judging by the interviews I have heard following this appalling incident. Wouldn't it be better if we steered away from this subject for the sake of Anglo/US relations?
Yes, I think it would.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
What gets me is all these people giving interviews saying "If students and teachers were armed this would not have happened". Come on that's such a ridiculous thing to say, that could have easily exacerbated the situation and/or cause more similiar situations. I would also say the debate on the issue of guns generated by this terrible incident can only be a good thing and it can only be a good thing to discuss it. Maybe changes brought about by this tragedy can help to stop anything similiar happening in the future.
Well yes I do tend to agree with you. I also think that surely it would be better if a kid can't just walk in to a store and walk out with a gun. My point is, it is like telling Muslim countries to stop making their women cover up. Its ingrained in the culture of the country and if Americans want to retain that part of the constitution it's really none of our business since it doesn't directly affect us.
I like the American guys on here and don't want to fall out with them over this!
My point is, it is like telling Muslim countries to stop making their women cover up. Its ingrained in the culture of the country and if Americans want to retain that part of the constitution it's really none of our business since it doesn't directly affect us.
Words, wether or not one is for or against the 2nd ammendment, I think that is a bad analogy. The covering up of women in some Muslim countries is not a life-or-death issue like the 2nd ammendment is. Now, again, one can be for or against it, but I think a better analogy would be the legalisation of euthanasia ins some European countries, or the equivalent thereof.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
What is shocking is that this guy had all the obvious hallmarks of a total nutcase but could still buy a gun. There's none of the 'no one could forsee this happening' stuff going on here. Secondly, he had no criminal record it seems, but that again is the problem. These types are often unassertive to the extreme, so that resentment festers and then explodes. Wackos like this are unlikely to have any criminal record that would prevent them from getting a gun. Whereas it might be different for someone busted for smoking dope or something.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,652MI6 Agent
edited April 2007
This horrific incident has left me confused on my own position. I’ve been an NRA member since I was 14 and belong to the party that supports gun ownership (yeah, yeah, yeah, let the tomatoes fly!) and I personally support responsible gun ownership. But I can’t help but see how statistics strongly correlate to differing gun control policies from country to country.
Gun death stats
The below article cites supposedly the first comprehensive international study of gun-related deaths, published in April 17, 1998 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
The “population” of this study was comprised of the 36 richest (developed) countries according to the World Bank's 1994 World Development Report, based on the highest GNP per capita income. The U.S. was first at 14.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people, compared to:
Northern Ireland, 6.63 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Australia, 2.65 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Germany, 1.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Ireland, 0.97 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Scotland, 0.54 gun deaths per 100,000 people
England and Wales, 0.41 gun deaths per 100,000 people
South Korea, 0.12 gun deaths per 100,000 people
I took the liberty to include above a small selection, partly based on AJB members, partly because of differences in gun control policies. Here’s another excerpt from the above article, a funny one:
“The National Rifle Association (NRA) termed the study shoddy because it did not examine all causes of violent deaths. ''What this shows is the CDC is after guns," the Associated Press quoted Dr. Paul Blackman from the NRA.”
I guess to fairly address the NRA’s concerns, the study should have also included violent deaths caused by bludgeons and potato peelers. ?:)
Race
I included South Korea in the gun death stats since the press seems fixated in emphasizing the shooter’s origin, as if that's a significant factor. Warning! Eating Kim Chee may be detrimental to your mental health! After doing some calculations, per 100,000 people there are approx. 119 times more gun related deaths in the U.S. vs. South Korea, 119 times. These stats strongly suggest that the killer, Cho, is more American than he is Korean.
Now, there’s this new theory promoting a violent South Korean movie as an inspiration for the killer based on the picture with the hammer. On that note, here’s an interesting blog/article titled “Not One of Us” that explores this “country of origin” angle, that argues that the roots of the VT massacre is just as “American” as Columbine and other recent mass shootings:
Mental health
Interestingly about the killer’s “manifesto,” nothing about race as the cause of his anger has come up yet or been revealed, with his angst centered more on his paranoid take on his socio-economics. Then there’s all those “warning signs” documented by several people; maybe more decisive policies on how to handle these should be instituted at the governmental and private levels.
I think that his mental condition was the biggest factor in this mess; not to excuse his actions, but I’m in the opinion that “normal” people cannot even begin to fathom how it’s like for other people having these severe mental problems. If only one day, we can develop technology that instantly scans the chemical composition of the brain as easily as a walk-thru metal detector that can be installed at gun shops, for example? …but that would be too big brother-y for many. My biggest fear right now is that this incident, just as likely as Columbine, would serve to rally many other imbalanced misfits in hiding…somethings really need to be done, but done smartly.
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
Comments
Very well said Hardy..I can't imagine being in your profession, and how vulnerable a tragedy like that makes you feel. I'm sickened for the families.
Like me, I'm sure many of you are busy tracking the news stories out of Blacksburg, Virginia. A person, presumably a student, armed with two semi-automatic pistols has hilled at least 32 people. The shooter is dead. Whether by his own hand, or at the hands of law enforcement, is not yet known.
As the initial shock wears off you can bet that the anti-Second Amendment people wall be coming out of the woodwork. By the time the evening network newscasts hit we will have no shortage of spokesmen for various anti-gun groups stepping forth to issue their tired call for an end to the private ownership of handguns.
This is undoubtedly the worst school shooting, high school, college or otherwise, in the history of our country. There are some facts, however, about some of these school shootings of which you probably are not aware. Do you know, for instance, that at least three shootings in high schools were stopped by civilians with guns? Civilians, not law enforcement. In one case a civilian was traveling past a school when he saw children running from the building. One told him that there was a student inside shooting people. The civilian pulled his gun, ran in side, and confronted the student. The student put down the gun and surrendered. In another case a high school vice-principal heard that there was a student in the hallways with a gun. He sprinted a half-mile to his car. He had a gun in his car so he had to park off campus. He then sprinted back with the gun to confront the student. Lives saved.
The point here is that you are never ever going to get the guns out of the hands of those who want to use them for carnage. Never. Gun control programs will only succeed in getting the guns out of the hands of people who want them and need them for self-defense. Never, in the history of America's gun control movement, has anyone set forth a viable program to get the guns out of the hands of those who would use them to commit crimes. Similarly, the gun control movement will never give any fair coverage at all to the people who use guns to save their own lives, or the lives of others.
We'll have much more to say about this tomorrow. For now, you should know that earlier this year the Virginia General Assembly failed to act on House Bill 1572. This bill would have allowed college students and employees to carry handguns on campus --- with appropriate permits, of course. It died in subcommittee. Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Virginia Tech, the site of today's carnage, said "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
Well .. how's today for safety?
If it had been legal for students, employees or faculty members with permits to carry guns on the campus, is it at all possible that there might be some students alive today who didn't make it through the carnage? Do you think the actions of the Virginia General Assembly stopped the gunman from getting his guns and carrying them to the campus?
More on this tomorrow.
I have a child away at school and next year will have two away at college. I worry all the time about them and I can't imagine the thoughts of the parents who were calling their kids today and not getting an answer. My thoughts are with all those families.
As for the gun debate, I am with the pro-second amendment group. Banning guns will never stop these types of events. Just my opinion.
I also really don't want to hear it is because of the American culture. I kind of like our culture, thank you.
Statements from Vick and Hall on tragedy at Virginia Tech campus
April 16, 2007
STATEMENT FROM ATLANTA FALCONS QB MICHAEL VICK REGARDING MONDAY'S TRAGEDY ON THE CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
"First and foremost, I am shocked and deeply saddened about the tragic loss of life that took place early Monday on the Virginia Tech campus. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones involved in this terrible tragedy. It is my hope that the university community can pull together to help the students cope with this senseless and unfortunate ordeal."
STATEMENT FROM ATLANTA FALCONS CB DeANGELO HALL REGARDING MONDAY'S TRAGEDY ON THE CAMPUS OF VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
"Words can't describe how sad I am right now. Everyone who knows me understands the affinity I have for Virginia Tech. My prayers and thoughts are with all of the loved ones and family members involved in this horrible tragedy."
My condolences to the victims and their families.
Where do these psychos get off doing these things anyway? Sick, sick people.
Anyway the gun laws aren't going to change in America, so I suppose you will just have to put up with this sort of thing every year. What a price to pay just to have the right to own a gun.
Thanks for that.
More Virginia Tech students would be alive right now if...
students had been kept from going to class after the first shootings
14%
there were stricter gun control laws
1%
people with concealed carry permits were allowed to carry guns into Virginia Tech dorms and classrooms
85%
I support the 2nd Amendment, but your use of this tragedy to grind a political ax is reprehensible. Of course Boortz readers are going to poll this way. I imagine you would get similar results if you polled gun shop owners or NRA members.
Why don't you go run for office or something, instead of posting this stuff on a Bond forum?
To most everyone else looking at this thread: perhaps an explanation is in order for my sensitivity on this topic. When I was a freshman at Cornell in 1983, a gunman killed two students in the dorm next to mine. I remember studying for finals at my desk next to a window facing the other dorm, then hitting the floor in response to the police bullhorns urging everyone to do so. Eerily enough, the killer back then was a young Korean man, just as the Virginia Tech killer was, although the Cornell killer was not a student. Very weird.
So, please excuse my visceral reactions, but this incident has dredged up some unpleasant memories I didn't know I still had. This explains my complete lack of tolerance for political grandstanding and blame-gaming on the subject, for which I do not apologize.
"oo" agents were men, not guns. I submit that the "nasty killing machine" is located between the ears of a human being. The insturmentality is not relevant.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
Bearing in mind just about every office I've worked in has some nutter working there (and I don't mean me...) the idea of allowing them to have a gun is kind of scary.
But it seems in the US we have a chicken and egg or Catch 22 situation. Weirdos have guns ergo if more normal people had guns, everyone would be safer...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It's not about us, posters. Something very horrible happened to alot of people and they had families that will be grieving over the loss of loved ones for the rest of their lives. There's a bigger picture here than our own beliefs and convictions.
No one's a winner in this and it doesn't matter what flag is waving over your heads... We're bigger than this so let's stop lighting fuses and bickering.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
What worries me is the self-serving and slick way our institutions and media deal with the news.
Just read and compare the first chapter of "Goldfinger" in which Bond reflects on killing the "capungo" with the last movie when Vesper asks Bond if killing bothered him.
We have all changed ...
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
And I certainly hope it's Professor Librescu who people will remember in the future. All the attention now is on the murderer. The portrait that's emerging of him is of a sad, sick, tortured soul, someone who rejected friendship when it was offered and who sullenly and bitterly saw himself as a perpetual victim and the rest of the world as victimizers. This story isn't about guns, politics, or culture: it's about someone who hated both himself and the world around him and who decided to leave the world in a blaze of what he felt was glory. Forget the killer, but remember his deed and remember those who triumphed above it.
My thoughts are with t he families of the victims of the incident and although nothing can return their friends or children to them I hope that they take something from the fact that most people in America and around the world for that matter, its all over the news over here too are all thinking about them.
It hits me rather hard because I am a similar age to the majority of the victims and the idea that people like myself have been taken from this world far too early by a person is quite hard to think about.
what happened to the gunman may I ask? I didn't catch that part of the news report.
I believe he killed himself after he was done shooting. It's just such a terrible situation to be in for all of those innocent people.
It is highly unlikely that UK & US citizens are ever likely to agree on the issue of gun ownership judging by the interviews I have heard following this appalling incident. Wouldn't it be better if we steered away from this subject for the sake of Anglo/US relations?
Yes, I think it would.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Well yes I do tend to agree with you. I also think that surely it would be better if a kid can't just walk in to a store and walk out with a gun. My point is, it is like telling Muslim countries to stop making their women cover up. Its ingrained in the culture of the country and if Americans want to retain that part of the constitution it's really none of our business since it doesn't directly affect us.
I like the American guys on here and don't want to fall out with them over this!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Gun death stats
The below article cites supposedly the first comprehensive international study of gun-related deaths, published in April 17, 1998 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6166
The “population” of this study was comprised of the 36 richest (developed) countries according to the World Bank's 1994 World Development Report, based on the highest GNP per capita income. The U.S. was first at 14.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people, compared to:
Northern Ireland, 6.63 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Australia, 2.65 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Germany, 1.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Ireland, 0.97 gun deaths per 100,000 people
Scotland, 0.54 gun deaths per 100,000 people
England and Wales, 0.41 gun deaths per 100,000 people
South Korea, 0.12 gun deaths per 100,000 people
I took the liberty to include above a small selection, partly based on AJB members, partly because of differences in gun control policies. Here’s another excerpt from the above article, a funny one:
I guess to fairly address the NRA’s concerns, the study should have also included violent deaths caused by bludgeons and potato peelers. ?:)
Race
I included South Korea in the gun death stats since the press seems fixated in emphasizing the shooter’s origin, as if that's a significant factor. Warning! Eating Kim Chee may be detrimental to your mental health! After doing some calculations, per 100,000 people there are approx. 119 times more gun related deaths in the U.S. vs. South Korea, 119 times. These stats strongly suggest that the killer, Cho, is more American than he is Korean.
Now, there’s this new theory promoting a violent South Korean movie as an inspiration for the killer based on the picture with the hammer. On that note, here’s an interesting blog/article titled “Not One of Us” that explores this “country of origin” angle, that argues that the roots of the VT massacre is just as “American” as Columbine and other recent mass shootings:
http://blogs.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=571295
Mental health
Interestingly about the killer’s “manifesto,” nothing about race as the cause of his anger has come up yet or been revealed, with his angst centered more on his paranoid take on his socio-economics. Then there’s all those “warning signs” documented by several people; maybe more decisive policies on how to handle these should be instituted at the governmental and private levels.
I think that his mental condition was the biggest factor in this mess; not to excuse his actions, but I’m in the opinion that “normal” people cannot even begin to fathom how it’s like for other people having these severe mental problems. If only one day, we can develop technology that instantly scans the chemical composition of the brain as easily as a walk-thru metal detector that can be installed at gun shops, for example? …but that would be too big brother-y for many. My biggest fear right now is that this incident, just as likely as Columbine, would serve to rally many other imbalanced misfits in hiding…somethings really need to be done, but done smartly.