US Shooting

[monpepe]

Only in the US. 18 kids and 27 people all up have been killed so far.

Disgusting.

[Mithster18]

[mycoolcar]

You're awesome for watching sourcefed.

[winter]

Sad there isn't a solution to this. Can take all the weapons away, but you can't stop a fast growing mentally unstable and disenfranchised citizenship from making large statements with simple tools.

Terrible news, makes me want to go hide my son away from this horrible world.

[Tiwaking!]

Sad there isn't a solution to this. Can take all the weapons away, but you can't stop a fast growing mentally unstable and disenfranchised citizenship from making large statements with simple tools.

Terrible news, makes me want to go hide my son away from this horrible world.

Horrible world?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vYE5KCEvM&list=FLHUkdEWuxtAelq2m-jNNIQw

[Bounty Hunter]

Sad there isn't a solution to this. Can take all the weapons away, but you can't stop a fast growing mentally unstable and disenfranchised citizenship from making large statements with simple tools.

Terrible news, makes me want to go hide my son away from this horrible world.

Theres no solution to anything, except maths, but come on, making guns harder to get has got to help, there's far too much data supporting this.

[BeNZene]

The Onion has covered the story well:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-nation-reports,30743/

Seems pretty clear to me that if the US had proper gun control it would be difficult for people with serious mental health issues to get the kind of firearms that can be used to kill a lot of people in a short period of time. Given Obama is second term, he could dedicate himself to repealing the 2nd Amendment. But they have had so many massacres that it's hard to see this changing anything.

[winter]

Theres no solution to anything, except maths, but come on, making guns harder to get has got to help, there's far too much data supporting this.

If he didn't have access to a gun he would have found other means. Like this clown in China, that stabbed 20+ kids.

Link to said clown in China: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&

[mycoolcar]

Given Obama is second term, he could dedicate himself to repealing the 2nd Amendment. But they have had so many massacres that it's hard to see this changing anything.

I highly doubt a change like this could ever be made. Guns are America.

America was built on war, they have evolved on war, hell off the top of my head, Revolutionary war, Vs. Mexico for land, Vs. Native Americans, Vs. Themselves [civil war], WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq [twice!], Afghanistan. It just goes on an on! They are conquers and will never let their guns be taken away (or limited).

[Lias]

The only solution that would work would be compulsory mental health checks and mandatory euthenasia for those judged to be a risk to society.
Sadly that would less socially acceptable to many people than killing rampages by mentally deranged people, so we'll continue to see stories like this.

[Aloysius]

I feel desensitised to shootings in America now.
Last thread we had (those movie theatre shootings) someone posted a link that had crime stats for multiple deaths from guns. There was some outrageous number of them a month in the states.


(can't find link after 3-5 mins of searching)

[BerG]

It's because of the atheists.

[Speakman]

Mike Huckabee is at it again:

"We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools," Huckabee said on Fox News, discussing the murder spree that took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown, CT that morning. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"

http://boingboing.net/2012/12/14/mick-huckabee-school-carnag.html

[BeNZene]

I highly doubt a change like this could ever be made. Guns are America.

America was built on war, they have evolved on war, hell off the top of my head, Revolutionary war, Vs. Mexico for land, Vs. Native Americans, Vs. Themselves [civil war], WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq [twice!], Afghanistan. It just goes on an on! They are conquers and will never let their guns be taken away (or limited).

I wish you were wrong, but I think you are probably right (and that saddens me).

[Cowwie]

If he didn't have access to a gun he would have found other means. Like this clown in China, that stabbed 20+ kids.

Link to said clown in China: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&

 
Its weird to use that as a example when alot of these chinese kids(and god knows who else) would be dead right now if he had used guns instead of a knife.

[winter]

Its weird to use that as a example when alot of these chinese kids(and god knows who else) would be dead right now if he had used guns instead of a knife.

I was referring to how guns are not easily sought in the Chinese province that particular attack took place in. - If the shooter from today didn't have access to guns, he probably would've used knifes.. if not knifes.. then something else - he was mentally unstable enough to come to some bizarre conclusion that he needed to kill his mother and everything she stood for such as the children/adults at her work.

I'm not saying that banning guns or stricter gun control wouldn't help - I just don't think it would stop these particularly angry, psychologically and mentally unstable people from killing people.. guns or not.

[swindle]

Fucking facebook comments.

I swear to christ.

[mattnz]

The only solution that would work would be compulsory mental health checks and mandatory euthenasia for those judged to be a risk to society.
Sadly that would less socially acceptable to many people than killing rampages by mentally deranged people, so we'll continue to see stories like this.

Yeah man, totally. "You can have a gun if you let us decide whether we kill you or not". I can see absolutely no other solution.

[private_hell]

I was referring to how guns are not easily sought in the Chinese province that particular attack took place in. - If the shooter from today didn't have access to guns, he probably would've used knifes.. if not knifes.. then something else - he was mentally unstable enough to come to some bizarre conclusion that he needed to kill his mother and everything she stood for such as the children/adults at her work.

I'm not saying that banning guns or stricter gun control wouldn't help -  I just don't think it would stop these particularly angry,  psychologically and mentally unstable people from killing people.. guns  or not.                   

the difference though would be limiting the harm/deaths. with a knife, usually the assailant has to get closer to the victims - and has to worry about getting overpowered or defending him/herself from the people they are attacking. with a firearm the assailant can stand out of range of the victims.

[Black Heart]

We shot our way into this mess and by god we'll shoot our way out!

[Aloysius]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/piers-morgan-newtown-kids-die-gun-control_n_2307357.html

I enjoyed this venting of spleen.

Its of vid of piers morgan destroying some gun control lobbyists with righteous fury. Not especially helpful, but satisfying.

[Bounty Hunter]

If he didn't have access to a gun he would have found other means. Like this clown in China, that stabbed 20+ kids.

Link to said clown in China: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&

and 5 were critically wounded....instead of 20 dead.

Thanks for making my point for me.

[winter]

and 5 were critically wounded....instead of 20 dead.

Thanks for making my point for me.

MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you kn
ow the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations , sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

Also, making something against the law doesn't stop it's existence. It creates a thriving black market for the item in said location - guns aren't simply going to vanish in this world, the root cause needs to be addressed.

[swindle]

Only in the US.

Only in the US?

You ever heard of the Middle East? You know, that whole other half of the world?

Or does it not count because they don't speak English as a first language?

[The Demon Lord]

I really struggle to care each time I hear about a mass shooting in America.

Now before you start furiously posting that I am an Asshole for saying something like this (well I kinda am), let me put my reasons why I say this:

America has, on multiple occassions had the oppertunity to change or update their Second Amendment. But they haven't.

Firstly the Second amendment is out of date - the original purpose was to make sure that the US government couldn't turn Tyrannical. This in itself is a great idea (I am serious here, it is a great idea). The problem here is that 200 or so years ago when it was written, the armed forces that the American goverment could bring to bear were the same that a town/state Militia could Raise (breech loading Rifles and muzzle loading Muskets and shotguns) meaning that should the US government try to do anything tyrannical, it would find itself facing a similar sized force of civilian militia, armed with weaponary of approximately the same level.

Now lets move forward to today - sure the Well armed Redneck can own Assault rifles and even things such as Grenade launchers, but compare this to a battalion of M1 Abrams romping through your town, supported by the a Squadron of B52s pulling an Arc-Light style mission on your location. Even using the second amendment to its full potential, a citizen or citizens can still not bring to bear the same level of Firepower that the US military can. Thus rendering the thinking and situation in which the 2nd Amendment was created obsolete.

Next (and this is going to sound so Cynical) a LOT of organisations have a vested interest in the status quo and by extension the mass public shootings:

The Firearms industry
The NRA
The Police
The Religous organisations
The pharmaceutical companies
The Media companies

etc.

disagree?

Well - the Firearms industry is a multi Billion dollar industry in the US and it will do everything it can to make sure that people are able to still buy guns and firearms accessories.

The NRA is obvious, pretty much the lobby organisation for the Firearms industry - their logic is that if everyone was more heavily armed, then shootings wouldn't happen because the citizens could return fire and kill the shooter before he/her was able to kill lots of people. Great idea, but so flawed you could drive a Nimitz class aircraft carrier through it AND the escorts. If you don't see the flaws in the arguement, then please don't bother replying to this post.

The Police - Well although the Police are there to protect and serve, incidents like this make it a lot easier come budget time to ask for additional officers, equipment and firearms so that 'we can be ready if this happens in our town'. The MASSIVE increases in police expenditure in the wake of 9/11 is a testament to this.

The Religous organisations - the corpses aren't even cold yet and already we have the con artists, I mean preachers implying that a belief in a nonexistent deity will stop people from killing people (excusing the fact that Christianity has killed millions in the name of god over the years) and how the US needs to stop the separation of Church and State etc. etc.

The Pharmaceutical companies - In wake of this tragedy, we have developed a new drug! Is your son one of those weird kids at school?  Does he dress in Black? Does he listen to evil music? Well if he does, HE COULD BE THE NEXT MASS MURDER! but just 1 dose a day of our new Triple Strength Coma inducing drug - Vegitas will render him completely harmless and no longer a threat to society! Why bother talking to your kids when you can just dose them up on drugs! don't worry about the Side effects - these are legal so they are Safe! Treatments start at $100 per pill - see your local Drug dealer, I mean doctor.

The Media outlets - they are already having a field day, as already mentioned in this thread - they create celebrities out of the perpetrators and the best bit is - by giving global coverage to these people, they are ensuring they have a steady supply of perpetrators in the pipeline ready and lined up for the next mass slaughter.


Next we have the American attitude towards power status - that the Weak/outcasts are there to be rungs on a ladder for those with power to climb higher. If I was bothered, I would go and find any one of the numerous incidents where Jocks/popular kids have got away with systematic and regular tormenting of their chosen victims with little to no reprimand from the school (normally because they are a member of a sports team) and the victim has either snapped and killed one of them (resulting in public outcry) or commited suicide (which is generally ignored).

Finally we have the glorification of violence and the repression of healthy sexual messages:

Ratings in the US for movies that have large amounts of Violence are generally much lower than the rest of the world, this in itself isn't bad, but combine it with the way that Sex is sold in the US - a film that features a bare female chest will generally receive a NC-17 rating (the equivalent of R18 over here) even if there is no overtly sexual context however in the US rating system there is little to no separation between this and a scene that glamorizes dominant/unhealthy sexual content (now a caveat here, I am not talking about personal preferences/fetishes here) - take any number of American films, generally Men are always portrayed in a position of sexual power and that the women are implicitly subservient to his whims. Combine this mainstream portrayal of sex to the other side of the coin which is the American Porn industry which pushes sex as a product to be bought and sold and that ones manhood is directly linked to his sexual prowess.

Now combine the two for someone who has low self esteem, easy access to firearms and chip on his shoulder about something:

Violence is okay, but you aren't really a man unless you are nailing multiple women.

After a while (particular with the disenfranchised shooter) this frustration starts to build into a full head of steam and they are convinced that they are less than worthless by their peers and by the media - so how does one rectify this? Well violence is okay so if I take this Assault Rifle and kill a whole load of people then I will show the world that I am a Somebody!!

Whereas the rest of the world would just have a 50 off the wrist or fuck a hooker - because they wouldn't have easy access to a weapon and there isn't the fucked up american attitudes and culture around sex.

so where does this leave us?

With countless dead children and countless children that are going to die through little to no fault of their own. Because it is only a matter of time before the next tragedy and unless the american government grows some balls and actually puts in place some form of legislation to restrict or better control/manage firearm ownership in the US then it will continue.

And for me it is very hard to care about something, tragic though it is, when nothing is done about it.

As  one of the articles said - how many more children does the US have to bury before someone finally does something about it