30 Dead in Virginia Tech University

In Between

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[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6560685.stm[/url]

Freejack

Holy crap...here's the NPR information: [url]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9600567[/url]

Jake

Messiah

:(

That sucks.

HuntSmacker

Blerrggh :(

Falcon1

Unbelievable really. Was watching C4 news and the figure was around 20 something dead. Then by then end of the programme it had risen to 30. Really crazy what happened. Looks like the shooter killed himself.

PJH

Once again....

So sad.

- PJH

ShadowDancer

Very sad. I really don't understand why these people feel the need to do things like this

SpiritOne

[quote][/i]He said that two hours later there was a second report of shooting, this time at Norris Hall.[/i][/quote]


WHAT!!!!

He roamed free for 2 hours and killed more people???? What the hell??? Why wasnt that school locked down?

croxis

Universities often don't have lock down procedures.

Biggles

Apparently, he didn't kill people for those two hours, which led them to think the first shooting was an isolated incident like one they had not too long ago. Still seems odd to me that they didn't shut down the whole place and tell everyone to go home after a shooting, isolated or not.

JackN

Where exactly does cableguy live again?

oh sorry... wrong thread... I think... ?

shadow boxer

Martin Bryant did 35.

I hope some sensible firearms laws come into effect, not the draconian ones we got after Byrant went psycho.

Biggles

But SB, draconian laws are the only way to create the illusion of doing something about it!

Freejack

Of course this tragedy will open the gun control debate wide open again, which will be followed by a lot of supposition and pontification.

In the end, the unfortunate truth is that it is very difficult to protect yourself against an individual with sufficient motivation to do harm, and I think that scares the collective crap out of society....hence we focus on issues that make us feel like we are doing something about it.

Jake

wiseguy

i bet they find out he played [B]-insert random first person shooter game name here-[/B] and blame it on that again :rolleyes:

Messiah

From what I heard, the guy was from China on a temporary visit to the school.

Space Ghost

One can only wonder why someone would do something like this. There was a shooting at my school in the fall but obviously not on this scale. As bad as it is to say, at least it wasn't random like this lunatic at VA Tech.

Dax

JackN: he lives in NY, which scares the hell outta me
<-------- *points to where I am now*

I know that there was a shooting last year in Canada but this newest incident really makes me wonder about you Americans... I just don't understand the thought process "I am pissed off, let's shoot a bunch of people then shoot myself"... I suppose the last part is logical enough but my god, I went to high school in the US, kids are cruel, parents should really be taking a stance here, telling there kids to lay off the nerds/goths/anyone different

SpiritOne

[QUOTE=shadow boxer;159156]Martin Bryant did 35.

I hope some sensible firearms laws come into effect, not the draconian ones we got after Byrant went psycho.[/QUOTE]

Uh oh, its happening again!!! SpiritOne is turning into, CONCEALED CARRY SPIRITONE!! aaaaahhhhhh!

You guys know me. Ive been around here a while. In political issues I generally lean pretty liberal. But not on this. I was a Marine, I was a competition shooter, a rifle pistol coach, I love shooting. I own several guns. And I think gun control laws are retarded.

Lets face it, if a guy wants to do this, not a whole lot thats going to stop him. If he was a Chinese student who was visiting, I guarantee you he did not go to Kmart that morning to purchase that gun. He acquired his weapon through an illegal method. Creating laws that prevent Law Abiding Citizens (read SpiritOne) from obtaining a firearm does little to nothing to prevent crime. Criminals get their weapons the same way they do everything else, illegally.

On a personal side, I can't for the life of me understand how someone can stand up and scream "Right to free speach!!!, my first amendment" (cough, Rosie), Then in the same breath tell me my 2nd amendment means jack shit.

You want to prevent crime with guns? Fine, I think thats an honorable thing to want. But again, laws that prevent non-criminals from owning guns does little to prevent crime. Create laws that make longer mandatory sentencing for crimes committed with guns. Pass Gun SAFETY laws.

My idea. The National Gun Owners Safety Program. If you want to own a gun, you have to take a Government sponsored safety class that teaches you how to:
1. Demonstrate that you can safely operate a firearm.
2. Demonstrate that you can store a gun safely (ie unloaded, trigger lock).
3. Demonstrate that you can safely introduce a child to shooting, while at the same time keeping the weapon in a safe location so the child does not have access to the gun.

If you take the class, then you get a NGOSP Card and you can buy whatever firearm you want. If you don't take the class, you can't buy any.

Then in the event of a Columbine/Virginia Tech style tragedy the gun owner who improperly stored his weapons and allowed a child or criminal to take his weapons to commit a crime, gets his card revoked and he his held criminally negligent.

Guns are not the problem. Stupid people who own guns are. Get some knowledge out to people and these kinds of incidents will go away.

I own several guns. They are all locked in cases. There is one key to those cases and its on my key ring. All the guns have trigger locks on them as well. Same thing, one key, my ring. Safety, not control.

In Between

I like SpirtOnes idea allot. I would take it one step further and have levels of certification. A hunter, for example does not need to own a AK 47 to go shoot game . [B]All people [/B]interested in owning firearms should be certified including police officers etc.

Here is another prospective on the shootings from a ex-CIA agent and now "helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by terrorism and money laundering. "

[url]http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/04/now_do_you_unde.html[/url]

The About me button on the site tells you more about him.

Soton

[QUOTE=Messiah;159162]From what I heard, the guy was from China on a temporary visit to the school.[/QUOTE]

South Korea, and he had been in this country since the early 90s.

Dax

I agree with you SpiritOne, that seems like a better course of action but I don't think that this problem had anything to do with that. I mean really, once anyone on the planet figures out that they want to do something, they'll do anything in their power to do it, the problem is that people can be intellegant and can get around any system in place, no matter how good it is.

I still stand behind that there is a reason WHY he decided he wanted to shoot some people (speculation ranging from a love triangle to some creative writing link) and he was smart enough to have the ability to get what he wanted done.
Kids have always been cruel and this guy was obviously a product of some other kids retarded behavior (who knew that calling some guy dressed in black a 'dork' would get you killed? see: Columbine) and took action on it.
The power of a desperate man is matched by no other, even Shakespeare knew that.
Our task now is to make sure that desperation is way out of reach.

croxis

I stand my ground that a majority, if not most, school shootings are preventable and not through legislation.

PJH

This shooter had just bought a new 9mm gun from the store last month, which he used for these killings. Police found a receipt from the dorm.

When will you people learn....

- PJH

PJH

This shooter had just bought a new 9mm gun from the store last month, which he used for these killings. Police found a receipt from the dorm.

When will you people learn....

- PJH

DarthCaligula

And before the day was done, I heard some guy on TV blaming video games...
What about this stuff about him writing stuff in creative writing? I've drawn mega-violent comics full of stick figures blowing eachother away and all other sorts of horrid deaths since high school, and I'm probably one of the most non-violent people you'd meet. Hell, I don't even like hurting bugs unless I have to.

Seafroggys

Yeah I'm a pacifist but a lot of my stories have had heavy duty violence and/or gore in them.

I don't feel anymore scared from this. I don't buy into media hype.

A classmate in my ethics class thought that the government was behind this.

SpiritOne

[QUOTE=PJH;159189]This shooter had just bought a new 9mm gun from the store last month, which he used for these killings. Police found a receipt from the dorm.

When will you people learn....

- PJH[/QUOTE]

yep, he bought the gun from a legal store. That fucking sucks.

Still doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to purchase a gun just because of this nut.

Messiah

[QUOTE=Soton;159173]South Korea, and he had been in this country since the early 90s.[/QUOTE]

Ah, my bad. It was a rumour, so I didnt put too much stock in it..

Biggles

[QUOTE=DarthCaligula;159191]What about this stuff about him writing stuff in creative writing? I've drawn mega-violent comics full of stick figures blowing eachother away and all other sorts of horrid deaths since high school, and I'm probably one of the most non-violent people you'd meet. Hell, I don't even like hurting bugs unless I have to.[/QUOTE]

A lot of people (read: the media and people who don't think, only react) can't grasp the concept of knowing the difference between fiction and reality, particularly when it applies to other people knowing this difference and applying it in their creativity. One wonders why the media hasn't started demanding that action movie screenwriters and directors be locked up yet...

HuntSmacker

Great, now it looks like theres going to be a backlash at Koreans in America according to the radio :(