Another college mass murder.. ho-hum, who cares.

[blondterror]

This paragraph still resonates with me...

Getting rid of all handguns is the best answer...


The cell phones in the pockets of the dead students were still ringing when we were told that it was wrong to ask why. As the police cleared the bodies from the Virginia Tech engineering building, the cell phones rang, in the eccentric varieties of ring tones, as parents kept trying to see if their children were OK. To imagine the feelings of the police as they carried the bodies and heard the ringing is heartrending; to imagine the feelings of the parents who were calling — dread, desperate hope for a sudden answer and the bliss of reassurance, dawning grief — is unbearable. But the parents, and the rest of us, were told that it was not the right moment to ask how the shooting had happened — specifically, why an obviously disturbed student, with a history of mental illness, was able to buy guns whose essential purpose is to kill people — and why it happens over and over again in America. At a press conference, Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, said, "People who want to ... make it their political hobby horse to ride, I've got nothing but loathing for them. ... At this point, what it's about is comforting family members ... and helping this community heal. And so to those who want to try to make this into some little crusade, I say take that elsewhere."

Many things have been written and will continue to be written on America's gun ownership rate (the highest in the world ), its gun violence (the worst in the developed world ), and the political and social forces that keep this from changing .

What Gopnik captured was not just the horrific costs of gun violence or the frustrating politics of gun control, but the special sort of anguish that we inflict on ourselves in the United States by forbidding any meaningful conversation around the tragedies that unfold over and over again.

There is an unwritten American rule that the aftermath of a mass shooting is the wrong time to talk about gun control. As Gopnik wrote, this logic would be recognized as absurd if applied to anything else: "The aftermath of a terrorist attack is the wrong time to talk about security, the aftermath of a death from lung cancer is the wrong time to talk about smoking and the tobacco industry, and the aftermath of a car crash is the wrong time to talk about seat belts."

Gopnik ended his piece with a call to ban handguns — a political nonstarter in 2007 and, in 2015, something that would be unimaginable to even discuss. That fact itself, that his concluding line has become more politically unthinkable rather than less, seems to drive home his point: that mass shootings will continue in America, and that Americans will refuse to seriously debate whether our culture of gun ownership is worth the costs.

"There is no reason that any private citizen in a democracy should own a handgun," he wrote. "At some point, that simple truth will register. Until it does, phones will ring for dead children, and parents will be told not to ask why."

[tysdad115]

Originally Posted by blondterror

This paragraph still resonates with me...

Getting rid of all handguns is the best answer...


The cell phones in the pockets of the dead students were still ringing when we were told that it was wrong to ask why. As the police cleared the bodies from the Virginia Tech engineering building, the cell phones rang, in the eccentric varieties of ring tones, as parents kept trying to see if their children were OK. To imagine the feelings of the police as they carried the bodies and heard the ringing is heartrending; to imagine the feelings of the parents who were calling — dread, desperate hope for a sudden answer and the bliss of reassurance, dawning grief — is unbearable. But the parents, and the rest of us, were told that it was not the right moment to ask how the shooting had happened — specifically, why an obviously disturbed student, with a history of mental illness, was able to buy guns whose essential purpose is to kill people — and why it happens over and over again in America. At a press conference, Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, said, "People who want to ... make it their political hobby horse to ride, I've got nothing but loathing for them. ... At this point, what it's about is comforting family members ... and helping this community heal. And so to those who want to try to make this into some little crusade, I say take that elsewhere."

Many things have been written and will continue to be written on America's gun ownership rate (the highest in the world ), its gun violence (the worst in the developed world ), and the political and social forces that keep this from changing .

What Gopnik captured was not just the horrific costs of gun violence or the frustrating politics of gun control, but the special sort of anguish that we inflict on ourselves in the United States by forbidding any meaningful conversation around the tragedies that unfold over and over again.

There is an unwritten American rule that the aftermath of a mass shooting is the wrong time to talk about gun control. As Gopnik wrote, this logic would be recognized as absurd if applied to anything else: "The aftermath of a terrorist attack is the wrong time to talk about security, the aftermath of a death from lung cancer is the wrong time to talk about smoking and the tobacco industry, and the aftermath of a car crash is the wrong time to talk about seat belts."

Gopnik ended his piece with a call to ban handguns — a political nonstarter in 2007 and, in 2015, something that would be unimaginable to even discuss. That fact itself, that his concluding line has become more politically unthinkable rather than less, seems to drive home his point: that mass shootings will continue in America, and that Americans will refuse to seriously debate whether our culture of gun ownership is worth the costs.

"There is no reason that any private citizen in a democracy should own a handgun," he wrote. "At some point, that simple truth will register. Until it does, phones will ring for dead children, and parents will be told not to ask why."

And when radical Muslims hijacked airplanes and killed 3500 there was never talk of banning airplanes, every day people die from cancer related to cigarettes and yet you can still buy cigarettes. Tell me again how this agenda driven selective banning of firearms makes sense ? Oh sure England banned them ! And violence is still an issue, there's even a web site that tells people to " be a good victim" , knife related murders now rule.. Again ,you can continue your fantasy of blaming inanimate objects and the scum of society will still thrive.
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[scottw]

strange times...illegal and prescribed drugs fuel "creativity" and detach from reality..media fuels lack of regard for human life .....no love...no purpose...no predicting what one will do...

Oregon recently tightened it's gun laws and the campus was designated a gun free campus...how can this happen?

ban pointy knives while we're at it....keep the drugs and violence flowing

Don’t be a victim

If you feel you are in immediate danger from knife crime there are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself:
• Move away from the situation towards a public place (shop, house, restaurant etc.) as quickly as possible.
• Make as much noise as you can.
• Instead of carrying a knife, carry a personal alarm.
• Don’t fight back.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...der-your-knife

http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...a-mark-antonio

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by scottw

strange times...illegal and prescribed drugs fuel "creativity" and detach from reality..media fuels lack of regard for human life .....no love...no purpose...no predicting what one will do...

Oregon recently tightened it's gun laws and the campus was designated a gun free campus...how can this happen?

ban pointy knives while we're at it....keep the drugs and violence flowing

Don’t be a victim

If you feel you are in immediate danger from knife crime there are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself:
• Move away from the situation towards a public place (shop, house, restaurant etc.) as quickly as possible.
• Make as much noise as you can.
• Instead of carrying a knife, carry a personal alarm.
• Don’t fight back.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...der-your-knife

http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...a-mark-antonio

In my world it would be something like -
If faced with the reality of a knife crime, take 3 fast steps backwards, alert the offender that you are armed. Pump 4 rounds into his legs.

I think everyone should have guns and I'm a hippie art fag. 😂
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[scottw]

Originally Posted by Nebe

I think everyone should have guns and I'm a hippie art fag. 😂

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

that was precious...glad I didn't have a mouth full of coffee

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

Oregon recently tightened it's gun laws and the campus was designated a gun free campus...how can this happen?

You could still CCW on campus. I saw an interview with a vet packing who said he didn't intervene because he didn't want the cops to confuse him with the killer.

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by spence

You could still CCW on campus. I saw an interview with a vet packing who said he didn't intervene because he didn't want the cops to confuse him with the killer.

So what's the point of packing if you don't use the package? Not sure, but I would guess the vet would have intervened if the killer was pointing his gun at him. Too bad, if he had the opportunity, he didn't intervene before others were being killed.

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

Why is that nonsense? Wouldn't a gun free zone be more attractive to a mass murderer than one where most people are "packing"? And even if CCW's were legal, wouldn't a gathering of minors who probably weren't armed be more attractive to the killer than a group of adults who may well have been?

[spence]

Originally Posted by detbuch

Why is that nonsense? Wouldn't a gun free zone be more attractive to a mass murderer than one where most people are "packing"? And even if CCW's were legal, wouldn't a gathering of minors who probably weren't armed be more attractive to the killer than a group of adults who may well have been?

I think you just answered your own question.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by spence

You could still CCW on campus. I saw an interview with a vet packing who said he didn't intervene because he didn't want the cops to confuse him with the killer.

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

Translation. I was too busy hiding behind a desk.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

You could still CCW on campus. I saw an interview with a vet packing who said he didn't intervene because he didn't want the cops to confuse him with the killer.

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

"Under state law, people in Oregon could carry concealed firearms on college campuses like the one where a gunman killed nine people and wounded several others on Thursday. However, Umpqua Community College has been established as a gun-free zone thanks to a loophole in state law that has made every third-level institution in the state almost entirely gun-free. Here’s how that works."

http://www.vocativ.com/news/236421/t...n-campus-laws/

the point is that ne're-do-well's don't give a crap about "zones"

[tysdad115]

Originally Posted by spence

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

This certainly explains why so many mass shootings occur at gun ranges where many people have firearms. More left stupidity..
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[JohnR]

Originally Posted by scottw

strange times...illegal and prescribed drugs fuel "creativity" and detach from reality..media fuels lack of regard for human life .....no love...no purpose...no predicting what one will do...

Hard to figure out, right? You can legalize pot in places but firearms should be confiscated??

You will pry this bong from my cold-dead-dorito-cheesed hands.

Originally Posted by spence

You could still CCW on campus. I saw an interview with a vet packing who said he didn't intervene because he didn't want the cops to confuse him with the killer.

Guns are discouraged but it's not illegal. This is just more "criminals are attracted to gun free zones" nonsense from the NRA.

Yes and no, not all "Gun Free Zones" are created equal and some GFZs trump the CCW permit.

Originally Posted by spence

I think you just answered your own question.

Apples / Oranges. THIS guy chose the school because it was personal, not be cause he was trying for the maxim shock factor (like an elementary)

[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Apples / Oranges. THIS guy chose the school because it was personal, not be cause he was trying for the maxim shock factor (like an elementary)

That's exactly the point. Nearly all mass shootings have a personal connection underneath the motive. The argument that gun free zones are a lure is a myth concocted by those who want you to believe more guns is always the solution...

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

The argument that gun free zones are a lure is a myth concocted by those who want you to believe more guns is always the solution...

no one argued that gun free zones are "a lure"...your myth is a myth...they sure make an easy target however....the argument is that gun free zones don't seem to stop psychos with guns...and that psychos with guns can probably anticipate less resistance in a gun free zone