Gunman shoots 18 people.

[WildCat]

Let's just not give them the rope they need. If they can't get guns then at least that'll be one good thing.

Of course you could argue that they would come up with another weapon to use, but at least guns (their prefered choice it would seem at the moment) will be out of the equation.

Was a time rope was all the needed, or a bridge to jump off, or a running car in a closed garage, or a private bullet to the head.

Now you have to take out as many people as you can. I was serious when I said the next step will be a suicide vest in a crowd, it's not that hard to do. I have no doubt it will be the next fad as soon as one person does it.

It will be interesting to see what the background of this guy was. These types of things are usually the end result of a long string of ignored warning signs.

 

[a_unique_person]

Six dead.

 

[LostAngeles]

Less rare or more sensationalized?

Murder rates have been dropping since the drug wars of the early 80's.

What we have is suicidal scumbags who want to take out others before they off themselves because they somehow see this as a blaze of glory. Probably just a matter of time before they start strapping bombs to themselves to up the death toll even more.

A few years ago we had a girl who tried to kill herself by colliding head-on with another car. She lived, but 3 guys in the other car were killed. She only got a sentence of 8 years*...

Suicide used to be a private thing, apparently that's not the case any more.


*likely she'll be out in 2.

I've been seriously suicidal tons of times. Standing from a stance of normalcy and trying to figure out my thought processes when I'm that way is a mess. The things that make sense, the logistical reasoning...

Distorted thinking leads to really bizzare conclusions.

Maybe they're trying to inflict their pain on others? I don't know. I can't understand taking random people with you. I just know that in my case, being suicidal really ****s up your reasoning.

Maybe it is the attention. "Hey! Look at me! I hurt! Feel my pain!"

Just what I read in the paper. They didn't list the events, or the exact number of days.

Ok. I was wondering if you had a list or something handy.

Party pooper. [qimg]http://www.lethalwrestling.com/upload/colbert.gif[/qimg]

Hey, I can finish it off too:

The general consensus is that dangerous people should not be in possession of guns, but the partisan bickering, heated feelings, and trolls from either end of the spectrum ruin any attempt at coming to a general, acceptable resolution and the the thread dies until the next mass shooting.

 

[LawnOven]

Interesting, how many threads discussing gun control, brought about by tragic events can this sub-forum support at once?

 

[LostAngeles]

Interesting, how many threads discussing gun control, brought about by tragic events can this sub-forum support at once?

Many years ago, on the forum where I met my boyfriend, the denziens would manage to crash the software almost daily from posting too much.

While I expect that this software is much more stable, I also expect a crash of this sub-forum in about... another tragic event or two?

 

[a_unique_person]

Was a time rope was all the needed, or a bridge to jump off, or a running car in a closed garage, or a private bullet to the head.

Now you have to take out as many people as you can. I was serious when I said the next step will be a suicide vest in a crowd, it's not that hard to do. I have no doubt it will be the next fad as soon as one person does it.

It will be interesting to see what the background of this guy was. These types of things are usually the end result of a long string of ignored warning signs.

Which is the sign of a dysfunctional society as much as a dysfunctional individual. He was also likely a law abiding citizen before he wasn't.

 

[LawnOven]

Which is the sign of a dysfunctional society as much as a dysfunctional individual.He was also likely a law abiding citizen before he wasn't.

In the depths of winter in Dekalb, it is a depressing place. Theres just something about that town, which doesn't lend itself well to positive mental health. Last year, someone committed suicide on the train tracks behind my apartment. Then there was the time the police were diving in the pond near where we lived, looking for our neighbors old high school friend, who had gone missing after leaving a bar one night.

Some how its hard for me to be surprised by all of this.

Incidentally, my fiance(e) used to TA in the class room where the shooting occurred.

FORMER STUDENT
Peters said the gunman was a sociology major who last attended classes as a graduate student in the spring of 2007 and who may have since enrolled at a different college. He said he had no police record or previous contact with police.

http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSKRA48086720080215?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Yep you were right. He apparently was law abiding.
At least, for me, he wasn't an Anthropologist; because then I would probably know him.

 

[Big Les]

The shooter wasn't even a student at the school. And he used a shotgun, which explains why there were so many shot but relatively few deaths.

Really? I thought shotgun wounds (at this sort of range) were more damaging than handgun bullets - mostly because they're comparable to multiple handgun bullets fired at once (unless it was bird shot or something). There's also a higher chance of hitting with at least some of the shot, in one shot, whereas repeated trigger pulls on a pistol can easily all go stray.

Sorry to be so cold about it.

 

[Normal Dude]

Really? I thought shotgun wounds (at this sort of range) were more damaging than handgun bullets - mostly because they're comparable to multiple handgun bullets fired at once (unless it was bird shot or something). There's also a higher chance of hitting with at least some of the shot, in one shot, whereas repeated trigger pulls on a pistol can easily all go stray.

Depends on the shot in the shells.

 

[Big Les]

Obviously - but you could say the same thing to Wildcat. We certainly can't say that the reason for the low number of deaths was the shotgun - it could have been the handguns missing or inflicting non-fatal wounds, or any number of environmental factors. Maybe he was a crap shot with all of the weapons?

The Stockton school shooting involved an AK47, and many survived those wounds too.

 

[Lucky]

The fifth? Are you sure?

Just what I read in the paper. They didn't list the events, or the exact number of days.

The fourth, according to the BBC.

It is also the fourth shooting at a US education establishment within a week.

Last Friday, a woman shot dead two fellow students before killing herself at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge. In Memphis, Tennessee, a 17-year-old is accused of shooting and critically wounding a student on Monday, and a 15-year-old was shot at a junior high school in California on Tuesday.

 

[baron]

Interesting, how many threads discussing gun control, brought about by tragic events can this sub-forum support at once?

Perhaps there should be a separate forum entitled "Multi-victim Civilian Shootings in the US".

 

[Darth Rotor]

These cases get less rare by the minute.

You only know what you read in the papers. Your problem is that you are focusing on an event in a location you don't associate with any danger, a college campus. Multiple murders happen each week in major cities.

Your silence on that appears to be callousness. No, it doesn't, it's a matter of staring at a spike.

I'll remind you that 30,000,000 lawful gun owners didn't kill anyone yesterday. Your draconian approach is noted, and is consigned to the same dustbin as draconian drug laws that do no good.

DR

 

[ponderingturtle]

The general consensus is that dangerous people should not be in possession of guns, but the partisan bickering, heated feelings, and trolls from either end of the spectrum ruin any attempt at coming to a general, acceptable resolution and the the thread dies until the next mass shooting.

The problem is clearly identifying dangerous people before hand.

From your admission in this thread, it would seem that you are not stable enough to be considered a safe person to own guns for example.

That is going by the VT shootings and the shooter their having issues with depression and suicidal thoughts in the past.

 

[ponderingturtle]

The fourth, according to the BBC.

But those are all personal disputes that generaly fall under the radar and get forgotten about when talking about school violence.

As violent deaths in schools have been decreaseing, this would seem to be an expected statistical cluster.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

The gunman has been identified as Steven Kazmierczak.

Reports that he was despondent over not being able to spell is name have not been confirmed.

 

[Darth Rotor]

The gunman has been identified as Steven Kazmierczak.

Reports that he was despondent over not being able to spell is name have not been confirmed.

I blame the teachers for not teaching how to spell phone net tickly.

Ban the NEA!

Lost Angeles: I think you are on the right track

Maybe it is the attention. "Hey! Look at me! I hurt! Feel my pain!"

We have long since entered the Warhol Horror Generation.

DR

 

[LawnOven]

Apparently he published a professional paper as an undergrad about prison suicides and self inflicted wounds or something.

Pretty crazy.

"I think everyone is numb and kind of out of it. This just doesn't happen in DeKalb," said Rosa Balli, 47, owner of Eduardo's Mexican Restaurant.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-niu-shooting_webfeb16,0,4111841.story?page=1

Yes it does.

I mean yeah its not like everyday someone shot up the campus. But there was enough bizarre, violent s--- that happened there in the 3 years that I lived in that town, to make that statement look like no more than wishful thinking to me. I mean just a couple of months ago they shut down the campus during finals week because of threats of mass murder.

I guess the news isn't going to interview the guy that says "Yeah, boy I saw this one coming; it was only a matter of time!" That just doesn't sound very good.

 

[Pardalis]

Multiple murders happen each week in major cities.

Yes, and alot of them involve guns.

I'll remind you that 30,000,000 lawful gun owners didn't kill anyone yesterday. Your draconian approach is noted, and is consigned to the same dustbin as draconian drug laws that do no good.

I'm not talking about a ban, but a very strict registry. We have one in Canada, but I think it should be more strict and include all kinds of guns, because obviously it failed us again.

I don't see what's the fascination with having a gun in the house. Civilians should do what they are supposed to do, live their lives instead of playing cowboys and indians. The police will take care of protecting them, that's their job.

 

[WildCat]

Well, now we have a possible reason. And it's very similar to the VT shooter:

The man who gunned down five people at Northern Illinois University in a suicidal rampage became erratic after halting his medication and carried a shotgun to campus inside a guitar case, police said Friday.

I thought they were going to crack down on psychiatric patients being able to buy firearms? Guess not...