Merged Shooting at Georgia Courthouse

[catsmate]

If it counts as a mass shooting because it was a failed attempt that was thwarted by the use of firearms, shouldn't we tally up all the other times guns in the hands of law abiding citizens have thwarted mass shootings? Or would that concede too much ground to the pro-gun side of the gun control debate?

Go for it.

 

[Meed]

Good grief. We're really going to get to the point where we have one mass shooting per day, aren't we?

Glad this one didn't end in tradgedy.

There's been multiple shootings per day (on average) for years and years...

 

[marplots]

Not at all. Can you give a good reason why it should not "count' as an example of the solution that an armed response represents?

I think it should count. Guns solve the problems that guns create. A nice, tidy package of justice.

It's such a tidy solution, I propose we use it in other venues. After all, more deadly disease will solve the problem of disease as people die out, and more heroin will give addicts a better chance of overdosing. Plus, there's the nice efficiency of not really doing anything other than standing back and watching the drama unfold, safe in the knowledge that these people aren't like me or mine.

If I can just add in a bit of nihilism and suggest, "everybody dies anyway," I think we have a winning platform.

 

[Cain]

If we have one "mass shooting" like this every day in the US, it will mean 365 dead innocent people and 365 dead murderers every year, 366 in some years. Out of a population of 320 million. That's 0.22 per 100,000 population compared to about 11 per 100,000 dead of automobiles and about 5 per 100,000 dead of HIV.

An excellent comparison considering the relative necessity of guns versus cars and sex. I'm sure some dimwitted critics will say that you're discounting gun "accidents," and then go on to ask how many people commit vehicular homicide on any given day. Screw them! Let freedom ring.

 

[theprestige]

(Shrug) Knock yourself out; tally 'em up.

Go for it.

I'm content to take them as they come. Really I'm more interested in understanding if there's a consensus here that it still counts as a mass shooting if someone uses violence to cut it short before it really gets going.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I'm content to take them as they come. Really I'm more interested in understanding if there's a consensus here that it still counts as a mass shooting if someone uses violence to cut it short before it really gets going.

I'm comfortable with "attempted mass shooting", as that intent seems pretty clear. Would that work better for you?

 

[Tricky]

If it counts as a mass shooting because it was a failed attempt that was thwarted by the use of firearms, shouldn't we tally up all the other times guns in the hands of law abiding citizens have thwarted mass shootings? Or would that concede too much ground to the pro-gun side of the gun control debate?

Where are you going to get these numbers? Personal anecdotes?

"Sure, Judge, he was workin' at the 7-11 but I could tell he was plannin' a mass shootin', so I had to take him out."

 

[marplots]

Where are you going to get these numbers? Personal anecdotes?

"Sure, Judge, he was workin' at the 7-11 but I could tell he was plannin' a mass shootin', so I had to take him out."

Sounds good. We are all familiar with the aphorism: "A Glock of prevention is worth an Uzi of cure."

 

[ponderingturtle]

The gun battle at the georgia courthouse is a good example of a good guy doing battle with a bad guy. Massacres happen when bad guys with guns seek out and find good guys without guns. In this case the armed bad guy ran into a good armed guy and lost the battle.

So we need more cops?