In Virginia. There was actually two separate incident. One was in the south, at 7 in the morning. Then around 9 - 10 am , another one flared up in the northern part, with over 30 dead. Two madman--only teenager--gunning down teenagers. Seriously, as a teenger, this is a serious problem. Why we killing our own kind? Why are teenagers killing teenagers? You tell me...
Yea, it's usually whites going on a shooting spree at school. Why is that? I'll be surprised if it was a black, mexican, or Asian.
It was one shooter, Asian (eye witness account, could change), possibly looking for his girlfriend. The way the school and police reacted was a fiasco. After the first shooting shortly after seven, they locked the school down. Two hours later, without having a suspect in custody, they reopened the school and sent people to their classes. Then the second shooting occurred all the way across campus. If they had kept the school locked down until they had the shooter, at least half the victims would still be alive and healthy. As of yet they haven't released any details about the weapon(s) used, so we don't know if the guns were illegal, legal, restricted. So no one can say if gun laws would have helped or not.
There was a University shooting in Montreal a few months ago. Canada has some pretty strict gun laws. You have to go through a criminal records check, get registered, waiting period, and assault rifles are illegal. The shooter went through all of it. Several warning signs were ignored, and he got a semi-automatic rifle. 20 people injured, one dead. Gun laws help, but they are far from perfect.
This actually isn't the worst school massacre in US history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kehoe And heres a news blog that is posting and linking to the most recent info available. http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/04/shooting_rampage_at_virginia_t.php
Well I can't be suprised that this once again happens in America George Bush says people possess the right to have a gun, but the law still applies. Seriously..what is so hard to comprehend.. if guns weren't on sale to begin with you would hardly need to protect yourself with a gun Where I live, we are not allowed to possess a firearm and have no need to either. I think there should be a ban on guns, so it would be very hard to get your hands on one Toddlers can get their hands on guns so easily in the U.S and while everyones going on about irresponsibility, some people are dumbasses, excuse my language and a good soloution is jsut to ban them altogether People living in fear isn't the way to go If you possess a firearm, you're living in fear, why else would you want to hold a gun in your house? To show it to your neighbours? Gimme a break Ban guns and then after we do that look at other areas. Sure, some lunatic will always manage to get his hand on a gun whether its legal or illegal, but by making it illegal there is a lesser risk And for the situation that happened today, could it have been dealt with in a better fashion? Yes. I don't get why people can't act on signs and do something when it's innocent peoples lives on the line. I really don't know.
How so? It's true, people are dumbasses, if this was the latter then why are guns able to get their hands on guns? I'm talking about small kids, not the ones who are able to walk in and buy one. Because the parents/guardians whatever, are careless And a ban on guns seems out of proportion? I don't know about you, but I see no need for guns and they are a hindrance. I think police should be the only one armed, even then, firing should be done only when neccesary Surely things like this make you realise how dangerous guns are? Whereas with another weapon i.e knife, of course we're not going to ban knives just because they can kill, bu realistically, the bloodshed will be far less than a gun, a madman could have shot dozens before being taken down I know of people who leave their homes open at night and pretty much all the time They don't feel threatened and why should they. Fear is a bad thing, guns shouldn't be availble to the public, that's my opinion on the subject.
Whispwillow, just out of curiousity which country do you live in? Most guns used in crime are illegal. This means they are obtained by illegal means. In most cases through gangs that buy them from weapons dealers, often from across the border. Only approximately 5 -10% of guns used in crime are stolen. Of guns that are legally owned and used in crime, most of these are crimes of passion, involving only one to two people. And in these cases a knife will be just as effective. So how many people will be protected by banning all guns? Britain has banned most firearms. And if I recall, the only area guns can be kept is in gun clubs, away from the home. The violent crime rate in Britain is climbing steadily. The people and police don't have guns, but the criminals still do. The violent crime rate in Europe has passed Canada, and Canada's gun laws aren't as strict as Europes'. Switzerland and Israel both have laws making gun ownership mandatory for the militia. They have less violent crime then Britain, France, and Germany. Japan is the only country that bans guns, that has a lower violent crime rate then Switzerland. But its suicide rate is enormous. Part of the reason is if a person kills their family and then commits suicide, everyone is considered to have committed suicide. So what would be considered a crime of passion anywhere else, isn't listed as such. Thus their violent crime rate is kept artificially low. Getting back to the US, the States that allow concealed weapons have lower crime rates, than States that do not allow concealed weapons. This may be a fear issue. But I'd rather have criminals afraid than ordinary citizens. We live in an imperfect world, and all the hugging in the world won't fix it. Now I agree that people should store their guns safely. Even before the government made it mandatory, my parents kept their guns away from my brother and I. And the bullets were never kept with the guns. Also in Israel, and Switzerland gun safety training is given in the military, and in Canada gun owners must take safety courses. So most people who own guns know how to use and store them safely. So rather than banning all guns, why not make it mandatory to have safety courses? That way the 'dumb asses' won't accidentally kill each other?
ok, i just got back from the news, and let me confirm everything. There are 33 dead, including the lone gunman, who took his own life. There are 29 wounded thoughout four hospitals, and this is the worst school/college shooting in U.S history.
Wow. That makes it partially the University's fault, IMO. Firstly, what does it have to do with George Bush? Secondly, we have the right to have firearms based on the United States Constituation.
The university keeps looking better and better. http://www.local6.com/news/12194456/detail.html The most important part is this: Students complained that there were no public-address announcements or other warnings on campus after the first burst of gunfire. They said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage -- around the time the gunman struck again. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said authorities believed that the shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and mistakenly thought the gunman had fled the campus. And this: Two people were killed in a dormitory room, and 31 others were killed in the engineering building, including the gunman, police said. If they'd waited only two people might have died in the first attack. Instead we have 33.
I oh, yeah?... would you still think that if it was you, your sister or brother or parents or girl/boy friend who got shot in one?
See that is the big problem here. They didn't wait and because of their ignorance 31 more people died that had lives and families. So who is going to take responsibility for that happening, for parents losing their children when it may have been prevented? It sickens me that they were so careless, isn't it better to be more precautious these days!?
i'm sure heads will roll... everyone wants to have someone to blame, other than the gunman... if they'd had the capacity to reach all students with text messages/cell phones [technology exists, but they don't have it there], and told all to stay where they were and be careful, lives would have been saved... but, as with most things, hindsight is 20/20...
of course the gunman is to blame, he was the one that did it. I guess people gotta realise that at the end of the day the only that has their back is themselves.........
People are always going to say that video games are to blame, or TV. It is the easiest reason for all of the violence in the streets these days. But I agree with Lpspider, it isn't the games. But think it is more the hate and anger and who knows maybew even depression that builds up in these people that drives them to do it.
