NinSheetMusic Forums

Other => Off-Topic => Topic started by: wariopiano on December 14, 2012, 02:30:37 PM

Title: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: wariopiano on December 14, 2012, 02:30:37 PM
There was an awful, awful shooting in New Town, Connecticut at a school.
The guy killed 26 people, 20 of them were 5-10 years old :'( :'(, and the other 6 were adults. :'(
Then the Guy killed himself........
I am just so sad about all of it  :'(
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Cobraroll on December 14, 2012, 02:35:11 PM
My condolences. We had a similar situation over here last year too. Always awful when such things happen, especially to youths and kids.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: wariopiano on December 14, 2012, 02:43:31 PM
Yes, its just the most awful thing. Especiallt to kids! :'(
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: KefkaticFanatic on December 14, 2012, 03:13:52 PM
And in China a crazy with a knife hurt a bunch of kids as well :\
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20723910
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Nebbles on December 14, 2012, 03:56:10 PM
The world is going freaking nuts.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: wariopiano on December 14, 2012, 03:57:47 PM
Quote from: Nebbles on December 14, 2012, 03:56:10 PMThe world is going freaking nuts.
You are right!
I couldnt imagine, even in my wildest dreams killing somone!
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: TheZeldaPianist275 on December 14, 2012, 03:58:41 PM
arrg.  SO depressed right now.  Everyone keep praying.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: wariopiano on December 14, 2012, 04:03:57 PM
Quote from: TheZeldaPianist275 on December 14, 2012, 03:58:41 PMarrg.  SO depressed right now.  Everyone keep praying.
We shall (me and my great grandsons and family)
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: blueflower999 on December 15, 2012, 12:06:03 PM
I think one of the adults he killed was his own mother...
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: SlowPokemon on December 15, 2012, 12:15:19 PM
He killed both of his parents.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Zunawe on December 15, 2012, 12:21:06 PM
His mom was found in her home, not at the school. Which makes it even more terrible. It's scary that anybody with a gun could just walk into a school like that.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: SlowPokemon on December 15, 2012, 12:27:57 PM
How do you point a gun at a child and pull the trigger. Just...how
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Olimar12345 on December 15, 2012, 04:49:38 PM
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 15, 2012, 12:27:57 PMHow do you point a gun at a child and pull the trigger. Just...how
And twenty times? Just blows me away...
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Roz~ on December 15, 2012, 10:48:00 PM
It's just fucking disgusting. Guess the guy who did that didn't want to be a sad loser who shot himself in his basement, but a "celebrity" - someone who will forever be remembered as the fucking retard who shot 20 something children.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Yugi on December 15, 2012, 10:54:27 PM
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 15, 2012, 12:27:57 PMHow do you point a gun at a child and pull the trigger. Just...how
They normally have some reason behind the shooting, for example the columbine shooting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre) had some reason behind the attacking (it's somewhere in there), Hav'nt found the reason behind this shooting.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 15, 2012, 11:00:27 PM
It breaks my heart to know that the teacher got killed trying to save the kids. What a traumatic incident it must have been for the kids who stayed alive, watching their friends and teacher die..

I still don't understand what inspires hate so much as to convince oneself that destroying precious life will solve one's problems. It's just pathetic. absolutely pathetic..
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:10:39 PM
What's worse is that interviewers were trying to interview children. What the fuck made them think that was okay to interview traumatized children?
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: BlackDragonSlayer on December 15, 2012, 11:15:23 PM
Quote from: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:10:39 PMWhat's worse is that interviewers were trying to interview children. What the fuck made them think that was okay to interview traumatized children?
The fact that they are interviewers. U__U I just don't get some people... lots of people...
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:16:34 PM
No. That's no excuse. You shouldn't dare think you have the audacity to approach crying, scared children and think it's okay to ask them about an event like that.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 15, 2012, 11:19:23 PM
Omg that reminds me of the incident whare a man fell on a train track but instead of helping him up people were taking photos of him, and he was ran over by a train. messed.
Quote from: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:16:34 PMNo. That's no excuse. You shouldn't dare think you have the audacity to approach crying, scared children and think it's okay to ask them about an event like that.
Exactly as Nebbles said. In a show called Panic 9-1-1, the emergency dispatcher told a victim to put her gun down when she was trying to protect herself because it was "against the law". AGAINST THE LAW. That's fucking PATHETIC.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:23:49 PM
I.. what??? how???

my brain is hurting I cannot comprehend the amount of humanity stupidity right now
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: BlackDragonSlayer on December 16, 2012, 11:22:28 AM
Quote from: Nebbles on December 15, 2012, 11:16:34 PMNo. That's no excuse. You shouldn't dare think you have the audacity to approach crying, scared children and think it's okay to ask them about an event like that.
You don't understand what I was trying to say; I never said that that was a valid reason.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Ruto on December 16, 2012, 12:46:23 PM
Quote from: MoboMoga on December 15, 2012, 11:19:23 PMOmg that reminds me of the incident whare a man fell on a train track but instead of helping him up people were taking photos of him, and he was ran over by a train. messed.

Yahhh I'm not sure if you were talking about the one in NY but that was on the news here. There was a whole thing on facebook where this jerk-ass "photojournalist" on my friend list said it was his job to take that picture of the guy about to be hit by the train and send it off to a crap newspaper for attention. I could post the whole argument but I didn't blur names yet. Also she defriended lol.

One of my friends brought up the morality thing after I told her about the crap that British tabloids go through to get news. I guess fame and money drives these guys to be vultures or something.

---

Did anyone read the names of the victims? If you haven't, don't :( It makes it worse...
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:04:19 PM
Quote from: MoboMoga on December 15, 2012, 11:19:23 PMOmg that reminds me of the incident whare a man fell on a train track but instead of helping him up people were taking photos of him, and he was ran over by a train. messed.
WHAT THE HELL
I'm now very disappointed in mankind.

There was this shooting in New Year's Eve in 2010 if I do recall. It happened like less than one kilometre away from where I was. The man shot so many people that it was insane. And he didn't kill himself after that, instead he decided to RUN AWAY from the crime scene. Guess where he was heading. Yeah. Towards me. It was the scariest thing ever. Seriously. My mother called, and she told me to come home this instant. I asked why, and damn I was scared. Luckily he went a way that was half a mile away from way to home. Before he was found, he killed himself and his ex-girlfriend. Now, let's think about this a sec.
He killed like 10 people for no reason in a food store to get back at his ex-girlfriend. Damn guns should be illegal.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 01:16:42 PM
The same day this shooting in Conneticut happened, another crazy guy in China killed school children, and the day after that a man (I forgot where) shot 46 (I think) bullets in the air in the parking lot in Macy's..

....

Words fail me.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Nebbles on December 16, 2012, 01:18:02 PM
what is wrong with the world oh my god
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 01:20:58 PM
Quote from: Nebbles on December 16, 2012, 01:18:02 PMwhat is wrong with the world oh my god

or rather, what has the world become.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:22:00 PM
Why can't the world be a nice place where everybody are peaceful and calm? :(

ninja'd
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Bubbles on December 16, 2012, 01:25:13 PM
Theres some philosiphal thing (I forget what its called, or even if it has a name) that basically says good cannot exist without evil. It makes sense but its depressing at the same time
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 01:29:56 PM
Quote from: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:22:00 PMWhy can't the world be a nice place where everybody are peaceful and calm? :(

Alas, a question that cannot be answered. It's really because of humanity. Common to all humans is love, as well as hate. Everyone knows (even non-Christians) that in this world, hate always comes with love, the two are inseparable. How? Because we humans are the link to this tragedy, they connect both essences by, well, existing in the first place. Therefore we can't say we live in a sad place, it's right to say that we have contaminated a wonderful place.

Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 01:30:54 PM
Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 16, 2012, 01:25:13 PMTheres some philosiphal thing (I forget what its called, or even if it has a name) that basically says good cannot exist without evil. It makes sense but its depressing at the same time

Wow, we basically said the same stuff at the same time, same concept. Haha
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: BlackDragonSlayer on December 16, 2012, 01:31:45 PM
Quote from: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:04:19 PMHe killed like 10 people for no reason in a food store to get back at his ex-girlfriend. Damn guns should be illegal.
Imagine somebody hefting a giant axe.
"Serious criminals" won't be deterred at all.
Hunting would go out of season really fast. Also, imagine if a bear attacked you, and you only had a knife.
Imagine a total ban on guns: the police would have a lot more trouble catching and subduing criminals.
A partial ban on guns (only law enforcement and army has guns) would allow dictators and other corrupt/unsavory political leaders to spread their reign with little or no resistance (from militias, for example).

Guns only make it easier for criminals and murderers to accomplish their twisted goals; likewise, they make it easier for those who use them responsibly.

You might as well ban cars, because people use them for murder too. You might as well ban any really heavy object, because you can use them as well.

Quote from: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:22:00 PMWhy can't the world be a nice place where everybody are peaceful and calm? :(
"Unbiased" robot enforcers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gort_(The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still)) might help move that goal along.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Bubbles on December 16, 2012, 01:34:35 PM
Quote from: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 01:30:54 PMWow, we basically said the same stuff at the same time, same concept. Haha
Haha but mine was almost 5 min before yours. I simplified it :P

Quote from: Waddle Bro on December 16, 2012, 01:04:19 PMHe killed like 10 people for no reason in a food store to get back at his ex-girlfriend. Damn guns should be illegal.
Its not the guns laws thats the problem, though I originally thought it was. Sure, making guns illegal would make it harder for an ordinary person to go on a killing spree, but psychopaths usually dont legally buy guns. I heard that the guns used in Connecticut were all unregistered
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Ruto on December 16, 2012, 01:38:42 PM
Quote from: BlackDragonSlayer on December 16, 2012, 01:31:45 PMHunting would go out of season really fast. Also, imagine if a bear attacked you, and you only had a knife.
Imagine a total ban on guns: the police would have a lot more trouble catching and subduing criminals.
A partial ban on guns (only law enforcement and army has guns) would allow dictators and other corrupt/unsavory political leaders to spread their reign with little or no resistance (from militias, for example).

Guns only make it easier for criminals and murderers to accomplish their twisted goals; likewise, they make it easier for those who use them responsibly.

You might as well ban cars, because people use them for murder too. You might as well ban any really heavy object, because you can use them as well.

I've heard all those arguments before but they don't convince me since guns are pretty much made just for killing. I really doubt that if guns were outlawed tomorrow, the US would become a dictatorship, I mean...lots of countries have similar gun bans for its citizens and we don't see any of that.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: blueflower999 on December 16, 2012, 02:30:13 PM
This has sort of turned into the "Rant about the crimes against humanity topic". It's sad that a topic like this has to exist...

Also, I agree with BDS. The founding fathers put the second amendment into the constitution for a reason. (For any non-American, it says that guns can be owned by anyone over a certain age I believe.)
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 16, 2012, 03:12:19 PM
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 16, 2012, 02:30:13 PMThis has sort of turned into the "Rant about the crimes against humanity topic".

No sir, this is not a rant. We contemplate.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: TheZeldaPianist275 on December 16, 2012, 07:18:22 PM
Did anybody see Morgan Freeman's take on it?

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

Wow... respect.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Bubbles on December 16, 2012, 07:21:38 PM
I was going to say that :/

But yeah.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Yugi on December 16, 2012, 08:11:46 PM
Quote from: TheZeldaPianist275 on December 16, 2012, 07:18:22 PMbut do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine?
Corey Depooter.I just had to, sorry.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Zunawe on December 16, 2012, 08:40:17 PM
^Did that last year. Nobody cared after three days.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: KefkaticFanatic on December 16, 2012, 10:22:55 PM
While complete gun control might not be reasonably possible, blocking purchase of auto/semiauto weapons is completely reasonable and should most certainly be pursued.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Shadoninja on December 16, 2012, 10:42:46 PM
Quote from: KefkaticFanatic on December 16, 2012, 10:22:55 PMWhile complete gun control might not be reasonably possible, blocking purchase of auto/semiauto weapons is completely reasonable and should most certainly be pursued.
Yeah there is absolutely no need for citizens to be using automatic weapons.
Title: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: spitllama on December 17, 2012, 09:11:20 AM
When things like this happen, everyone wants to jump on the "oh humanity sucks" wagon.

For every ONE of those shooters there are TENS of people putting their own lives at risk to save the others, a huge amount of SWAT, police, medics, etc. who help remedy the situation, and an entire nation that denounces it.

Come on let's be positive.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Ruto on December 17, 2012, 10:00:24 AM
Quote from: KefkaticFanatic on December 16, 2012, 10:22:55 PMWhile complete gun control might not be reasonably possible, blocking purchase of auto/semiauto weapons is completely reasonable and should most certainly be pursued.

Ammunition too ._. I think even if eBay bans sales of weapons on their site a lot of these nuts wouldn't be armed.

Quote from: blueflower999 on December 16, 2012, 02:30:13 PMAlso, I agree with BDS. The founding fathers put the second amendment into the constitution for a reason. (For any non-American, it says that guns can be owned by anyone over a certain age I believe.)

They lived when there was slavery and it took 30 seconds to reload a weapon that could only fire a single shot. If it's anything like the Spartans and helots, guns were really in place to prevent slave riots and that kind of thing. Also the British monarchy aren't coming back so the King George excuse doesn't work.

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Yahhh -.-
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: KefkaticFanatic on December 17, 2012, 10:41:27 AM
It was actually put it place because there was no standing army, so they wanted to guarantee citizens the right to arm themselves, which was prohibited in this manner by the British, so that if need be they could raise up a militia.

Obviously it is far outdated and irrelevant at this point.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Cobraroll on December 17, 2012, 02:13:43 PM
Honestly, I think it's the prevalent attitude concerning guns that's the main problem. The guns themselves magnify the problem a lot, but the main issue is the American culture regarding guns.

Mostly everywhere else, wherever people keep weapons, it's for things like hunting, recreation, or (in case of Switzerland) national defence. However, many gun-wielding Americans have their firearm "for protection". They walk around anticipating that one day, somebody will try to kill them or take their belongings, and then they will be able to shoot back. It's a matter of using the handgun to scare away or incapacitate the inevitable "monster" that someday will get you. Their solution to this problem is not to back away, or let the police sort it out, but violence. The retoric goes, how could you know that this burglar/mugger/madman won't just kill you? You must be able to strike before the assailant, killing them before they kill you.

On the other hand, how often do situations like this happen? How often will a random stranger go to the effort and legal trouble of killing you, and why? That issue is never discussed. "It could happen, ergo it's best to keep the gun ready". And so, an environment is created where every scare becomes an excuse to shoot somebody. The gun is there to kill the "bad guys", lest the law-abiding gun owner will be killed by somebody else, an unidentified and unspecified threat to personal freedom and security that nine times out of ten only exists in the gun owner's head.

The glorification of weapons and violence in the media doesn't exactly help either. In action movies, what is the inevitable fate of the many goons of the enemy organization/crime group/army, etc? They are shot and never adressed again. That's what you're "supposed" to do with bad guys. And why not? They're bad guys after all. Most often, they pop out of nowhere, their only purpose is to threaten the existence of the hero(es) by trying to kill them. One-dimensional half-characters that only exists to make life miserable for everybody. The media has you believe that the world is full of gun-toting madmen that only want to kill you, your family and probably your Constitution and your country while they're at it. They're presented as threats incarnate, and the only thing to do with them is to rightfully shoot them. Problem solved. Hooray America.


I admit this problem isn't limited to the US alone, but it's by far the country where the mentality is the most prevalent. This is due to the fact that the abundance of guns means that almost everybody can access them, even madmen and minors. No criminal is fully equipped without a gun. No policeman is operative without his revolver at his side. And unless avoiding guns is your hero's trademark, he's defenseless without them too. No action movie is complete without somebody being shot. The guns are portrayed as quick solutions to terrible problems, making the bad guys disappear once and for all. Point and click, and you're happy . What a wonderful message to teach your growing kids (or in the case of shows such as The A-Team, where there are guns fired everywhere but nobody is ever hit, thus portraying guns as "awesome fun things that aren't dangerous at all").


The US could do well with a generation without handguns. Or at least a massive attitude campaign, preferrably fronted by those who are meant to be responsible (The NRA, if I remember correctly, would have one heck of a larger impact than the government saying the same things). And less glorification of killing in the media. When somebody dies, it's a terrible tragedy for dozens of people who know and love the victim. That important fact is very watered out when you daily watch action scenes where tens of "bad guys" are heroically mowed down by the man you're meant to root for (and who can blame him? The only thing we ever get to know about the "bad guys" is that they're "bad", so killing them would be a good thing, right?). And the rest of the world* shake their heads in silence.

/end rant.


*It's actually worse in several third-world countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and now Syria, but the situation isn't really comparable. Over there you have a dysfunctional society where the guns magnify the underlying problems by making violence easier than ever (it's harder, messier and riskier to kill with a knife). The US has a functional society believing the guns is what makes it functional.
Title: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: spitllama on December 17, 2012, 04:01:11 PM
The ignorance.... it's rampant...

Must ignore and continue vacation.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: MoboMoga on December 17, 2012, 04:03:25 PM
But we must actually take the shooter into consideration. Yes, the children's death were tragic, yet something tragic must have happened to the shooter in his life in order to do such horrid things. We people could have prevented this. If only someone knew his misery and loneliness and was friendly to him none of this would've happened.

Did you think of how maybe one of the children may grow up and kill other people because the shooter murdered the child's family? It's tragic, but it can happen.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Dude on December 17, 2012, 04:45:26 PM
Cobra: I can't agree with you any more than I do right now. :')
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Bubbles on December 17, 2012, 05:16:15 PM
Quote from: Cobraroll on December 17, 2012, 02:13:43 PM*Cobra's mass of text*

Please dont tell me you're one of those kids-need-to-stop-playing-video-game-because-they-think-killing-is-ok-now people.

And the whole reason people are discussing gun regulations is so that if needed, someone has something to protect themselves with. I'm not exactly sure what side of the argument I'm on, since I understand both sides. Some people think that you need to be always prepared to stop or lessen crimes like this one, while others think you need to completely prevent them from ever happening in the first place. The problem is, its extremely hard to prevent them. Theres always going to be that one crazy person who will do anything it takes just to go and kill a few people, even if it means illegally aquiring a weapon or worse. If the government can set up some sort of system where they can prevent anyone and everyone from getting guns without it getting out of control, then go ahead, thats great. But if theres the slightest loophole where a person could get their hands on a weapon and create a massacre, then people would want to be able to feel safe by owning a gun that they could use to protect themselves if necessary.

Its not that holding a gun will make someone always edgy and kill someone at the slightest bump, but it makes people feel safe enough that they will stop overly worrying about something that rarely happens.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: BlackDragonSlayer on December 17, 2012, 06:49:14 PM
Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 17, 2012, 05:16:15 PMPlease dont tell me you're one of those kids-need-to-stop-playing-video-game-because-they-think-killing-is-ok-now people.
If there were no video games, people would blame movies. If there were no movies, people would blame books. If there were no books... well, I don't know what they'd invent to take the blame.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Bubbles on December 17, 2012, 06:57:43 PM
But people already do blame those things. Not so much books though, but replace that with the internet
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: BlackDragonSlayer on December 17, 2012, 07:03:05 PM
Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 17, 2012, 06:57:43 PMBut people already do blame those things. Not so much books though, but replace that with the internet
I've never heard the media blame movies for violence since... I can't remember...
But I have heard them blame TV/movies for smoking and alcohol abuse.  ::)
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Cobraroll on December 18, 2012, 03:50:12 AM
Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 17, 2012, 05:16:15 PMPlease dont tell me you're one of those kids-need-to-stop-playing-video-game-because-they-think-killing-is-ok-now people.

Oh no, by no means, I don't blame video games. The attitude has been around since before the turn of the last century. Various forms of media only reflect what the rest of society feels.

Basically, it boils down to a mentality where the world is perceived as full of "evildoers", and that whenever you feel threatened by them, the only appropriate response is to shoot them dead. Criminals, communists, terrorists... same kind of folks under a different name. People who only appear in your life because they want to destroy you. If one of them shows up, it means he's there to take your belongings, your freedom, possibly your life. This has evolved into a society where some people perceive threats in every shadow, and keep their guns close so they can kill them before they are killed themselves.

In reality, the world is quite devoid of one-dimensional would-be murderers whose only dream is to destroy you and your loved ones. Every human is a person, with his own loved ones, ideals to pursue and dreams to fulfill. Few if any persons have ever existed only with a desire to kill people. But in this line of thought (anywhere, worldwide), if that person is not one of "us", and you feel threatened by him, he only exists as a threat that should be eliminated and that is why you need a gun. To eliminate the threat. Looking beyond the threat is never adressed. Shoot, kill, bury, he got more than he deserved. End of story.

Every potentially dangerous situation is boiled down to a matter of life or death. Kill or be killed. And the means to kill lie handily around all over the country. No need to run, negotiate or trick the assailant. A bullet or two to his chest is a surefire way to stop the problem, right?


The psychotic mass-murderers aren't really a product of this mentality, though. With or without guns, a psychological problem is a psychological problem and should be adressed as one. But the guns strewn everywhere provide the psychotics with an easy way to go on a rampage. It doesn't require much effort, skill or preparations to kill with a gun once certain barriers in one's mind are gone. Point and click, and one of the voices in his head is silenced forever. Or the person he believes to be incarnate evil is rightfully banished from this world (As far as I've understood, this was the motive behind the Giffords shooting). Or something similar. In a society full of deadly weapons, from time to time a nutjob will acquire one and do a lot of bad stuff. The nutjobs themselves are nutjobs regardless of the weapons, but they can easily use the weapons to go to a new level of nutjobbiness. This has happened a couple of times the past weeks in China, where the assailants used knives to go on a spree in kindergardens. A few kids died, and many were injured but survived. Not so much in Newtown. Twenty-nine shot, twenty-seven dead. Similar numbers (times three) on Utøya last summer. A madman can do a lot more damage with a gun than with a knife.

And to be honest, psychotic mass-murderers aren't the main problem either. I don't know how many people were killed in shooting sprees in the US the past year, but I doubt the number exceeds 150. In total, somewhere around nine thousand Americans were killed by handguns in 2012. Mass-murderers are the exception, not the norm. The norm, where one person kills one person (which might or might not be himself), is usually a result of the mentality discussed above (usually caused by and magnified from a fit of sudden rage, substance abuse, minor psychological problems, etc).




Video games and the Internet, by the way, just happens to be the latest things to blame for "the decline of society". Earlier, people have blamed television, movies, music (any genre, and that includes polka), books, fairy tales, art, songs, demons, etc, etc. Heck, I bet even "extensive looking at clouds" has been determined to be the cause of insanity somewhere, sometime throughout history. Probably, people have been banished from places because the funny hat they wore was said to be bad influence on children.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: KefkaticFanatic on December 18, 2012, 08:45:19 AM
I don't think people in the US quite understand how absurd our mentality is around firearms.  One of the first things people I know from overseas will ask about or make note of is how we strangely are able to carry around weapons, and should they be fearing for themselves.  Like a serious question.  Of course we won't get anywhere going to completely ban civilian weapons with all the hicks and their interest groups whining, but there is really no reason that we need to keep around such an antiquated practice.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Ruto on December 18, 2012, 10:53:28 AM
Yeah I think Cobraroll has it right...also I posted this (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=deadly-dreams) which makes a lot of sense.

The other thing I'd like to bring up is that most people who still carry guns think that they have a right to even if other people are dying because that right exists. And the overall feeling I'm getting from the state of politics in this country is that no one thinks they have to help anyone out, that it's really all about themselves.

My physics teacher's commented a lot about that and how people seem to need guns for their own shortcomings/insecurities. There was even a NYT editorial earlier this year (written by a retired police officer) that he knew someone who complained about gun control being too strict would also make racist and ignorant (and in my experience, misogynist) remarks about others. You wouldn't want someone like that to own a gun, really.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Sebastian on December 20, 2014, 08:42:30 AM
1 year and 2 days ago, was this brutal shooting. I just want to keep these kids families in my prayers.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: blueflower999 on December 20, 2014, 08:46:32 AM
Wasn't it two years ago?
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Sebastian on December 20, 2014, 08:56:45 AM
Whoops...sorry. Yes, 2. I just remember it was on the 18th of December.
Title: Re: The shooting at the school in connecticut
Post by: Ruto on December 20, 2014, 12:56:54 PM
Ugh why the bump...Just write about this in some other recent post.

Quote from: mariolegofan on December 20, 2014, 08:42:30 AM1 year and 2 days ago, was this brutal shooting. I just want to keep these kids families in my prayers.

Meanwhile there's lots of stuff that hasn't been actually done about crazies getting guns...