School Shooting , just sick

donsrods said:

I think a big part of these things happening are the video games and other computer activities kids are doing nowadays. I see these video games they are advertising on TV and they are all about blowing up things and shooting the enemy. It has to desensitize the kids who play them to think that shooting another human is just like shooting a virtual image on the screen.

We played cowboys and indians when we were kids with our cap guns, but we knew it was just playing. I'm not so sure that the realism the creators of these new video games have built into them doesn't make certain disturbed kids start thinking this is ok to do in real life. Plus, the kids playing them are isolated from the real world while their faces are glued to the monitor.

Very sad situation.




Don

Click to expand...

I agree completely. They don't have any emotion about real life or even know that there are consequences.

My wife teaches elementary, when I heard about this I couldn't believe it. And all this time I thought her job was safer than mine...... Now every morning when she heads for work I will fear for her safety. To think some stupid jack@$$ had to do that. What is the point of it all? I pray for all the families hurt by this and pray that it never happens here.

I have been glued to the TV since Friday and I tear up everytime I see pictures of those 26 innocent kids and adults. Such a senseless, unspeakable act of violence. Like most people I keep hoping for some shred of information that will provide some answers as to why this happened, but I don't think we will ever know what is inside the mind of a twisted person like this guy.

I am so happy to see our leaders putting politics aside and just being Fathers, Mothers, and human beings for a change and maybe coming together to try to change some things so this doesn't happen as much as we have seen in recent times. This has to end.

Sad. very sad.

Don

Give the 'mentally ill' access to care instead of guns...problem solved.

I agree but it isn't that simple....

EnglishBob said:

Give the 'mentally ill' access to care instead of guns...problem solved.

Click to expand...

I'm sure you know how this works EB....the problem is they don't stay on the meds....once they feel better they stop taking them....my daughter is a prime example of that.....stop taking meds and does stupid crap....takes the meds and she is a model citizen.....I wish I could put into a single post all the things involved in dealing with mental illness but I think a book about it would be better...suffice it to say...we fail miserably as a society when dealing with mental illness ...no excuse, just fact

The parents in this case taught him to shoot and kept what can only be described as an Arsenal at home knowing he was 'sick'...that was my point.
If he didn't have access he obviously would have found a way but then it might have been obvious to others and could have been avoided.
Probably the saddest news story i have ever listened too in a long time.
I had a discussion about this with my 2 teens over supper tonight and my only point was there is no way on this green earth that I would 'forgive' the monster that took a child of mine away.

Saw on the news where Oklahoma is considering letting teachers and staff "carry" because of all this.We have a "gun free zone" policy which makes for a lot of innocent victims.Its a shame its coming down to everybody has to carry a gun just in case all hell breaks loose, but its better than being there with no options.

I was as surprised as EnglishBob when I heard his Mom had that arsenal and that she was encouraging him to learn to shoot. From what some people have said she couldn't even let him use a knife in the kitchen because of the risk of him hurting himself, and she is teaching him to shoot !!!!!!

What a stupid decision that was, as well as keeping guns around a kid who had psychological problems. Even the guy who baby sat him when he was 10 said him Mom gave him strict instructions not to leave him alone for a minute because they didn't know what he would do.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but someone should have known this kid was not right and needed professional help.

Don

Guns are not the issue so many people have them and respect them. the issue is mental illness and putting kids on meds to see if it will work. enough with using meds to solve every mental issue that might come up. have the media stop showing up to every shooting and digging in for as long as they do it's not helping anyone but themselves.

46FORD$PU said:

Guns are not the issue so many people have them and respect them. the issue is mental illness and putting kids on meds to see if it will work. enough with using meds to solve every mental issue that might come up. have the media stop showing up to every shooting and digging in for as long as they do it's not helping anyone but themselves.

Click to expand...

Totally agree. In the '60's there was a plane hijacking. The media fanned the flames until there were hijackings taking place around the world.

I just found out that one of our local schools had a incident years ago. The principal shot two teachers then drove to a field and shot her self. It didn't have huge media coverage and no one wanted to ban shot guns after she used one.

46FORD$PU said:

Guns are not the issue so many people have them and respect them. the issue is mental illness and putting kids on meds to see if it will work. enough with using meds to solve every mental issue that might come up. have the media stop showing up to every shooting and digging in for as long as they do it's not helping anyone but themselves.

Click to expand...

Come now! Really, guns are not the isssue??? Are you serious? Look, unless you face the facts and have some kind of gun control,it's not "if" this is going to happen,but when.

ONE of the myriad of problems with teachers carrying is, how will they react in a real threat situation? Police have extensive training for this and when it really happens, it still is not easy. You have to make split decisions immediately. Do we really need to now train teachers like we train police or the military? How many teachers are going to get trained? The average teacher is female, intelligent, non-agressive and probably has no desire whatsoever to have anything to do with a weapon, let alone a hand gun. What about a teacher flipping out and shooting up the school? What about a student getting one of their guns? I think this is a poor choice.
I'm a multiple gun owner and have been for decades. One position I have is that there is absolutely no need for any assault type weapon. None. There is a reason the general public cannot own a Howitzer, hand grenades, etc. Does anyone really hunt with an assault rifle? If you do, you're a moron. Yes we in the United States have freedom, but it is not exclusive. Like it or not, there are rules every where. From what kind of weapons you can own to when you can cross a street. If you think this is not how a modern society should be then you need to buy yourself an island and make your own rules/laws.

Sorry to say, but mental illness isn't always so easy to detect and treat.

Sometimes, it can be caught early with children and steps can be taken to keep them stable and healthy.

But in other cases, a complete mental breakdown can just happen out of the blue...to ANYBODY. It's kind of scary to know that, and then to know that it could happen to any one of us...it bugs to me to think that there's a lot of people carrying firearms that could be a ticking time bomb...

Remember Arizona? Colorado x 2? Oregon? California? Sorry to bring these up, but it seems as though a lot of people forget all too quick...every shooter invloved wasn't a sicko, or a lunatic until that event happened. They probably never jay-walked, sped through playground zones, payed their taxes on time...obeyed the rules of modern day society...

There's been comments made that people are going to start carrying again, teachers carrying in schools, etc...don't you think that this is where these incidents stem from? The solution to these incidents isn't to throw more guns at the problem.

With great power, comes great responsibilty.

Being a Canadian ( who has lived in the USA for a while ), I can understand the desire to carry a handgun, or hunting rifles. I'm all for handguns and hunting firearms. But, is it neccessary to have semi-autos, etc?

Now guys, I'm not looking to pick a fight. I just want some insight.

No matter which side of the fence you're on...these are all terrible tragedies and my heart goes out to all of the victims.

Both my daughters and the wife work in the schools. I wish they could carry, in the school. They have their permits and can handle a gun.

No psycho is going to obey any law. You can ban all the guns you want and these things are going to happen. Sad but true. Someone said, post some National Guard troops at all schools with weapons, to guard the school.

Remember timothy mcvey he blew up and killed a lot of people. He used fertilizer and diesel fuel. I never heard of banning diesel fuel or fertilizer after that indecent!

I'm confused I guess. What is an assault weapon?



I know I can't get a full auto military stile weapon without extensive paperwork and a huge fee associated with registering it...

Kurt

My thoughts...

A killer is going to kill no matter what the laws are.

A armed person is a lot more of a deterance then a non armed person. If the government does away with guns the criminals will KNOW that only they have a firearm and won't hesitate to commit a crime.

And yes I think more guns in the proper hands is the answer. The proper hands is NOT the teachers tho. One person suggested retired veterans. Best idea I've heard yet.

It's my understanding no one can legally own anything fully auto. That's one of the things the media is screwing up. This last shooter used hand guns. Not anything else. He had other firearms in his trunk but didn't use them.

What doesn't the media screw up????

I speak from experience here.....that is why I do a press release and fax it to all the local papers and if significant....to the TV stations locally...
And they STILL screw it up....sensationalism....that's all they want.....sell papers or have the most viewers on the tube.....
I'm not sure about other states but in Michigan there is a grandfather clause in the weapons law that allows owners of full automatic weapons who had them prior to the newest laws are allowed to have them....Since they've changed our weapons laws a ton since 08....it's hard to keep current....
This whole thing is a tragedy that should invoke thought as to how to keep this stuff from happening...but...as long as there are sick people running around and weapons that can be bought legally and illegally, it's going to happen....
As a response to Mav...I teach the legal portion of the CPL (CCW) laws to a number of soon to be Concealed Carry persons....the first part of my class is about the enormous reponsibility of carrying a weapon...the second is exactly what Mav said....how are they going to respond to an armed threat....officers received and train regularly for armed encounters....civilians do not for the most part...also, a large number of officers are shot with their own weapons...things to consider when deciding to carry and what mind set you will have come a "situation"...JMHO....more guns in the hands of people will not correct the problem...it's much more complex than that....besides, crazy people don't give a crap if you have a concealed weapon...they are nutz.....only rational normal people care, have ethics or moral values...