FatCobra

Title pretty much says it all, I mean seriously, whats the deal? The one that just happened today at the college is like what? The 3rd... 4th one this month?

Kerostasis

It is? I hadn't heard of any except this one.

Just for reference though, we have 300-some million people in this country. With an average lifespan of 75 years, that translates into about 11,000 people dying every day from assorted causes. If two or three of them happen to be due to gunshots, I don't consider that a real critical problem.

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Buckets

You don't if you're not their brother or father. Its easy to look at these things as statistics and be glib. However, its a lot harder if you look at these people as individuals with families and friends and pets and think of the senseless nature of this sort of death.

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The artist formerly known as "pecker"

ScratchMonkey

For those who, like me, don't monitor the regular news:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/wtMost...48844420080215

(I just pulled this as the top link from Google News.)

There are those who think that all buckets should have holes in the bottom, to stop infant drownings in buckets. (Apparently this happens a lot.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...indexed=google

http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotice.../94-35058.html

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ScratchMonkey

It was a complete accident that "Buckets" posted at the same time as me. I wasn't trying to be funny.

And it's just the concern that Buckets points out that can lead to bad law. I don't think Republican Mrs. Brady was a rabid gun banner until her husband was almost assassinated.

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Buckets

I'm not a "rabid gun banner" either, if thats what you're implying. I actually have mixed feelings on the issue. I just think its incredibly callous to dismiss events such as these as insignificant just because they're a statistical blip.

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The artist formerly known as "pecker"

Magnum50

What i don't understand... and yes this, and any crime for that matter is sad...

but why don't anyone stop these shooters? He walks in and starts shooting at a large crowd of people, they run for the doors were more people get shot, if they would rush he shooters fewer would probally die, especially since the article said he stopped to re-load...

I don't understand it... when we started rushing highjackers on planes, highjackings stopped...

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Magnum
www.gettacticaldammit.com

Buckets

Most people aren't trained or inclined to run into fire, even if it is the best course of action.

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The artist formerly known as "pecker"

ScratchMonkey

Sorry, Buckets, I didn't mean to imply that. I ran together several thoughts in the same post and didn't mean that they were tied together.

My intention was to suggest that when one loses someone close in a seemingly senseless way, one can focus on banning the immediate cause of death to the exclusion of all else, and the result isn't necessarily better policy.

One sees this with people who lose a loved one to drugs, for example: They want to criminalize drugs. I seemed to have escaped this effect, as my loss of my father to nicotine and alcohol hasn't turned me into a teetotaler wanting to ban those substances. (In fact, I'm an extreme property rights proponent and favor less restrictions (eg. allowing a restaurant owner to decide what's allowed on his premises).)

I also don't think that pointing out the statistical relationships of deaths makes one glib. The OP asked about shootings in general, not this specific one. I don't think one should make policy based on a single incident examined in isolation. That doesn't make one sympathize less with those who have lost someone to the tragedy.

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TurkishDelight

Shootings account for very few of our nations deaths. If we want to solve this problem, we need to fight fire with fire. I would love to see the day when students could bring their guns to campus.

Bad guy+students with guns=Dead BG

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|TG-Irr|Turkish

[tR]Greasy_mullet

Gun Free Zones. I packed at school even though it was a "gun free zone", heck I even pack at Church but I am not the only one there. I would rather have taken out some crazy SOB and gotten in some trouble for having had my gun than being one of a dozen or more vicitims in the "gun free zone".

ScratchMonkey

As my mom would say, "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition".

Often stated as "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6."

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War.mongeR1

Very true. Thankfully Texas extended your right to protect property to your car. I don't have my CHL and I keep a gun with me when I travel and by my bedside. I just don't keep it concealed or take in stores or anything....yet. Keeping a gun in your car while unlicensed is a bit of a gray legal matter, but as ScratchMonkey said, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6." Once I get my CHL however, I will be packing everywhere. I hope to never face that sort of situation, but I'd like to have the ability to stop it if that sort of thing ever occurs in front of me.

I'm not saying everyone should be carrying guns, because many idiots really shouldn't be carrying them, but if I was there and saw a shooting, that gunman would be down in 1 shot from me. It sucks knowing that many lives could be saved if laws allowed the brave of our society to help protect others.

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"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

ScratchMonkey

A teammate found this video of an 80 year old guy who drove off a couple of assailants with his gun:

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/02/1...ry-of-the-day/

I was rather shocked at the newscasters' positive response. Here in California, they'd be calling for his head. (If I didn't have such a good job, I'd be moving to one of those more sane states.)

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tHa_KhAn

Does anyone else feel that many of the shootings like this are a result of the media coverage?

I'm not in any way trying to blame the media. However, I do feel that many of these individuals choose this method to get the attention they feel they're denied. A lot of the after reports seem to conclude that one contributing factor is the shooters often felt ignored or unpopular. Seeing kindred souls achieving infamy in the media for choosing this method of suicide might be enticing for someone already on the edge. I guess my real question is, do you think there would be less shootings like if the media took an opposite approach?

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