Wow. What a way to go out!

Troll

I also hope this thread is closed. Only more pain comes from the public discussion.
Seeing this freak on every news outlet has caused me to pull the plug on the TV.

Alan's comments only peripherally hit on a root issue, the desensitizing of murder and violence.

Stats indicate that this punk saw 16,000 murders and 200,000 violent actions by age 18. So death and the infliction of it on many held no horror for him.

The first time you saw someone riddled with bullets in a video probably shocked you deeply; at least I hope it did. Now, how does it affect you?

We reap what we sow. Sow in small measure, reap in quantity. Sow in one season, reap in another.

If you have kids, unplug the drug.

Fire away.

By unplug the drug do you mean turn off the news coverage of the 100k+ murders in Iraq or are you talking about video games?

Tom is right about us being desensitized to violence, but that not what caused this guy to go on a shooting rampage.

Charles Whitman killed 16 and wounded 32 others in a shooting spree at UT in 1966. There were no violent video games or graphic violence on TV or in th movies back then. He just went nuts. People go nuts sometimes.

Whitman was in Austin Texas. To your point, people have been nuts and sadistic since the beginning of time. We are just inundated with it constantly these days by our annoying media outlets who thrive on sensationalism; oftentimes to justify their own existence by gathering around all day injecting hyperbole and conjecture just to hear themselves talk.

Two things for the nonAmericans to understand

First, our founding fathers made sure to protect our right to bear arms, not for personal protection or hunting, but to keep our own government in check.

Second, America has a fascination with violence. We put murder and mayhem on prime time tv for kids to watch, but we freak out over a boob shot. It's our culture. It goes way back to at least the wild west when violence was law, and dime store novels about bank robbers and train robberies sold like crazy back east. And at this point, if you could take every gun away (which isn't possible) we would still find ways to kill people on tv, still giving the crazy people ideas.

The aurora shooter boobytrapped his apartment. Building explosives is easier than building a gun (yeah, I know from experience). This guy wanted to kill people. He could just have easily tossed a few pipe bombs around the theater and probably had an even bigger body count.

I do wish some of the NRA propeganda were not as successful as it is. For most of our history the 2nd Amendment was understood to mean that citizens were also members of local milita. It is a very recently that the 2nd Amendment has been construed to mean that any gun should be in any civilian's hands without any governmental limitation.

Which ever side of the gun issue you find yourself does one really believe that someone with menal health issues ought to be able to own a gun? If you conceed that point then you are not against any and all restrictions on gun ownership. Do the gun show laws really need to exist? You want guns in Virginia, Texas, or North Carolina then have at it. But if the good people of NY wish to restrict guns ought it to be so easy for a New Yorker to travel to Virgina and purchase 30 or 40 guns at one time?

I have been very busy of late and have not read the news as carefully as perhaps I should. I had thought the individual being held had semi-automatic weapons. I seem to have been mistaken. We seem to take up these issues at the worst times. It is hard to behave rationally when these tragedies occur. Fins loses his temper and calls names. I've done it as well so I'm hardly calling him out. I am suggesting that it is not the best way to have a discussion nor is it likely that as a nation NY and states and municipalities that see Utilitarian benefits from restricting gun ownership can find a resoning ear from those who think that death alone will restrict their right to own and use any fire arm they can afford to purchase.

When did you graduate? I, too, attended Lareo and graduated fom SMHS.

I would have graduated in 1995. I left in 93 and moved to Hot Springs Arkansas. It was just supposed to be for a year. I never looked back and now live in Fort Smith.

!!!

Speaking of Fort Smith, do they still have the gallows on display downtown?

Yes they do! Very cool history. It is a museum. Can you imagine back in the day instead of going to the movies on friday night, you could take your family down to watch a hanging!

Hmmm, what were we saying about our obsession with violence and death?