What are people thinking?

Copy catters,..always were dirty ratters,....
UGH!!! I was afraid of this.
Not fun nor fair, indeed.

Hug your loved ones and stay vigilant and aware.

Thank the media. This event is a great tragedy and we shouldn't forget those that suffer for it. But the media and panicking school districts worried about lawsuits will rule the day.

And my school was one of them. Janitor found three bullets in a trash can, and after first period they sent every body home. There had to be at least ten police cars by the time we left with more flooding in.

They searched every locker, room, trash can, etc. in the entire school. No one was allowed to leave with anything than what they had in class at that point. Tomorrow they said, their bringing in metal detectors and searching all bags.

There has been a great deal of debate today as to whether or not NBC (and, later, the rest of the media), should have broadcast the images recorded by the killer. On local sports radio, someone asked why the networks are quick to cut away from an idiot fan running on the field in order to avoid encouragment of copycats, but were so quick to glorify this guy and encourage other idiots to make their grab for fame. Now the difference between a ball field streaker and this guy is obvious, and the news aspect of this case is also clear, but it does make you think. The fact that several victim families elected not to follow through with interviews on Today this morning in protest of what NBC did speaks volumes, I think.

They must be really concerned. All schools will be closed tomorrow for safety precautions. Funny (or not) they gave everyone who took their kids from school (most classes only had 1 or 2 left by end of day)an unexcused absence and told everyone on the radio the schools were safe, now tomorrow all will be closed because of the threat? I don't get that logic.

My son's school has been plagued by threats for the last 2 weeks. Every Phoenix news station has been camped out waiting for tomorrow (Columbine anniversary)when things are supposed to happen. Todat they found a shoebox and evacuated the entire school....2700 students.
He's staying home tomorrow to be safe.

Whats amazing is that one S*B's actions just change the lives of a whole country...

The British have it figured out. The operative word in terrorism is terror. Without it, the event carries no weight.

Bomb the British buses, and the next day the whole country rides the buses to work, proving that terrorism is only effective if you react to it by running away from it.

In America, we are so short sighted and self preservationist, we cannot understand the principle of self sacrifice for the greater good of humanity.

A stutdent was arrested at our Suburban Chicago HS this week after making Columbine like threats about what he was going to do today (Friday). At the baseball game last night, several Moms were asking why we couldn't search all the students as they enter school and have permanent metal detectors installed... In their case, terrorism wins and they don't know that they are the ones contributing most to its effectiveness.

Also, which no-one has mentioned - Britain has very strict gun controls. Shootings do happen but most violence is knife related. Gun control does work.

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
The British have it figured out. The operative word in terrorism is terror. Without it, the event carries no weight.

Bomb the British buses, and the next day the whole country rides the buses to work, proving that terrorism is only effective if you react to it by running away from it.

In America, we are so short sighted and self preservationist, we cannot understand the principle of self sacrifice for the greater good of humanity.

A stutdent was arrested at our Suburban Chicago HS this week after making Columbine like threats about what he was going to do today (Friday). At the baseball game last night, several Moms were asking why we couldn't search all the students as they enter school and have permanent metal detectors installed... In their case, terrorism wins and they don't know that they are the ones contributing most to its effectiveness.

Well said, CPLZ!

If we would maintain our normalcy and quit giving these maniacs their 15 minutes of fame, I assure you these would go away...these events are nothing more than an extreme scream for attention from daranged souls.

quote:

Originally posted by mmac:
Also, which no-one has mentioned - Britain has very strict gun controls. Shootings do happen but most violence is knife related. Gun control does work.

mmac while I do respect your opinion this one of the spin-off issues that bothers me. I listened to a call-in talk show last night and a caller was blaming the NRA, pro-gun States, and other pro-gun people of allowing this to happen. I'm from a gun toting State and I do own legal weapons to that are safely stored in my house. I have a NRA sticker on my front door and that is a warning/promise that I can "make noise" if my family is threatened. That is my right much like any other right written in the constitution. I do not rob banks, go on "drive-bys", carjacks, settle differences, or slaughter innocents with my guns. I have guns for recreation and if need be to protect my family. On a late Nov day in WI alone there could be 700,000 people roaming the countryside carrying a high velocity semi-automatic rifles and handguns, and they are just the deer hunters. This is a right, and we respect that right, abuse it and pay the price that the law provides. You would see a drastic reduction in gun crime if the bleeding hearts would sentence those who use guns in the act of a crime to the full extent and you would get no argument from legit gun owners. Cho could have run 30 students down with a car or used many other means of terror that could have had the same results, instead the anti-gun lobby is throwing this massacrer in the direction of respectful citizens.

Unfortunately this Country is full of "arm-chair quarterbacks" who get a backbone to pass the blame when convenience comes about.

This is a time for mourning for the Families that lost loved ones, not a time to make statements, and shame on me for also going there but I'm tired of having a finger pointed in a direction I feel I am a part of.

quote:

by mmac: Britain has very strict gun controls. Shootings do happen but most violence is knife related.

ouch


BBC:
"Government assured Britons in 1953 they needed no weapons, society would protect them. ... The failure of this general disarmament to stem, or even slow, armed and violent crime could not be more blatant ... According to a recent UN study, England and Wales have the highest crime rate and worst record for "very serious" offences of the 18 industrial countries surveyed."



New American:
"re: Kennesaw, Georgia's 1982 ordinance requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in their homes ...
population grew from around 5,000 in 1982 to about 30,000 .. after the law went into effect in 1982, crime against persons plummeted 74% continued to fall and have stayed impressively low ... In addition to nearly non-existent homicide (murders have averaged a mere 0.19 per year), the annual number of armed robberies, residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, and rapes have averaged, respectively, 1.69, 31.63, 19.75, and 2.00 through 1998 ... even more interesting about Kennesaw is that the city's crime rate decreased with the simple knowledge that the entire community was armed. The bad guys didn't force the residents to prove it"

Having lived and studied law in England I agree. The only people who couldn't get guns were the law abiding people. When I was there I saw hooror stories . I was offered a chance to ride with some scotland yard officers while they checked out pubs etc. They wore heavy coats to take the knife slashes they received walking throught the crowd. Now many Bobbies carry guns.
With drugs and all the weirdos it is time to take back the streets.
Canada has strict gun control laws and it has been a dissaster. The government in power is dismantling it. It has cost billions of dollars and is a failure.

http://www.hardylaw.net/FailedExperiment.pdf

You can read the conclusion of the study on pp. 19-20. Pay special attention to the last paragraph on p. 19.

Interesting articles here and you can read differing opinions about gun control until the cows come home. It is strictly my own opinion but I am very very anti guns of any sort (even though my father was a hunter) and I believe that the availability of guns increases the possibility of greater violence. Just my own and my husband's opinion.

mmac,

There are portions of gun control (full auto, assult, clip size) that most gun owners would agree on and those are the battles to fight. If you are anti-gun, don't own one, but I don't think it's fair to blame any gun related incidents on gun owners. The guns didn't decide to shoot those students, Cho did, and if he didn't get a gun he would have found other means, maybe fertilizer, maybe a car, maybe individual assults with a baseball bat. Instead of looking to eliminate the means we should put our efforts into looking for ways to identify and deal with the people holding those "means".

While they may not be the typical WI family, they are by no means "out of place". Are they part of the "gun" problem in America? Does anyone have the right to take away their right to bear arms?

quote:

Instead of looking to eliminate the means we should put our efforts into looking for ways to identify and deal with the person holding those "means".

I agree.
Canada is scrapping gun controls atleast for hunting guns. There will be bans on some guns and or heavy restrictions.
People like this guy are cowards and will take out their rath on women and children.

Some interesting facts - food for thought:
While rates of violence in the US are comparable to countries such as Canada, Australia and Great Britain, rates of lethal violence are much higher. For example, murders without guns in the US are about 40% higher (1.4 times the rate) than in Canada while murders WITH handguns are 1500% higher (15 times the rate).
Also:
gun deaths in the UK - .4 per 100,000
gun deaths in the USA - 13.47 per 100,000

good data mmac and I agree there are issues.

But.....I knew a pitcher who had and ERA of 7.5 but was 8-0 . Stats are stats, but numbers can be decieving from both sides.

mmac, nice try. I have a close friend that is a cop in england, and he reports to me that gun crime is way up in his area of London, and because nobody dies, doesn't mean the crimes aren't happening. He feels the criminals aren't as brazen yet, and the citizens are ready to give up their wallets instead of being shot, so many crimes are just the robberies that they are. Will they result in deaths when the criminals become more aggressive and willing? I think rz1 was making that point.
By the way, Cho had a duffle bag with gas cans and co2 tank in it, as far as I know right now. Should we ban gas cans and any device that can be made into an explosive? Talk about "whats next".
If a criminal has a choice of committing a crime against an armed individual or an unarmed one, they will always choose the unarmed weakling. This fact comes from many of my incarcerated friends, not from a general data sheet.

Gun control discussions are fraught with problems. First, there's any number of partisan statistics to quote. (Like "violent crime" ---- how is it defined, what crimes are included, if there is a weapon what is it, is a beating a violent crime without a weapon, if more than one country is involved, are the statistics based on exactly the same definitions, etc, etc) Or any stats on how many times a gun is used for actual protection.

Then there are frequently people who define 'gun control' as 'the banning of all guns', and skew the discussion completely.

Then there's the anecdotal evidence. What's a Peeler's definition of gun crimes being 'way up' on his manor? From zero to three annually? From ten to 100? From 15 to 1000? It comes down to frame of reference. When I lived in England in the '80's, I was ending a phone call with a friend in Dallas, saying we were taking the kids down to Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights. "Don't you take those babies to Oxford Street this time of year!", my friend said (in those days, the Christmas season was always marked by an IRA bomb on Oxford Street). I told her I could guarentee more people were killed that week in Dallas than had died from Oxford Street bombs in the last ten years. We all notice "different" violence, and give it more credence.

This seems to be getting more political than HSBBW was meant to be. Let's return to talking about our kids' 90MPH guns.

Might be the time to close this thread!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Coachric:
Thank the media.

I agree 110%. They are always sensationalizing everything. I was watching one of the Fox broadcasts from VT and the lady interviewing a "friend" of one of the victims said something like "So your childhood sweetheart...." and when he had a chance to speak again he adamantly said "She wasn't my childhood sweetheart, we were simply friends"

glad ya brought that up Beez,
it seems that the young folks affected by the tragedy have conducted themselves
with far more maturity & dignity than the media

I agree. I've been very impressed from what I've seen. I'd be extremely proud to send Lil Beezer to VT.

By the way, did you get your PM?

a big thnx

It was fun!