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NOTE: As this thread progresses a moderator may deem it necessary to relocate it to the Politics & Other Controversies Forum.
I arose this morning, logged online, and opened up my browser window, which uses AOL.com as a default. I was intrigued by a ghastly headline about a killing on a Greyhound bus and read the story. To my shock and dismay, it appears as if a deranged man pulled out a knife and stabbed the 19-year-old sleeping man next to him to death in front of the other passengers, decapitated him, and then displayed his head for all to see. I then did some more searching to discover that three are dead and one is now wounded after a group of young swimmers at a river in rural Northern Wisconsin were picked off one-by-one in yet another seemingly unprovoked random act of violence. Here are some other killing sprees that I can recall occurring in recent memory, although I'm sure there have been hundreds of others at houses of worship, workplaces, schools, and public areas alike:
10/1/97: A deranged student beat and stabbed his mother to death, then went to his school where he gunned down two students, wounded seven others, and was then apprehended by authorities.
3/24/98: An 11-year-old and 13-year-old lured their unsuspecting classmates outside with a false fire alarm and then began to pick them off one-by-one with gunfire, killing five and wounding ten others.
5/21/98: A 15-year-old student in Springfield, OR kills his parents and then heads to school, where he opens fire in the school cafeteria, killing one student and injuring 23 others before being tackled by other students.
4/20/99: Two students walk into Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, killing 12 students, a teacher, and wounding 23 others before killing themselves.
10/2/06: A 32-year-old milk man walked into an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, PA, ordered all of the males out, lined up the females methodically in a row, and then gunned down five of them (ages 6-13) execution-style before taking his own life.
4/16/07: A disgruntled student killed 32 people, wounded 23 others, and then shot himself to death on the campus of Virginia Tech.
12/5/07: A 19-year-old walks into the Westroads Mall in suburban Omaha, NE and guns down eight people, wounds four others, and then turns the gun on himself.
6/25/08: A disgruntled worker killed five people at his workplace before turning the gun on himself.
7/31/08: A middle-aged gunman opens fire on a group of nine young swimmers in rural Northern Wisconsin, killing three and wounding one.
7/31/08: A deranged man with a knife methodically stabs a sleeping 19-year-old sleeping next to him on a Greyhound bus to death and then decapitates him as other passengers watch in horror.
This is all I could list before getting too enraged. What, as a society, can we do to ebb these sorts of senseless random acts of violence being committed in our communities? No place is immune. As you can see here the targets ranged from blue-collar working class towns to rural villages to affluent suburbs. It seems as if we're all just sitting ducks anymore.
NOTE: As this thread progresses a moderator may deem it necessary to relocate it to the Politics & Other Controversies Forum.
I arose this morning, logged online, and opened up my browser window, which uses AOL.com as a default. I was intrigued by a ghastly headline about a killing on a Greyhound bus and read the story. To my shock and dismay, it appears as if a deranged man pulled out a knife and stabbed the 19-year-old sleeping man next to him to death in front of the other passengers, decapitated him, and then displayed his head for all to see. I then did some more searching to discover that three are dead and one is now wounded after a group of young swimmers at a river in rural Northern Wisconsin were picked off one-by-one in yet another seemingly unprovoked random act of violence. Here are some other killing sprees that I can recall occurring in recent memory, although I'm sure there have been hundreds of others at houses of worship, workplaces, schools, and public areas alike:
10/1/97: A deranged student beat and stabbed his mother to death, then went to his school where he gunned down two students, wounded seven others, and was then apprehended by authorities.
3/24/98: An 11-year-old and 13-year-old lured their unsuspecting classmates outside with a false fire alarm and then began to pick them off one-by-one with gunfire, killing five and wounding ten others.
5/21/98: A 15-year-old student in Springfield, OR kills his parents and then heads to school, where he opens fire in the school cafeteria, killing one student and injuring 23 others before being tackled by other students.
4/20/99: Two students walk into Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, killing 12 students, a teacher, and wounding 23 others before killing themselves.
10/2/06: A 32-year-old milk man walked into an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, PA, ordered all of the males out, lined up the females methodically in a row, and then gunned down five of them (ages 6-13) execution-style before taking his own life.
4/16/07: A disgruntled student killed 32 people, wounded 23 others, and then shot himself to death on the campus of Virginia Tech.
12/5/07: A 19-year-old walks into the Westroads Mall in suburban Omaha, NE and guns down eight people, wounds four others, and then turns the gun on himself.
6/25/08: A disgruntled worker killed five people at his workplace before turning the gun on himself.
7/31/08: A middle-aged gunman opens fire on a group of nine young swimmers in rural Northern Wisconsin, killing three and wounding one.
7/31/08: A deranged man with a knife methodically stabs a sleeping 19-year-old sleeping next to him on a Greyhound bus to death and then decapitates him as other passengers watch in horror.
This is all I could list before getting too enraged. What, as a society, can we do to ebb these sorts of senseless random acts of violence being committed in our communities? No place is immune. As you can see here the targets ranged from blue-collar working class towns to rural villages to affluent suburbs. It seems as if we're all just sitting ducks anymore.
I think a lot of people need to turn off their TV and go outside and actually DO something for themselves and with themselves. I think a lot of this type of mental illness is induced from sheer boredom with life as a result of too much vicarious living via internet and television.
Nothing really on the increase, just easier to hear about it with our media saturated society.
If you really feel the need to make a difference, enter a social studies field or social work or volunteer at a crisis line, etc. Most of societies ills like the ones you listed have been around since the dawn of man; we are not a perfect species and violence is actually part of our nature. We have learned peace through centuries, but clearly not to the point we should. There will always be rogues and armies and mentally ill. We can have the strength to change the things we can, the comfort to accept the things we can't, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Put a new law into play that states any psycho will be forced to experience some blunt force castration (and then lay there and slowly bleed to death with their flattened pecker laying next to them) for their crimes. That oughta scare some of those freaks into hiding.
Make concealed carry permits easier to get and more flexible. Criminals can get away with mass killing because the populous, at least in public, is unarmed and defenseless.
Take Virginia Tech for example:
In this country, even if you have a concealed carry permit, you can't carry on a college campus. Had someone in that classroom had a concealed weapon (other than the killer), they could have shot him before he had a chance to kill 32 people. It wouldn't even necessarily have to be a student, even allowing the teachers concealed carry would be a huge improvement safety-wise from where we are today.
Make concealed carry permits easier to get and more flexible. Criminals can get away with mass killing because the populous, at least in public, is unarmed and defenseless. Take Virginia Tech for example:
In this country, even if you have a concealed carry permit, you can't carry on a college campus. Had someone in that classroom had a concealed weapon (other than the killer), they could have shot him before he had a chance to kill 32 people. It wouldn't even necessarily have to be a student, even allowing the teachers concealed carry would be a huge improvement safety-wise from where we are today.
ABSOLUTLY RIGHT! You beat me to it, WM!
The best way for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, their loved ones, and/or be able to stop outrages like this on third parties, is to be armed themselves! In these scenarios, the old adage, "the best defense is a good offense" applies for sure!
Thanks for this bit of, what at one time, in a saner day and age, would have just been considered just plain common sense! Another way to put is in the old adage "The best defense is a good offense"!
Make concealed carry permits easier to get and more flexible. Criminals can get away with mass killing because the populous, at least in public, is unarmed and defenseless.
Take Virginia Tech for example:
In this country, even if you have a concealed carry permit, you can't carry on a college campus. Had someone in that classroom had a concealed weapon (other than the killer), they could have shot him before he had a chance to kill 32 people. It wouldn't even necessarily have to be a student, even allowing the teachers concealed carry would be a huge improvement safety-wise from where we are today.
I don't like guns and would not carry one. As long as the criminals don't know that, the fact that I could carry one makes me safer.
Last edited by studedude; 08-01-2008 at 01:17 PM..
As long as the criminals don't know that the fact that I could carry one makes me safer.
How so? *truly curious*
EDIT: Ok...I think I see what you might be saying. That is, while you might not PERSONALLY choose the carry one (but that others could), the fact the criminal might not know that, would make you feel safer. I understand that, even if I personally would prefer to be armed.
What, as a society, can we do to ebb these sorts of senseless random acts of violence being committed in our communities? No place is immune. As you can see here the targets ranged from blue-collar working class towns to rural villages to affluent suburbs. It seems as if we're all just sitting ducks anymore.
The best way is for society to accept, and pass the requisite laws, to reflect that an armed law-abiding citizen is the best deterrent to the scum out there. To be blunt? Allow the former to have the means to kill the latter before they can kill us!
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