10 Dead in Minn. Shootings, 6 at School (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

The thinly veiled ideological battle behind the Schiavo case is the reason for all the media attention.

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H

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

I've been trying to find the quote i read last year in one of the local papers when Minnesota was having the debate regarding conceal and carry, but i'm not able to find that quote at this time.

One stat i did find regarding Texas gun laws. The Texas gun law legislation is at 42,000 words and the federal gun law is at 88,000 words. so to be legal with a gun in texas, a resident has to abide by 130,000 words of legislation.

A criminal has to abide by 0 words!

Now after reading that, I am probably remembering the story incorrectly and maybe the Minnesota gun laws have 20,000 words to them at the time they were debating the C&C permit issue.

sorry for misleading.

Paul

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Unfortunately it wouldn't take that much intelligence just a little research, a simple fertilizer bomb like what Timothy McVeigh made would be all it would take in the back of the average car, mini-van, or pick-up. I don't think I'd get to suspiscious if someone bought 1-2 bag of nitrogen fertilizer when I worked in a grocery store environment (10+ bags and I'm suspiscious but mostly for a teen growing their own weed) and most people wouldn't feel this way either (but someone who is determined would have no problems). I think we're lucky so far that these teens are doing this on impulse instead of long-term planning (could you imagine a kid working all summer saving up their money just so they could do this in the fall?).

I just wish this kid would of had at least one close friend who could of convinced him to do otherwise and I hate to say it but schools should covertly have a few English papers written where a kids will talk about their best friends and those that don't should be identified and found friends with others of similar social handicaps (hopefully it won't turn out Columbine, but hopefully they'll have a person to relate to so they'll have an outlet). We hear about so many of the "loners" yet it seems we only want to identify them when they finish going thru their spree.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Unfortunately it's not as simple as that. The media tend to play up the 'loner' aspect of these people, but often it's an exaggeration. And the trouble is that for every loner that is likely to go on a killing spree there will be thousands more loners who are never going to harm anyone. It'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Robert - the remark about intelligence and bomb making was a throwaway one and in retrospect I shouldn't perhaps have made it. However, I stick by the argument that a bomb isn't selective, and often the 'mad gunman' wants a feeling of control over who he (not being sexist, but they nearly always are males) can kill and grant life to. Bombers (e.g. those who send stuff through the post) are often rather different creatures to gun murderers with different agendas. Often they want to cause terror because you never know when a bomb might go off (I know America has begun to experience terrorist bombs in recent years, but try living in a big Brit city when the IRA is active). With a gunman on the loose, the uncertainty isn't there - instead the thrill for the murderer is that they know that they have the power to select and spare.