An Angry Rant ( you may want to skip this one)
The shootings on the campus of Virgina Tech has once again reminded us that there are truly no guaranteed safe places anymore. I watched the news, as I'm sure everyone did, with horror as the numbers of dead climbed to an unimaginable amount. My heart goes out to the families that sent their children off to school only to have some mentally ill person take their life for absolutely no reason at all.
I have been astonished that not only have people rushed to try and explain this behavior but they immediately tried to use this tragedy to advance certain agendas and make money. Do people have no shame. People are dead and all people can think about is using this tragedy to strengthen their positions. Sometime society makes me literally sick to my stomach.
The news media of course rushed in first and started reporting, analyzing and explaining. How do you explain mental illness? How do you understand the actions this evil monster took? The truth is you can't. If you can understand him and explain his actions then frankly you scare me. I'm sure they are making good money with the extra revenue from the ratings increase, so there is no doubt they will not stop until they've squeezed every penny out of this they can.
Then came the gun control people. The bodies weren't even cold before they started claiming it was the guns fault. Immediately the Virgina gun shops became the focus of the crime. These anti-gun people are almost giddy with excitement that they have a new reason to scream for more gun control. Never mind the guns were purchased legally, never mind he bought the guns a month ago so the waiting period they want Virgina to impose would have made no difference. Never mind that a shot gun would have worked just as well. All that matters to these people is unarming the public. When a maniac walks into an area that he knows has been cleared of all weapons he has little fear of being stopped. While I blame only the nut case that carried out his evil plan, I can't help but wonder what would have been if just a few of the teachers had been carrying a weapon or if anyone else would have for that matter. We do know the shooter took his own life rather than face armed police officers. Certainly something to think about.
Then came the blame America and it's culture crowd. That somehow America had created this monster. NPR went out of it's way to explain that the killer had been raised in America and even went so far as to point out that South Korean culture (he was born in South Korea) would never create such a killer. WTF? There are killers in every society but these American haters want to tie everything bad to our nationality. The America they talk about, the America they hate is a foreign country to me, one I have never even seen a glimpse of, let alone lived in.
The saddest part to me is that everybody seemed to know this animal was going to do it. The signs were everywhere and good people even tried to address it. Of course in our politically correct world we are not allowed to judge, stop or remove people who shows signs of evil. They have the freedom of speech and freedom of expression. These people who saw the signs had no avenues with which to stop him. His rights and his freedoms trumped the safety of everyone on that campus. Had he been removed from school at the first signs of a problem the law suites would have surely had him back in his class room with in days. I certainly don't blame the 'individual rights at all cost crowd' for what happened, it's just they seem to be the very same people who are blaming everyone and everything except the evil, cowardly, bastard that committed the murders.
The killings make me angry at an evil man, society's reaction to the killings makes me sad for mankind, and the whole damn thing makes me sick. Excuse me while I go throw up.
28 comments:
My heart goes out to you America.
I've been on this all day it seems, It is maddening watching the media make a fiasco out of such pain.
The blog world of anti-gun utopianists
is having a field day.
The anti-gun people want to take away the ability of people to defend themselves against murdering lunatics.
That is the way I see it. If someone wants to go on a shooting rampage they will. But what right does anyone have to take away my right to protect myself.
Good rant RT.
:)
Hmmm, Anti-gun.
Shouldnt everybody in the whole world be anti-gun? I have never come across a gun in real life before as I live in a country where frankly it is not spiralling out of control.
I dread the day that a "Virginia" happens in this country as the only people who get hold of guns are people who want to use them for a purpose other than at a gun club, but luckily (or unluckily depends how you look at it) we have only had one such crime, which was at Dunblane. The murderer that day got his guns legally, but since then our laws have increased massively and I am proud to say that we lead the way in the law like this. However those who want guns will still get them.
Americas problem is that you are too far down the road in trying to enforce a law and there are about 450million more people! Thats a lot of people to try and police into giving up their guns. However what I dont understand is that legally, in some states you can fire a gun at 10 years old, but you are not allowed to drink until 21. I know that I would rather a drunk 18 year old come knocking at my door than a 12 year old with a gun......
Virginia is a sad event, made worse by the lax laws because add this to the colorada shootings, columbine, the Amish community last year, the list goes on and it will continue getting longer until something is done about it but I cant see it being any time soon.
Just hope for the good of the world people start realising it!
To the person who deleted their comments that was silly. I think what you said was important for people to hear. I hope you post them again or give me permission to put them back :)
HB: In a perfect world I would be against guns too. The world is far from perfect.
Spiller: I understand what you're saying and even respect your point of view.
I really don't expect you to understand our gun situation here. You have to remember Americans are guaranteed the right have guns, originally so that we could keep our government in check. Now it is for sport, hunting and protection.
I know you hear the word gun and you think of violence and crime but in the south where I live it's not like that. It's nothing to see a rifle hanging in a pick up truck window. Guns are a way of life and it doesn't have to be a criminal life. As a matter of fact the law abiding gun owning citizens out number the criminals by the millions. If people want to kill they will. Without guns there would still be knives, clubs, and even cars can be used to mass murder. A gun is not evil, the person who uses it to kill the innocent is.
As you can imagine, I have a lot to say about this. But I'll limit my comments to defending my brothers and sisters in law enforcement, who - contrary to popular belief - could not have acted in any other way than they did.
This crime was so well planned... the shooter knew exactly how the campus would respond to the first shooting and thus, he had all the time in the world to enact phases two and three. And of course we didn't anticipate the next two pahses. Why would we?
We are sane people. I can't fix crazy, nor can I combat it effectively. I have limitations in my head that preclude thinking like a maniac. Though a police force staffed entirely by anti-social personality disorder patients would be the most deadly and accurate enforcement team on the planet, we rely on our peacekeepers to be SANE people capable of making EFFECTIVE choices.
So we can't combat crazy or anticipate what crazy is going to do next. Because we AREN'T.
America, stop looking for someone to blame and plant that judgment square on the person to whom it belongs. Gun laws already pretty much guarantee that I cannot effectively defend my home and family because I am forced to buy my weapons legally and the bad guys have me outgunned with autos that I can't buy or carry. The only consolation I have in this regard is that I spend time at the range and your average gangster doesn't. I might have time to sqeeze off two or three rounds while the bad guy's Uzi cuts me in half. Restrict me any more and I won't be able to defend YOU effectively either.
I am thankful for the courage of some students who found themselves in a gunfight with nothing but textbooks in their hands and managed to save themselves and others with good old fashioned American ingenuity. I am thankful that the shooter ended his own life so my brethren weren't faced with the moral dilemma of "bringing him to justice." I am thankful that the shooter didn't have more ammunition. I blame no one but him for the evil inflicted upon defenseless people that day.
If we live in fear, we don't live. Take your lives back, America. Please?
Daughter: I think it's sad that you feel you have to defend the police. Some of the first reports that came from Virgina Tech were already starting to question police procedure. I immediatly thought WTF?! :(
I agree you can't plan for insanity. If you think you can you're crazy
My biggest question is why didn't he shoot himself first? Problem solved.
Spiller, No the whole world shouldn't be anti-gun, and I have never come across a gun that murdered a person without a maniac attached to it.
You have lived in a place where guns are associated with crime.
In rural communities they are needed and are common-place.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one."
Thomas Jefferson,
Quoting Cesare Beccari's "On Crimes and Punishment"
I can't put my comments back I don't remember what I said.
:-P
did I say it was you jen? LOL
I still have them in my email ;)
I always have a guilty conscious! Always.
*grin*
You can repost 'em if you want to.
I saw something on the news the next day this tragic eent too place.
A few things:
1. Apparently Britain has the same number of gun related deaths as US per capita. I find this hard to beleive, but I saw it on the news.
2. I'm not in a position to say whether or not Americans should be able to carry guns. All I know is that if I knew anyone anywhere I go could be carrying a gun, that would scare the hell out of me. I just can't imagine it. You might say someone in my local could be carrying a knife? This is also illegal in Britain. A knife also, is much more of a personal thing. You can see the persons face when they're stabbed, you can probably touch them, it takes much more of a maniac to stab than shoot.
3. American culture raised this lunatic. Apparently it could have been his obsession with violent Korean films.
When alls said and done, this man was clearly crazy. he showed signs of his depression and class mates/teachers etc were concerned. Why was he allowed to buy a gun?
I just wish the ass hole had shot himself alone without harming anyone else.
He was allowed to buy a gun because
1: He was an American, over the age of 18, with no felony convictions.
2: He was not prosecuted for the stalking incidents in 2005, which would have resulted in felony convictions.
3: He wasn't prosecuted in 2005 for two separate stalking incidents because the females in question "just wanted him to get help" instead of protecting themselves and others.
In California, victims don't "press charges," the District Attorney does. If Mr. Cho had lived here, he would not have been able to legally buy guns after he was convicted of the stalking charges. But even California's stringent gun laws would not have prevented him from obtaining a firearm illegally. We are actually blessed that he DID obtain his guns legally, as he could have easily found automatic weapons and assault rifles "on the street," thereby increasing his kill ratio significantly.
I carry both a gun AND a knife. And I won't hesitate to use either. I guess I qualify as a maniac.
:-)
I think people get the idea that in America people walk around waving guns everywhere. That every time you go to the mall you see someone with a gun. That couldn't be further from the truth. Most Americans go their whole life without seeing a gun used in a crime, let alone being the victim of a gun crime. It's not like what you see in the movies or TV. Of course there are places you don't go but you know where those places are.
American culture may have kept this bastard on the street but it didn't make him who he was. There are millions of people raised in American society, very few mass murder innocent people. Every culture has it's crazy people who kill people I just think America is just better at airing it's dirty laundry. Especially when you have a press that is against guns. Rarely do you see the stories of all the people who save lives by carrying a weapon but it happens everyday.
Why was he allowed to buy a gun? Well for the reasons Daughter gave absolutely but mainly because individual rights trump the security of the public. For the same reason we are having such a hard time catching terrorist. Certain groups in this country tie the hands of law enforcement, by taking away all their tools to be effective, then these same people seemed shocked when something happens. If the FBI, who was informed this bastard was purchasing a gun, had access to his medical records things would have been different.
Daughter: I wish they would arm you guys with at least the same fire power as the criminals I still get chills when I think of the North Hollywood bank robbery shoot out in 1997.
I hope you never have a reason to use your gun and especially your knife but I'm glade you have them. :)
"The saddest part to me is that everybody seemed to know this animal was going to do it."
And now I'll comment on this sentence the way you intended it to be taken. HAHAHAHA
I agree completely. If people saw this kind of behavior it's sad that they didn't have the real power to (maybe) prevent this situation. But we live in a politically correct era.
:-/
It's not going to be a comfort to the families of the dead that he kept his individual rights right up until the point where he killed.
Grrr.
Yeah, the whole story really provokes anger. It's a basic human reaction when we're confronted with someone as twisted as this crazy dude.
Grieving all the way around, sounds like. I know I am.
I still get chills when I think about that, too, RT. Lots of them.
But I will still run to the sound of the guns.
{{{{group hug}}}}}
You're crafty RT.
It looks so good I have to wonder how many times you've posted as me in the past. Mwhahaha
:-P
((((daughter)))) thanks, it really has upset me, the event and the reaction to it. :(
Jen: not to many times...today :)
*wink*
Spiller, "...AS FOR THE European disdain for our criminal culture, many of those countries should not spend too much time congratulating themselves. In 2000, the rate at which people were robbed or assaulted was higher in England, Scotland, Finland, Poland, Denmark and Sweden than it was in the United States. The assault rate in England was twice that in the United States. In the decade since England banned all private possession of handguns, the BBC reported that the number of gun crimes has gone up sharply..."
Harbinger - yes gun crime is still a massive problem, as it is all over the world. The difference is between our country and America is that here you cant go into a shop with your drivers licence and buy whatever you feel like.
1 in 4 americans own a gun. So roughly speaking thats 100 million people. Thats 40 million people more than live in this country.
Most of those people are legitimate and will own them purely to kill deer or something but the fact remains that if you own a gun then you are quite capable of killing someone!
The threat of gun crime is not as high here as it is over the pond, I know if someone breaks into my house I wont have to resort to a gun to defend myself as most of the time they wont have one so a baseball bat around the head will do the trick. However in America because its so damn simple to buy a gun then you guys cant take that risk, its a vicious circle that you are not going to be able to get out off for a long time.
But how do you get out of a circle that "100 million people" are in? Who's the first to break that chain, the robber or the home owner? What if I buy a baseball bat to defend myself, but the guy who breaks into my home has a gun? I can beat him on the head with it and still get shot in the belly...
Spiller, You still think everyone is carrying around guns out in the open,not true.
You insult everybodys intelligence:
Most of those people are legitimate and will own them purely to kill deer or something but the fact remains that if you own a gun then you are quite capable of killing someone!
Where are the facts that say I am more capable of killing someone than you are, absolutely ridiculous.
Your rate of violent crime is higher though, because you are going to bash someones head in with a baseball bat, I'm just going to show him my gun!
OK,
You want your gun fine but the fact remains is that you own a weapon that kills. For every 100,000 people in America around 5% will die from gunshot. In the UK that figure is 0.21%, 27% of people in America will suffer a non-fatal gunshot wound. That number would be much lower if guns weren't legal tender! In 1999, there were 80 gun deaths a day in the USA.
I am by no means saying that the UK is perfect, not by a long shot, there will always be crime, everywhere and I am not saying that every American is brandishing their weapon at their shopping malls you insult my intelligence for saying that I think that! All I am saying is that if there is a gun in the house and you are willing to use it then gun crime in the USA will continue to be a problem.
Like it will be in the UK - dont get me wrong, but we have a "Gun Amnesty" quite often and the last one over 43,000 guns were handed in. Thats 43,000 less guns on the street waiting to kill someone
Well, let me see...
I own several "weapons that kill" and actually demonstrate the severe irresponsibility it takes to leave such items around my home where my kids can find them. They include (but are not limited to): knives, antifreeze, vehicles, baseball and softball bats, rope, speaker wire, plant food, hatchets, crowbars, shishkebob skewers, lumber, a chainsaw, and pantyhose.
I have personally seen murders committed with each and every one of the above-mentioned items.
The point is, it's not the weapon that kills, it's the murderer. If I want to kill someone badly enough, I'll find a way. I'll use a flippin' telephone handset if I have to. Guns just make it slightly easier.
For the record, the majority of gunshot wounds ARE NOT fatal. And bigger caliber doesn't mean higher kill ratio (necessarily). The highest number of firearm fatalities were committed with a .22 caliber handgun.
I am not - I repeat AM NOT - making excuses for a society that teaches their children how to kill, because our American culture most certainly does (take a look at the video games your kids are playing, America!!). I see kids - yes, KIDS - gun each other down in cold blood at least once a week and I'm pretty damn sick of it. But it is not the guns or even the availability of the guns that is to blame.
IMHO, of course.
And PS:
1 in 4 Americans owning a gun is a badly tweaked statistic.
I can only assume that this number reflects the number of legally purchased firearms (DOJ registered)to number of census-counted Americans.
My former partner owns several hundred guns. My best friend owns more than 20. I own 7. My father owns 300+ guns, some autos. I know 40 people who have never owned a gun in their lifetimes. That small sample indicates a 1:10 ratio. Most people who own weapons are not allowed to carry them in a concealed fashion, so use them only for hunting or recreational/competition range shooting. Owning a firearm is not enough to assume the owner is strapped 24/7, as that is most certainly not the case.
The statistic is very misleading.
America is still a safe and worthwhile place to visit. Really.
Good post Daughter.
Although I'd like to beg to differ on America being "safe" and "worthwhile place to visit"... Have you ever been to Detroit?
*wink*
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