Shooting at Movie screening of TDKR in Colorado

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

It's both, and they are related. People believe it's their God given right enshrined in the constitution to own and carry firearms. Guns evolved dramatically in the last 200 years, but the laws really haven't. It's almost impossible for any politician to enact meaningful gun control legislation because the NRA is far too powerful. Guns are easy to obtain for almost anyone because there are loopholes to avoid background checks like purchasing at gun shows ect. A lot of Americans truly believe the solution to these incidents involves more citizens carrying concealed weapons that would defuse these situations immediately.

The NRA isn't a gun enthusiast organization though. It's a radical political group akin to radical anti-abortion groups. They are too powerful, however they do not have the support of many responsible gun enthusiasts because of their all or nothing approach to gun ownership.

I agree there are a lot of dumb asses out there who fall in with them.

Where I disagree with you is that the NRA is an entirely accurate representation of American gun culture.

[Senator Clay Davis]

It'll be interesting to see how politicized this becomes. Obviously hopefully it doesn't, but we all know how American politics works..."Never waste a tragedy"

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

It'll be interesting to see how politicized this becomes. Obviously hopefully it doesn't, but we all know how American politics works..."Never waste a tragedy"

Politicized and sensationalized in the media, which to me is even more sickening.

Someone posted the CNN headline earlier. Prime example.

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

It'll be interesting to see how politicized this becomes. Obviously hopefully it doesn't, but we all know how American politics works..."Never waste a tragedy"

Obama and Romney have cancelled political events...

but, some media news people (I forget who) are bringing up that they believe he is part of the Tea Party and are using that.

Anyway, sad loss of life today. Nothing they can do to the guy can make up for the harm he's caused

EDIT: They have no clue, and I believe it's been proven false, but they wanted to bring it up nonetheless:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...on-129568.html

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Obama and Romney have cancelled political events...

but, some media news people (I forget who) are bringing up that they believe he is part of the Tea Party and are using that.

Anyway, sad loss of life today. Nothing they can do to the guy can make up for the harm he's caused

EDIT: They have no clue, and I believe it's been proven false, but they wanted to bring it up nonetheless:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...on-129568.html

They just updated:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/....html?tw_p=twt

ABC News and Brian Ross are apologizing for an "incorrect" report that James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting, may have had connections to the Tea Party.
"An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect," ABC News said in a statement. "ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

[LGA]

This is an absolutely terrible tragedy. What the hell is wrong with some people?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Pretty sad the first thing people will think of for the last two movies in this series is the associated tragedies.

[Lobotroth]

Originally Posted by Mike F

Also, I don't want to lose sight of the human tragedy, but who takes a 3 month old to any movie, let alone a midnight screening? Holy disregard for the 3 month old.

fyp

Seems all the news I've been hearing lately is related to gun violence. Cue the Professor Farnsworth meme.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

In your second post in this thread you said it was the ease with which pyschos can get guns that's scary.

That's not gun culture. That's gun law.

Gun culture in the US has nothing to do with it. Gun law might.

You can't see how they're related?

[Ashasx]

I don't believe in capital punishment, but for this guy, I would pull the trigger myself.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Still waiting for someone to make the argument if more people had guns this would have been prevented. Because panicked people shooting in a dark, smoke filled theatre would definitely end well...

I would assume if this was a fairly average theatre in the western US up to half the patrons would own a firearm for their 'protection',

I could care less about guns either way but I hate the arguement that a gun is in any way able to protect anyone.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Pentagon says service members are amongst the casualties

U.S. military personnel apparently were among the casualties in the shooting at a "Batman" movie in Colorado Friday but it was not immediately clear whether any were killed, the Defense Department said.

Initial indications are that some service members were casualties and the alleged shooter did not have any military ties, spokesmen for the Pentagon and the military's joint chiefs of staff told reporters. They did not immediately have any numbers for the military casualties.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-military-mem...154534235.html

[NBC]

Gun control or carry permits won't stop mass murder


If one thing is predictable about mass shootings, however, is that they will spark arguments from gun control advocates and gun rights groups alike. Both sides of the gun issue will probably view this tragedy as one more example of why more or less gun control is the answer ... and both sides will be wrong.

Tighter restrictions on gun purchasing -- for example, eliminating multiple gun sales and closing the gun-show loophole -- may help reduce America's gun violence problem generally, but mass murder is unlike most other forms of violent conflict.

Mass killers are determined, deliberate and dead-set on murder. They plan methodically to execute their victims, finding the means no matter what laws or other impediments the state attempts to place in their way. To them, the will to kill cannot be denied.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/20/op...der/index.html

[vektor]

I know people are irate about this, but the best way to handle it is to understand what caused it. You put a person in a stressful situation for a long enough time and they lose their mind. Obviously I don't have sympathy for the guy but 26% of the people in the US have mental illnesses while pharmaceutical companies are making 25 billion a year on antidepressants alone that often trigger suicidal and homicidal ideations.

I'm not sympathizing with the guy but generally something like this is a result of society not dealing with its issues, the issue would be helped a lot more if people started to look around them and lend out a hand to others they see that are extremely stressed instead of being individualistic, getting angry and pointing fingers. This kind of thing will just happen more and more unless society starts to heal itself. Of course there are exceptions but guys like this generally fit a pretty tight mould; bullied, isolated, medicated, stressed and then they snap and go into a rage induced state of delusion. Blaming this on guns is the last thing we need to be doing, take them away and people will just make home made bombs and use knives.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by NBC

Gun control or carry permits won't stop mass murder


If one thing is predictable about mass shootings, however, is that they will spark arguments from gun control advocates and gun rights groups alike. Both sides of the gun issue will probably view this tragedy as one more example of why more or less gun control is the answer ... and both sides will be wrong.

Tighter restrictions on gun purchasing -- for example, eliminating multiple gun sales and closing the gun-show loophole -- may help reduce America's gun violence problem generally, but mass murder is unlike most other forms of violent conflict.

Mass killers are determined, deliberate and dead-set on murder. They plan methodically to execute their victims, finding the means no matter what laws or other impediments the state attempts to place in their way. To them, the will to kill cannot be denied.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/20/op...der/index.html

While I agree that people are going to find the means necessary to carry out something like this if they are intent on doing so I don't agree that it means there shouldn't be more regulations in place to at least try to prevent access to the weapons available to the everyday person.

[Prufrock]

This is James Holmes. Photo from University of Colorado where he was a med student.

[Joborule]

He's a med student eh? I wonder what made him crack then?

vektor is right that we need to be finding the cause of this, so we can help prevent future incidents like this.

[Prufrock]

^^^

He was a med student. Dropped out a month ago.

[Champion]

I remember watching that bowloing for Columbine movie. Do they still give you guns down there when you open up a bank account, etc?

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by Champion

I remember watching that bowloing for Columbine movie. Do they still give you guns down there when you open up a bank account, etc?

Not only are guns given out with bank accounts but you also get a free shotgun with every happy meal. Most cities out here make you check your six shooter when you enter the city limits. The children who were murdered probably only had their fisher price "my first revolver" toys with them though so they wouldn't have been much use in a shoot out.