Connecticut School Shooting

[saskflames69]

Sad that this is becoming the norm in America. Not a month goes by without some freak of nature randomly shooting up a bunch of people.

[topfiverecords]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/###...reports,30743/

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by HOOT

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Ya I wasn't saying it was right for them to release the name or anything but maybe that's why the confusion/wrong name. And this is nothing more than my theory for the confusion, who knows why the name was wrong. I've never understood why we (or should I say the news?) are so fascinated by who committed the crime, instead of the victims involved. But I guess that's the nosey nature of humans today.

The interest is because the motivations for these kinds of crimes are often confusing and mysterious. The incomprehensible nature of the crimes naturally triggers our inquisitive nature.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The interest is because the motivations for these kinds of crimes are often confusing and mysterious. The incomprehensible nature of the crimes naturally triggers our inquisitive nature.

That's fine but why a name? Why not just Sandy Hook shooter? Why can't we just concentrate on what he did and why, not who he is?

I bet most people can name the Aurora shooter but not one name of any of the victims.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by HOOT

That's fine but why a name? Why not just Sandy Hook shooter? Why can't we just concentrate on what he did and why, not who he is?

I bet most people can name the Aurora shooter but not one name of any of the victims.

I agree, I wonder how many of these ####bags commit these crimes to be famous.

[undercoverbrother]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-at...b_2303508.html

[Plett25]

There was a school attack in China today. 22 injuries, 2 serious. The attacker was armed with a knife.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20723910

In China, it was an attack because the crazy person was armed with a knife. In the US, it was a massacre because the crazy person was armed with guns. It is pretty hard to argue that US gun laws don't make these events bloodier than they have to be.

It may be unpopular, but I'll say it... guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Guns just make it easier and increase the body count.

[HOOT]

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...1070301%2F1023

Originally Posted by Roger Ebert

Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program. The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking sound bites to support it. "Wouldn't you say," she asked, "that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?" No, I said, I wouldn't say that. "But what about 'Basketball Diaries'?" she asked. "Doesn't that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machine gun?" The obscure 1995 Leonardo Di Caprio movie did indeed have a brief fantasy scene of that nature, I said, but the movie failed at the box office (it grossed only $2.5 million), and it's unlikely the Columbine killers saw it.

The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. "Events like this," I said, "if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. The kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn't have messed with me. I'll go out in a blaze of glory."

In short, I said, events like Columbine are influenced far less by violent movies than by CNN, the NBC Nightly News and all the other news media, who glorify the killers in the guise of "explaining" them. I commended the policy at the Sun-Times, where our editor said the paper would no longer feature school killings on Page 1. The reporter thanked me and turned off the camera. Of course the interview was never used. They found plenty of talking heads to condemn violent movies, and everybody was happy.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by HOOT

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...1070301%2F1023

You tell em Roger.

As sick as this sounds, I would bet the people at CNN love that this happened. It just filled a solid week with tragedy and ratings. Somewhere in a CNN boardroom, there is some guy in a suit doing a fist pump over this tragedy.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

http://www.theonion.com/articles/###...reports,30743/

Url is censored - here's a modified link to it: Onion article that expresses what a lot of us are feeling

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by HOOT

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...1070301%2F1023

It's the lead story on the Chicago Sun-Times website, which it should be as its the most important news event of the day.

http://www.suntimes.com/mobile/index.html

Cowperson

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I agree, I wonder how many of these ####bags commit these crimes to be famous.

All of them? These guys are glory hogs. They want their menacing picture on the page of every paper reading "look into the eyes of evil!" or "massacre!!", "angel of death!!"

This is what these guys are after, this is their motivation. This is what main stream media gives them.

[Sr. Mints]

Sickened when I heard this.

If there's a silver lining to all this, a good number of my inbred, hillbilly, gun loving relatives have un-friended me on facebook.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

All of them? These guys are glory hogs. They want their menacing picture on the page of every paper reading "look into the eyes of evil!" or "massacre!!", "angel of death!!"

This is what these guys are after, this is their motivation. This is what main stream media gives them.

yep. gun culture in the States is certainly a contributing factor, but it doesn't explain why there has been such a sharp increase in the number of public shootings in the past couple of decades. the one correlating factor is the rise of 24/7 news media, suddenly these death fetish sociopaths had an alter that they could be famous on. Roger Ebert couldn't be more bang on

[GoinAllTheWay]

/\/\

Exaclty! Peferct word, Alter...

I'd say this is a pretty damn good reason as to why it's escalated so much. Like someone said, gun laws today are the same they were 20+ yrs ago so what's changed? Instant attention given to them by modern media.

It would be nice if a gag order could be slapped on the media to preven this type of sensationalism but problem with that would be the whole freedom of speech thing.

The solution to this is going to be VERY hard to find.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by HOOT

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...1070301%2F1023

I think Ebert is correct on his main premise concerning the influence of movies, but I disagree with his explanation of why people (younger people specifically) commit these acts- If what he says about "becoming famous" is accurate, why doesn't the UK experience mass shootings in schools and elsewhere? The British media is as bad, possibly worse, than the US media when it comes to sensationalizing events and exploiting tragedies. Certainly they would do the same as CNN and MSNBC if an event like this happened there. The UK has some seriously nutty people across all ages, many of whom have the same profile as the nuts that commit these acts in the US.

What they don't have are guns (non hunting guns specifically) in mass numbers.

In my opinion, these events are a product of themselves. Mass shootings beget more mass shootings, and as Ebert points out, the media is a large part of this. The problem is that firearms provide a very easy and accessible way of starting this chain reaction of mass shootings. I think it would be extremely difficult to kill 27 people in a matter of minutes with something like a knife or axe.

And as far as the response of "nuts will find a way to get guns whether they are illegal or not"- well, the track record in just about every first world nation with stricter gun control laws seems to disagree

[Jbo]

I was sheltered from the news and didn't hear about any of this until now.

My heart has just sunk. How can people be capable be of such evil?

Not even sure what to say. I can only hope these families can find peace one day. Prayers barely seem to be enough.

[Gozer]

Huckabee, right on cue for the religious right, says that "God wasn't at the school" because "we've systematically removed Him from school" and this is a predictable consequence of lack-of-fear-of-hell.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah I've been seeing that a lot too on message boards: Its the lack of God in society as to why this happened, cause there were guns back in the 50's too. I wonder if these people actually realize that everyone not part of their crazy tribe thinks they're insane when we hear these excuses to protect their second ammendment rights. I really thought 20 dead young children would actually give them pause, but I guess not.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

.
I think it would be extremely difficult to kill 27 people in a matter of minutes with something like a knife or axe.

And as far as the response of "nuts will find a way to get guns whether they are illegal or not"- well, the track record in just about every first world nation with stricter gun control laws seems to disagree

Of course it would. But I really don't think that would be their next choice of weapons. Kids are damn creative, they'd come up with something else.

IF you were to wake up tomorrow and all guns were illegal in all of NA, this type of thing will not stop IMO. I'd wager the black market for guns would explode if that happened. Guns being smuggled into the US from Mexico and SA would probably skyrocket. I totally agree, nut jobs like this will find a way. If they can't find a gun, they will probably wind up making home made grenades or something.