Gunman in Omaha kills 8, then himself

[Kuciwalker]

In the U.S., anyone can get a gun.

You yanks won't do anything to control the sales of guns,

Those are both demonstrably false.

You yanks won't do anything to control the sales of guns, but you do want to censor the press even though you have no indication that the press had any connection to this crime.

Um, what? I don't see this huge yank consensus arguing for press censorship.

[Tingkai]

[Elok]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Mental health experts now say that the media should report suicides, and provide guidelines about how to do it.

Is this a Canadian thing, or do I need to read the paper more thoroughly? I have never in my life encountered a headline reading, "APA launches new 'slash up, not across' campaign." Should I ask my mother, who's a psych professor?

[Tingkai]

Okay, to state the obvious, "it" refers to how the media should write about suicides.

"Copycat suicides are a real problem, but suicide experts generally agree that it's not a question of whether media should cover suicide, but how we do so."

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=54176&sid=32

And thanks for reminding me why this place is only worth visiting when I've had a few and can't get to sleep.

[Patroklos]

Originally posted by Igloodude


Exactly what sort of "minor gun control" would have prevented this? From what I've seen reported, the PoS stole a rifle from his father-in-law - since he wasn't able to legally purchase one himself - and brought it to a "gun-free-zone" mall and shot the place up, then shot himself. He broke a law in getting the gun, he broke a law in keeping the gun, he broke a law in bringing the gun into the mall - and then he broke a law in using the gun.

Igloodude, I have never seen you around these parts!

[Elok]

Originally posted by Tingkai
And thanks for reminding me why this place is only worth visiting when I've had a few and can't get to sleep.

Idunno, when you're sober and wide-awake you probably write more clearly.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Tingkai

So maybe you should ask why did the father-in-law have a gun? If buddy doesn't have a gun, the nutcase can't go on a rampage.

Presumably cause he chose to purchase one, and had no criminal record, history of mental health issues, or any other reason why he couldnt have one.

I suppose you COULD have a rule whereby no one is allowed to own a gun if they have a relation who DOES have mental health issues. Though I suspect that would create privacy problems (Cousin - Hey, I just went to buy a gun, and you know what they told me about YOU?) and possibly might discourage use of mental health treatment ("Im going deer hunting this fall, and I want to make it clear, NO one in this family is going within 10 feet of a therapist till my trip is done, y'all hear?")

Now Im NOT anti gun control - I attended the million mom march - but Im NOT sure this particular incident could have been avoided by gun control.

I do wonder how the uncle stored his rifle.

[Kuciwalker]

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Elok


Idunno, when you're sober and wide-awake you probably write more clearly.

But he will still be wrong.

[Dis]

ideally it would be great if no weapons at all would be sold to the public. And guns were removed from criminals hands. Unfortunately it's impossible to remove the guns already out there and prevent criminals from getting new one. I do not welcome a society where only the criminals have the guns. We aren't weenies like in Europe. We are a very violent, and crime ridden society. Our culture paints criminals as heros, and has no hope of ever keeping guns out of their hands. At this point it is too late to have gun control, and would not have stopped this shooting.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

In the U.S., anyone can get a gun.

You yanks won't do anything to control the sales of guns,

Those are both demonstrably false.

Originally posted by Tingkai

Should I take this to mean you're standing by your assumption that anyone in the U.S. can get a gun with no legal impediments whatsoever?

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Dis
I do not welcome a society where only the criminals have the guns.

Criminal have a gun - points it at you, asks for your money - what do you do ? Go for your gun praying that the bad guy have forgotten to load the waepon ?

[Dis]

no, a little common sense comes into play. I obviously cannot protect myself outside my home. I would never take my gun outside my home as you are almost certain you will go to prison if you use a gun outside your home unless you are saving someone else's life (or your own).

Guns are used to protect your home and thwart home invasions which are rampant where I live.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Darius871

Should I take this to mean you're standing by your assumption that anyone in the U.S. can get a gun with no legal impediments whatsoever?

A guy with a history of mental illness and a criminal record for violence is able to borrow a military assault rifle.

Yup, the U.S. sure has mighty strict gun control. Yup lot of legal impediments. Yup, mighty difficult for nutcases to get their hands on assault rifles.

And instead of doing something logical like banning assault rifles and 30-round clips, the conservanuts blame the media and call for censorship.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

[Elok]

First of all, I don't think any of the people you're arguing with are conservatives, unless your definition of "liberal" is Karl Marx. Second, he didn't borrow a rifle, he took the damned thing without permission. Third, nobody has advocated censorship AFAICT, they just said the media should stop referring to these people by name. I understood that to mean that the media should police themselves on this, just like they withhold the names of minor victims of sexual abuse. Judging by the repeated protests of "I AM NOT ADVOCATING CENSORSHIP," it seems I understood correctly, or at least more so than you.

Perhaps you're just trolling, in which case I congratulate you on your witty campaign to have people talk to you like a moron by acting like a moron.