Virginia shooting

[daver 0]

i think rather than addressing the issue of gun laws and registration, a more apt discussion is the perversion of personal freedoms and the pervasiveness of gun culture in the United States.

 

Samurai, although you do have a bit of a gun fetish, i know you have a healthy attitude towards firearms. and you are right in that people with healthy attitudes towards firearms don't kill people with guns. nor do their kids as the guns are locked up.

however, why is it believed to be a god given right, not a constitutional privilege, to own a firearm? and why are guns so sexy in American media? it certainly isn't hunting.

[Mantas 3]

I agree Daver, It's the 'gun culture' more so than the gun laws that are the problem in the US (in my opinion). almost every night on TV we see people (cool people) toting guns in a US crime/cop show.

 

You'll often hear an American quote that he" has the right to bear arms". It's in his constitution.

 

But this was written some 400 years ago wasn't it?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I feel sorry for guys like Samurai though. They get caught up with all the 'gun gooneys'.

[samurai 0]

I do have a gun fetish. I know it's strange, but away from hunting, I like dropping coins at a hundred meters. I also like filling a one-gallon milk jug with water and shooting it with a high-powered rifle and watching it explode. I also like fireworks. I like loud bangs on the fourth of July as well as hanabi festivals here in Japan. I had fun when 6 of us lined up and fell a tree one year- all with our rifles. I have no idea why guns are so sexy in the american media, because it sure as hell hasn't glamourized trap-shooting or steady-handed/long-distance target shots. And you're right, hunting sure isn't hitting the big screen.

 

But I also have a car fetish. I like hotrods, horsepower, and utterly quiet yet high-powered engines. I also like innovation. I am drooling with the anticipation of driving my dad's new full-sized dodge powered by vegetable oil. He's towing several thousand pound trailers over mountain passes with french-fry debris that he filters in his garage. And he's laughing at how powerful it is. I'm sorry- I didn't mean to get derailed. I just somehow saw a relation in that power/independence thing. I like the independence of nearly a year's worth of meat in my garage, gathered by me. And I love the indepence my pops is representing from the world's craving for oil.

 

Back on topic, why are guns so sexy in the american media? Because, the non-god-given right of independence is NOT what people think of when they think of high-powered rifles or even high-powered engines.

[SerreChe 2]

 Quote:

Originally posted by spook:
gun deaths per capita are higher in america than in countries with less liberal gun laws.

I believe I heard today on the news: 80 shooting deaths per day in the US. Seems incredibly high.

Not everybody owning a gun or wanting to own one in the US has Samurai's IQ unfortunately. Making the licencing/ownership process a serious & arduous one would surely reduce the number of people with guns including those who should not have one in the first place. Obviously you could still get one in a shadowy alley with the serial filed-off but would reduce the overall ownership number for psycho owners and that in itself could be useful without depriving you of owning one.

I remember watching Trauma or something like that on discovery channel a few years back. Most deaths in the ER were either car accident or shooting related. I could not believe it.

[samurai 0]

did you miss the part where six of us lined up and fell a tree with our rifles? Surely, that is void of IQ on all levels. A saw would have been a much more aqequate tool for the job.

 

FWIW, our fence post collapsed at the gate. Then some smartass in the group mentioned that we could cut down a tree and lay it across the entrance. then, the same smartass asked if anyone had a saw. Then a bigger smartass said; No. but we all have rifles. Laughter was quickly drowned by initiative. Sadly, the tree fell in the wrong direction and took about 2 hours to actually get it lying across the driveway. As much fun as I made it out to be, it was a pretty major pain-in-the-ass. But it lasted until my uncle replaced the gate.

[Ezorisu 0]

Anyone see/hear/read the John Howard reaction? Instead of offering condolences to the bereaved families of the victims, he used the opportunity to beat his own political drum and condemned the US for it's "gun culture". Tony Blair and the other world leaders who addressed the issue at least had the decency to consider the families first and foremost...

[samurai 0]

Here is one source quoting John Howard.

 

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/...417110909990001

[samurai 0]

The plays written by Cho that have been published online;

 

http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/04/17/cho-seung-huis-plays/

[bushpig 0]

John Howard is a cock.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

cockadoodledoo!!

[Mantas 3]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Bushpig:
John Howard is a cock.

He might be a cock BP but I'd rather have him for a leader than Arnold bloody Schwarzenegger

Big Arni.....The governor off California , the worlds 6th largest economy and home to 35 million people. How did he get this position?
The man rose to fame doing 'blood porn' films in the 80's and 90's. If you've ever seen his films you would know what I mean by 'blood porn'. Basically he spends about 60 minutes of a 90 minute movie running around blasting people away with various types of sexy, shiny metal guns and popping out one liners.

Blood and Guts everywhere.

The mind boggles to think that this is what appealed to the American public so much that he ended up with this office.
Sure, it's only fiction, but not everyone in this world has such a clear idea of what is and isn't fantasy. Almost every phsyco that has committed some kind of mass murder has had a fetish for violence like in Arnold's movies. With an abundant supply of readily available guns and violent entertainment, it's fertile ground for more phsycos.

[bushpig 0]

agreed Mantas, the message he sends through his movies is pretty horrible (although I have watched many with enjoyment). But Howard is still a cock

[thursday 1]

after all his steroids, Arnie has a smaller cock.

[tsondaboy 0]

Wait a min, I liked Conan the barbarian.

Ok

[Fossil 0]

My thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost their "treasures" and I can barely control the tears as I write this.

The west having sown the seed is now "reaping the whirlwind".

I am so sad to hear that another misguided individual decided to kill innocent schoolkids. So sad that I cannot bring myself to watch or listen to the details.

I am a gun owner, a former lic gunsmith and a hunter but if I thought that by legislation we could stop deranged people from commiting such horrific acts I would support any measure that the govt canme up with.

Unfortunately a look at the facts reveals that it isnt the availability of deadly weapons that leads to massacres, if that were the case Switzerland, Finland and Sweden would be depopulated by now. It is a culture that teaches our kids that resolution comes from the barrel of a gun. That a violent act is a righteous thing and justifiable if our emotions are charged enough. Just watch any Hollywood "vengence" movie or current action show on TV. The show 'Supernatural' even depicts ghosts and demons as being vunerable to a well aimed bullet.

[daver 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Mantas:

 Quote:

Originally posted by Bushpig:
John Howard is a cock.

He might be a cock BP but I'd rather have him for a leader than Arnold bloody Schwarzenegger

Big Arni.....The governor off California , the worlds 6th largest economy and home to 35 million people. How did he get this position?
The man rose to fame doing 'blood porn' films in the 80's and 90's. If you've ever seen his films you would know what I mean by 'blood porn'. Basically he spends about 60 minutes of a 90 minute movie running around blasting people away with various types of sexy, shiny metal guns and popping out one liners.

Blood and Guts everywhere.

The mind boggles to think that this is what appealed to the American public so much that he ended up with this office.
Sure, it's only fiction, but not everyone in this world has such a clear idea of what is and isn't fantasy. Almost every phsyco that has committed some kind of mass murder has had a fetish for violence like in Arnold's movies. With an abundant supply of readily available guns and violent entertainment, it's fertile ground for more phsycos.

might be true but he has also turned out to be a rather astute politician. california now has one of the most progressive environmental policies in the world. a little off point, but...

[tsondaboy 0]

Also don’t forget to whom he is married to, which extends to who supports his political carrier that in turns means who is influencing his political decisions.

He might be the Governator but he surly isn’t a dumass

[Ezorisu 0]

I think one thing that a lot of people in the media are forgetting is that the dude was a South Korean national - whatever his rationale was, it is not likely that it was influenced by an upbringing in the "gun culture" of the USA...

 

This was a really unfortunate and sad episode.

[mattlucas 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Ezorisu:
I think one thing that a lot of people in the media are forgetting is that the dude was a South Korean national - whatever his rationale was, it is not likely that it was influenced by an upbringing in the "gun culture" of the USA...

This was a really unfortunate and sad episode.

sad sad sad
Sad for the families and sad for some people after reading through these 3 pages

I think he lived in the Washington DC area for 15 years. Moved there when he was 8

I don't think you have to live in America to be overwelmed with American gun culture. Any video store has more than enough gun culture for your viewing pleasure
If videos are not to your pleasure just turn on the TV

Some new information
He sent a package to NBC after killing the first two and then went on to finish what he started
Wonder what was in the box...

[samurai 0]

I believe he went to the states at the age of 8. He also expressed a hatred towards "rich kids." And it was also expressed in the news that his parents worked a laundry service to finance their daughter's Princeton education as well as his Virginia Tech. (?)

 

My point was that there are thousands of Americans on university campuses who were not born in the states, yet seek recognition as americans amongst their peers who are deemed as more financially well off then themselves. On my dorm floor, out of maybe 20 or so kids, like 5 of them were not born in the states and their involvement in social activities was seriously diminished by their financial status.

 

I think rejection (through my media-skewed perception) may have played a pretty major role in what rolled out. Not only rejection from his peers, but forced-rejection that was the result of not being financially stable enough to even go out with friends when they did invite him.

 

What that has to do with gun culture is beyond me though.

 

I too was pretty shocked at the package he'd mailed. But I won't give him the credit of being heard by reiterating whatever it was he was trying to say via those methods.

[Fossil 0]

A culture that emphasises a particular form of behaviour and holds it up as an example of the popular expectation of behaviour can expect that behaviour to be exhibited by it's populace.

It isnt rocket science that if you drill your kids into believing that they should only use firearms to defend thier country or for sporting purposes, back it up by setting an example, then they will not grow up to regarding firearms as a legitimate means to settle a personal grievance.

This the basis of a select few countries that have an official policy of SAFELY arming their populace.

I abhor the so called gun culture whereever it is found as it theatens our personal safety and my state conferred PRIVILEGE to own a firearm.

[brit-gob 9]

The videos and photos are being shown on CNN now.

Creepy stuff.

Comparing himself to Jesus Christ.

[lin 0]

Some of what he said

 

"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today ... Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off."

 

"You just loved to crucify me. You loved inducing cancer in my head, terror in my heart, ripping my soul."

 

"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund ... your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough ... to fulfil your hedonistic needs."

 

"When the time came, I did it. I had to."

[samurai 0]

I think that this example is one of the weakest portrayals of fighting "hedonism" I could possibly imagine.

 

The guy completely copped-out of accepting any responsibility for his beliefs, or his objections with the society in which he studied.

 

Instead of joining the debate the rest of the world is seeking to understand, he decided to damn himself.

 

"You loved inducing cancer in my head, terror in my heart, ripping my soul." Where's your soul now? Bigot.

[Rag-Doll 0]

This is from a book written back in 1833 on the on US Constitution – seems even then it was pretty obvious to those who cared to think about it that having your community swamped with guns could lead to problems…

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. And yet, though this truth would seem so clear, and the importance of a well regulated militia would seem so undeniable, it cannot be disguised, that among the American people there is a growing indifference to any system of militia discipline, and a strong disposition, from a sense of its burthens, to be rid of all regulations. How it is practicable to keep the people duly armed without some organization, it is difficult to see. There is certainly no small danger, that indifference may lead to disgust, and disgust to contempt; and thus gradually undermine all the protection intended by this clause of our national bill of rights.”

 

Is the story off the front pages yet? Probably will be by the weekend.