Apparently NBC has exclusive information, perhaps a manifesto from the insane shooter in Virginia. Just when you think it can get no more shocking and appalling it does. It boils down to the fact the staff at VT never acted (early on) when action would have saved lives. :rolling: ///////////////////// http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
If the campus police had no information at all, they might have attempted to close the campus which would have been the correct response. But since the first information they received at the crime scene was that the slain girl's boyfriend was most likely responsible for the first two shootings, and was a known gun owner, and had fled, valuable time was lost. Often, it isn't what you don't know that causes the most trouble in life. It's what you think you know that turns out to be wrong. The whole thing is very sad.
Please, I helped develop various school security "red alert" formats and the basic point is if there is a shooting everything is locked down at once. I said that before any information came out on other threads in detail and I say it again. Those classes should have been cancelled. Especially in today's climate. Besides how many domestic shootings have you ever heard in the past within a college setting with students. It is not a pattern, however, the spray shooting has become a pattern of copy cat behavior in school settings and has started in shopping centers.
Here are a few news headlines from yesterday. If that doesn't boils down to inaction and apathy I don't know what does. The bottom line is they (VT STAFF) knew he was a danger and released him. HE'S MAD: Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit... Professor Had Expelled Gunman From Class... Cho stalked two women... Sadly, our Universities and Colleges policies took those kids lives on Monday. By inaction... http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=3052278
He's loaner...he's weird...he wrote a disturbing screen play for HBO...He's taking anti-depression medicine...did BTW, you see what he posted on Coin Talk?? Let's arrest him and lock him up! Gee...with that type of mind set (i.e. Minority Report), you can lock up half of the country including myself (which I am sure many appeasers would love to do). Look...we can't become "thought" police and formulate and guess that a person may go "postal". Unless you want to live with security similar to the "Green" Zone in Iraq (which has been proven not to be perfect), and unless you wish to give up an open society, unfortunately...these things may happen. Remember...VT is a gun-free zone and law abiding citizens respected the law. It is the bad guys who don't follow the law. But let's NOT get into the blame game because the person to blame is the gunman first and foremost. He's the one with the guns in hand who pulled the trigger and all anger should be directed to this animal. Believe me...there will be enough "have you been hurt or injured?" trial attornies that will be making millions off of this disaster and they will blame and make everybody pay except the gunman himself. Wait till the law suits come out...EVERYBODY will get sued.
WOW! This is the most twisted logic to date. It could easily and far more accuraely be said that the NRA and all it's lobbyists policies took all those lives. It just depends how you want to slant your perspective and apparently you live on one heck of a slope.
Cho had been classified as a Mad Man, Clinically Insane by a Virginia court, yet he was allowed to go about his merry way by the staff at Virginia Tech. His Campus Dorm-Room must have been an arsenal.
Cho had been classified as a Mad Man, Clinically Insane by a Virginia court, yet he was allowed to purchase a handgun at two different venues. That's your real story.
I'm sure there will be more about this very issue in the very near future. New information is being released daily.
It has nothing to do with that of course. There is nothing worse than when a person does something like this...but a pathetic side affect is the anti-gun lobby, from day one, has been trying to use this to give the government even more power over us and allow them to disarm us...moen...when you vilify guns and gun owners you vilify me...a person who simply enjoys taking my handgun out to the range and shooting off a few rounds... Its no different than blaming the video game industry for the actions of insane people...maybe there needs to be tougher controls but every time some crazy decides to kill someone, why not place the blame right where it belongs...on the killer...and not try to divert it into a pet political cause and punish innocent people for the actions of others. Insane people will kill with our without guns...they guy who ran over a whole crowd of people with his car is a case in point...it doesnt fix anything to simply punish everyone.
Hell, he could have killed 1/2 of his victims with a machete. Apparently the victims just stood there and did nothing. At one point there were over 25 individuals lined up and nobody did anything, even while he reloaded. If this shooter would have been on Flt 93 the plane would have landed safely...
Can you blame people that are horrified by such events for not wanting to see them again? I haven't vilified gun owners, I haven't called for making all guns illegal, yet over and over again that is how people read this. Would you give up your simple pleasure of shooting off a few rounds if it would mean that incidences like this one were an aberration instead of the norm? Is shooting a few rounds at a target worth it? Handguns are for killing people. This has been proven more times than can be counted. They have no other purpose in society. It's like the Muslim arguement; Not all Muslims are terrorists but most terrorists are Muslims. Not all handgun owners kill people, but most people killed by a gun are killed by handguns. I know, I know, I've went and brough Muslims into this arguement too but just to compare logic, not to bash them. I'm all for rifles, hunting, and target shooting, heck I have family members that hold club records for target shooting, but handguns in a society are simply going to proliferate the death count regardless if they are bought for target shooting, hunting, or protection. They spread the need for themselves and reproduce themselves within a society as each person feels threatened by the other person with a gun. People will kill people whether it is with a car, with a knife, or with their bare hands, handguns just make it a more sterile easy decision and never mind the feeling of invulnerability a person has when he has a gun in his hand. Violence and handguns go together and feed off of each other. You can't have one without the other. That is why most civil societies have made handguns illegal. If it's a matter of protecting yourself against the government, look how well the branch davidians did with all of their firepower. Your handgun is the equivalent of bringing a slingshot to a gunfight.
Its not the norm of course, there are quite a few but far from the norm. And you are right, if people want to kill people they will do so...not need to go further there. Everyone is horrified at the act moen...there is no need to knee jerk react, politicize it and come down on guns using it as a vehicle for more heavy handed government legislation...they are a tool...I own one for 2 reasons…I like shooting them here and there…and my wife does not feel safe at home as she reads about rape, murder, and home invasions…she wants a gun as protection. Cops cant stop someone from coming into my house and raping my wife. You are displacing blame and trying to make this an issue about guns and it just isnt...if he wanted guns...he will get them... How long have drugs been illegal? Has it stopped people from taking them? Not at all... There are many aspects of this event that should be examined...certainly gun laws are one of them...so if all you are saying is that there needs to be more care in how they are sold...I agree...if you think they need to be illegal...I dont...simple as that. At the core this is not an issue of the tools he used to do what he did...there are hundreds of other ways to kill large amounts of people. Its about one lone nutcase who blamed everyone around him, a system that didnt catch it, a school that didnt seem to be on the ball...but in the end...ALL blame lies at his feet. On of the problems with freedom is that we expect people to take personal responsibility for their actions...in the US more and more that seems not to be the case...when a person shows they cant...we look to place blame everywhere but where it lies...When you trust the populace to take personal responsibility, sometimes things like this happen...I would not trade it for anything...the answer is never to take more rights away.
The school and local authorities dropped the ball on this one. The laws protecting one's psychological past so he was able to buy a gun contributed to this and past actions. Allowing a non-citizen to buy a weapon is a cause for concern. Not having a three to six month waiting period to purchase a firearm is irresponsible to say the least. It is that simple.
