shooting at Virginia Tech today.

[99_not_out]

Only an idiot, hillbilly, or survivalist would use the Consititution as a defense for a citizen carrying a gun.  

Without turning this thread into a political one, the Conistitution states we have the right to bear arms if you are a militia. The militia is dead and gone.

Aye, plus the US army would blatantly kick the militias arse back into the woods with smart bombs, which I believe are not yet available in Walmart.

[99_not_out]

But back on topic, this is a terribly, terribly sad event and no country deserves or asks for this sort of thing to happen, right to bear arms or no.

[TwilightOdyssey]

careful though, there are americans on this forum who might want to destroy you for stereotyping...

yeah I'm just hoping that they've also got the right to a sense of humour...
and know i'm only joshing

You should just be more clear. There is no tone of voice in text.
Best way to avoid confusion instead of 'hoping'.

[38thBeatle]

This is a harrowing and appalling crime visited upon innocents and my heart goes out to the victims and their families just as it does to all victims of crime across the world.

[dave_mc]

it's absolutely terrible... i heard about it first yesterday on HC, of all places. Read about it today again in the paper.

to add to the countries mark suggested, I seem to remember it happening in germany too?

but it seems to happen a lot more (even accounting for the disparity in population) in the USA... i dunno how to prevent it (i think they were suggesting metal detectors like at the airport? that's just unfeasible... you'd have to queue for like 2 hours to get into each class or something)...

also, to add, as someone who has been to uni (not in the USA), it felt even more (if that's possible) harrowing.

[Sailor Charon]

The right to bear arms is the 2nd ammendment to the US constitution, so they can rise up and form a militia if they get upset about something:

Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

At the time, it probably made a lot of sense. The declaration of independance was in 1776, and I'm not sure if the revolution was over by that stage or not. If it had it wouldn't have been over so very long...
Anybody remember whether standing armies were actually used at that time?

Anyway, my sympathies to the friends and families of the people involved.

[CJ]

remind me why hand guns are allowed to be bought in the USA again?

or are they not?

It's in the constitution that they have the right to own a gun; unfortunately they all took it in the same way that they took the fact that it's their right to live off maccy D's...

hmmm yeah

careful though, there are americans on this forum who might want to destroy you for stereotyping...

I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!!!


oh, and you do need a license to own a gun, and you need to be atleast 18. So anybody can't just go get a gun, but yeah, they should enforce the laws a bit more. But its not really the guns that are the problem, its the parents who neglect their kids and the poverty in the cities. Some guy some years back managed to kill a bunch of people in i think Texas by driving his truck into a school, so its not just guns.

[Crazy_Joe]

I really hated what i saw when i looked at the Newspapers. This event really made me feel sick and i can't believe that a person is actually capable of that.

Another thing that annoyed me is that he killed himself afterwards so he couldn't get punished and serve a lengthy time in prison, though knowing America they would probably be stupid and sentence them to death instead of sending them to prison for the rest of their lives.

At least the gunman was South Korean and not American so all the blame isn't just to the Americans.

But that rule is just stupid about bearing arms.

[blue]

Only an idiot, hillbilly, or survivalist would use the Consititution as a defense for a citizen carrying a gun.  

unfortunately, that's your president.  oh, and charlton heston.  not trying to insult any americans, we have our fair share of idiots at this end of the swim.

as to the shootings, unbelievable.  really, there aren't words for that sort of thing.  and straight away the press were looking for a scapegoat.  the aggressive way they were treating the speakers at the press conference yesterday was amazing.

[Philly Q]

At least the gunman was South Korean and not American so all the blame isn't just to the Americans.

It's not about "blaming" a race of people, Joe.  It's one insane guy.

Unfortunately there seems to be no shortage of insanity in this world.

[CJ]

unfortunately, that's your president.  oh, and charlton heston.  not trying to insult any americans, we have our fair share of idiots at this end of the swim.

[/quote]

although i don't much like bush, i don't think he gets the credit he deserves. Sure, he looks like a monkey and doesn't talk much better than one, but i think he was a fairly good president.

[noodleplugerine]

At least the gunman was South Korean and not American so all the blame isn't just to the Americans.

Totally obscure reaction.

[Jp.]

At least the gunman was South Korean and not American so all the blame isn't just to the Americans.

Totally obscure reaction.

Not really. To me it shows he is thinking beyond the obvious.

ie: If a Neo-nazi skinhead had assaulted a Jewish person the Media would more than likely jump onto that aspect of the story instead of focussing on the assault itself.  

The headline in the morning new would proably be

" Neonazi attacks Jews"

instead of

"Man Brutally assaulted"

If a stereotypical Bible-bashing-KKK-skinhead-white-kid-from-deep-south had shot up the Uni then the media would be portraying this story very differently.

I have spent my whole life second guessing and critically analyzing media stories and there Bias'

Anyway back to topic... This is a massive tragedy. My condolences to anyone affected.

[TwilightOdyssey]

i dunno how to prevent it (i think they were suggesting metal detectors like at the airport? that's just unfeasible... you'd have to queue for like 2 hours to get into each class or something)....

We already have that in most schools in NYC ... Sad, really.

[dave_mc]

^ ah, that's horrible. heck, at queens, you can get into the science library without even a student card, they don't even check that. they only started checking recently because some people were signing into other people's computer accounts, lol.

the main library, they check you have a student card.

I am also annoyed at the way they're quickly looking for a scapegoat.

also, apparently a couple of other guys who matched the killer's description were portrayed on the net as the "real killer".... that's horrible. anyone hear about that?