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Joe, I think it is a slightly different scenario. Another crazy sees the picture, reads the article, and decides that is the way to go. But I have to agree with Frank, and it follows my usual thought process. Never diminish the constitution. Even when it might lessen a significant problem.

We go around and around on this topic here. The problem is there is no obvious solution. I think we do not even understand the basis of the problem. When we were kids, if someone picked on us fists usually solved the problem. If someone was mean so what. And so on. Maybe you understand this phenomenon better than I do. The lack of value for human life is incomprehensible to me. Both their lives and the other kids they kill.

I love this thread.
no poopy heads, stuff to digest from all sides.
This is intellectually stimulating.






Either I'm correct, or drunk.

correct.


what gave it away?

The Lovely Caren is right...

I'm like uh idiot

sad

it is late, but I got the call 9:30 eastern
Luckily it was a bad time for them to call me, and Victor, the one with the brain, picked up the phone from the unisex bathroom and hung it up.

Our society is blaming guns. Or video games. Or mental health care.

Most of us here grew up with "sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will never hurt me".

Nowadays we preach that names DO hurt and justice is demanded.

That's step one towards normalizing the despicable thoughts in these murderer's heads.

It’s odd to see anyone take the it’s not the guns fault and then turn to blaming the media.

To me it’s also not about schools. Yes make them safer, learn from each event and put things in place. Never give up trying to make things better.

But a shooting at a school is no better or worse than at a mall, a concert, a park or any other venue. You can’t lock down everywhere.

It’s a shooting. The venue is largely irrelevant to me.

As foretold in a novel titles, "Rage" by one Richard Bachman, AKA Stephen King

"I would not be surprised if we see more school shootings as copycat phenomena.

The evidence is, and there is science on this, that it is the massive news coverage that motivates these shooters. The kids and adults who commit these mass shootings all have one constant: deep-rooted feelings of insignificance.

A properly adjusted person does not confuse and conflate infamy with fame. But it is a country of 350,000,000 with even a tiny fraction of people who do, you have a problem.

Look at social media. There are people who will profoundly embarrass and shame themselves to get notoriety. It’s a staple of certain reality TV shows where some otherwise utterly insignificant people will behave like complete fools, making a mockery of themselves for attention.

We know the progression of this phenomena with mass school shootings:

1) In 1977, and republished again in 1985, Stephen King (under a pseudonym) writes a popular novel about a kid bullied in school who then exacts revenge, in school, with a gun. King lionized this kid as an insignificant bullying victim who strikes back (like he did with “Carrie”).
2) There were at least four school shootings where the shooters had the book or credited it with the idea for their shootings. The media give extensive coverage to the shootings and shooters.
3) The evidence is so clear that King withdraws the book.
4) The Columbine shooters, referring to both the book and the media coverage of the actual school shootings, vow to commit one even bigger.
5) Other future shooters reference and fixate on the prior shootings and the media coverage of them.

The problem isn’t guns. More than half of the households in America have guns. Yet our total lethal violence rate (suicide+homicide by all means) is far lower than many developed democracies with no civilian-owned guns at all.

The problem is clearly not AR-15s or “assault weapons” since the largest US school shooting — by far –was accomplished with a pistol. Pistol/s are far more lethal in a school environment since the shooter can move within a school building or campus undetected by security as the shooter, as Seung-Hui Cho did at Virginia Tech to maximize the number of victims.

The problem, in fact, is the gun control lobby. As with blaming guns on suicide rates (when the evidence shows removing guns may actually increase suicides because it creates more non-gun suicides, initially undetected and classified as accidents), blaming guns for mas shootings diverts attention from he root cause: mental illness.

In fact the gun control lobby has actually blocked funding for mental health funding and armed school guards by poison-pilling legislation that would help, but holding it up if it doesn’t include gun bans on their agenda.

The gun control lobby also works to keep these shootings and shooters in the news. Maintaining 24-hour news coverage is a stated strategy of the gun control lobby following incidents like Parkland and Santa Fe. This rewards school shooters.

The ACLU is also at fault. They have filed and fought over 40 major cases in the US, creating national legal precedents since the 1970’s, making it far more difficult to detain, hold, evaluate and order treatment for people suffering from mental illness. These efforts are exactly coincident with beginning with of these shootings. The EU, Canada, Australia and others have between 50% more to 200% more persons who receive mandatory treatment that does the US."

Well said Gene +5.

I will agree with you David. As a child we was permitted to fail and for the most part we did learn or better yet we was taught how to deal with it in healthy ways. In my childhood household a very quick way to get that ass whipped was to be a sore loser. When my son was younger we had behavior issues with him. My wife and I did not even hesitate to seek help. It was either that or I was going to kill him. After about a years worth of visits to the crazy Dr they got him straight and from that end of the spectrum hes been straight ever since. Still a lazy chit though. I also feel you are correct that these kids have been overly coddled and shielded. To the extent to where they do not have to face consequences of their actions until they do something so drastic such as shoot up a class room. Sometimes a persons mind is just broke but I think that a lot of times now a days they are broke because of how they was raised or lack there of. As a kid I was allowed to watch violent shows, listen to Ozzy, Watch the news with things such as Ted Kaczynski, Charles Manson and never have I ever wanted to kill someone, shoot up a school or blow my own brains out. I feel that I was able to differentiate between what to act on and what not to due to upbringing. Just my OP.

I can relate all to well. I was in the same boat and had issues with bullies. That all changed when I took the initiative to put a stop to it. All it took was waiting on the biggest one to do his typical BS and while the crowd of kids was standing around watching and going OOOOo... I reached 2 states back, came down home row and biatch slapped that MF so hard his knees turned to rubber bands. I got two days vacation from school over it. My father took me hunting and fishing those two days of suspension. That was the first time I had ever stood up for myself and really never had any other issues from that point forward my entire school life. It didn't require a gun or beating someone down with a ball bat. It just took me showing I wasn't going to stand for it. Another one of those life lessons where my parents taught me you don't have to kill em but to stand up for yourself. Meet force with equal force and that I would have their support any time I had to utilize that. If I abused it then I had to face the consequences including the lack of parental support along with punishment from my father which translates to "Boy, if you ever let someone run over you I will whip your ass." and Boy if you ever bully someone I will whip your ass." It served me very well though out my school years and set the foundation for morals and correct thinking that is still in play today as an old man.

I had passed that on to my son. He got suspended for putting a boy though a wall at school. Same situation he had been bullied for months by this kid. The last straw was the kid took his hat and spit it in. My son didnt just slap the kid. To much WWE in his life. He took a running leap and drop kicked the boy. I paid for the wall with a smile on my face and had to raise hell with the other kids mother. I told her that yes I would pay for any other medical bills if he should need it due to my son gladly but understand, There will be many more medical bills in her child's future until he learns better. And my son will never be punished for standing up for himself meeting force with equal force. Again my son never had any other issues through his school life with bullies and to this day as a young man he will stand for what is right and gladly face any consequences of outcome with a smile knowing he did the right thing at the time after all other outlets have been tired and failed.

Just my OP but it's worked for my life and so far my son's as well.

None of this crazy chit in our country is ever going to change as long as our elected officials can be bought by special interest/PACs. 90-100% of them have dirty money in their pockets. Finance reform is key to cleaning up the cesspool in DC.

^This.

Population this big, people are going to snap. Not much you can really do about it.

Well, in my defense, after reading that paragraph, I nodded my head and stopped reading.

you don't need a defense

so....those who say "we don't need any more gun control laws ... we just need to enforce those already on the books" are right...

I've become inured to school/mass shootings...adopted America's position of "dammit...oh well." Anything more is wasted energy...and at my age, I have to conserve...

Santa Fe let the schools reopen today and guess what. The media was not invited.

I know people who's families are grieving in this one. Santa Fe used to be a small town. I used to stop there on the way to Galveston for gas. Three beautiful women from that area charmed me back in 2010.

All I have to say is that I fully expect Texas to be better prepared. We're Texans, damnitt, there should be an armory in every school.