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Post by Random on Apr 18, 2007 2:19:44 GMT -5
since when did logic ever stop fucktards from blaming stuff on random things that they happen to not like?
I think it'll keep kicking personally. dr. phil has already started spouting some of his own bs on the matter.
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Post by Little Miss Odd on Apr 18, 2007 15:40:44 GMT -5
Actually I think I'd be the most worried about Cho Seung-hui's family. It's one thing to have your child declaimed as a victim in a psychopath's spree killing. But to know that your son killed all those people, then himself, to have all these people suddenly invading your past, your history, your family, trying to 'understand' why your child went wrong...
I hate that it takes monumentally tragic events to get anything changed. Gun control will be stricter, finally, and maybe we will learn not to brush off those people we think are 'a little odd, but alright'. Personally though, I'm getting kind of tired of people complaining about Tech's ineffectualness, having little cafe discussions about what could fuck a person up that badly, and tacking on 'I hope the families of the victims are doing alright' like they know what they could possibly be going through. This world is too big to care about everyone in it, and I getting sick of being unable to go anywhere without having to hear someone on a soapbox selling sympathies for the latest emotion fest. I realize it's only been a day, but I feel like it's been a week. Maybe I'm just cold and heartless, but the more people dwell on it around me, the more I think it's a waste of time. It's over, it's done with, work on preventing the next one, so that more people don't have to go through what Tech and the families did.
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Post by Blues on Apr 18, 2007 19:24:06 GMT -5
I am contributing to a compilation of letters from our Reslife Staff to VT's Reslife Staff, expressing our condolences and sympathies. So far, it's been confirmed that 2 of the victims were RAs. I think what it would be like to lose 2 of our staff in a shooting....it's too much.
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Post by Monolith on Apr 18, 2007 19:26:43 GMT -5
I'll agree with you there Lisa, try being born on national buy a fuggin flag day. It's not like I'm happy it happened, but one can't be expected to mourn every time someone you've never met died.
I find it more interesting to examine the circumstances of the attack and how it will effect politics and society, not that I'm any expert on the subject. Unfortunately, this probably won't change much for gun control, Columbine didn't. The fact that he mailed a package to NBC is very interesting though, he was certainly trying to get the word out. I also find it interesting the way he keeps blaming rich kids in all his writings, I'd like to know what exactly the reason for this is. It wounds a lot like he's been bullied, some folks might learn a lot from a psychological assessment of his actions.
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Post by BlueDolphin on Apr 18, 2007 21:26:21 GMT -5
I agree with Nick's opinion that finding out his reasoning would be interesting as well as the effects on society. Undoubtably people will use it to promote stuff. Pro and anti gun people will certainly attack each other. Video games will also be blamed. I would think that there is no one cause to any of this but people are expected to use things to their benefit, no matter how distasteful it is.
I also see Lisa's point about the discomfort and rudeness of invading their family history, but it might seem necessary from a practical standpoint to prevent things in the future.
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Post by Little Miss Odd on Apr 18, 2007 22:55:44 GMT -5
Admittedly, there isn't much you can do about gun control beyond making them illegal for civilian use, which would start a huge fucking bitchfight, but good god, it just pisses me off how easy it is to obtain firearms here. Columbine I think is a different debate, because the kids broke laws to get their hands on all those toys, and what can you do with a law if people are going to break it? But Cho bought and paid for his, weeks in advance. All he had to do was be a resident of Virginia and not have been convicted of any felonies. Well we know what he did with those legally-obtained weapons. There is no real reason in this country for civilians to own a semiautomatic weapon. Self defense is I think the only valid use, and even then, we shouldn't need to stock these things. And hunting... well, my college being located where it is, I have nothing to say about that.
I realize it would be deemed necessary to get as much information as possible from every channel in his life in an attempt to figure him out, but it also bothers me how quickly a site like Wikipedia could compile all that information within these past 40 hours. They have quotes from his family's landlord for crying out loud. It also kind of bothers me it even needed to be said that this event should not cast all South Koreans in its shadow. God this world is depressing.
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Post by Archagon on Apr 18, 2007 23:16:48 GMT -5
What about recreational shooting?
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Post by bezzerkker on Apr 18, 2007 23:21:58 GMT -5
I'm going to assume that question applies to the general shooting of cans and targets. You left it kind of vague there, Alexei.
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Post by Archagon on Apr 18, 2007 23:26:06 GMT -5
@_@ Edited for clarity.
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Post by Monolith on Apr 18, 2007 23:35:01 GMT -5
Forgot that the weapons in the Columbine shooting were obtained illegally, rather important.
I also find it interesting how his race became such a big deal so early on. It was so hyped up I was expecting him to be an ilegal alien or something.
As far as gun control goes, there are ways to crack down without impeading people's constitutional rights. This is rather easy to say looking back, but when you think about it it's astounding that a psychological profile is not required to get a gun permit. That kid sure as hell wouldn't have passed it, and it might prevent suicidal folks as well. Of course, I think banning guns in general would be far more practical, or at least restricting the types that are legal. Anyone toting around a rifle in their pants is going to attract attention.
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Post by Little Miss Odd on Apr 18, 2007 23:56:33 GMT -5
What about recreational shooting? We can rule out self reloading weapons as necessary to enjoy the thrill of knowing physics. If you want that kind of recreation, you can take up darts/horseshoes, or cock it yourself. Things might have gone better if he hadn't had semi fucking automatic weapons on hand. Less casualties at least.
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Post by BlueDolphin on Apr 19, 2007 0:05:05 GMT -5
It is sad that race had to even be brought up. It really shouldn't matter but some people will look for any excuse for conflict.
I agree that a psychological profile is a good idea. It would keep guns out of those who cannot make good choices on its use.
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Post by Archagon on Apr 19, 2007 0:17:20 GMT -5
Most pistols are semi-automatic, and I'm pretty sure it'd be impossible to outright ban them.
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Post by Random on Apr 19, 2007 0:38:31 GMT -5
alexei beat me to it.
pretty much every modern pistol is semi-automatic, and I'm pretty sure most firearms in general that you would normally buy, save antiques from world war II, are. for self defense, if the gun you have isn't semi-automatic, and you have to reload after missing the guy you're pretty much fucked, even if he doesn't have a gun. automatic of course theres absolutely no reason for.
I agree on the bit about people having to pass a mental background check basically, though it might be kind of tough to pull off sometimes.
also, when was race brought up? the only thing I heard were jokes on less than politically correct websites concerning it being caused by starcraft (somewhat in response to the jack thompson bullshit and the fact that apparently a large south korean population plays starcraft)
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Post by bezzerkker on Apr 19, 2007 1:13:40 GMT -5
With the mental background check, the problem would be who pays for it, and how hard would it be to forge a certificate of mental stability.
And I also haven't heard race as a major issue, just that the guy is South Korean and an exchange student.
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