“This is all too familiar,” Cliff Schecter writes at thedailybeast.com. “A young aggrieved male, mentally disturbed, threatening others—especially women—but still able to get his hands on a high-capacity magazine of the variety used in so many other mass murders. This doesn’t happen in any other high income country with the regularity it does here; in fact, it almost never happens in any of them.” And it didn’t happen here, either . . .
All the ammunition magazines Elliot Rodgers used in the ballistic portion of his attack were California-legal 10-round mages. As for other “high-income countries” spree killings, Anders Breivik killed 69 people in Norway 2011. Facts. Who needs ’em? Not Schecter.
I already hear the outrage from the right: how can you blame the NRA? We need good guys to have guns, we have to stop the “haters” and “knockout gamers” and … I can’t even bear to repeat the infantile and inane talking points coming from cynical and callous people like the NRA’s Executive Vice President and foaming mouthpiece Wayne LaPierre.
We know how to stop these incidents, or at least greatly reduce them. We’ve seen other countries do it, such as Australia, which was averaging one of these massacres a year until their infamous Port Arthur Massacre in 1996. After which they completely overhauled their gun laws. Since then, a country with the same frontier history as the United States has not experienced one mass shooting. Not one. Their homicides and suicides have also precipitously dropped.
Right. Australia’s draconian gun laws stopped spree killing. Nothing to do with culture, mental health treatment or just plain luck. It was the country’s decision to outlaw guns that denied crazies the means to go postal. Oh look! news.com.au reports that gun ownership in Australia is back at pre-Port Arthur massacre levels. Huh.
The Down Under news org also reports that “in the seven years from 2005 to 2012, gun murders across Australia almost doubled. The incidence of guns used in kidnappings trebled. The total number of crimes in which a firearm was used rose from 823 in 2005, to 1217 in 2012, an increase of 47 per cent.”
We, of course, could learn even more about how to stop these mass killings, as well as the everyday homicides, suicides and accidental killings that rob this nation of our youth, and everything they could have ever been. But this past week we’ve had numerous examples of how the NRA does their best to block [government-funded anti-gun studies] from happening, because they will gladly accept mass murder in Santa Barbara and Newtown, as well as an accidental bystander shooting in a neighborhood near you, if it keeps the dollars floating into their pockets from the ultimate blood-drenched 1%ers who own various staples of the gun industry
Do I even have to say it? The NRA doesn’t “gladly accept mass murder.” And while it’s nice to see a shift from ad hominem attacks on gun owners as dumb, racist rednecks to “1%ers,” nonsense. As TTAG has proven time and time again, American gun owners come from all walks of life: rich, poor, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, etc. And I’m willing to bet more than a few progressives have gun company stocks in their portfolio.
It’s funny, really, how anti-gunners get things perfectly backwards. What’s not so funny: how their vilification of the NRA and law-abiding gun owners degrades support for Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
Sadly for the NRA, we are in the Information Age, and the truth is starting to regularly get past their efforts to thwart it. But sadly for the rest of us—and at this moment, most tragically, the victims at Santa Barbara—the NRA have been so successful at bullying, threatening and obfuscating for so long, that we likely have too many more UC Santa Barbaras to come.
Gun control doesn’t save lives. It’s as simple as that. And demonizing the NRA doesn’t do a thing for public safety either. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Oh, and as far as “hiding information” is concerned, I wonder why The Daily Beast doesn’t inform readers that Mr. Schecter consults for Elliot Fineman’s National Gun Victims Action Council on the same page as the article. A group that somehow forgets to link to my debate with its leader on its web page. Facts. What’re you gonna do?
I am ready for people to blame the UAW for the actions of the BMW.
No, the unions are anointed and can do no wrong. It’s the rich corporate executives, don’t you see.
dont even try to bring the entitled progressive’s natural civil right to text and drive into this! CARS ARE GOOD AND GUNS ARE BAD!
And besides, BMW is from Europe, which all progressives know is the holy land. Just imagine the outrage if this dude had been driving a pickup truck…. With an, uahhh I’m getting scared, NRA sticker….
“…still able to get his hands on a high-capacity magazine of the variety used in so many other mass murders.”
I hear they were all 10 rounders. Nice try Cliffy, thanks for playing.
and then there is the Cumbria UK drive by spree killing in 2010 where the shooter used a double barreled 12 ga. and a CZ 452.
Every time one of these morons calls a ten round magazine “hi capacity” they should punched in the sack with brass knuckles. I’m willing to take one for the team and I’ll do it for no pay. I’m just hoping my arms get tired fast so I can switch to kicking! I know this is childish but I just couldn’t get myself all the way to “infantile”, sorry.
1 is “high capacity”
10 ≥ 1
∴ 10 is “high capacity”
That whole 10 > 1 math part, is probably a bit much to expect of a progressive.
More like High capacity is scariiii. Guns are scariiii. So guns are high capacity.
There are times where I just don’t know if the antis are just stupid or actually evil. This is one of them.
In this case, I am going with just plain evil. How else would you describe a person that deliberately seeks to provide the public with misleading information at best, outright wrong information at worst? I’d describe such a person as a fraudster, Bernie Madoff, just one that deal in information and not money. Furthermore, the knowing disregard of certain factual information, regarding this incident and gun control in general, because it conflicts with their narrative or desired interpretation of reality is just more confirmation that we are dealing with stone cold totalitarian zealots. When the current means don’t get them their desired ends, look for the means to escalate. This demonization and vilification can only end in bloodshed. That’s not the way most of us want it, but we are given 2 choices, complete surrender and disarmament, or fight for our principles, even at the cost of our lives. This is where I fear they are taking us.
Gimme an A!
Gimme a G!
Gimme an E!
Gimme an N!
Gimme a D!
Gimme an A!
What’s that spell?
For The Children(tm)!
(Did I get it right?)
Their game over the long term was to take over the schools, press, Hollywood, and Universities to destroy America at it’s roots. But people are starting to wake up. If enough people start to push back, they probably will ramp up the strong-arm tactics.
Re: strongarm. All the Obama agencies are ramping up their aresenals with mass weapons purhases. I believe it’s all going to be part of the “fundamental transformation” Obama called for.
This particular one is evil. He knowingly lies on a regular basis. All of his columns are filled with obvious lies.
The two usually go hand in hand.
Incompetence leads to lack of ability to hack it by “good” means. Leads to frustration. Leads to attempting shortcuts by doing evil.
Whether you’re talking about incompetent progressives using their inability to understand the world, as an excuse to change it into something their meager little brains have less problems with.
Or incompetents at dating, finding more evil ways to deal with women.
Did cliff fail to mention the knife and car used to kill half the victims? Or the family, police, therapist and videos? all clues hinting that something be wrong?
I blame the NKA. national knife association. (sarc)
I know you are joking but be careful. Putting a sharp edge on steel is not in the Bill of Rights. They might be able to get us on that.
The Second Amendment protects arms in general, not just firearms. I would count knives among ‘arms.’
Always good to read the Heller decision. Or re-read it for a refresh. Scalia didn’t exclude other implements in the decision. Kniferights.org is fighting a parallel battle in the legislatures and courts for the rights of knife owners.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html
read the epilogue of his autobiography, and you’ll actually see the depth of this problem.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/225960813/Elliot-Rodger-Santa-Barbara-mass-shooting-suspect-My-Twisted-World-manifesto
Yeah, that is seriously messed up.
“…still able to get his hands on a high-capacity magazine of the variety used in so many OTHER mass murders.”
Nice sleight of hand there, admitting this shooter used reduced capacity mags.
-bsd
But if we had smartguns….no, never mind.
Schecter and the Daily Beast: blood dancers using the pain of victims to push their agitprop.
So disgusting and so despicable as to be beneath contempt, or worth taking notice,
except to record the moment when another faux news org went full progtard.
Schecter, remember this day, when you look in the mirror, how you extended the pain of the victims and the attackers families, by ignoring the true need, for mental health help, simply in order to push your agenda, and personal self aggrandizement. You are to blame for future tragedies as well.
There are other torrured souls out there who are stimulated by the media frenzy you create, and the focus on the non-solution, the gun, that obscures the much more difficult solution, mental health help, and proactives measures for concerned family, to get help.
This is nothing new, as Lanza, Holmesx and Loughner before them shared the same needs, that you and your fellow travelers, Watts, Bloomberg, and AG Haris so casually ignore, in your drive for attention.
“Blood dancers” is the perfect term for those people and they are doing. They are like carrion, circling in the sky just waiting for the next spree-killing. They are without shame.
I did this too.
http://theblogaboutguns.blogspot.com/2014/05/response-article-daily-beast-5242014.html
Those who oppose the second amendment and gun rights and wish to ban our guns believe that if they repeat the same lies that eventually people will believe the lies are fact. The media plays a great part in shaping public opinion because many people cannot bother to see beyond the headline and media types are somehow held as standard truth bearers (somehow forgetting how CBS and 60 minutes and many others have a history of lying).
In short, why is anyone surprised that with or any other such tragedy that people, like this author, would once again ignore facts, actual CA laws, what the Sherif himself said about how this person had broken no law AND finally, over a year after Newtown zero meaningful bills or legislation or reform have come to pass about mental health.
We have a society and a government who cannot even help our VA hospitals (an image of Obamacare to come) why would we expect those same people to do anything about mental health – the root cause of many of these shootings.
While I have not compiles a list of mass shooters (killers) I willing to bet over 80% were found to be in need of mental health services. It is near impossible to get a child the proper mental heath services and even when found, the problem is often misdiagnosed. When that person becomes and adult, short of involuntary commitments, there is no way for a person to be kept on treatment and if meds are required, it could cost $1000/month even with insurance.
When AIDS was declared a health crises, the full force of government and society came to bear to “solve the problem”. Well fvck, how much more evidence is needed we need the effort to help properly diagnose and provide options to those with mental health issues.
Instead, jerks like author above will continue to deflect from the real problem blame an object like a gun. Should we now ban knives too since three victims were stabbed? Ban cars since drove them to 10 different locations? This is all nonsense
This is where numbers count and, say what you will about the NRA, the organization has real clout when it comes to real, bare knuckle, political influence. Fortunately for all of us, decades ago the NRA laid the groundwork for opposing the kind of sleazy, third-rate agitprop that gun-controllers pump out like bilge water. I have my issues with the NRA but I’ll give credit where it’s due. In an instant, the NRA can field millions of members who vote, make phone calls, and generally terrify politicians who threaten 2nd amendment rights.
Yup. Allot of people bash the NRA, but none of us would be gun owners right now if it wasn’t for them.
TL;DR Summary: Sunburned Vulcan Illogically Hates Guns
Actually I blame the Brits. This kid was a brit, and I’m sure their whiny culture of weakling males had everything to do with his murderous feelings of inadequacy. The brits are all too happy to emasculate their men until they are basically jittery old women. Luckily, with the information age, the people now have the ability to see this brainwashing for what it is.
(Yes, I am just being mean.)
That’s not mean. The truth might be harsh and a bitter pill for them to swallow, but telling someone the truth isn’t mean. It is a kindness.
And I think you are talking bollocks.
What’re ya gonna do?
I upgraded my NRA membership to Life status a few weeks ago. That’s what I done did. 😀
A few months ago, I got certified by the NRA as a Pistol Instructor. That’s what I done did. 😀
The more “they” try to usurp our Rights, the more I will fight back.
Semi-auto handguns are still legal in Australia, but God forbid they do some actual research.
“I already hear the outrage from the right: how can you blame the NRA? ”
The outrage I feel is the outrage of seeing someone pontificate about the NRA when so many people have been brutally murdered, then to have their death be exploited to push the political agenda of extinguishing the NRA. A political agenda that is clearly tangential to any real solutions. This murderer clearly had a long running problem, and the most constructive observation is to blame the NRA?
So, they are blaming the NRA for the murders he committed with a gun….
> Are they blaming the National Knife Association for the 3 murders he committed with a knife?
> Are they blaming the National Motor Club for the bikers he mowed down in his Beemer?
> Are they even blaming the actual murderer at all? Or is he just a victim too??
This incident, more so than most, shows quite clearly, the root cause of the ‘issue’ is not the tool that is used to commit the heinous act, it’s something much deeper in our society – and is irrespective of knives, guns, pressure cookers, cars, gasoline … or whatever mechanism criminals use to commit their grievous acts of murder.
It also illustrates quite clearly the fallacy of all of their new ‘gun restrictions’ designed to prevent such incidents: He passed background checks. He was using CA compliant low-capacity magazines, had no ‘assault weapon’, etc.
In my day, this psycho punk loser would have just popped himself in the head, we would have never heard the story, and the world would have been better off for it. Nowadays, with the MSM giving damn-near celebrity status to every psycho who wants their little piece of infamy, and placing zero blame or public scorn or humiliation on the actual murder – but instead using the incident to further their own pre-made anti-gun agenda – they just continue to fertilize the field for another psycho to grow. Couple that with the ‘me’-generation’s federally-reinforced doctrines of entitlement and narcissism, and a wonderfully lucrative hollywood culture of violence (ie hunger games), and you have all the makings for a Kalifornia-grown, affluenzian punk psycho murderer to get his little bit of infamy on the way out.
Please everyone, let’s forget that the sadistic, narcissistic monster used a knife and his car to murder half of the victims; blaming it on guns and the NRA suits our other agenda.
Blame the knife lobby or the knife manufacturer! Half of the victims were killed, murdered, massacred by knives. Leftist idiots! Of course.
FBI published numbers for firearm deaths in 2012. Number is 8455. This guy goes with the lib favorite of 30,000.
It’s the same thing, right?
It’s called rounding up, duh.
I blame the National Rock Association. If those golf ball sized “throwers” aren’t bad enough, there’s no control over the bread loaf sized “bashers” and any child that can crawl has unlimited access to all the rocks he/she can carry, throw or bash head with, not to forget the thousands of innocent children injured or killed each year by so-called “accidental stoning” This is insane in a civilized first world country and we must be ashamed of ourselves for not putting an end this all-too-easy, uncontrolled access to “assault rocks” of every type. Yet the “NRA” gladly accepts the thousands of injuries and deaths caused by rocks each year and even more gladly raises hundreds of thousands of dollars from its members to oppose any and all attempts to bring common sense rock control to our Nation. We need immediate action to control, if not outright ban rocks!
There…that makes as much sense as anything Cliff Schecter wrote. Enough said.
And besides… what exactly is he calling for the NRA to do?
Background checks? – He had background checks.
Low-capacity magazines? – He had those too. (Hmmm maybe 7 rounds instead of 10, yeah – that’s the magic answer!)
…or do they want the NRA to magically make 100 million firearms magically disappear?
I think we know what the answer is. Full disarmament.
Oh, but they support the 2nd amendment… yeah, that’s right.
And no mention at all of course that half of his murders were committed with a knife and his car….
These people live in their own make-believe world.
and the worst part of it all is that they will add this psycho murder to their list of ‘victims of gun violence’ and paint his name on the side of a bus, just like they did with that murdering psycho terrorist Tsarnaev.
Yup, seven people are murdered – 3 shot, 3 stabbed, and 1 run over – but it’s the gun’s fault. These people really aren’t even trying to pretend that they care about violence any more.
This is the Leftist version of “my baby didn’t do nutin”
A son of a wealthy family goes on a murderous tantrum because girls were mean to him (wonder why) and it is the NRA’s fault.
Perhaps it is the fact that we are raising a generation of children, they never mature and into their 20’s and 30’s exhibit the self control of a spoiler toddler.
It is one thing to watch a four year old throw a screaming, violent fit because they didn’t get their way, it is quite another to see that same behavior in a full grown “adult”.
http://youtu.be/nojWJ6-XmeQ?autoplay=0
I never really looked at a Glock 34 until now, nice piece.
Aww hell, these people blamed the NRA when the terrorist Tsarnaev brothers used pressure cookers in Boston. They are just talking to themselves at this point. This dude rendered his whole article meaningless in the first paragraph with ‘high capacity magazines’. Let alone the fact that he apparently doesn’t care about the equal number of victims who were stabbed to death or run down in the road – or any other fact for that matter. Just more babble… that’s all they have.
His claim about Australian mass murders is also wrong. Some of Australia’s worst crimes occurred after the Port Arthur gun ban – specifically three fires and one mass shooting at Monash University.
The more ground they lose the louder they get.
if California’s gun laws, which failed to stop this, aren’t good enough then what are? He seems to suggest Australia’s. Given the shocking lack of success New York and Connecticut have had in simply registering semi-auto rifle owners, how does he think confiscation is going to go?
Progressives just write the same story after ever event. The fact that without a gun Roger could have just run over his victims never occurs to Schecter.
I understand the subhuman Roger’s parents are also blaming the NRA. This should not go unchallenged. Someone needs to step and place a majority of the blame on those who are most responsible. That would be the Hollywood liberal parents that raised him to be a self centered entitled punk. We need to stress this over and over. Progressives turned him into a killer not the NRA.
“Progressives just write the same story after ever events.”
True enough. The names and counts of the events change, everything else remains.
Blaming the NRA for a spree killing is like blaming AAA (American Automobile Association) for a traffic collision that killed & injured the same number of people. Too bad finger pointing is so easy to do.
You know, I think he’s right….
California should immediate institute mandatory background checks and low capacity 10 round magazine limits!
…oh, wait. uhh…
To the antis the path is clear. Common Sense (TM) gun reform did not work – reduced magazine sizes did not work. So rather than examine the legislation to see whether it is in fact fit for purpose lets double down and make even more Common Sense (TM) reforms that harm those who obey the law.
Oh, and lets forget the inconvenient fact that 50% of his victims were attacked with a knife. That does not fit the agenda
Damn, criminals in CA have 10-round mages now? We have to worry about magic?
We need common sense wand control!
Leftist primer #1 — Blame everything on global warming. If that doesn’t work, blame it on the NRA. If that doesn’t work, blame it on George Bush.
VA scandal = George Bush. Crime = global warming. Crazy-ass bastard shooting at blonde girls = the NRA.
See how that works?
The irony of the antis and media’s agenda of plastering and agrandizing these so-called spree killers for months on end and acting like this happens everyday (it does in gang areas) just serves to justify and drive the middle of the road folks to feel the need and desire to purchase firearms and carry for self defense.
After all, this heinous crime happened in California, where the restrictive gun laws are supposed to prevent just this sort of thing from happening…
Good job.
I could only get about half-way thru the dailybeast article. It’s hard to read dribble like when every other sentence is just wrong.
And gun-control didn’t stop more mass shootings in Australia.
In 2002 a student opened up in his classroom. He was a bad shot; two killed 5 wounded before he was stopped.
As for mass killings, tool of choice just switched to fire. Three mass killings since 1996 using fire.
Another foolish dumbass lefty.They are like bratty teenagers arn t they? You are arguing with non sensible people who are cluekess to facts but emotional on knee jerk reaction.
Interesting, this guy lambastes people for allegedly hiding information, yet he refuses even to mention information that’s sitting right there in plain site: New Zealand’s firearms laws and mass shooting incidence.
Both Australia and New Zealand are very similar countries culturally and demographically. Both had near identical rates of mass murder events in the 1980s and up to 1996 when Australia disarmed the law abiders. Yet, thereafter, both countries, even New Zealand, whose gun laws remained unchanged and where firearms remained legally abundant, experienced zero mass shootings since Australia’s gun ban.
You can’t argue that Australia’s gun ban prevented mass shootings in Australia, when New Zealand’s guns everywhere approach (including models specifically banned in Australia) resulted in the exact same no-mass-shootings outcome in New Zealand, can you? If you’re so certain that A caused B, then you mustn’t you be at least curious about what else could have caused B in New Zealand? This is mass shooting events, mind you. Going around disarming Australians has clearly not resulted in any reduction of plain ol’ everyday shootings. So there, Cliff Schecter.
The Czech Republic has done the same thing – you still have to jump through some hoops (not arbitrary hoops) as the New Zealanders, but they still allow assault weapon access and large magazine access, with additional CCW for citizens on top. When was the last time you heard of a massacre in the Czech republic???
“I already hear the outrage from the right: how can you blame the NRA? ”
I have to be surprised to be outraged. I’m neither.
No, I’m sorry… The Left owns this one, Schecter. From stem to stern. This spoiled little psycho punk brat kid was the child of libtards. Straight out of the People’s Republik of Libtardia. Under full libtardian gun law – background checks, and the coveted low-capacity magazine restrictions. I didn’t raise this little monster of psychotic entitlement, you did, Leftists. He was one of you. Not one of us. And I didn’t guarantee him days of televised infamy in high-def – you did, liberal media. Own it. This is your little Frankenstein. Not mine. Not the NRA’s.
Oh – and you are the one who wanted to make it Left/Right, Schecter. Not me. So don’t cry when you get your faced rubbed in your own BS.
What’s more moronic than Farago’s rant is the fact that he’s had to have seen Rodgers’ video. Holy cow, it is posted right on the Beast’s site! How Farago can come to his conclusions after viewing that video defies logic. The pent up horn dog anger of Rodgers was off the scale–Farago should be blaming Santa Barbara Vice for making the working girls so scarce.
According to the Daily Mail, the maniac was diagnosed early on with Asperger’s Syndrome and was living in a half way house of some kind. I think this raises the legitimate question of how somebody who was not psychologically and emotionally competent to live on his own at an adult age could acquire a firearm. It certainly isn’t because there are too few laws or some preposterous and tortured connection to the NRA. More like the 75 year effort by the Left to normalize mental and emotional illness. I am not by any means speaking of returning the onus and social ridicule that too often has gone with conditions people have no control over. But isn’t that the issue anyway, they have no control over their illness any more than a cancer or rheumatoid arthritis patient. But they ordinarily retain their physical capacity, only with intermittent judgement and social filters and equally the potential for having little or no awareness of having left the proverbial reservation.
Regardless of whether or not Asperger’s is listed as a psychological disorder any more, there is increasing significant problematic evidence. Newtown and now Santa Barbara would seem to demonstrate that poorly socialized young men with that diagnosis who proceed to re-wire their already obsessive neuronal pathways with violent and dehumanizing video games when they also have an established issue with seeing others as completely human may not be such a hot idea. People close to him knew enough about this kid that he was in a pricey, professionally managed facility, yet somehow it all comes down to the NRA or ‘politicians’? You can just about guarantee that none of his salient information could appear on his record because it would be, what again? judgmental? At some point the adults NEED to be exactly that. Every one of us that owns a firearm has gone through a back round check, and to what end if the important information is with held for some vacuous feel good nonsense.
From what can reasonably be gathered everybody in any proximity to the kid in Newtown, this new maniac, and the kid at Virginia Tech knew with absolute conviction there was something seriously wrong with all of them. They all quite literally ‘needed help’. That’s not to belittle or ridicule any single one of them with no apparent sense of either self or self control. But why even have the mechanism to ostensibly head this kind of thing off with the checks already in place if the most significant facts are kept off the record. Even in Rain Man reality took over at the end with the realization that he was a not a pet but a helpless human being who needed constant care.
+1 Cesare! I just finished reading several articles on Asperger’s Syndrome and came to pretty much the same conclusions you wrote above. Turns out his parents and Therapist were frantically trying to get to Isla Vista after seeing the final video on the Internet to stop him. They ended-up hearing about his killing spree on the car radio before he was actually identified, but they were sure it was him. They called 911 and went directly to the Police. It was over by the time they got there.
Call me crazy, but this article could have been written months or years ago (perhaps that’s the reason for the “high capacity murder mags” statement)..
It’s the same old worn-out and aimless argument, made even more silly in this case, since California already has all of the pointless & irrelevant laws the grabbers dream of (waiting periods, background checks, mag-capacity limits, no “gun show loophole” – they even have a confiscation squad for those who get banned after buying guns)..
When they get that far off the rails, at some point reasonable gun owners just have to exit the derp, and say “yeah, whatever, molon labia and stuff” and let them enjoy their little confiscation masturbatory fantasy.
“. . . Newtown and now Santa Barbara would seem to demonstrate that poorly socialized young men with that diagnosis who proceed to re-wire their already obsessive neuronal pathways with violent and dehumanizing video games when they also have an established issue with seeing others as completely human may not be such a hot idea. . . ”
Sorry, but you’re muddying the water. While, this kind of hyperbole is good for for filling ascii space, it’s no more an explanation of the “cause” of this kids actions than is the fact that he drove a shiny black BMW. Surely, that sinister black car with its flashy threatening wheels would have to play an equally important role in re-wiring his “obsessive neuronal pathways”. But then most of us like shiny black BMW’s with flashy wheels, so maybe not . . .
I fail to see the hyperbole. Asperger’s and that family of disorder has documented obsessive tendencies and an equally documented deficit of normative human empathy. That’s not hyperbole, it’s part of the accepted symptom profile. It is also documented that the human brain is extraordinarily changeable, it changes itself just like the book title says, ‘The Brain That Changes Itself’ Norman Doidge, MD. Neuronal pathways are created by repetition and all the more with intensity and emotion added. Again, this isn’t either hyperbole or some kind of NRA drum beating it is multiply observed neuroscience.
All I am saying is when you have an individual who is already prone to obsessive disorders and does not readily empathize with fellow humans, allow him to self isolate and further allow his default interaction to be a continuous (obsessive) round of video gaming with demonstrably dehumanizing content we as a society should not be too surprised at the outcome. It’s not about firearms, or the ‘sharp metallic instrument’ whatever in God’s name that must mean he used to kill 3 people, or the car you seem to like that he tried to kill 4 more with. The point is that there is an enormous gap between not wanting damaged genuinely sick people to be made to feel even worse through social approbation and making believe that they are fully functioning.
Compassion is not indulgent enabling, ask any of the victims, shooters included. They were indulged because it was too much of a pain in the neck moment to moment to try and bring them back into reality, until it wasn’t any more. That schmo from Newtown apparently thought until fairly close to his death that he was going to follow an uncle into Special Forces. Have you seen that character? He couldn’t have been a clerk/typist at a reserve loading dock. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t devastated to stumble across the truth. The most recent maniac described himself as a ‘supreme gentleman’, well, at least when he was not discussing the difficulties of being a demigod under the burden of this jejeune existence. Times have changed and I am sure you would opine I am not part of it. Perhaps, but I remain fairly certain that even absent dueling pistols and the odd ride to fox hound that hacking 3 people to death, shooting 3 more and trying to run down 4 more doesn’t qualify. Yet it was a thing he actually believed just the way that other sad sack felt destined for Robin Sage. Somewhere along the line their families allowed and plainly encouraged this all the while moving Heaven and Earth to keep everything off the record, and it worked!
It’s not hyperbole to ask, Hell, demand that back round checks be taken seriously or not at all. It’s not hyperbole to say the NRA was not involved; his people were and remain an ‘anti-gun family’ their words not mine and I’m pretty sure the maniac was not a member. I also think somewhere along the line it must be recognized he was a multi media murderer, sharp metallic object, pistol, automobile. I cannot make the water any clearer than that and I would suggest you avail yourself of Dr Doidge’s fine volume minimally.
Thank you for illustrating how stupid gun control nutcases are. Why don’t you ban BMW’s since he hit some people with his car? Very, very clever. I bet you all have huge boners from looking at the guy’s glock.
All day theyve been playing the clip of that fathers NRA rant. If Im not mistaken that father lost a son and all the male victims were found stabbed to death, right? So…. the NRA stabs people now?
His son was shot to death at the “Delicatessen” location by the perpetrator, hence his rant against the “craven politicians” and “NRA”.
Sadly we are in a culture which argues emotion, not facts. The loudest, most shrill mouthpieces, aided by an intellectually dishonest press, blames the tool not the hand that wields it. Easier that way. WE are in an age of individual non responsibility. A better example of this cannot be found than our current president and his lackeys surrounding/ supporting him. Liberalism, or statism if you wish, will continue to press on with the early casualties being freedom. More and more will that disease infect this country until all others are marginalized and ignored. The ballot box……a gentleman I work with put it very succinctly. He stated that the time of the ballot to correct this is gone. Ammo is the next voting method.
They always go to Australia. They ignore the fact that just 6 years after the infamous betrayal of law abiding shooters by John Howard, a man who was hearing voices in his head telling him to kill his roommate was able to legally get a gun and start shooting in a Melbourne University – Australia’s first school shootings. 7 people were shot, but only 2 died. Apparently the shooters poor aim, or good luck on the victims part, somehow is indicative of successful gun laws.
We weren’t averaging one gun massacre per year until 1996. That is a lie. There was an average of one per year from 1987 to 1992.
The fall in gun homicides was not precipitous. In fact it was higher in 1997 than it was in 1993-1995 inclusive. John Howards own commission into the effectiveness of the laws stated that there was no conclusive proof that the laws did anything except perhaps lower gun suicides, but the jury was out as to whether a large campaign for suicide awareness and prevention was more a contributor, and if method substitution was a factor.
We don’t need more gun control. We need nutcase control.
“We need nutcase control.”
Don’t be stupid. Who do you think will be the one who deems you a nutcase? What “we” need is to get rid of the traitors in the government who violate the Constitution.
All the claims about Australia’s gun ban stopping mass shootings Is NOT supported by the research.
http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/Mass_shootings.pdf
Short version: Australia was compared to New Zealand. The shooting rates were the same. The problem? New Zealand lets people own guns.
Meanwhile the crime rate in the country has increased:
http://www.reasonorforce.com/2010/08/australian-gun-ban-facts-statistics.html
BTW Scopes calls this a “mixture.”
So how are they doing down under?
“THERE is a gun battle going on in Australia. As bikie gang members and drug dealers gun each other down on a regular basis, sending fear through the community, authorities seem to be fighting a losing battle to keep firearms out of their hands.
Without scaremongering, here are the facts:
* There have been 39 people shot in Sydney this year, most related to an ongoing bikie war.
* Conservative estimates say there are more than a quarter-of-a-million illegal firearms in Australia.
* Gun ownership in Australia is back at pre-Port Arthur massacre levels.
* Carrying a gun is becoming more common and ingrained in outlaw culture.
* Gun amnesties barely put a dent in the number of weapons.
* Innocent people are being caught up in gun battles.
* There has been a steady increase in gun-related crimes over the past seven years.
http://www.news.com.au/national/is-australia-staring-down-the-barrel-of-a-gun-crisis/story-fncynjr2-1226690018325
It’s predictable that those who hate us would latch on to this, but the facts are that this guy was able to do this in a state with very strict gun laws, that he killed half of his victims with something other than a gun, and that authorities had plenty of warning and could have acted to stop this but didn’t.
Lots of people to blame here – the killer and the authorities are among them, but the NRA isn’t.
As for the one male victim’s father’s grief, I can’t fault him for that. The man is obviously in pain. But I’m an NRA member and I’m not the one who harmed his son. I’m not going to silently accept responsibility for a horrific crime that sickens us as much as it does everyone else. No one gets to place this at my feet.
Looking at the guy’s face, I would certainly deny him the right to own a “high-capacity” magazine, a gun, or a knife for that matter. He does look creepy. Actually, scratch that, he looks like a serial killer.
Well, the Mighty Midget did say that he was going to take on the NRA with $50 mil. We’re seeing it, and the checks are flowing. Interesting how many of his stooges can be bought so quickly.
ALWAYS follow the money.
As an aussie thanks for actually getting the stats right 🙂
I love how these pathetic sub-humans look to tyranny to solve their problems, as if simply surviving as a slave to the state is the highest possible human goal, never mind freedom or actual human spirit. Why don’t we just outlaw free thought and emotion as well? Imagine the lives it would save if everyone was a drooling servant. I bet there wasn’t much gun violence in Germany after Hitler enacted gun control. That means fascism was right, right? I mean, unless you count the secret police killing you for being a different religion. But no government would ever do that, right?
I’ll keep my freedom. You can have your slavery, you pathetic insect.
Every well researched study finds gun deaths have dramatically decreased in Australia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/02/did-gun-control-work-in-australia/
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/05/gun-control-in-australia/
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/australia
There are over 32,000 gun deaths per year in the US. 60% of those are likely suicides that include accidental self-inflicted gunshots, some are accidental shootings and the rest are intentional murder. I give you one of your own to provide the stats:
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/capitalpunishment/a/Putting-Gun-Death-Statistics-In-Perspective.htm
You can color it however you want, but you people hole your personal identities in a weapon. Half of you have threatened those that disagree with you with physical harm. You are violent, psychopathic and you have laws that enable you to be this way. You wish harm on people that are not like you, real harm. I’m quite sure the vast majority of you also identify as Christian. Yes, mental illness is rampant in this country. Reading blogs and opinion pieces like this clearly reflect that. God, protect my children.
Let’s see if the “Truth” about guns will print a single dissenting response.
Looks like the post is still there Liz. As opposed to what happens to our posts on well known gun banning websites.
Let me get this straight. Following his outraged logic, if I were to go to Home Depot and buy the tools and materials to build a torture device, then set about using it to inflict actual pain and suffering on other human beings, this guy’s outrage would be directed at the ease with which I procured my power-tools?
…and he calls us “cynical and callous”?
Wake up America!!! It’s because we have ZERO mental health services/systems. Let’s start doing federal background checks for steak knifes or axes. Oh don’t leave any large rocks lying around either.
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