There needs to be a reality check and/or common-sense approach to realizing what drives the relatively high rate of gun deaths (homicides) in the United States.

For one thing....and this issue is exacerbated more in the United States than in any other western country....Race plays a BIG factor in the rate. Gary Kleck, from the University of Florida and using FBI uniform crime statistics, ran the numbers and concluded that if the gun violence rates for WHITES in the United States were comparable with countries in Europe (and Canada), the United States falls right in the median with those countries.

(I've been trying to find a link for that and haven't found it yet.....Others please feel free to do so and I'll keep trying).

The gun violence rate for black males are 2.4-times the rate for hispanic males.

The gun violence rate for black males are 15.3-times the rate for white males.

Obviously, higher rates for being young (15-24) and male (all races).

Guns aren't the problem...There are societal problems.....Particularly in poor/minority areas...which HUGELY drive up the gun-death rate. These issues stem mostly from the catastrophic rise in illegitimacy, the cheapening of human life, and the lack of parental guidance.......And no, I'm not letting schools and the justice system and the failure of big-city leaderships to address these issues.......But it became more pronounced when, in 1965, the United States started becoming "mommy and daddy" and self-reliance and responsibility became secondary......and the destruction of the family unit (mother, father, children) began in earnest.......

Peace

 

Guns take lives yes, but they are only tools. The people using them are the ones taking life. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Like previously stated, even if all the guns in the country were destroyed, Cho would have used other means to kill people. Driving a car on the sidewalk to run them over, poisoning them, or blowing up their classrooms. You cannot protect everybody from everything. If someone wants you dead bad enough he/she will find a way to do it even if they have to stab you to death with a pencil. People need to stop blaming everyone else and start taking responsibility for not training their children correctly.

Take the Bible out of schools, stop punishing them when they do wrong, and stop teachers from punishing them, and they are going to grow up with no knowledge of right from wrong, and no consequences for their actions. They will be inconsiderate morons the rest of their life. Whether they are just cutting you off on the freeway, stealing your morning paper, or killing children.

Sure, Cho used guns to do his dirty work, and so have other morons who storm into schools, but the guns are just the tools used. Columbine, they used home made bombs, as well. The Bath school massacre was entirely explosives. No guns at all. We need to teach our children that human life is not expendable, and it does count. And we need to make other government agencies aware of any unstable people. If a person is found to be unstable, then all government agencies should be made aware so something like this does not happen again.

 

I think it is impossible to stop a guy like this fool. Like so many have said before, if it wasnt guns he used it would be something else. No matter the amount of screening, or labeling this guy as a nut, it wouldnt have helped.

 

Sometimes I think Chris Rock had a point " You can have all the guns you want but bullets are $5,000 dollars!" Maybe ammo should be regulated- by an NRA computer data base- we'll leave the government out. Ammo for small handguns - only allowed six bullets. If it's for protection you shouldn't need a bunker full. You go to the store to buy some ammo, they pull your number up, sorry you just bought your six rounds last month, we'll need a police report on the robber/ intruder you shot at. Shooting ranges- have as much as you want to practice -searched and metal detector coming and going so all the rounds are used there. Rifles, leave them as they are, for hunting -if some nut bag goes on a spree with a rifle at least you have more of a chance of noticing him walking in with it.

But, like someone said earlier, if it wasn't a gun it would be a bomb, a car or a rock...

 

America already has too much gun control.

All this violence is symptomatic of a bigger problem imo. Materialism and stress and the division of rich and poor.

"Going Postal" by Mark Ames. Good insight he has.

 

Yup. Sad but true. There have always been nuts, and I agree that todays fast paced, materialistic, stressed out world is producing them to a greater extreme. Also with advanced comunication; ie. internet and fifty diferent news channels you hear alot more about the incident frome sixty different angles and it leaves you with the feeling that the whole worlds gone nutso!

 

This punk could have gone ballistic anywhere, I think he chose the college campus for the simple reason of opportunity. He knew it would be like shooting ducks in a barrel and it's obvious his plan was as much damage as possible before killing himself which I'm glad he did, I'd hate to see taxpayers waste money on a trial for that piece of crap. Point being, look at his statements, they weren't about, hey I'm depressed I want to kill myself and these people picked on me. He hated America, he hated people with money and he hated women.

 

I have several friends and some aquaintances who are local law enforcement; one of who reviews and recommends CCW for individuals...he is trying to talk me into renewing mine...he said even though I teach in a public school he would make it so that I could carry while at work...as a favor to me...and maybe parents.

 

My compliments to all of you guys who have been keeping this subject on an informative and non-combative level.So,what about the idea of securing our schools better?Similar to what they do at prisons.I know,I`m not too keen on treating our children like prisoners but,in the end if it saves one child`s life,it would be worth it.

 

well heck, i assume just to pack up and leave the country if going to school is so dangerous that it has to be secured like a prison.

 

There's always been violence at schools. It started with fights at lunch back in the day and sadly it's grown to involve guns now. The only reason school shootings happen is because the killers know that there won't be anyone on the premesis to stop them from shooting. If the schools had at least one armed cop roaming around, it could make the difference between dead children or a dead agressor.

 

vt has its own police force, not much of a deterrent.

i still just think the social degradation, the shock value of real time reporting of bad events and the general me culture, "think about today, the heck with tomorrow" and most of all, families lack of knowing, understanding or arogance of social problems their kids are having.

how to solve? heck, i don't have kids so couldn't give you any insight. but seems a lot of trouble makers now days do not have the greatest parnets either. and other trouble makers, thier parnets just act like they are their kids friends, not parents.

that and complacency of parents on "it takes a village" stuff, well, a lot take it to mean they are not accountable for their kids actions.

and general lack of respect for others that stimulate from the me first personalities of so many kids and young people and is reinforced by the media and other avenues of influence.

this country needs to make kids afraid, not so brave as they are, but with almost zero consiquences for their actions, put that with how they are getting raised, this is what we get.

 

I remember when I was a kid and I thought about doing something wrong I would also think about the butt kicking I was gonna get from my Dad. Nowadays kids don't have to worry bout that




jim

 

Boy do I remember those days.First you had to worry about the teacher swatting your backside,then the principle,and then plead like heck that they would not notify dad.Now it seems we have gone from one extreme to the other.I have always felt,and still do feel that we should have a discipline figure in the school.So when a kid gets out of hand,the principle,the disiplinarian,and the school nurse would take the kid into a private room where he could be punished without the risk of someone screaming child abuse.

 

many kids nowdays don't seem to have the respect for people that I was taught when i was a kid. Pisses me off when you see some punk kid lipping off to an elderly person or even their parents.




Jim