Shooting in US - Virginia

[surgtech1956]

I really get tired to the media. I know they have a job to do - reporting the news. But I get tired of the 'spin' that is put on. I think the university thought the decision that they made was the right one at the time. Everybody has an opinion and the media seems to find each and everyone of them. I don't know if anything can really be prevented. Look at 9/11. If someone wants to do something, they will find a way. I think there are just some things that you can never be prepared for.

[Jenn]

My DH has been deployed more times then I can count. Our military forces keep up safe from evil abroad but not form the evil within, which none of us want to face......(even if this shooter was a student on a visa)
My husband our family puts our life on the line for this country and it's safety this is worse then anything DH has seen over there...(it's nomral)...NOT HERE.
This is NOT suppose to happen....atl least in the perfect little bubble we call America...

[crazycanuck]

The following is me as a NON American thinking-I don't want to upset anyone at this time but i feel the need to express these ideas:

Again, just another loner in society that's caused mayhem. Sorry to say the law can''t stop them all

I know that some people reading this board will want to judge all Americans as bad-gun toting freaks but we can't use that "excuse" any longer. Aren't we all the same in some way? I realize that may sound dumb but isn't it true?

Somehow society will put aside it's prejudice against any lonely individual and perhaps learn to understand. Hard to say at a time like this but i somehow believe it.

Perhaps understand is the wrong word..Then again, perhaps it's correct & we need to accept the gun culture in the US. It's hard to comprehend and hard to accept. So many countries are looking in & wondering how America can have the right to carry a firearm but still have a safe society. Whatever that may mean.

I worry about you ladies who carry guns & mace on your bikes.

Take care of yourselves.

C

[cosc]

I just want to rant on these horrendous incidents. How can a person become so deranged to take innocents life for no reason? There is never a good reason to take a life, but I can comprehend why a person might want to commit suicide -but why everyone else? Humans seem to be the only creature to take life for no reason. Their spirit/heart must be blind to everything except hate. If mankind could reach out to the troubled folks with love and hope mabe these events wouldn't happen with such frequency.

[Python]

hard to know where to start.it is the sheer WHY factor,the broken lives,the fact that we shouldnt be living in this climate of fear.

im lucky in the uk,so very lucky,this gun culture hasnt grasped us (yet?)like it seems to have in the USA.but even the saftey awareness surrounding children and our freedom has magnified since i was young,we never would lock doors and had so much freedom for exploration.


it is simply all very sad and all very daunting.

We did have two terrible gun massacres. One at Hungerford in 1987 (Michael Ryan) and the other at the primary school in Dunblane, Perthshire in Scotland, 1996 (Thomas Hamilton) where, if I remember correctly 17 5 and 6 years olds were slaughtered along with their teacher. In both cases, the gunmen turned the guns on themselves and both were "loners". That's what gave rise to the banning of guns in this country. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked and gun crime is rapidly on the rise, particularly among drug gangs

[oxysback]

We did have two terrible gun massacres. One at Hungerford in 1987 (Michael Ryan) and the other at the primary school in Dunblane, Perthshire in Scotland, 1996 (Thomas Hamilton) where, if I remember correctly 17 5 and 6 years olds were slaughtered along with their teacher. In both cases, the gunmen turned the guns on themselves and both were "loners". That's what gave rise to the banning of guns in this country. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked and gun crime is rapidly on the rise, particularly among drug gangs

People can make all the gun laws they want, but the only people that will abide by them are responsible citizens. A 'law' isn't going to stop someone that isn't going to follow the rules in the first place. There will never be a law that will stop psychos from doing psychotic things.

Those poor people...it was a given that none of them would be able to protect themselves, being that they were in a gun free zone. I wonder if people would think twice about doing this kind of thing if there was a possibility of retaliation from their 'target'?

[CR400]

We can't really begin to imagine the horror that those students both dead, injured, and escaped went through it those few seconds. My prayers of comfort go out to those who lost loved ones and to the community of Blacksburg as well. College towns tend to be large but still somehow close knit.

[CR400]

The culture in the US does seem to many especially those in other countries to be gun happy. However, most gun owners in the US won't even ever use their gun on another living thing. A large percentage do hunt wild game, but not with a handgun.

My state has within the past few years become a state that has concealed carry. Which means you can have a handgun on you at anytime and I don't have to know about it. However, many places such as schools, banks, and a few other places it is illegal to carry your gun. Although to have a concealed carry permit they have to good through a training course and a battery of personality tests and likely profiles. Not to mention background checks and manditory wait to get the gun. So even if somebody would have been allowed to carry it wouldn't have been allowed in class. All this makes me want to go out and buy a bullet proof vest and wear Kevlar all the time, but I won't allow fear to overtake me.

And Jenn, thank you for being a strong support to you DH as he goes and fights for freedom on other shores for this country. And thank him for me.

[Python]

Absolutely right about psychos doing psycho things and nothing will stop them. Unfortunately, they often take a lot of innocent people with them

In this country (UK) we have a very weak government who puts the criminal before the victim so gang killings are becoming commonplace. What is even more worrying is that children are killing children. By that I mean 13 and 14 year olds or even younger. There have been several children murdered by their peers in the last few weeks - stabbings mainly. In this country we are no longer allowed to protect our family and home. Retaliate and hit, say, a burglar and it's the houseowner who gets prosecuted by the police and sued by the burglar

I don't know what the answer is and there will always be psychotic people who, for some reason, go over the edge and do these terrible things. Very sad for all concerned - even the perpetrators. They have families too. To know your son or daughter has murdered many people in cold blood just doesn't bear thinking about

[KayTee]

I hope we can learn from this catastrophic horror and keep the politics, media frenzy and blame-throwing aside (and that's not directed at our TE community, BTW!!). My niece is on her way home from VT at this moment, safe but understandably upset and stressed out. She and her friends were being accosted by the reporters and media reps who are everywhere on campus, but especially as they were leaving the convocation yesterday. I cannot imagine what the families and friends of those who died are going through but fervently hope that they can find some comfort in the support of their loved ones, the Hokie community and all who are reaching out in sympathy.

[crazycanuck]

Could i ask why some students wear thier military dress at uni's in the states?

Is Virginia Tech a stepping stone to Westpoint?

C

[Aggie_Ama]

Canuck- Virginia Tech is a land grant school, part of their original intent was to teach military tactics. Virginia Tech has a program to train their students for military careers. My alma mater is also a land grant school with a Corp Program. They wore uniforms and did drills each day. Many were commissioned into the military as officers upon graduation.

[Aggie_Ama]

I really get tired to the media. I know they have a job to do - reporting the news. But I get tired of the 'spin' that is put on. I think the university thought the decision that they made was the right one at the time. Everybody has an opinion and the media seems to find each and everyone of them. .

This is why I chose not to use my degree in journalism. The "If it bleeds it leads" mentality is appalling. They always have to look for the most horrendous, most shocking or most controversial story to sell their product.

We could debate for hours if the university made the right decision and point fingers now that we know the outcome, but where is that going to get us? IMO the original thought that the first incident might have been a domestic dispute seemed like a rational assumption. The people who made the decision to focus on it that way are probably already sick with guilt and asking themselves "What if?". The media has played out the "Why didn't they???" angle too far.

And as someone who went to a university double the size of VT in students and comparable size in acreage, I wonder how the administration could have prevented the second shootings. Sadly, I could see this happening at most universities. The freedom colleges afford also leaves the students and faculty vunerable.

My hope is that all universities can pull out their disaster plans and study them, learning from this tragedy.

[lovemybike]

People can make all the gun laws they want, but the only people that will abide by them are responsible citizens. A 'law' isn't going to stop someone that isn't going to follow the rules in the first place. There will never be a law that will stop psychos from doing psychotic things.

Those poor people...it was a given that none of them would be able to protect themselves, being that they were in a gun free zone. I wonder if people would think twice about doing this kind of thing if there was a possibility of retaliation from their 'target'?

great point. I did read an article just recently about a shooting on another college campus where the shooter entered a building, went to an upper floor and shot one person, then went to another floor and began to shoot other students. Two students ran from the building to their nearby vehicles and got their own guns. they returned to the building and sudued the shooter. What would have happened had someone been able to reraliate?

This is such a terrible situation. Unbelievable! But you can't blame guns, if he couldn't get a gun, he would have built a bomb or something else. If people ar going to kill they don't need a gun. "Gun's don't kill people, People do"

As a young female living by myself, I feel much more safe with guns in my house. If I didn't have them, I would be worried, what would I do if someone broke in my house???

Evil is the problem here. Sin is the problem here. Take guns away and only criminals will have guns.

[crazycanuck]

Aggie-thanks for the info

I have to post this link to the nzherald site. I'm not saying anyone's comments are right or wrong but i'm saddened by some of the comments

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/...ectid=10434649

C