More College Campus Mass Violence

[Rob Graff]

Northern Illinois Univ.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/14/university.shooting/index.html

[EvanFSU]

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

[Gvlax]

i agree that some people are not mature to own weapons but the vast majority of gun owners never have situations like this. Also good luck getting them back from the people. I haven't heard of any casualties yet, lets hope it stays that way.

[EvanFSU]

There is no way to get them back from people who already have them and of course there are many gun owners that are mature enough to own guns. But something has to change. Shootings at schools and in malls should not happen in developed societies. Congress should stop talking to Clemens and Godell and start working on issues that matter.

(Note this is not meant to start any Republican/Democrat wars- I am as Independent as possible)

[Champ]

Another sad event.

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

What percentage of gun owners would you say commit crimes with them?

My guess is less than 1%.

Do you honestly think if we outlaw guns it will stop gun crimes?

Restriction isn't always the answer.

[laxfan25]

Jeez, it'd be so much nicer if these people would just put the gun to their own head and save the rest of us the misery of their acting out.
Very, very sad.

[Highheat]

Another sad event.

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

What percentage of gun owners would you say commit crimes with them?

My guess is less than 1%.

Do you honestly think if we outlaw guns it will stop gun crimes?

Restriction isn't always the answer.

What percentage of non-gun owners would commit crimes with guns?

My guess is 0%.

What percentage of violent crimes are committed with guns?

Probably a pretty large percent.

Ask better questions and you get better answers.

[scooter]

This was absolutely one of the craziest afternoons here in Dekalb. It is absolutely unfair for young adults to have to deal with this in a place that is considered safe by most standards.

My heart and prayers go out to all those involved or those affected by this tragic shooting.

[laxfan25]

6 dead as of now. Prepare for the media onslaught.

[Mark Brown]

Best wishes to everyone at NIU! Being a VT alumni I can relate to this tragedy. Trust that time will lead to your campus being stronger with much more sense of a community (of course that means nothing to the family and friends of the ones lost).

Congress should stop talking to Clemens and Godell and start working on issues that matter.

You nailed it!! We hear more about steroids and baseball then we do the infinite amount of things which actually matter in this world.

[Champ]

Another sad event.

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

What percentage of gun owners would you say commit crimes with them?

My guess is less than 1%.

Do you honestly think if we outlaw guns it will stop gun crimes?

Restriction isn't always the answer.

What percentage of non-gun owners would commit crimes with guns?

My guess is 0%.

What percentage of violent crimes are committed with guns?

Probably a pretty large percent.

Ask better questions and you get better answers.

I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing here so here goes:

How many people would still get guns to commit crimes if owning guns was illegal?

I'm guessing enough that there would still be crimes committed with guns.

Drugs are illegal but people still get them. Alcohol was illegal during prohibition but people still drank.

Obviously stuff like this sucks. I have a feeling it will happen whether we ban guns or not.

And now some fun numbers for people focused on outlawing guns to help save lives:

According to Reuters in 2006 there were ~17,000 murders committed in the US. Of those 17,000, 90% were in major metropolitan areas, and roughly 70% were committed with firearms. So about 12,000 people died in the United States because people had guns and used them violently.

According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in 2006 there were 42,642 deaths due to traffic crashes.

And just for giggles:
According to Cancer.org in 2006 over 560,000 people died to cancer. Of those, it is estimated 170,000 were directly related to tobacco use.

Five Hundred Sixty THOUSAND people. That's not even the #1 reason people die in America.

Again, those #'s are just food for thought.



And to keep everyones spirits up a little bit:

[nmu_lax]

The entire NMU Lacrosse program will keep NIU in our thoughts and prayers. We used to play them back when we were in the GLLL, and are a team who competes in the good fall tourney each year. With a good portion of our team coming from Chicago this hit hard for a lot of our guys because many of their high school friends go there. Such a horrible thing to happen to a good school...

[Highheat]

Another sad event.

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

What percentage of gun owners would you say commit crimes with them?

My guess is less than 1%.

Do you honestly think if we outlaw guns it will stop gun crimes?

Restriction isn't always the answer.

What percentage of non-gun owners would commit crimes with guns?

My guess is 0%.

What percentage of violent crimes are committed with guns?

Probably a pretty large percent.

Ask better questions and you get better answers.

I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing here so here goes:

How many people would still get guns to commit crimes if owning guns was illegal?

I'm guessing enough that there would still be crimes committed with guns.

Drugs are illegal but people still get them. Alcohol was illegal during prohibition but people still drank.

Obviously stuff like this sucks. I have a feeling it will happen whether we ban guns or not.

And now some fun numbers for people focused on outlawing guns to help save lives:

According to Reuters in 2006 there were ~17,000 murders committed in the US. Of those 17,000, 90% were in major metropolitan areas, and roughly 70% were committed with firearms. So about 12,000 people died in the United States because people had guns and used them violently.

According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in 2006 there were 42,642 deaths due to traffic crashes.

And just for giggles:
According to Cancer.org in 2006 over 560,000 people died to cancer. Of those, it is estimated 170,000 were directly related to tobacco use.

Five Hundred Sixty THOUSAND people. That's not even the #1 reason people die in America.

Again, those #'s are just food for thought.



And to keep everyones spirits up a little bit:

Once again realize that guns serve very little functional purpose in society... vehicles are a near necessity, depending on where you live...Cancer, in most cases cannot be completely prevented... and i agree that tobacco use serves little functional purpose either, however the direct consequences of a cigarette are far less than those of a bullet.

While i respect the right to "bear arms" i do think that these events could be drastically reduced (not completely prevented) with more strict or absolute gun control.

This really isn't about the leading causes of death, it's about absolutely reducible deaths with little or no loss in quality of life (for most people).

Sacrifice the few for the greater good of the many.

Of course i am from California - so this might as well be foreign to some of you

[Gvlax]

Another sad event.

I am no longer split on the gun issue. We have proven as a society we are not mature enough to bare arms the way the founding fathers intended.

What percentage of gun owners would you say commit crimes with them?

My guess is less than 1%.

Do you honestly think if we outlaw guns it will stop gun crimes?

Restriction isn't always the answer.

What percentage of non-gun owners would commit crimes with guns?

My guess is 0%.

What percentage of violent crimes are committed with guns?

Probably a pretty large percent.

Ask better questions and you get better answers.

Yeah its easy to say it would be smarter to never have guns in the first place... but that is not think rationally, if you can go back to 1787 when the Constitution was written and change that amendment then go do so, but to argue that point now 200+ years later, come on. Yes criminals use guns and realistically guns are hardly used in a deaths in the united states if you count all forms of death (cancer, automobiles, etc). The fact is guns are scary as hell, and very deadly. They put fear in people when something like this happens. But a vast majority of gun owners are law abiding citizens who do not use their guns. As a person who studies street gangs for awhile now i know how most gangs get their guns, gun trade shows! If you want to make a impact on how criminals (who put the most fear in us when they use guns) put more restrictions on gun shows. Putting more laws on people who do not intend to do nothing more than range shooting or hunting but no extra laws targeting how true criminals get their guns is not going to do us any good.

This is not a simple argument of "get rid of all guns" its more lets get guns out of the wrong hands and into the trust worthy ones.


my heart goes out to all of those that have been affected by this, it never get easy.

[Steno]

I'm sorry, but the moment the government suspends the right bear arms is another step closer to fascism.

I'm an old-timey conservative for only being 22. Laws that attempt to micromanage our lives useless filibuster, distracting the federal gov't from it's real job of international work.

Look, any sort of "gun ban" would have to be a constitutional amendment anyway, which would never happen in today's world. For prohibition to be constitutional, the gov't knew it had to change the constitution. Same would go for a ban on guns.

I don't own a gun (my girlfriend is an avid deer hunter and has a few, though), but I still feel that there would be something wrong with "big brother" stepping in and effectively emasculating the population from popular uprising.

And yes, it sound silly, but no, I'm not kidding.

Just get me started on a free and open West. End welfare ranching! End grain subsidies! Local control! Small gov't! Blah! Thesis!