General News Gunman kills TV reporter and cameraman on live TV

He made a reality show out of their death. Gruesome and brutal, but a spectacle nonetheless.

 

Holy shit that was horrible! I don't think all guns should be banned but I am definetly for a stricter gun control.

 

Just stop making gunpowder.

 

And, as far as we know, the man committed no crime prior to this, which would mean he'd be classified as one of those responsible citizens so often mentioned in this debate at the time he acquired the gun.

 

I would just like to add on to this (in agreement with what you said). Here in Chicago, the majority of guns used in gun violence have been legally purchased in the suburbs. There's a lot of crime in a few neighborhoods, and despite strict gun control in the city, people can easily go a few towns over and get what they want.

 

This is about 20 minutes from my university, the guy who was shot was a fellow Hokie. It's really unfortunate.

 

Guns were invented to kill. Cars were invented to transport people from place to place. Huge difference.

RIP to the victims. :icon_sad:

 

This right here is just more evidence that the 2nd Amendment is outdated. Most acts of violence in the United States are committed by people with no background of violence. It's things like these that make it clear that the general public can't handle having this "right". Obviously restricting gun ownership won't solve everything but doing so will make shootings such as these as rare as they are in other developed nations.

Also is it just me or does anyone else feel like the people in the NRA are overcompensating for something by pushing everyone to own their own big ass guns.

 

We talked about this in our Psychology of Death and Dying class today. It's a good example of mass media's effect on America and America's growing fear of death--and, conversely, the fascination and curiosity (when the death isn't personal) humans experience when death is concerned

...or so I learned. Of course, when people's safety is at risk, people pay attention. (This post is so out there, isn't it???)

 

This. This guy wasn't a criminal until this incident like most mass shootings. For all we know a perfectly healthy, sane, law abiding citizen could have filed for a permit to purchase a hand gun today and 5 years down the road suffer a mental break down and use it in a mass shooting

---------- Post added 26th Aug 2015 at 11:26 PM ----------

Not only that but they use events like this to promote gun sales. They know half of Americans will at least think of gun control in some form, they take polls right after events like this to prove that, then the NRA scares people into thinking gun rights are being attacked and people stock up...

 

We shouldn't glorify animal abuse. Ban Pokemon!

 

I've lost my faith in humanity. That female reporter reminded me of someone I know so sad about the cameraman too! God what the fuck is wrong with the world.

 

Well, we created a tool designed specifically for its capacity to harm, destroy and kill something or someone, perfected over thousands of years of warfare technology, make it so easy to use than even a child can do it, then give it to the public without much regulation. I can imagine worse scenarios, but this is still somewhere up there in my "WTF is wrong with people?" list.

 

A neighbor of mine said yesterday that he would love to keep weapons of any kind out of the hands of crazy people who are planning to kill people, but unless you know who they are beforehand, how are you going to do it? That is unless the movie Minority Report ever comes true. Although I've read the synopsis I've never seen the movie, but am now curious about watching it.

I want to preface this by saying this is NOT a comment for or against guns, just a simple question. What new gun law would've prevented this particular situation at all, short of an almost complete ban on ownership of any kind of guns in the US? And if you do support a ban on private ownership of guns, how would you achieve that here politically? Even Bernie Sanders supports gun ownership for hunting, and the killer could've just as easily used a double barreled shotgun in this case.

 

Maybe regulations would not have prevented this case in particular, but making war weapons (such as AK47) illegal and having mental check would help a lot to reduce frequency and fatality of mass shootings. A lot of the shootings happen because the person gets the urge in the moment. A gun is accessible, so bam.

But, hey, the US will probably never do that so the problem will keep on happening. If a shooting in an elementary school cannot bring gun regulations, nothing will.

 

This is not the time or place to discuss gun control! Rest in peace to the victims of this senseless tragedy and I am praying that strength will be given to those greatly affected by this tragedy. In jesus name amen!

 

Have you ever checked out the statistics of other westernized countries with better gun control?

 

Violence in general is a problem with our culture. Many Americans don't have many psychological safety nets(I.e. diverse friends, close emotional bonds in general. If the shooter had more people to share his feelings and thoughts with, he probably wouldn't have been a "human powder keg". He would have just been a human keg. A harmless human keg.

People need more support. It takes a village.

 

Real legally owned AK47's are pretty rare in the US, and to my knowledge there has never been a crime committed with one. There are probably more real AK's in France and Belgium that in the US, due to their proximity to the source. Most shootings in the US, including some of the mass shootings, occur with handguns, which are more easily concealable. The problem with passing laws against them is that for every crime story committed with a handgun, the NRA and the African American gun owners association can present a story where someone legally defended themselves with one.

A mental check might prevent crimes, although I don't know what kind of check that would be. The question was asked of a psychologist who works where I work, and she had no idea how you would do that reliably and effectively. I did see a couple of links on the internet that were interesting, although the quiz looks to be satire.

How to spot a murderer's brain | Science | The Guardian

and

How Likely Are You To Murder Someone?

---------- Post added 27th Aug 2015 at 05:24 PM ----------

Maybe harmless, maybe not. Regardless, maybe someone would've heard something that would clue them in that he might be planning to do something awful, and get him help.