today as to when reporters specular at around 7:15 AM, a gunman went around the Virginia Tech campus shooting students, the list of deaths keeps changing and is believed to be either 22 or 32 including the suicide killer

which beats both Columbine HS back in '99 which was 12 deaths, and Texas State back in '66 (not sure how many kills)

I can't imagine what this will do as far as laws which include bearing arms, and what school security will have to do

but either way, I still don't understand why this gunman who they can't even recognize as being a studen would even do such a thing, and its the same thing that happened at Texas, which was an ex-marine
I know I'm rambling about stuff back and forth but this is just.. rediculous, I dont even understand why someone that they can't even recognize as a student would even do such a thing; starting in the dorms at 7:15 and then by 9:30 going through classrooms just randomly shooting at people; one of the girls which the newscasters inverviewed said he was just shooting flat out, not even aiming, and she faked dead

..whats wrong with people!

I heard on the news it was the 19th american school shooting in 10 years.

I'm not going to expand on that statistic at all because I'm too tired to put up with the responses it would get.

What I don't understand is why no one attacked the gunman. He only had 2 9mm's (what I've heard), so it could've been possible.

i just got news on my newsticker thing which i just fell in love with (thoosje's windows vista sidebar btw), and they revealed the name of the shooter, but it turns out he is a VT graduate which makes even less sense that he would go after the students

@mikey lol it makes sense.. if someone had guns, and you're in school, would you attack him? i would hope not :S

What's really sad is that the first shooting happened around 7:15 am which 2 people were killed, then 2 hours later he went into another buliding and killed another 30 some odd people (including himself from what ive heard).

Why the school wasn't closed after the first incident is beyond me.

The president of the school confirmed in a press confrence that 32 were dead, including the gunman. Somewhere around 15 more injured.

Not only was it the largest school shooting in U.S. history, but now they say it was the largest mass shooting period in U.S. history.

Very sad.

Quote from XCNuse :

@mikey lol it makes sense.. if someone had guns, and you're in school, would you attack him? i would hope not :S

well, I would actually, because I was trained to do that in the army.
But I heard he was lining people up and executing them, then why not storm him, worst case scenario you gonna die, best case scenario you might live (beats standing there waiting to be killed).

Quote from mikey_G :

I heard he was lining people up and executing them, then why not storm him, worst case scenario you gonna die, best case scenario you might live (beats standing there waiting to be killed).

Even better idea: Hide behind some girls. Chances are they'll get shot and you won't.

Quote from mikey_G :

But I heard he was lining people up and executing them

Where do you get your info from? (not saying that isnt true, ive been watching the new's off and on all day and havent heard anything like that) Eye witness account's say that he just walked in the classroom, didnt say a word, and just started shooting people.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18139889/

I read that on digg iirc

Another terrible tragedy....

Although not a new phenomena, it always seems to cause shockwaves throughout the world when some crazy goes stupid with a gun....

We have had our share of this in the UK...so can empathise with 'the Cousins'..remember Dunblane?

Seems a strange coincidence that it should happen on a Monday though..there was another well-documented atrocity in the 80's that was supposedly caused by somebody who didn't like Mondays

Quote from mikey_G :

well, I would actually, because I was trained to do that in the army.
But I heard he was lining people up and executing them, then why not storm him, worst case scenario you gonna die, best case scenario you might live (beats standing there waiting to be killed).

Uh, XC missed one. up until this point the worst mass murder was in Kileen Texas at Luby's cafeteria. It's a restaurant chain. There were so many people that had carried guns with them and left them in their cars. they were totally caught off guard. This guy also just had two 9mms. he killed 22 people. since then we've repealed the gun laws somewhat and now allow concealed weapons permits for pistols. Mainly as a way to prevent something like that from happening again. Alot of people were appalled at that idea, but you can't just ban guns here. You have to be able to allow individuals the right to defend themselves as most of the time, that's all they are going to have to begin with. And furthermore, gun control logic just won't work here in any way shape form or fashion. It actually makes things worse here in this part of the United States. LOL Here gun control means hitting where you aim at.
But I don't think that would've helped much in this case. They have campus police and whatever, I just don't think the police force they had was trained enough to handle a situation like that. I don't really think there is a way to be fully prepared for some thing like that that didn't involve oppressive measures.
And as far as rushing the attacker? School kids are indoctrinated to ALWAYS cooperate with the guy with a gun. even when it's to the point of watching classmates getting killed by the same guy, because they have it ingrained in their mind, if they cooperate, they'll live.
But you can't really train a kid to go gung ho on a guy either. I mean what if the guy was unsure about killing and just really wanted help and thought that running up to the school and grabbing a hostage would help? If the students were to rush the guy in that situation, it would probably get nasty fast.

But speaking of school violence mikey, I did some work for this Israeli guy once. He was telling me about being sent to an alternative school there
for screwing up. well this palestinian guy thought he could just go rush a school and stab a few kids and he'd be a martyr. The idiot tried that stunt at the alternative school. LOL they had to call the cops to protect HIM from the kids. They put his ass in the hospital.
The same goes for here. If that nutcase was to try that at an alternative school, then he'd probably get shot by the gang bangers that managed to slip their guns past the metal detectors. But at a college, where passivity is the norm? those poor kids didn't stand a chance.

The whole gun control debate is so far gone that if you want to debate that, there's plenty of place to see more informed arguments for either side..

One thing I found funny, was news abroad on the event: First, they do a whole "The US is victim of a wave of violence stemmed in free circulation of guns, a problem they are having trouble coping with {huge number of casualties unajusted for the sheer size of the USA's population} [...] Bill Clinton's "Assault weapon ban" [...] "
The thing about that ban (and many other similar laws) is that it wasn't even a comprehensive regulation. The people who wrote it obviously don't even understand guns. This is obvious as soon as you actually learn a few things about guns (say proportionaly as much as you would to properly use a cell phone), and actually read the "assault weapons" ban laws, and other laws like it.
Second, and the irony was pretty funny, right after that news was a report of some prisoners escaping by hijacking a helicopter, using guess what? Guns and a grenade.

I guess outlawing things will always prevent criminals from getting those forbidden items, since criminals aren't ever going to break the law.
News are so biased anywhere you go, it's almost unbelievable sometimes.

Getting rid of guns in the US would make sense if they weren't already there, weren't part of the culture and way of life, and most importantly if they weren't a right by law for a very good reason.

What I find most surprising is that no one took that guy down.. either with a gun or by staying out of his sight or behind cover till an opportunity showed up. Less surprising is the total absence of news report of the number of people saved by guns every year..

things like this always seem abit wierd.... kinda like 911.... they say the people who hijaked the plane only have a knife?? all the people on board and none of them thought they could take them on because they had a knife?
all the students in the college and he had 2 guns.... none of them thought to attack him..... he must have had to reload at some point if he shot so many people with pistols....
if it were japan he would have been kicked through a window before he could pull the trigger

Quote from XCNuse :

..whats wrong with people!

Exactly, 129 Iraqi civilians died today in a bombing, where's their thread?

Quote from Racer Y :

And as far as rushing the attacker? School kids are indoctrinated to ALWAYS cooperate with the guy with a gun. even when it's to the point of watching classmates getting killed by the same guy, because they have it ingrained in their mind, if they cooperate, they'll live.
But you can't really train a kid to go gung ho on a guy either. I mean what if the guy was unsure about killing and just really wanted help and thought that running up to the school and grabbing a hostage would help? If the students were to rush the guy in that situation, it would probably get nasty fast.

True, but the situation was already beyond nasty. And they were hardly kids as the minimum age for college is 18 right?

Quote from Racer Y :

But speaking of school violence mikey, I did some work for this Israeli guy once. He was telling me about being sent to an alternative school there
for screwing up. well this palestinian guy thought he could just go rush a school and stab a few kids and he'd be a martyr. The idiot tried that stunt at the alternative school. LOL they had to call the cops to protect HIM from the kids. They put his ass in the hospital.

Well, indeed, why wait to be killed is my thinking

But the fact that the campus authority did not even warn or do anything about the first shooting incident 2 hours earlier is just beyond stupid, and I think some people should pay for that.

Quote from Krane :

Exactly, 129 Iraqi civilians died today in a bombing, where's their thread?

It's they way it goes in today's world, certain countries have world media priority. Main point with Iraq is that so many people have been dieing daily people kinda get use to the headlines and when you see the mess in Iraq you don't really expect anything else, they should start reporting days where no one was killed.

In America school shootings are not unheard off, they've happened before and people always knew at some point they will happen again, just no one knew when. When they happen its usually a big shock as you wouldn't expect these sort of atrocities going on in a developed stable country. Any loss of life is sad but 32 people dead is nothing compared to the death-toll in Iraq.

I just feel sorry it had it was the students, young people who had their life still to live.... very sad and I can't believe the campus wasn't closed when the two shootings happened few hours earlier.

My heart goes out to the families

just woke up and looked at my vista newsticker, and the final number is 32 deaths and 29 injuries... :S

i also believe a few of those injuries are gunshot wounds, and 2 are from kids jumping from windows, 1 of which may be dead, and the other is a guy who broke his ankles, both kids jumped from the top story

Quote from Krane :

Exactly, 129 Iraqi civilians died today in a bombing, where's their thread?

60.000 of them died since the start of the war, and there are many more to come when a open civil war starts.


About the Virginia Campus, well, that happens when you sell guns.

Quote from XCNuse :

just woke up and looked at my vista newsticker, and the final number is 32 deaths and 29 injuries... :S

i also believe a few of those injuries are gunshot wounds, and 2 are from kids jumping from windows, 1 of which may be dead, and the other is a guy who broke his ankles, both kids jumped from the top story

My girlfriend goes to Tech, and one of her friends (someone who I also know), is in stable condition in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Miracle he's still alive. I may be going up there this weekend so I may be able to find out more than what the news is showing.

Quote from XCNuse :

today as to when reporters specular at around 7:15 AM, a gunman went around the Virginia Tech campus shooting students, the list of deaths keeps changing and is believed to be either 22 or 32 including the suicide killer

which beats both Columbine HS back in '99 which was 12 deaths, and Texas State back in '66 (not sure how many kills)

I can't imagine what this will do as far as laws which include bearing arms, and what school security will have to do

but either way, I still don't understand why this gunman who they can't even recognize as being a studen would even do such a thing, and its the same thing that happened at Texas, which was an ex-marine
I know I'm rambling about stuff back and forth but this is just.. rediculous, I dont even understand why someone that they can't even recognize as a student would even do such a thing; starting in the dorms at 7:15 and then by 9:30 going through classrooms just randomly shooting at people; one of the girls which the newscasters inverviewed said he was just shooting flat out, not even aiming, and she faked dead

..whats wrong with people!

well they heared 3 shots and they didint even get the kids indoors that what makes me fell sad along with the deaths.

Since you can buy an M14 at a K-Mart, no wonder that these things are happening..

now easy guys the u.s does have gun laws you can only buy a gun if your under 18 if your parents give you permission and your only aloud to buy 1 a month! hahaha what a country

Quote from Eldanor :

About the Virginia Campus, well, that happens when you sell guns.

The guns had their serial numbers scratched off anyway. They were NOT legal guns. The guns he used were illegal to begin with. Banning guns surely isn't the answer. At schools in Israel, the teachers are armed. You don't hear about any school shootings in Israel on the news.

An armed society is a polite society.

Outlaw guns and the only people who have guns will be outlaws.

banning guns wouldn't help in the sense that those guns were illegal anyway, but surely buying a gun (illegaly) would be harder if they were banned