School Shooting at Virginia Tech
April 16th 2007 22:53
The news wires are alive this morning, screaming about the school shootings at Virginia Tech, where a gunman killed 33 people before shooting himself in the face.
In fact, there were two separate incidents of gunfire, and the school is coming under pressure because they didn't cancel classes that day:
While this is ludicrous and unimaginable for most of us, in America, remember, the ease of access to firearms means that shootings are not as rare as they might be in Australia. The administrators of the school apparently thought that the first incident was a 'domestic dispute' not a mass murdering like it turned out to be.
It's also worth noting that this happened in the Science and Engineering building - other school shootings in history have also occured in Engineering, like the infamous Montreal shooter.
This serves as another bullet point in my theory that Engineering causes people to go psychotic. It's the combination of drawing all those straight lines and the smell of graphing paper. It gets to you.
Luckily, notable insane preaching lawyer Jack Thompson has already blamed the shootings on video games. We don't know anything about the killer or the victims, but rest assured, they played video games.
I'm behind you all the way, Mr. Thompson. Video games are surely the cause of all this death, and not guns. Guns had nothing to do with it. In fact, we need more guns and fewer video games - only then can we be truly safe.
Update: Conflicting news reports make this story unstable... yesterday, people were suggesting that the killer was a Shanghainese student, angry at his former girlfriend, but the news today said that the killer was a South Korean student, Cho Seung-hui, a loner that often complained about 'charlatans' and 'rich kids'.
One of the facets of this story that touched my icy heart is that of Professor Liviu Librescu, a 76 year old Holocaust survivor, barricaded the door so that students could escape. Librescu was later shot by the gunman. This kind of self-sacrifice is usually only seen in comic books and predictable action movies - not in real life...
In fact, there were two separate incidents of gunfire, and the school is coming under pressure because they didn't cancel classes that day:
"Some students are questioning why administrators did not stop classes after the first shooting, and why it took more than two hours to inform the university community via email about the shootings."
While this is ludicrous and unimaginable for most of us, in America, remember, the ease of access to firearms means that shootings are not as rare as they might be in Australia. The administrators of the school apparently thought that the first incident was a 'domestic dispute' not a mass murdering like it turned out to be.
It's also worth noting that this happened in the Science and Engineering building - other school shootings in history have also occured in Engineering, like the infamous Montreal shooter.
This serves as another bullet point in my theory that Engineering causes people to go psychotic. It's the combination of drawing all those straight lines and the smell of graphing paper. It gets to you.
Luckily, notable insane preaching lawyer Jack Thompson has already blamed the shootings on video games. We don't know anything about the killer or the victims, but rest assured, they played video games.
I'm behind you all the way, Mr. Thompson. Video games are surely the cause of all this death, and not guns. Guns had nothing to do with it. In fact, we need more guns and fewer video games - only then can we be truly safe.
Update: Conflicting news reports make this story unstable... yesterday, people were suggesting that the killer was a Shanghainese student, angry at his former girlfriend, but the news today said that the killer was a South Korean student, Cho Seung-hui, a loner that often complained about 'charlatans' and 'rich kids'.
One of the facets of this story that touched my icy heart is that of Professor Liviu Librescu, a 76 year old Holocaust survivor, barricaded the door so that students could escape. Librescu was later shot by the gunman. This kind of self-sacrifice is usually only seen in comic books and predictable action movies - not in real life...
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Comment by David
The problem is not video games ...
The problem is within the person attracted to video games and why that person is attracted to them ...
It's no different to any addiction ...
The violent soul will be attracted to violent video games ... and once the 'addiction' to virtual violence no longer satisfies them ...
Guess what happens? ... The violent soul gets really violent in real life ...
But fuck I could watch all the violent films I liked and not feel like perpetrating the type of violence I see on them ...
So violent video games play no greater role in mass murders than violent films do ...
To me the real issue is ...
Do you have an informed conscience? ...
Because if you don't? Look out world!
An informed conscience to me is one that can distinguish between reality and virtuality ... (I'm no more against violent video games than I am against violent 'true crime' novels or hard core movies ... [I just don't get into video games ... but those who do? well that's their thing ... no prob with that ... everyone needs some hobby or diversion or relaxation or down-time in their life ... choose your flavour I say ...
In the next two days? We'll have the media frenzy about how the parents have no idea how their child could go on such a shooting frenzy ...
Bad Parenting is my answer. Full-Stop.
David ...
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Damo
Why he is a nutbag is not as important as why he got access to weapons.
No one runs around with a sign on their head saying, "Watch out I'm a nutbag." So no one can say what someone is thinking about anyway. Instead the NRA and others desperately try to find a red herring to divert attention away from the real problem. Guns are just too easy to get in America and this is incident is a direct result of that mind set.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
so a new blog huh? what's the angle of the raw fish?
Comment by Cibbuano
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Bryn, I suggested to Jon that we create a blog to post commentary on breaking news. It's a deliberate attempt to pull in more traffic...
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
It is FAR too easy to get firearms in America. I lived there for a few years when I was younger. In Conservation class, at the age of 13, I got my gun licence, a hunting licence and we went on a school field trip to the local shooting range to shoot 22 caliber rifles and 12 gauge shotguns. 13 year olds???? That's your idea of conservation? To arm 13 year olds and let them shoot animals?
One of the girls actually asked 'where do the batteries go?' after she'd finished trying to fire at some clay targets.
If you don't know that guns are not battery operated, then you shouldn't be allowed to use one!!!
Kylie
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Woah.
That's a topic for another
debateday...This is unbelievable (the shooting)
I watched this on the news, read web news and will watch the World News later but...my goodness...video games??
Oh Good.
When I grow up I'm going to engage in Mortal Kombat and think I'm Lara Croft.
Oh hang on. I already do...hmm....there may be a point to this...too bad I'm a Humanitarian.
...want
a piece ofpeace for humankind...Comment by Nina
Comment by Stanley
but this is a tragedy on an immense scale and one shouldn't expect a university to be a scene of such heartbreak.
Comment by Bhumika
Political Minds
Comment by Cibbuano
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I'm also for gun control, for the exact reasons that kylie mentioned. 13 yr olds with guns?
Comment by David
It all goes back to bad parenting ...
My uncles are farmers ... Guns are part of their lives ... They teach their children to use them properly ...
Regarless of what the anti-animal eaters, and anti-fur-wearers think ... God put animals on this earth not just for us to appreciate their grace and diversity and beauty in motion, but for mankind's food and clothing ... and the most humane way to kill an animal is by shooting it ... (It's probably about the only good thing I can think of using a gun for ... [as in, well clubbing a seal to death is a bit extreme ... in cruelty terms ... (But fuck me ... watch how the animal kingdom treats each other .. watch a lion maul a gazelle ... Do you think a Lion goes ... Oooh fuck that was a bit cruel? ... Nup .. It wants to eat ... It's hungry ... Animal activists (of the wrong kind? They make me want to vomit ... They don't even know how the animal kingdom operates, yet they're animal experts ... Vomit! Spew! And Technicolour Pizza Yawns zzzzzzzzzzz all over the place ...
But to shoot humans? Nup. Not into that one ... Give that one a miss ...
Like to strangle a few of them with my bare hands ... prolong their pain ...
But shooting is too good for them ***
David ...
Comment by Trina
Hiphop
Confessions of a Serial Dancer
Competitions
Clubbing
But the main point here... Gun control and mental illness.
Comment by Damo
Comment by David
Excuse me for a sec ...
Damo?
You are a complete crack up ...
I'm going out to shoot up a garbage dump now ... and I'm blaming you ...
David ...
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Damo
It is the guns being detroyed after Port Arthur. The crane is dumping them into a crusher to be destroted.
Many NRA types see it as the greatest horror ever committed to mankind. To destroy guns.
Personally I think they love the high powered rapid fire weapons because they are compesating for something.
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
So we have this perfect circle that keeps guns on the streets in the US and no matter what liberals or conservatives will tell you tight regulation of guns means less murders by guns and less murders as a whole.
Here if someone shoots someone it makes the bloody news all over the country, in the US someone gets killed every few minutes, no doubt it isn't just the fact guns are as easy to buy as friggin coco pops but it probably is a large reason why.
Whats the gun lobbyist solution to the problem? Yeah, give 'em all guns, that would solve all problems. Last I checked vigilantism was supposedly frowned upon, that and I don't want to be around a uni student who's drunk after failing an exam miserably, give him a gun and he'll probably blow his head off.