Mass Shooting at Colo. Movie Theater, 14 People Dead

[Jeanne_S]

It’s difficult for most non-Americans to understand why anyone in their right mind would want to possess any kind of gun, but I was interested to read what the US Bishops had to say on the subject:

“Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice” from November 2000.

“As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer – especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner – and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns.”

“We believe that in the long run and with few exceptions – i.e. police officers, military use – handguns should be eliminated from our society.”

Agree! There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should ever have a need for such a weapon.

 

[JustaServant]

I’d say he was most likely self-prescribed possibly over the internet or through a doctor, with prescription drugs and that put him over the edge. The columbine killers were both on SSRi’s and their personalities changed after taking the drugs.

SSRIs do not make you crazy. You have proof nobody else has about the Columbine killers that it did? You have proof of a direct causal effect of SSRIs? SSRIs are not for psychotic behavior
You cannot medicate evil.

 

[JustaServant]

Secondly, I believe that this guy, like many serial killers may simply be a sociopath, which isn’t a mental illness, but is a personality disorder- and does not respond to treatment.

Sociopaths do not respond to medication, but they can be treated wth therapy.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

Agree! There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should ever have a need for such a weapon.

There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should NEED one of these, either, and yet I don’t hear anyone calling for them to be banned.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[Jeanne_S]

There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should NEED one of these, either, and yet I don’t hear anyone calling for them to be banned.

http://www.topluxurystuff.com/wp-content/gallery/the-bugatti-veyron-16-4/bugatti-veyron.jpg

Not a good analogy

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

Not a good analogy

Are you saying that a man couldn’t kill people with a car?

 

[JustaServant]

I don’t distinguish between moral illness and mental illness.

Having once been a Baptist I can tell you worst sociopaths I met were in a pulpit.

 

[Jeanne_S]

Are you saying that a man couldn’t kill people with a car?

Sigh…

 

[ringil]

Sociopaths do not respond to medication, but they can be treated wth therapy.

I am a licensed therapist. I haven’t heard of any approved and effective treatment for sociopaths. I guess some behavioral techniques may be able to help them curb their anti-social acts. However, you couldn’t assist them in the creation of a conscience.

In any case a clinician really wouldn’t run into a sociopath in normal practice. Likely in the criminal justice system but weekly therapy isn’t really done in that context.

I would recommend you read “The Sociopath Next Door.” It’s an informative and even scholarly work in places. A great reference on the subject. In general people should syay away from sociopaths. Their psych is inherently flawed. There is evidence of both biological and social causation but part of it is clearly biological.and testable.

 

[estesbob]

There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should NEED one of these, either, and yet I don’t hear anyone calling for them to be banned.

http://www.thesupercars.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/bugatti-veyron1-revise.jpg

Have a hard time getting it into the theater

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

Have a hard time getting it into the theater

Depends on how fast you’re going and what angle you take.

 

[curlycool89]

“Wanting” to ban 100 round mags (or 20, or 60, or magazines > π) is not a good reason in itself.

I will admit touché. Although, I can’t see how you could get 3.14159 bullets in a magazine.

So far as I see it, there are only 2 uses for a magazine that big: shooting a close-knit crowd of people with a (semi) automatic weapon and large suppression fire, neither of which are applicable to citizens (and neither of which would qualify for 2nd Amendment protection as I understand it). The only people who would make use of such things in the continental US are terrorists and criminals, no homeowner needs 200-rounds to protect their home (and if they do, they probably went far beyond self-defense), and I’ve yet to hear a plausible use for a private citizen besides “I want, HOW DARE YOU RESTRICT MY LIBERTY” (I only wish that was a straw-man).

Fine, I guess you guys just won’t accept anything but the status quo. Tell anyone else in entire world that you believe that 200-round magazines should be allowed and they’ll lock you up. I can’t say I fully understand Americans.

I don’t know. I am waiting for someone to explain it to me. How does my owning of a rocket launcher infringe on the rights of anyone else?

This is why I will never live in the US.

It still makes me wonder how the US has survived this long as a country founded on absolute individualism.

There is no logical reason why Joe Q Citizen should NEED one of these, either, and yet I don’t hear anyone calling for them to be banned

I don’t know, just the colour pattern makes me think about wanting it banned

Have a hard time getting it into the theater

 

[Gift_from_God]

So far as I see it, there are only 2 uses for a magazine that big: shooting a close-knit crowd of people with a (semi) automatic weapon and large suppression fire, neither of which are applicable to citizens (and neither of which would qualify for 2nd Amendment protection as I understand it). The only people who would make use of such things in the continental US are terrorists and criminals, no homeowner needs 200-rounds to protect their home (and if they do, they probably went far beyond self-defense), and I’ve yet to hear a plausible use for a private citizen besides “I want, HOW DARE YOU RESTRICT MY LIBERTY” (I only wish that was a straw-man).

Fine, I guess you guys just won’t accept anything but the status quo. Tell anyone else in entire world that you believe that 200-round magazines should be allowed and they’ll lock you up. I can’t say I fully understand Americans.

And remember where we live there is heavy gun control and very few homicides with firearms compared to the United States, especially in larger Canadian cities. Looks like gun control is working

This is why I will never live in the US.

It still makes me wonder how the US has survived this long as a country founded on absolute individualism.

I agree with you

 

[GEddie]

I will admit touché. Although, I can’t see how you could get 3.14159 bullets in a magazine.

So far as I see it, there are only 2 uses for a magazine that big: shooting a close-knit crowd of people with a (semi) automatic weapon and large suppression fire, neither of which are applicable to citizens (and neither of which would qualify for 2nd Amendment protection as I understand it).

You forget that the Second Amendment is not about fighting criminals, any more than it is about hunting. It is about starting American Revolution 2.0, should that ever be necessary. And in that context, “suppression fire” would indeed be covered.

I don’t agree with that thought process per se. How many evitable gun deaths must occur because of preparing for huge battles that will never take place? Still, that is how a majority thinks south of Latitude 49.

God Bless and ICXC NIKA

 

[_Abyssinia]

Aurora Shooting Victim Forgives ‘Batman’ Shooter

Within just a few short hours of surgery on his foot Monday, Aurora, CO shooting victim, Pierce O’Farrill tells nationally-syndicated radio host, Todd Schnitt, that he wants to talk to the shooter, James Holmes

In the exclusive “Schnitt Show” interview, O’Farrill, who was shot three times, recalls the horror in vivid detail and says,“I would like to talk to him. I do forgive him.” As for the possibility of the death penalty in this case, O’Farrill says, “I don’t think he should have the death penalty – life in prison would be a more suitable sentence”

O’Farrill, who was wounded by each of Holmes’ three weapons, also tells Schnitt that despite this tragedy, he is still a staunch proponent of the Second Amendment

O’Farill was among the 58 victims who survived the shooting, and he appreciates the visit he got yesterday in the hospital from President Obama

schnittshow.com/go/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=10289211&donotcache=0

 

[DaveBj]

You forget that the Second Amendment is not about fighting criminals, any more than it is about hunting. It is about starting American Revolution 2.0, should that ever be necessary. And in that context, “suppression fire” would indeed be covered.

I don’t agree with that thought process per se. How many evitable gun deaths must occur because of preparing for huge battles that will never take place? Still, that is how a majority thinks south of Latitude 49.

God Bless and ICXC NIKA

The 2nd Amendment refers to a militia, which is an ad-hoc military organization used against enemies of society that arise on the spot. Armed criminals are certainly enemies of society, and if I, with my pistol, stand in opposition to an armed criminal, then I could be considered a “militia of one,” completely within the spirit of the 2nd Amendment.

Trust me, the language of the Constitution has been twisted a lot more than that in the past 50 years.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

The 2nd Amendment refers to a militia, which is an ad-hoc military organization used against enemies of society that arise on the spot.** Armed criminals are certainly enemies of society**, and if I, with my pistol, stand in opposition to an armed criminal, then I could be considered a “militia of one,” completely within the spirit of the 2nd Amendment.

Trust me, the language of the Constitution has been twisted a lot more than that in the past 50 years.

Armed citizens are the defenders of society. An armed society is a polite society.

 

[SamH]

This is why I will never live in the US.

 

[SamH]

And remember where we live there is heavy gun control and very few homicides with firearms compared to the United States, especially in larger Canadian cities. Looks like gun control is working

Except when it doesn’t work.

thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/1209713–eaton-centre-shooting-second-victim-dies

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre

 

[SamH]

You forget that the Second Amendment is not about fighting criminals, any more than it is about hunting. It is about starting American Revolution 2.0, should that ever be necessary. And in that context, “suppression fire” would indeed be covered.

Agreed to a point

The Supreme Court Ruled in Miller that citizens have the right to carry military related firearms - and in fact that the right to bear arms extends ONLY to military related firearms.

The Supreme Court opinion, written by Justice James Clark McReynolds, was notable in that it did not completely cave in to the government demands. It is a rather short document that is easily available on the web, so you need not accept another person’s opinion about it. Read it yourself.

The court finding simply said that no evidence had been presented to prove that a sawed-off shotgun was a useful military weapon. Of course that was literally correct, since Miller’s side never showed up in court.

After stating the court’s opinion, McReynolds included passages from various historical sources to show that the militia consists of all able-bodied men who have a right, perhaps even a duty, to own firearms suitable for military service.

enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0801/0801usvmiller.htm