VA - Virginia Tech Shooting, 32 murdered, 23 injured, 16 April 2007

[christine2448]

Just got mail, the second picture (which i have now removed) is not the guy, apparently... The newspaper where it was taken from has replaced it, sorry for the confusion.

I won't say I told you so

But, that makes me feel good, I spend a lot of time trying to match faces, UIDs, and I haven't had much success yet...so you just gave me a little 'boost', thanks crymezero.


www.myspace.com/do_u_recognize_me

 

[Anita Richman]

I told my husband last night that I was worried about my under-reaction to this tragedy as of last night. I thought maybe I had been de-sensitized and frankly, that scared me as normally I can be quite emotional.

Then they showed the first picture of victim Ryan Clark this morning; the triple-major about ready to graduate, and he had this huge, beautiful smile on his face.

It hit me and now I can't stop the tears when they talk about those students.

My prayers go out to their families and friends.

(((Taximom)))

 

[HeartofTexas]

This is from the link that Buzz posted:

As a permanent legal resident of the United States, Cho was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of any felony criminal charges, a federal immigration official said.

I agree, we really do need to look at the gun laws in the U.S. I've also heard that the gun laws in Virginia are some of the most lax in the country

I heard on the news both last night and this morning that anyone (over the legal age) can buy a gun at a gun show without any of the normal prerequisites. Many people have attempted to change legislation along those lines since the Columbine shootings, but nothing has changed at all. It sounds like any deranged idiot can go to a gun show and pick up a gun with no problem at all. If that doesn't sound like a potential recipe for disaster, then I don't know what does. The gun lobby in America is huge and has enormous strength. It will take many Americans standing up and shouting at the top of their lungs to change gun legislature. And the sad thing is (IMO) is I'm not sure how many crimes like this it would even stop if the laws are changed. People so hell bent to wipe out 30+ people will no doubt not stop until they've procured a gun or two.

 

[cheko1]

I heard on the news both last night and this morning that anyone (over the legal age) can buy a gun at a gun show without any of the normal prerequisites. Many people have attempted to change legislation along those lines since the Columbine shootings, but nothing has changed at all. It sounds like any deranged idiot can go to a gun show and pick up a gun with no problem at all. If that doesn't sound like a potential recipe for disaster, then I don't know what does. The gun lobby in America is huge and has enormous strength. It will take many Americans standing up and shouting at the top of their lungs to change gun legislature. And the sad thing is (IMO) is I'm not sure how many crimes like this it would even stop if the laws are changed. People so hell bent to wipe out 30+ people will no doubt not stop until they've procured a gun or two.

Heart of Texas,
Some sellers at gun shows are very responsible & carry the laws out to a T. But there are also MANY MANY that would sell anything to make a buck.

 

[Amraann]

I heard on the news both last night and this morning that anyone (over the legal age) can buy a gun at a gun show without any of the normal prerequisites. Many people have attempted to change legislation along those lines since the Columbine shootings, but nothing has changed at all. It sounds like any deranged idiot can go to a gun show and pick up a gun with no problem at all. If that doesn't sound like a potential recipe for disaster, then I don't know what does. The gun lobby in America is huge and has enormous strength. It will take many Americans standing up and shouting at the top of their lungs to change gun legislature. And the sad thing is (IMO) is I'm not sure how many crimes like this it would even stop if the laws are changed. People so hell bent to wipe out 30+ people will no doubt not stop until they've procured a gun or two.

I honestly don't think that changing the laws will not do anything but keep guns out of the hands of those using them properly for perfectly legal things.
I think someone determined to reek havoc will find a way no matter what the law says.
This guy totally flipped out. No law could have prevented that IMO.
If he had no previous criminal record then there is no reason he should not have been permitted to buy a gun.
I don't think anyone can really predict when someone like this is going to just go crazy or even predict who that person will be.
It just happens.

 

[christine2448]

I honestly don't think that changing the laws will not do anything but keep guns out of the hands of those using them properly for perfectly legal things.
I think someone determined to reek havoc will find a way no matter what the law says.
This guy totally flipped out. No law could have prevented that IMO.
If he had no previous criminal record then there is no reason he should not have been permitted to buy a gun.
I don't think anyone can really predict when someone like this is going to just go crazy or even predict who that person will be.
It just happens.

Exactly. (((((((((AMRA))))))))

 

[curiositycat]

He signed his note Ismail Ax???--that's disturbing.

Its a prayer to Mohammed.

 

[LovingTheChaos]

I honestly don't think that changing the laws will not do anything but keep guns out of the hands of those using them properly for perfectly legal things.
I think someone determined to reek havoc will find a way no matter what the law says.
This guy totally flipped out. No law could have prevented that IMO.
If he had no previous criminal record then there is no reason he should not have been permitted to buy a gun.
I don't think anyone can really predict when someone like this is going to just go crazy or even predict who that person will be.
It just happens.

You know - I have used this argument before, & I am no longer buying it myself. Why are there so many gun fatalities in the US? Compare us to Canada, Europe, Austrailia, what is the difference between us & them? I can tell you, we die in the tens of thousands each year - most of those other countries suffer a couple of hundred, maybe less.

 

[curiositycat]

You know - I have used this argument before, & I am no longer buying it myself. Why are there so many gun fatalities in the US? Compare us to Canada, Europe, Austrailia, what is the difference between us & them? I can tell you, we die in the tens of thousands each year - most of those other countries suffer a couple of hundred, maybe less.

I think part of it has to do with our affluence compared to that of other countries in Europe. I also think that a lot of it comes from our children and grandchildren playing a lot of violent video games. We have become a country of violence.
Take prayer out of the schools, teach situational ethics and this is what you get...a society without the ability to have a moral basis for behavior.

 

[Shadow205]

On GMA they stated it would take 8 seconds to reload.

I can tell you one thing, if it took any of us 8 seconds to reload during fireamrs training we would not have passed

 

[Marthatex]

I heard on the news both last night and this morning that anyone (over the legal age) can buy a gun at a gun show without any of the normal prerequisites. Many people have attempted to change legislation along those lines since the Columbine shootings, but nothing has changed at all. It sounds like any deranged idiot can go to a gun show and pick up a gun with no problem at all. If that doesn't sound like a potential recipe for disaster, then I don't know what does. The gun lobby in America is huge and has enormous strength. It will take many Americans standing up and shouting at the top of their lungs to change gun legislature. And the sad thing is (IMO) is I'm not sure how many crimes like this it would even stop if the laws are changed. People so hell bent to wipe out 30+ people will no doubt not stop until they've procured a gun or two.

That's exactly right; Clinton attempted to change the gun show laxness after Columbine. The Republican Congress would not do it.

We can't change people from going berserk, but we could certainly save some lives with tighter security in various locations (schools, campuses, malls), and closing up huge loopholes in gun sales.

If it were the life of one of our children, our loved ones, surely it would be worth the cost to us to make some changes?

It seems to me the second episode of shooting was preventable.
Even in 1966, the message blared on the radio almost as soon as Whitman started shooting, "A gunman is shooting off the tower!" Policemen stood in the streets, risking their lives, directing traffice away and telling students to run and hide. The word quickly spread to the buildings on campus - and we didn't even have cellphones.

A brave policeman climbed the tower and killed Whitman. Whitman did not kill himself. I guess the death count could have been alot worse. He was an expert marksman. But of course shooting off the tower isn't quite the same as being trapped in an enclosed building.

They should have locked down, IMO.

 

[LovingTheChaos]

I think part of it has to do with our affluence compared to that of other countries in Europe. I also think that a lot of it comes from our children and grandchildren playing a lot of violent video games. We have become a country of violence.
Take prayer out of the schools, teach situational ethics and this is what you get...a society without the ability to have a moral basis for behavior.

Do you mean you think we are MORE affluent than Europeans? I disagree. And European children play violent video games too. Also, last I checked, most of them are being raised in secular societies.

If we do not have a moral basis of behavior, it starts in the home, IMO.

 

[heavenlydaze]

The boy's name Ismail \i-smail, is-mail\ is of Arabic origin. Variant of Ishmael, who built the temple of Kaaba at Mecca. Film director Ismail Merchant; football players Raghib Ismail, Qadry Ismail.

Ismail has 8 variant forms: Ishmael, Ismaal, Ismael, Ismal, Ismayl, Izmail, Ysmal and Ysmail.

Baby names that sound like Ismail are Ysmael, Esmeling and Jesimiel.

Ismail is a very rare male first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census).

 

[Marthatex]

I think part of it has to do with our affluence compared to that of other countries in Europe. I also think that a lot of it comes from our children and grandchildren playing a lot of violent video games. We have become a country of violence.
Take prayer out of the schools, teach situational ethics and this is what you get...a society without the ability to have a moral basis for behavior.

Many Europeans are fairly agnostic. They're not a gun culture or war culture. I don't think it has anything to do with prayer in the schools; it has to do with our culture.

I agree that violent video games are terrible; I never let my son use them. If you look around, violence is everywhere and we've become complacent about it. Also, I bet we have more guns than any other country and fewer rules.

War is often glorified. Why would affluence cause more shootings? We have a large share of poor people too.

Our morality has gone down too in many ways.

 

[Beyond Belief]

JERUSALEM — An Israeli lecturer who died in the massacre at a U.S. university saved the lives of several students by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday.
Students of Liviu Librescu, 76, a holocaust survivor who was an engineering science and mathematics lecturer at Virginia Tech for 20 years, sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266506,00.html

 

[Hopeful One]

If we do not have a moral basis of behavior, it starts in the home, IMO.

I agree. I don't think this stuff stems from violent video games and movies. A lot of people in this country are lacking morals. We have kids raising kids. We have a horrible problem with illegal drugs in this country. Our jails are overloaded.

IMO, it all stems from a lack of morals, the way our kids are raised these days, etc.

And maybe this guy was just nuts?? We don't yet know his background, do we?

 

[Marthatex]

The boy's name Ismail \i-smail, is-mail\ is of Arabic origin. Variant of Ishmael, who built the temple of Kaaba at Mecca. Film director Ismail Merchant; football players Raghib Ismail, Qadry Ismail.

Ismail has 8 variant forms: Ishmael, Ismaal, Ismael, Ismal, Ismayl, Izmail, Ysmal and Ysmail.

Baby names that sound like Ismail are Ysmael, Esmeling and Jesimiel.

Ismail is a very rare male first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census).

Excuse me, I guess I'm missing something here - I stepped out this morning. I thought the boy was South Korean.

Is there an Islamic involved? Gee I'd better watch or read the news, I guess.

 

[Marthatex]

I agree. I don't think this stuff stems from violent video games and movies. A lot of people in this country are lacking morals. We have kids raising kids. We have a horrible problem with illegal drugs in this country. Our jails are overloaded.

IMO, it all stems from a lack of morals, the way our kids are raised these days, etc.

And maybe this guy was just nuts?? We don't yet know his background, do we?

Violence on television and movies, etc. has been proven in studies to cause kids to act more violently.

These videogames where you are shooting and killing people have been shown to DESENSITIZE kids.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

You know - I have used this argument before, & I am no longer buying it myself. Why are there so many gun fatalities in the US? Compare us to Canada, Europe, Austrailia, what is the difference between us & them? I can tell you, we die in the tens of thousands each year - most of those other countries suffer a couple of hundred, maybe less.

Check out Austrailia ... I read somewhere that crime went up substantially when handguns were banned. This just gives people who can get guns illegally and want to hurt someone all the more power to do it because they know they can but in someone's house and they won't get shot.

If I had a sign on my lawn that said "Proud to be a gun-free home"
and my neighbor had one that said "If you break in my house I will shoot your head off", whose house would be more likely to be robbed? Mine, of course.

 

[cheko1]

I can tell you one thing, if it took any of us 8 seconds to reload during fireamrs training we would not have passed

I agree Shadow I thought 8 seconds was a long time.......