Pathetic mania, as bad as Roof’s. It’s frightening to think that some will see one or the other killer as sensical, instead of both as maniacal, and maybe also act accordingly. Race is America’s hidden wound, and lately it seems to be bleeding more profusely.
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Problem is that it is easier than the black market. You can go to gun shows or buy privately from someone fully legally without any checks. This needs to be stopped, or at least regulated like cars are.
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It’s like there is a link between media coverage of these people and the shootings themselves.
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Weird that this thread seems to be exactly what the guy wanted.
To be an Internet sensation for a day.
So much screwed up in this.
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Speaking of media coverage, I’ll be waiting for some analysis of how often “mental illness” and “He seemed like such a nice guy!” and the like come up with this black shooter, as opposed to the frequency with which they’re evoked by white shooters. That kind of quantitative analysis isn’t so hard to do these days, is it?
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I happen to live in one of the many sane countries which are as free - or freer - than the US and yet “somehow” manages to have dramatically fewer deaths caused by firearms.
Coincidentally, my partner has just recently renewed their firearms license. I think it happens every 10 years. It was an interesting process. This was for a bog-standard firearms license, the kind required for long arms and shotguns. Licenses for pistols, military-style semi automatics, and - yes - even machine guns can all be obtained, and the process is similar although more rigorous, and there are ongoing requirements on the license holder to retain the license. Pistol license holders, for example, have to belong to an approved club and shoot at least once a month. Note, though, that weapons themselves are not recorded or tracked, only the license holder. Previously the police used to track weapons pretty closely, but weren’t so concerned about the owners. IIRC, it was after Aramoana that that changed.
Anyway, the bog standard re-licensing process. There’s a form and a fee that the applicant has to pay, which is fairly normal I guess. But there was also a visit from a police officer, who interviewed me and my partner face-to-face, and explicitly interviewed me separately from my partner. The questions I was asked were around why my partner wanted a license, what the firearms were used for, how our relationship was, my partner’s stability, that kind of thing. I think my answers were in themselves largely irrelevant though, because I noticed that he was writing down stuff like “open and honest”, “relaxed”.
The police officer also examined our method of securely storing firearms, and in our case noted that strictly they’re below the standard required, even though we don’t have any firearms in the house.
He also subsequently contacted one (or two?) nominated referees and spoke to them by phone.
Overall I thought the process was fair and thorough. It was reasonably intrusive, but given the context I felt it was appropriately so. It was a little like going for a security clearance, actually, including different levels of rigour for different levels of access.
Oh, FWIW; I don’t have a license myself, and never have, even though I do a LOT of shooting for my job, and occasionally go out target shooting with friends.
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Between the rambling 23-page manifesto, and the fact that he apparently had Jehovah talking to him telling him to act, I’m pretty sure that mental health is going to get a lot of play in any discussion of this event
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Which makes me wonder what was he turned in for?
According to an NBC12 article (warning: autoplay video, but not of the shooting):
Parker was 24 years old and a graduate of James Madison University. She was dating an anchor at WDBJ, Chris Hurst, and worked as an intern at the station before returning in the past year as a reporter, according to WDBJ.
Ward was 27 years old and a graduate of Virginia Tech. He was engaged to the station’s morning producer, Melissa Ott and the two were getting ready to move out of Virginia. Ott was producing her final newscast at the station and the crew was celebrating her last day, according to WDBJ. Ward had contemplated getting out of the news business.
It sounds like this shooting was calculated to cause maximum horror at the station.
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Really, stop it. You consistently bring up Chicago every single time there’s a thread about guns. The gun deaths in Chicago are due to drugs and gangs and police, not revenge killings.
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Majority, perhaps. But uncle Google has quite some hits on “revenge killing chicago”, so it is certainly not a nonexistent phenomenon in that location.
Irrelevant pedantry. Thanks for nothing.
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You’re welcome.
I like New Zealand’s licensing system for fire-arms. The multiple interviews with spouse or referees able to veto ownership (even by just looking worried while saying all the right things 
) is very sensible. It doesn’t ban gun ownership, but does keep a cap on numbers and accessibility.
Indeed. And I also like that - just as with any other licence - it’s not a one-shot (excuse the pun) deal. You have to regularly resubmit to the vetting.
Edit to add: though I suspect there’s been a few tense evenings up and down the country after Mr Punchy had his licence renewal declined … presumably due to hesitancy by their partner during the interview.
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Absolutely they are different issues. Yet where is the outrage in Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, - pretty much any large metropolitan area has an area or two with a much higher homicide rate. Why aren’t we locking arms and marching against that? Well, there are people who do that, but it hasn’t made a national impact like say Ferguson. These are the hot spots, where the cancerous tumor is. Mass shooting are the deep cut that looks bad, but will heal, not the festering lump that will potentially grow and get worse that everyone is ignoring.
Why no outrage? Because the media and America don’t care about poor people - especially poor blacks - killing each other. Ferguson got legs because of the racist aspect - and it too is an issue that should be addressed. But for all the “horrible crime” posts on BB, none of them is the mundane murders we are numb to in the inner city. It gets brought up on the national news now and again, especially when a new report is release or a new record is made.
In other news, the bodies in Virginia aren’t even cold and … this. Don’t fret though, it’s hardly an epidemic.
You can either use words (first amendment) or bullets (second amendment) in the war of ideas. Isn’t it good that we have a choice?
I have a friend in for life without parole because of the double homicide he committed. None of the questions or observations pointed out here are easy or straightforward. I wish there was anything I could do for the people affected by this and other tragedies. But I think it is going to take several sea changes to dramatically lower the violence in the US.
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'merica is well on its way, unfortunately, highest total incarceration rate and highest incarceration rate per capita. 
I totally agree that within most of us lies both the capacity for great good or great harm.
awwww…darn. i was hopeful too! 
maybe you can collect pens, i hear they are mightier then swords at least, not sure how they compare to guns.
with all these shootings i have to wonder where are all those “good guys with guns” that are supposed to have stopped this sh*t.
i know right? 
we are constantly improving automotive regulations. you need a license to drive one and that can be revoked. wearing a seat belt is the law. air bags are mandatory in new vehicles. it is illegal to drive inebriated or below a certain age. there are serious efforts being made to make cars as non-lethal as possible, but yes they serve a critical function in most of our lives that doesn’t have a replacement or we would.
guns are being intentionally made more and more lethal, don’t have a irreplaceable critical function (other then hunting weapons), have little regulation, etc.
so yeah, not even close to the same.
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You kind of missed my point.
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