7 dead, 7 wounded in Santa Barbara shooting rampage

[outofplace]

It isn't about importance. Even you can't be that blind.

Why is the First Amendment more important than the Second Amendment?

I never said it was. As I just reminded Fart Boy, it would really help if you actually tried to understand the posts you responded to before you responded to them next time. Thank you.

I reconsidered.
Your being mentally diseased yourself, you certainly would be operating from a position of authority on this thread.

Once again resorting to personal attacks due to your inability to counter anything posted on topic.

Name one coherent and/or supported point you've made on this thread.
No one cares you're unhappy a useless entertainer like Seth Rogen is even offhandedly under attack for lousy movies he has made.

That's the problem, Fart. Like YankeeFan, you aren't even bothering to read the posts you are attacking. Go back and read and perhaps even you will understand.

My point was that the excuse-making is tiresome. And you want a valid point? Here's one. it is utterly ridiculous to even suggest that understanding this murderer's motivations is even close to being as clear as math.

Want another? Your dismissal of mental disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome is the kind of ignorance that does nothing for this discussion. As another poster wrote about the column we were discussing earlier, there is a valid point to be made in the area of misdiagnoses and mistreatment of children who may or may not actually have a mental disorder, you didn't come anywhere near making it coherently.

 

[outofplace]

YankeeFan is comparing the First and Second Amendments. More importantly, and far more ridiculous, is his comparison of the ability to kill with a gun and the ability to kill by reporting a story.

I find it astounding that you, in front of this entire forum, continue to pose as if you believe that he actually did that. It's an OOP-esque trilemma ... you're either lying, trolling or incredibly, mind-bendingly, teeth-achingly stupid.

Oh, he doesn't want it seen that way, but that is what he is doing when he compares the protection of the First Amendment and the Second Amendment in this context. You may be too dense to realize it or perhaps you just don't want to admit it. I don't really care, but that is exactly what he is doing.

 

[doctorquant]

it is utterly ridiculous to even suggest that understanding this murderer's motivations is even close to being as clear as math.

Well, shirt, you went and made an absolutely wonderful point there. There goes "incredibly, mind-bendingly, teeth-achingly stupid" as a possibility.

 

[93Devil]

"I don't care about your sympathy. I don't give a s--- that you feel sorry for me," Richard Martinez said during an extensive interview, his face flushed as tears rolled down his face. "Get to work and do something. I'll tell the president the same thing if he calls me. Getting a call from a politician doesn't impress me."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/father-of-victim-in-santa-barbara-shootings-to-politicians-i-dont-care-about-your-sympathy/2014/05/27/8a030d10-e5ad-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html

I wish I could tell Mr. Martinez that he ain't pissing in the wind. But I've observed how it actually works for far too long. To the extent this motivates anyone to push for stricter gun laws, it will only counter-motivate the NRA and pro-gun lobbyists to throw more money at politicians and we'll see, if anything, only the opposite results.

It makes no rational sense, but it seems to be how it works, every time there's a Sandy Hook type moment that people think will be the "tipping point" on the gun control issue, not only are they wrong but the opposite usually happens: gun laws are further loosened instead of tightened. Don't look for logic in it, there is none. But it is how it works.

I'm unsure if it will be a generational thing or not. You just don't see people smoking as much as you used to and you see people recycling more than you used to, and a great reason for this is the school systems teaching that something is bad or good. Then the taught generation starts to sway the balance away from the generation the passes away.

It might take 20-30 years, but I could see the gun grip loosen slightly.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I explained myself clearly, oop.
The system was set up for children developmentally affected or delayed.
Not some 22-year-old nouveau-riche MAN who throws a violent tantrum because a woman won't drop her drawers for him.

 

[Bob Cook]

Well, first they'd ask you to prove that there are 10s of thousands of deaths that would be prevented by restricting gun ownershpi

Bingo.

Was looking for a link, but I can't find it. There was a peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Public Health that covered 30 years and all 50 states and said for each percentage point increase in gun ownership correlates to a 0.9 percent increase in the firearm homicide rate. Here's the abstract:

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301409?journalCode=ajph

Going to the Germany example I cited earlier, it has 4 million legal gun owners and up to 25 million guns on the streets. It averages 903 firearm deaths per year among a population of 80.5 million, or 1.10 per 100,000 residents.

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/germany

In the U.S., I can't find how many legal gun owners there are, but there are upwards of 300 million guns on the streets. It averages slightly less than 32,000 firearm deaths per year among a population of 307 million, or 10.3 per 100,000 residents.

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states

Speaking of guns and public health ...

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/25/5735998/the-nra-has-been-blocking-a-nominee-for-surgeon-general-since-february

The NRA -- and its politicians in its back pocket -- have blocked any federal funding of gun studies since 1996. Do more guns equal less crime? Heck, the NRA doesn't want anyone to find out the answer to that question -- lest there be a risk the answer is, "No." (Obama lifted the CDC freeze, but Congress hasn't yet appropriated any money -- and it won't happen anytime soon, not with Republicans in charge in the House.)

The NRA also was behind a push in states such as Florida to make it a jailable offense for doctors to ask if you had guns in the home. (That's being fought in court -- so far the NRA is losing.) So they don't even want doctors to advise parents, hey, it might be a good idea to lock up your gun when the kids are around. That's a crime!

Of course, this is all in the name of selling more guns and ammo. And business is good.

 

[doctorquant]

I'm unsure if it will be a generational thing or not. You just don't see people smoking as much as you used to and you see people recycling more than you used to, and a great reason for this is the school systems teaching that something is bad or good. Then the taught generation starts to sway the balance away from the generation the passes away.

Kids, let's all gather 'round and go over what you have to do if you want to be a good human being.

First of all, smoking's yucky and gives you bad breath and probably will make you very sick some day, so let's not do that. Secondly, we want to make sure that we keep the planet safe, so let's all remember to do our recycling on a regular basis and make sure we conserve energy. And, finally, when we get mad at some people, like good-looking girls who won't give us the time of day, let's all remember to use our words rather than our handguns.

 

[Mark2010]

Hottie "Lit the fuse" ...

Bullshirt, says Slate.

http://www.slate.com/content/darn/slate/blogs/xx_factor/2014/05/27/140527_DX_NYPostElliotRodger-Embed.jpg.CROP.promovar-medium2.jpg

While the woman's father is given plenty of space to speak common sense about how stupid it is to blame his daughter, saying, "He had a secret crush on her, but she was completely unaware of him," the story and its imagery, including a picture of the young woman in a bikini, are drenched in the ugly insinuation that by being sexy and unavailable, she somehow impelled Rodger's violence. Lines like, "The aspiring model whose childhood rejection of Elliot Rodger lit the fuse that turned him into a murderous madman barely remembers him, her dad told The Post on Monday," are a disgrace. How, exactly, does not paying attention to someone light "a fuse"? Are women obliged to flatter, cajole, and even have sex with men they find repulsive in order to prevent lighting this fuse?

Easy to make fun of this. But this is a deadly serious issue that deserves honest discussion in an attempt to prevent the next incident.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Why do people keep posting that Rodger shot six people?

What new gun law could have saved the lives of his three roommates?

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Meanwhile, one of our crews is now headed to a home where a 3 year old just shot an 18 month old sibling in the head.

If I find out the three year old was playing World of Warcraft, I'll be sure to pass that along.

 

[outofplace]

it is utterly ridiculous to even suggest that understanding this murderer's motivations is even close to being as clear as math.

Well, shirt, you went and made an absolutely wonderful point there. There goes "incredibly, mind-bendingly, teeth-achingly stupid" as a possibility.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to rule that out with you, yet. I know. I'm awful. That was a personal dig. Then again, you've done nothing but engage in personal attacks while failing to offer a coherent argument for my point in your last few points, so it seems appropriate.

 

[Songbird]

Meanwhile, one of our crews is now headed to a home where a 3 year old just shot an 18 month old sibling in the head.

If I find out the three year old was playing World of Warcraft, I'll be sure to pass that along.

It's probably the 18-month-old's fault for having fingernails. And toenails.