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Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by xxnevadarlingxx, Jul 24, 2012.

  1. xxnevadarlingxx

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    What do you think about the "dark knight massacre":eek:
     
  2. Pret Allez

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    I think it was a random act of unjustified mass violence. A lot of lives we lost, ruined, or deeply affected for no valid reason whatsoever.

    I hope this doesn't result in more restrictive gun legislation. Queers need to be able to defend themselves against crazy, violent straights. Reasonable people follow the law, but psychopaths don't.
     
  3. Snowy

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    Part of me wants to hope that it'll result in restricted guns, but the other part of me hopes that it won't. I personally want to do away with guns completely, being the hippy I am, but with today's people, and, for that matter, any time frame's people, I don't think that'll quite work. There are mentally deranged people out there. They'll find a way to get guns and harm people, no matter what. Hopefully, in the future, we'll have evolved past ruthless killing.. but I'm not exactly an optimist, and natural selection doesn't quite work in an environment where everyone is cared for, so I doubt that'll happen. All in all, this incident just reassures my (non-existant) faith in humanity.
     
  4. xxnevadarlingxx

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    Thanks for your opinions. I am personally disgusted at how the media has turned this into a gun control issue. What are y'all guys thoughts on that?
     
  5. Tetraquark

    Tetraquark Guest

    There is a legitimate discussion about gun control to be had in relation to this issue; however, I agree that, in this case, that's not really the main thing to be discussing. As Pret Allez said, this was mostly a random and isolated case. If the guy hadn't gotten guns through normal channels, he would have found some other way to do it. Cutting down on access to guns should reduce the frequency of such incidences, but they would never be eliminated entirely.

    The media...there's a reason why I don't watch the news very often. Today one station was reporting on the massacre's relationship to paintball. Most outlets also seem to be very interested in over-analyzing the alleged killer's actions in court. At least there is some merit to the gun control discussions, even if they are overdone. I would rather see the time devoted to other issues, such as the need for better mental health services (even if the guy isn't crazy, this is certainly a problem), or at least used for something that is a bit less sensational.
     
  6. xxnevadarlingxx

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    I see your point but I think the real issue isn't why or how or gun control but what is it in our culture that sets up the physcology for these things?
     
  7. Tetraquark

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    I largely agree, which is why I said gun control is not the main issue. If memory serves right, Holmes was actually a fairly successful person at one point. It would be interesting to examine how someone could go from that to a killer, and in what ways our culture influences this change. However, the media rarely addresses these issues seriously, usually not going beyond "violent video games (or movies or TV or paintball) make people violent."

    I am mostly annoyed by the superficial and sloppy way in which the media treats all aspects of the issue, from the killer's identity and motivations to gun control to the cultural factors behind all of it. It's not productive, and it will do little to stop it from happening again in the future.
     
  8. castle walls

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    I don't believe that gun control is the main issue either. A person that does what James Eagan Holmes is accused of doing wants to kill people. If someone is determined to kill people they will do so with or without guns. I could understand creating new restrictions so a person can't have thousands of bullets just sitting around but I'm hesitant to create what I would consider extreme gun control laws. If that happened in the United States, I could see that creating a huge black market for guns and that could only make things worse.

    Although this was said before, what I'm really interested in is why this act was committed. What reasoning, regardless to if it makes any sense to the public or not, did the individual that committed these acts have? How did the suspect decline from graduating from UC Riverside with the highest honors to this? What, if any, warning signs did he display? What do the people that know him have to say? How was his relationship with his family? I think answering these questions would be a great step.

    I find that the events that transpired in Colorado to be incredibly heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the victims at this time. I hope for a speedy recovery for the wounded and I wish the families and friends of the deceased the best during this difficult time
     
  9. xxnevadarlingxx

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    Thanks guys ^_^ interesting thoughts ^_^
     
  10. AshenAngel

    AshenAngel Guest

    I think the guy has lost his sense of reality.
     
  11. ANightDude

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    Be warned, I'll probably piss people off here.

    Here's how I see it - like others have said, it was a random, isolated incident. The man is insane (no level headed human can do such a thing), and people are ridiculously blaming the wrong aspect of things.

    However, I do think it's a fine time to talk about gun control. Any time should be - and after a massacre, it should be even more so.

    I absolutely respect the 2nd amendment. People have the absolute right to defend themselves when necessary. But there is no reason - none, whatsoever - that what this man was able to purchase should be legally able to purchase. These are weapons of destruction, meant to kill, that only the military needs to have. The fact that someone can just simply go online and buy things to commit the biggest massacre in US History is not a good thing. There's something wrong there.

    Of course these incidents will always happen. In nations with strict gun control, it happens. But look at the rate these things happen in America compared to every other country. America has a mass shooting nearly every year. We've had Fort Hood, Columbine, Virginia Tech, the DC Sniper, Aurora, etc. Over 9,000 people are killed yearly here from guns - only dozens are killed in other nations per year. I believe Canada is usually around 300 deaths.

    Handguns, hunting weapons, things like that are certainly protected by the constitution. Every American has the right to defend themselves when necessary, when others are in danger, and in their own home. But Jesus, look at what this guy bought! ONLINE. LEGALLY. It's not right that people who are willing to to do this have such a simple way to carry to out.

    Like I said, you can't prevent these horrible things from happening. Things happen. But you can find a way to reduce to frequency of them. I shouldn't have to be afraid to go to the movies, or the mall, or go to school or college.

    It's odd. A Congresswoman was involved in a mass shooting just last year, had her head blown in and nearly died, and yet people did nothing. It's sad.
     
  12. NicoleV96

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    Personally, I just think it's insane how it was in this man's intentions to go out and kill/injure random people that he didn't even know. Obviously that proves that there was something wrong with him in his head. No sane person would do that. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, anybody could have gotten killed or injured, this man had no idea who he was going to kill or injure, but yet, he had this intention to go on this rampage. Again, I agree with what everyone is saying, everyone has the right to protect themselves, but the gunman abused that right. He wasn't protecting himself, he was being reckless. Nobody should be allowed to take away family members from people, and that's what he did, if not killing, he injured many. People were just trying to see a movie, that's all they wanted to do, it's unexpected of an event like that to happen, but it's not something anyone can control. If the man is insane, he's insane, there's no stopping that. It's just horrible that someone could even do something like that.
     
  13. TheAMan

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    First my thoughts and prayers go out to those who were shot and their families too. Next I want to say that James Holmes had access to weapons that I think no citizen needs. I mean please tell me why someone needs an assault rifle and tear gas. I swear gun reform is badly needed.
     
  14. Eric

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    What happened in the theatre is very obviously a tragedy, and my heart goes out to the victims. But what happened could have been preventable if the shooter didn't have such easy access to the weapons he had.

    I support very strict gun control. High-powered weapons have no place in the hands of civilians. Private citizens should have the right to own handguns for self-defense purposes, or hunting rifles/crossbows/etc. for recreational purposes, but I can't imagine any justification for owning an M4 or something of the like.
     
  15. Shevanel

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    This.