Mall Shooting

[danny_galaga]

One more reason to never go to the mall.

 

[danny_galaga]

That needs more Julie Brown.

"i did it for johnny!"

[danny_galaga]

on a serious note, i cant imagine what difference it would have made whether the gun was semi auto or not. either way he would have shot a number of people...

[ChadTower]

on a serious note, i cant imagine what difference it would have made whether the gun was semi auto or not. either way he would have shot a number of people...

It probably wouldn't have... it would just take him a minute or so longer.  The only real difference I could think of would be maybe if it were a semi some people would have been shot more than once.

[ChadTower]

One thing I learned a long time ago:

Don't discuss guns with someone in Texas.  Even if you fully agree with the person, you're wrong and they'll jump all over you, because as a nonTexan you couldn't possibly understand.  They are irrational about guns and the discussion isn't worth having.

[missioncontrol]

They were never effectively banned.  That is the answer to your non-questions.

Wrong, congress banned the AK-47 from being sold in 1994. That doesn't mean you still couldn't find them. It just made it a little harder to look for one.

An assault weapon is not a fully automatic weapon, but is is considered automatic by some because of the fact that it will shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger.

[ahofle]

Whether the AW ban was effective or not is moot.  You said assault weapons were never illegal.  My Mossberg 500 shotgun with pistol grip, folding stock, and 8 round mag capacity would have been illegal if purchased from 1994 to 2004 because it met the legislative description of an 'assault weapon'.  So your statement was incorrect.

[ChadTower]

At no point could you NOT walk into a gun store in 1994 and NOT buy something that you could in 1993. 

You could always NOT walk into a gun store and NOT buy a gun.

I have never feel more free to NOT buy something as I did in 1994.

[DaOld Man]

Maybe this was the cause for him to snap:

(decapitated the video)

Just before I shot my monitor, that video reminded me why I hated 80's music.
Plus it had the audacity to not even show an arcade in the background..

[ahofle]

At no point could you NOT walk into a gun store in 1994 and NOT buy something that you could in 1993. 

Yes, perhaps for a few months, production of new 'assault weapons' was stopped until the manufacturers were able to get them modified enough, but that's it. 

 
I wonder why the manufacturers bothered with the modifications given your first statement. 

[ahofle]

I only objected to your initial statement/argument that 'assault weapons were never illegal' (which you have since changed into 'the assault ban was ineffective').  I never said the ban was not easily circumvented or remotely effective.

[ChadTower]

fixt

[shardian]

Why the hell did police release photos of the kid actually taking aim at people??

I HATE when the media pulls this stuff. As the kid said in his letter: "I'll be famous now". Thank you news media for indulging his ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- up fantasy and encouraging even more nutso's to carry on the tradition.

I hope that one of these days when a person goes on a killing spree that they happen upon a off-duty/retired military person who has a concealed weapon permit. Here's to hoping they subdue the perp, blow off their kneecaps, cut off an ear, etc then hand them over to police to face their crimes. That will go a long way in making these nuts think twice before taking innocents down with them.

[Zero_Hour]

That will go a long way in making these nuts think twice before taking innocents down with them.

People who are "Nuts" are not exactly renown for their rational thinking. For example, what's the use in being famous, only after having killed oneself? Can't really use that fame for anything can you? 

[shardian]

That will go a long way in making these nuts think twice before taking innocents down with them.

People who are "Nuts" are not exactly renown for their rational thinking. For example, what's the use in being famous, only after having killed oneself? Can't really use that fame for anything can you? 

People who do this kind of thing are cowards. They know that they can get away with doing anything they want past the point of turning back. If it starts to go South on them, they have the comfort that they can just pull the trigger on themself - no pain, no punishment, no long term consequences. The only thing that can scare them at that point is the fear of having to live, face MORE pain, and deal with what they did that they thought they were going to get away with.

I'm no psychology expert, but I get the feeling that, for instance, if the Columbine kids were stopped, overran, beaten within an inch of their lives and now in federal ass-pounding prison, we wouldn't have near as many dumbasses "going for the record".

[ChadTower]

I agree with sharidan.  They're not going for fame, they're going for infamy, and part of infamy is dying in the process.  They want to be Billy the Kid and have people read about them 100 years from now.  The media putting up visual evidence only encourages more of them.

Of course, when that retired Marine subdues and beats the kid, who do you really think is going to be the monster in the media?  The "troubled kid screaming for help" or the "evil Marine" who hurt him?