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Monday, December 17, 2012

The glorification of guns and the tragic results

 
Few parents expected a day of the loss of their children, last week when they dropped their children off at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn. In general elementary schools are conserved to be safe places for children to be for the day. But that would not happen on that day.
Authorities say Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother in the head multiple times Friday at their home in Newtown, Conn., before heading to the school, where he fired hundreds of rounds and died with hundreds more at his disposal. He killed 20 children and six women at the school.
Once again Democrats and a few others are talking about gun-control- a very unpopular subject for the last year. When the Aurora, Colo. midnight screening of the film, The Dark Knight Rises, resulted in a gunman firing on a crowded theater. People ran out to buy guns, as if that would have really stopped this guy. They guy had automatic weapons and body armor. Most people would have pissed their pants before pulling out a gun. If they did pull out a gun, they couldn’t have stopped him and they simply would have been killed.
For some time, the National Rifle Association has fought any and all gun-control laws, even mild restriction.
We not only avoid gun-control, we expand the use of guns. Most states have a conceal and carry permit law. Some States, such as Florida, they have a “stand your ground law” that allows people to shoot someone for simply not backing down from them.
Then there is the constant glorification of killing people with guns on various TV shows. Not all the new show are that bad, but there are plenty that glamorize the military and every enemy of the state is just trying to make money. One example was the new show Person of Interest.
When a shooting took place in Oakland, Calif. One Goh, a 43-year-old former student at Oikos University, a Christian school populated by mostly Korean and Korean-Americans, opened fire on the campus, killing seven people and wounding several others, July 20, 2012. So what was the gun lobbies suggestion? Let the students bring their own guns to class and that way they could have shot him. This is based on an assumption that the students would be willing to risk their own lives by opening a door and not pissing in their pants as they take on a guy who is willing to shoot to kill.
By this logic, why not give every elementary, middle school or high school student a gun as they walk into school. This might solve everything to those gun nuts where were convinced that President Barack Obama was going to take all their guns away and leave them vulnerable.
At some point be need to stop glorifying guns and relying on them as our only protection.
In Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, film, he finds that Canada has gun laws similar to the US and yet their murder rate is way down. Many Canadians own guns, just as Americans do. So maybe it’s not the ownership of guns that causes all the violence, but our attitude towards guns. -សតិវ អតុ

Consider this list of mass shootings here in the US, by Info Please;
Feb. 2, 1996
Moses Lake, Wash.
Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class. March 13, 1996
Dunblane, Scotland
16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack. Feb. 19, 1997
Bethel, Alaska
Principal and one student killed, two others wounded by Evan Ramsey, 16. March 1997
Sanaa, Yemen
Eight people (six students and two others) at two schools killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri. Oct. 1, 1997
Pearl, Miss.
Two students killed and seven wounded by Luke Woodham, 16, who was also accused of killing his mother. He and his friends were said to be outcasts who worshiped Satan. Dec. 1, 1997
West Paducah, Ky.
Three students killed, five wounded by Michael Carneal, 14, as they participated in a prayer circle at Heath High School. Dec. 15, 1997
Stamps, Ark.
Two students wounded. Colt Todd, 14, was hiding in the woods when he shot the students as they stood in the parking lot. March 24, 1998
Jonesboro, Ark.
Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods. April 24, 1998
Edinboro, Pa.
One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. Andrew Wurst, 14, was charged. May 19, 1998
Fayetteville, Tenn.
One student killed in the parking lot at Lincoln County High School three days before he was to graduate. The victim was dating the ex-girlfriend of his killer, 18-year-old honor student Jacob Davis. May 21, 1998
Springfield, Ore.
Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. His parents were later found dead at home. June 15, 1998
Richmond, Va.
One teacher and one guidance counselor wounded by a 14-year-old boy in the school hallway. April 20, 1999
Littleton, Colo.
14 students (including killers) and one teacher killed, 23 others wounded at Columbine High School in the nation's deadliest school shooting. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had plotted for a year to kill at least 500 and blow up their school. At the end of their hour-long rampage, they turned their guns on themselves. April 28, 1999
Taber, Alberta, Canada
One student killed, one wounded at W. R. Myers High School in first fatal high school shooting in Canada in 20 years. The suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had dropped out of school after he was severely ostracized by his classmates. May 20, 1999
Conyers, Ga.
Six students injured at Heritage High School by Thomas Solomon, 15, who was reportedly depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend. Nov. 19, 1999
Deming, N.M.
Victor Cordova Jr., 12, shot and killed Araceli Tena, 13, in the lobby of Deming Middle School. Dec. 6, 1999
Fort Gibson, Okla.
Four students wounded as Seth Trickey, 13, opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at Fort Gibson Middle School. Dec. 7, 1999
Veghel, Netherlands
One teacher and three students wounded by a 17-year-old student. Feb. 29, 2000
Mount Morris Township, Mich.
Six-year-old Kayla Rolland shot dead at Buell Elementary School near Flint, Mich. The assailant was identified as a six-year-old boy with a .32-caliber handgun. March 2000
Branneburg, Germany
One teacher killed by a 15-year-old student, who then shot himself. The shooter has been in a coma ever since. March 10, 2000
Savannah, Ga.
Two students killed by Darrell Ingram, 19, while leaving a dance sponsored by Beach High School. May 26, 2000
Lake Worth, Fla.
One teacher, Barry Grunow, shot and killed at Lake Worth Middle School by Nate Brazill, 13, with .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol on the last day of classes. Sept. 26, 2000
New Orleans, La.
Two students wounded with the same gun during a fight at Woodson Middle School. Jan. 17, 2001
Baltimore, Md.
One student shot and killed in front of Lake Clifton Eastern High School. Jan. 18, 2001
Jan, Sweden
One student killed by two boys, ages 17 and 19. March 5, 2001
Santee, Calif.
Two killed and 13 wounded by Charles Andrew Williams, 15, firing from a bathroom at Santana High School. March 7, 2001
Williamsport, Pa.
Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, wounded student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School; she was depressed and frequently teased. March 22, 2001
Granite Hills, Calif.
One teacher and three students wounded by Jason Hoffman, 18, at Granite Hills High School. A policeman shot and wounded Hoffman. March 30, 2001
Gary, Ind.
One student killed by Donald R. Burt, Jr., a 17-year-old student who had been expelled from Lew Wallace High School. Nov. 12, 2001
Caro, Mich.
Chris Buschbacher, 17, took two hostages at the Caro Learning Center before killing himself. Jan. 15, 2002
New York, N.Y.
A teenager wounded two students at Martin Luther King Jr. High School. Feb. 19, 2002
Freising, Germany
Two killed in Eching by a man at the factory from which he had been fired; he then traveled to Freising and killed the headmaster of the technical school from which he had been expelled. He also wounded another teacher before killing himself. April 26, 2002
Erfurt, Germany
13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself. April 29, 2002
Vlasenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina
One teacher killed, one wounded by Dragoslav Petkovic, 17, who then killed himself. October 28, 2002
Tucson, Ariz.
Robert S. Flores Jr., 41, a student at the nursing school at the University of Arizona, shot and killed three female professors and then himself. April 14, 2003
New Orleans, La.
One 15-year-old killed, and three students wounded at John McDonogh High School by gunfire from four teenagers (none were students at the school). The motive was gang-related. April 24, 2003
Red Lion, Pa.
James Sheets, 14, killed principal Eugene Segro of Red Lion Area Junior High School before killing himself. Sept. 24, 2003
Cold Spring, Minn.
Two students are killed at Rocori High School by John Jason McLaughlin, 15. Sept. 28, 2004Carmen de Patagones, Argentina Three students killed and 6 wounded by a 15-year-old Argentininan student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires. March 21, 2005Red Lake, Minn. Jeff Weise, 16, killed grandfather and companion, then arrived at school where he killed a teacher, a security guard, 5 students, and finally himself, leaving a total of 10 dead. Nov. 8, 2005Jacksboro, Tenn. One 15-year-old shot and killed an assistant principal at Campbell County High School and seriously wounded two other administrators. Aug. 24, 2006 Essex, Vt. Christopher Williams, 27, looking for his ex-girlfriend at Essex Elementary School, shot two teachers, killing one and wounding another. Before going to the school, he had killed the ex-girlfriend's mother. Sept. 13, 2006Montreal, Canada Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon at Dawson College. Anastasia De Sousa, 18, died and more than a dozen students and faculty were wounded before Gill killed himself. Sept. 27, 2006 Bailey, Colo. Adult male held six students hostage at Platte Canyon High School and then shot and killed Emily Keyes, 16, and himself. Sept. 29, 2006 Cazenovia, Wis. A 15-year-old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang. Oct. 3, 2006Nickel Mines, Pa. 32-year-old Carl Charles Roberts IV entered the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School and shot 10 schoolgirls, ranging in age from 6 to 13 years old, and then himself. Five of the girls and Roberts died. Jan. 3, 2007Tacoma, Wash. Douglas Chanthabouly, 18, shot fellow student Samnang Kok, 17, in the hallway of Henry Foss High School. April 16, 2007Blacksburg, Va. A 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed two in a dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded. Sept. 21, 2007Dover, Del. A Delaware State Univesity Freshman, Loyer D. Brandon, shot and wounded two other Freshman students on the University campus. Brandon is being charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless engagement, as well as a gun charge. Oct. 10, 2007Cleveland, Ohio A 14-year-old student at a Cleveland high school, Asa H. Coon, shot and injured two students and two teachers before he shot and killed himself. The victims' injuries were not life-threatening. Nov. 7, 2007Tuusula, Finland An 18-year-old student in southern Finland shot and killed five boys, two girls, and the female principal at Jokela High School. At least 10 others were injured. The gunman shot himself and died from his wounds in the hospital. Feb. 8, 2008Baton Rouge, Louisiana A nursing student shot and killed two women and then herself in a classroom at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge. Feb. 11, 2008Memphis, Tennessee A 17-year-old student at Mitchell High School shot and wounded a classmate in gym class. Feb. 12, 2008Oxnard, California A 14-year-old boy shot a student at E.O. Green Junior High School causing the 15-year-old victim to be brain dead. Feb. 14, 2008DeKalb, Illinois Gunman killed five students and then himself, and wounded 17 more when he opened fire on a classroom at Northern Illinois University. The gunman, Stephen P. Kazmierczak, was identified as a former graduate student at the university in 2007. Sept. 23, 2008Kauhajoki, Finland A 20-year-old male student shot and killed at least nine students and himself at a vocational college in Kauhajok, 330km (205 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. Nov. 12, 2008Fort Lauderdale, Florida A 15-year-old female student was shot and killed by a classmate at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale. March 11, 2009Winnenden, Germany Fifteen people were shot and killed at Albertville Technical High School in southwestern Germany by a 17-year-old boy who attended the same school. April 30, 2009Azerbaijan, Baku A Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani descent killed 12 students and staff at Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. Several others were wounded. Feb. 5, 2010Madison, Alabama At Discovery Middle School, a ninth-grader was shot by another student during a class change. The boy, whose name was not released, pulled out a gun and shot Todd Brown in the head while walking the hallway. Brown later died at Huntsville Hospital. Feb. 12, 2010Huntsville, Alabama During a meeting on campus, Amy Bishop, a biology professor, began shot her colleagues, killing three and wounding three others. A year earlier, Bishop had been denied tenure. March 9, 2010Columbus, Ohio A man opens fire at Ohio State University, killing two employees and wounding one other. The shooter had recently received an "unsatisfactory" job evaluation and was going to be fired on March 13. Jan. 5, 2011Omaha, Nebraska Two people were killed and two more injured in a shooting at Millard South High School. Shortly after being suspended from school, the shooter returned and shot the assistant principal, principal, and the school nurse. The shooter then left campus and took his own life. Jan. 8, 2011Tuscon, Arizona Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in an assassination attempt. At least 17 others are shot by a gunman, identified as Jared Lee Loughner, who opened fire on the congresswoman's constituent meeting outside a local grocery store. Six people are fatally wounded, including U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, and a young girl. Jan. 5, 2011Houston, Texas Two people opened fire during a Worthing High School powder-puff football game. One former student died. Five other people were injured. April 7, 2011Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A 23-year-old former student returned to his public elementary school in Rio de Janeiro and began firing, killing 12 children and seriously wounding more than a dozen others, before shooting himself in the head. While Brazil has seen gang-related violence in urban areas, this was the worst school shooting the country has ever seen. May 10, 2011San Jose, California Three people were killed in a parking garage at San Jose State University. Two former students were found dead on the fifth floor of the garage. A third, the suspected shooter, died later at the hospital. July 22, 2011Tyrifjorden, Buskerud, Norway A gunman disguised as a policeman opened fire at a camp for young political activists on the island of Utoya. The gunman kills 68 campers, including personal friends of Prime Minister Stoltenberg. Police arrested Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian who had been been linked to an anti-Islamic group. Dec. 8, 2011Blacksburg, Virginia A Virginia Tech police officer was shot and killed by a 22-year old student of Radford University. The shooting took place in a parking lot on Virginia Tech's campus. Feb. 10, 2012Walpole, New Hampshire A 14-year-old student shot himself in front of 70 fellow students. Feb. 27, 2012Chardon, Ohio At Chardon High School, a former classmate opened fire, killing three students and injuring six. Arrested shortly after the incident, the shooter said that he randomly picked students. March 6, 2012Jacksonville, Florida Shane Schumerth, a 28-year-old teacher at Episcopal High School, returned to the campus after being fired and shot and killed the headmistress, Dale Regan, with an assault rifle. March 19, 2012Toulouse, France Mohammed Merah, a French man of Algerian descent, shot and killed a rabbi, two of his children, and another child at a Jewish school. Police believe he had earlier shot and killed three paratroopers. Merah said he was a member of Al Qaeda and that he was seeking revenge for the killing of Palestinian children. April 2, 2012Oakland, Calif. One Goh, a 43-year-old former student at Oikos University, a Christian school populated by mostly Korean and Korean-Americans, opened fire on the campus, killing seven people and wounding several others. July 20, 2012Aurora, Colo. During a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman opens fire on the crowded theater. At least 12 people are killed and 38 others are wounded. The suspect, James Holmes, set off a smoke device in the front of the theater before opening fire. Directly after the incident, Holmes, age 24, was arrested in a parking lot behind the theater. August 5, 2012Oak Creek, Wis. A gunman opens fire at a Sikh temple, killing six people and wounding three. Police shot and killed the suspect, Wade Michael Page, after the attack. Page, a neo-Nazi, served in the U.S. Army from 1992 to 1998. December 14, 2012Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 children and six others at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. He killed his mother, Nancy, at her home prior to the massacre at the school. Lanza committed suicide after the rampage.

 

 

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