virginia tech.

[outdoors]

 what?

[outdoors]

 I am sure MAN =GUNS is brought to the forefront by women's groups

[outdoors]

wow! the more i hear, the more i wonder.
what cud have possibly drove this guy or guys to do such a thing?
What a tragedy!

[The Gonzman]

From the Roanoke Times, Jan 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

    House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

    Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Yeah.  Sure.  Youbetcha.

[Men's Rights Activist]

At first they were reporting this as begining as a domestic violence incident, but now they have pulled most of those earlier leads.  It was reported begining as a d.v. incident in a number of news outlets.

I have read a number of reports that the gunman did not have an i.d. on him, and when he committed suicide, blew away part of his face so they're having a hard time identifying him.

other bits of info reported:

- two 9 mm pistols
- 33 dead
- 28 wounded (but news accounts vary)
- students lined up against wall and executed

I heard one FOX News commentator refer to this person as a "mad dog."  As Jon Voigt so correctly pointed out in the movie Runaway Train, "Worse, human!"

[strangedisk]

Here's a quote from an article on Cognitive Daily:

In more than half the cases, the attacker's behavior caught the attention of more than one person. Behaviors that led others (e.g. school officials, police, fellow students) to be concerned included those related to the attack, such as efforts to obtain a gun. But they also included behaviors not clearly related to the attack. More than three-fourths of the attackers threatened to kill themselves, made suicidal gestures, or tried to kill themselves before their attacks.

This goes back to the male suicide issue.

The article:

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/04/how_can_something_like_this_ha.php

The lack of mental health services made available to males (at the same level as what is available to females, INCLUDING help specifically tailored to males and help available to males in a male-only forum) creates two problems -- first, the general lack of help facilitates this kind of thing, and second, it makes it look like a male problem.  It is a male problem, of course, in that males are not getting help whereas females are.

I'm not just referring to the lack of official support at the level of services, but also the lack of societal support.

[Mr. X]

From the Roanoke Times, Jan 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

    House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

    Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Yeah.  Sure.  Youbetcha.

I was just thinking that as well. He certainly wouldn't have killed 32 people if others were packing.

[The Gonzman]

From the Roanoke Times, Jan 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

    House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

    Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Yeah.  Sure.  Youbetcha.

I was just thinking that as well. He certainly wouldn't have killed 32 people if others were packing.

I'm thinking the Virginia Legislature - along with all the anti-gun nuts - are going to need a lot of bleach to wash the blood of thirty-two people off their hands.

[The Biscuit Queen]

I just keep wondering what would cause someone to go off like this. Some people are just mean, some are heartless, but usually someone who snaps suddenly like this does so for a reason. That never excuses violence, but it explains it and perhaps allows us to keep it from happening again.

It reminds me of that Michael Douglas movie Falling Down. 

[outdoors]

strangedisc-i agree with you 100%- no help for men anywhere.

[Mr. X]

I just keep wondering what would cause someone to go off like this. Some people are just mean, some are heartless, but usually someone who snaps suddenly like this does so for a reason. That never excuses violence, but it explains it and perhaps allows us to keep it from happening again.

It reminds me of that Michael Douglas movie Falling Down. 

The thing is they think he called in the bomb threats earlier to test security and he chained the doors shut so its premeditated. This was planned. There is snapping and then there is diabolical planning. Even if he was hurt by a girlfriend he had no right to use this force to take her life or others. This is just a condemned act.

[Sir Galahad]

I just keep wondering what would cause someone to go off like this. Some people are just mean, some are heartless, but usually someone who snaps suddenly like this does so for a reason. That never excuses violence, but it explains it and perhaps allows us to keep it from happening again.

It reminds me of that Michael Douglas movie Falling Down. 

In Falling Down (a great MRA movie, by the way), Douglas' character only killed one person:  the neo-Nazi who tried to rape him.  His character had rational motivations for his "rampage", most suicidal killers do not.  There seems to be an epidemic of mental illness in this country.  Never before in history, it seems, have so many psychopaths gone on killing sprees.

[Sorry Isnt Good Enough]

The guy was here on a visa from Shanghai, and the guns were hot (obviously).  Lot more here than meets the eye.

[mens_issues]

Some food for thought:

The perpetrator of this ghastly act was male.  However, most of the victims were likely male as well (being that Virginia Tech emphasizes science and engineering).   Also, the police and emergency crews were also likely to be predominantly male.

So males are overrepresented at the extremes of violence and heroism, with the common denominator being the willingness to take risks.  Fortunately, the heroes seem to predominate.

Steve

[FP]

From the Roanoke Times, Jan 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

    House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

    Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Yeah.  Sure.  Youbetcha.

I was just thinking that as well. He certainly wouldn't have killed 32 people if others were packing.

I'm thinking the Virginia Legislature - along with all the anti-gun nuts - are going to need a lot of bleach to wash the blood of thirty-two people off their hands.

Nah, they've plenty of whitewash with "see! we need more gun control now! NOW! NOW! NOW!" and sadly many will fall for it.