You don't have to have witnessed a random shooting in a public place to question whether an armed bystander could have stopped the shooter, but it helps. On the morning of May 21, 1998, on the way to a movie matinee, I stopped by a Tucson post office to send a package of comic books ("The Maxx") to be autographed by the artist/writer Sam Kieth. I take my nerding seriously.
You know what's weird? We didn't talk about it much. I think that we were afraid to. It was too close. I walked down that hallway, up that stairwell hundreds of times over the next three years, and it didn't even register as "this is where it happened." Probably better that way- it's a little hard to keep picturing your school as a place where people died, when you want to feel safe there. Back then, there were no trauma teams, no grief counsellors- they closed the school til the next Monday, then it was business as usual. It was a bit unsettling to have our Principal (a wonderful man) interviewed on As it Happens that night. As far as I know, he killed his English teacher because she was kind and sympathetic, and he had confided in her, and then felt vulnerable that someone knew his secrets. He tried to kill his Science teacher because he was "mean". As a teacher the lesson I get from that is that you can't win. I need to move on now. I actually had some trouble sleeping last night because of this. I will point out one thing that stays with me- in the yearbook, the pictures of the two boys- the shooter and his one victim- are right next to each other, because it was in alphabetical order, and those pages had gone to the printer months earlier.
What's amazing is how many people on here have their own stories to tell. This really says something about the world we live in, when we have to question our safety in our daily routine. Going to school, the post office, a bar, a movie.
One of my co-workers is on vacation visiting family in Aurora. His nephew was bugging him to take him to see Batman (yes, this showing), but my co-worker was exhausted from his trip and promised to take him the next day.
I have a new appreciation for "red-eye" flights.
In the little college town where I live, there is a gun store that has a reputation for selling people handguns that are broken and have to be sent out for repairs before they are even used. I wonder whether it's coincidental or if the shop owner is doing his own regulating of gun ownership.
There are parts of Bowling for Columbine that I cannot watch. I turn the radio off when there is a report of a school shooting. I teach high school- we do lockdown practice twice a year and that in itself is difficult for me. But- I wasn't hit, didn't even see the shooting, just smelled the gunpowder and maybe heard a shot. It doesn't take much.
I know. I have really been freaked by this latest shooting. Mostly, I suppose because I have a 23 yr old niece, who was in a sports journalism programme, loves hockey, etc etc, who could have been that young woman who a) escaped the shooting in Toronto a few months ago (hell, she lives there, and goes to school right across the road) and b) was killed last night in Aurora. So, I'm seeing her in that theatre. It's just such a feeling of helplessness when we hear of these events, let alone live through them. I'm sure that's why these guys do the whole "Oh, I would return fire" bullcrap. In a situation like this, we are are all just reacting, not acting. And it is as frustrating as hell.
<i>&quot;She cleverly skirted the onerous provisions of the heavy-handed federal regulations by answering &ldquo;no&rdquo; on the form...&quot;</i>
For what it&#039;s worth, I think that form should have a place for a co-signer. Someone who vouches for the buyer and his or her answers. It won&#039;t stop every nut, but it will stop some of them.
He had tossed pepper gas, and was wearing a gasmask and fucking kevlar body armor, and had a fucking (at least) semi-auto rifle. The well-positioned police sniper steverino mentioned above would have had a chance, but random concealed-handgun-carriers? If they missed the initial headshot, the muzzle flash would lead to them getting drilled through the seats they were behind.
A drive-by is just one item in a considerable list of situations where being armed does you no good at all. I have a couple of guns, and I can even grant that people should have the right to concealed carry -- with substantiallyr better training than is now the case.
But, ultimately, unless <i>you</i> are the bad guy, packing is unlikely to do you any good, because the bad guy will get the drop on you. I believe that most of the CC crowd have this movie in their minds that involves a showdown on Main Street. Too many fucking Westerns on the brain.
Also too, no hollow-points, no kevlar-piercers (what&#039;s the reason, again?), and, just for kicks, ammo tracking (technology that already exists).
Just in case there are readers who think ammo-tracking is a huge gubmint repressive thing -- if shit gets to the point where we&#039;re (and, that could include me) fighting the government, ammo-tracking will be sort of irrelevant, no? <i>Prior</i> to that time, however, it might discourage some murdering.
On another point you raise: most <i>members</i> of the NRA don&#039;t bother me at all. Generally, they know what they are doing around firearms. It&#039;s the political leadership of the NRA that I detest.
So long as the &quot;PUBLISH&quot; button isn&#039;t next to the &quot;PERISH&quot; button, you&#039;re probably safe.
And yeah, that&#039;s exactly my take on the Aurora horror: the last thing anybody needed was several armed citizens popping up in the middle of the pandemonium, in a dark theater clouded with tear gas and flying bullets, each of them popping off shots at &quot;the gunman&quot;. Anyone inclined to heroism was free to take him down from behind with a flying tackle ... and nobody had even that much presence of mind, let alone enough to get out a gun and get off an accurate shot. (Presumably, with the armor-penetrating ammo that they always carry.)
While this event presents a crappy argument for concealed carry, note also that this lunatic would have been able to get his guns in any state, under any laws, so he&#039;s an equally lousy argument for gun control advocates -- and I wish people would stop trying to use this incident to make their case.
You know what&#039;s weird? We didn&#039;t talk about it much. I think that we were afraid to. It was too close. I walked down that hallway, up that stairwell hundreds of times over the next three years, and it didn&#039;t even register as &quot;this is where it happened.&quot; Probably better that way- it&#039;s a little hard to keep picturing your school as a place where people died, when you want to feel safe there. Back then, there were no trauma teams, no grief counsellors- they closed the school til the next Monday, then it was business as usual. It was a bit unsettling to have our Principal (a wonderful man) interviewed on As it Happens that night. As far as I know, he killed his English teacher because she was kind and sympathetic, and he had confided in her, and then felt vulnerable that someone knew his secrets. He tried to kill his Science teacher because he was &quot;mean&quot;. As a teacher the lesson I get from that is that you can&#039;t win. I need to move on now. I actually had some trouble sleeping last night because of this. I will point out one thing that stays with me- in the yearbook, the pictures of the two boys- the shooter and his one victim- are right next to each other, because it was in alphabetical order, and those pages had gone to the printer months earlier.
What&#039;s amazing is how many people on here have their own stories to tell. This really says something about the world we live in, when we have to question our safety in our daily routine. Going to school, the post office, a bar, a movie.
Oh. My. God. The comments. I need to shower now.
This is as close as I want to get...
One of my co-workers is on vacation visiting family in Aurora. His nephew was bugging him to take him to see Batman (yes, this showing), but my co-worker was exhausted from his trip and promised to take him the next day.
I have a new appreciation for &quot;red-eye&quot; flights.
In the little college town where I live, there is a gun store that has a reputation for selling people handguns that are broken and have to be sent out for repairs before they are even used. I wonder whether it&#039;s coincidental or if the shop owner is doing his own regulating of gun ownership.
There are parts of Bowling for Columbine that I cannot watch. I turn the radio off when there is a report of a school shooting. I teach high school- we do lockdown practice twice a year and that in itself is difficult for me. But- I wasn&#039;t hit, didn&#039;t even see the shooting, just smelled the gunpowder and maybe heard a shot. It doesn&#039;t take much.
I know how you feel.
Wait -- we had a chance to ditch Alaska? I&#039;m horrified by the scale of this tragedy.
I know. I have really been freaked by this latest shooting. Mostly, I suppose because I have a 23 yr old niece, who was in a sports journalism programme, loves hockey, etc etc, who could have been that young woman who a) escaped the shooting in Toronto a few months ago (hell, she lives there, and goes to school right across the road) and b) was killed last night in Aurora. So, I&#039;m seeing her in that theatre. It&#039;s just such a feeling of helplessness when we hear of these events, let alone live through them. I&#039;m sure that&#039;s why these guys do the whole &quot;Oh, I would return fire&quot; bullcrap. In a situation like this, we are are all just reacting, not acting. And it is as frustrating as hell.
<i>&quot;She cleverly skirted the onerous provisions of the heavy-handed federal regulations by answering &ldquo;no&rdquo; on the form...&quot;</i>
For what it&#039;s worth, I think that form should have a place for a co-signer. Someone who vouches for the buyer and his or her answers. It won&#039;t stop every nut, but it will stop some of them.
No, the voice isn&#039;t ultrasonic enough.
He had tossed pepper gas, and was wearing a gasmask and fucking kevlar body armor, and had a fucking (at least) semi-auto rifle. The well-positioned police sniper steverino mentioned above would have had a chance, but random concealed-handgun-carriers? If they missed the initial headshot, the muzzle flash would lead to them getting drilled through the seats they were behind.
A drive-by is just one item in a considerable list of situations where being armed does you no good at all. I have a couple of guns, and I can even grant that people should have the right to concealed carry -- with substantiallyr better training than is now the case.
But, ultimately, unless <i>you</i> are the bad guy, packing is unlikely to do you any good, because the bad guy will get the drop on you. I believe that most of the CC crowd have this movie in their minds that involves a showdown on Main Street. Too many fucking Westerns on the brain.
I&#039;ve never been that close. That must have been a terrible time.
Also too, no hollow-points, no kevlar-piercers (what&#039;s the reason, again?), and, just for kicks, ammo tracking (technology that already exists).
Just in case there are readers who think ammo-tracking is a huge gubmint repressive thing -- if shit gets to the point where we&#039;re (and, that could include me) fighting the government, ammo-tracking will be sort of irrelevant, no? <i>Prior</i> to that time, however, it might discourage some murdering.
On another point you raise: most <i>members</i> of the NRA don&#039;t bother me at all. Generally, they know what they are doing around firearms. It&#039;s the political leadership of the NRA that I detest.
So long as the &quot;PUBLISH&quot; button isn&#039;t next to the &quot;PERISH&quot; button, you&#039;re probably safe.
And yeah, that&#039;s exactly my take on the Aurora horror: the last thing anybody needed was several armed citizens popping up in the middle of the pandemonium, in a dark theater clouded with tear gas and flying bullets, each of them popping off shots at &quot;the gunman&quot;. Anyone inclined to heroism was free to take him down from behind with a flying tackle ... and nobody had even that much presence of mind, let alone enough to get out a gun and get off an accurate shot. (Presumably, with the armor-penetrating ammo that they always carry.)
While this event presents a crappy argument for concealed carry, note also that this lunatic would have been able to get his guns in any state, under any laws, so he&#039;s an equally lousy argument for gun control advocates -- and I wish people would stop trying to use this incident to make their case.