Opinions on Oregon shootings

[dennishoddy]

Got a reply from the Enid News. Thought my post was lost but it was not.

Type Your Letter : The Umpqua Community College shooting is about mental health issues, not gun control. It is a common fantasy that gun bans make society safer. In 2002 -- five years after enacting its gun ban -- the Australian Bureau of Criminology acknowledged there is no correlation between gun control and the use of firearms in violent crime. In fact, the percent of murders committed with a firearm was the highest it had ever been in 2006 (16.3 percent), says the D.C. Examiner. Even Australia's Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research acknowledges that the gun ban had no significant impact on the amount of gun-involved crime:
•Overall, Australia's violent crime rate rose 42.2 percent. Moreover, Australia and the United States -- where no gun-ban exists -- both experienced similar decreases in murder rates:•Between 1995 and 2007, Australia saw a 31.9 percent decrease; without a gun ban, America's rate dropped 31.7 percent.
•Overall, Australia's violent crime rate rose 42.2 percent.•At the same time, U.S. violent crime decreased 31.8 percent•Australian women are now raped over three times as often as American women.While this doesn't prove that more guns would impact crime rates, it does prove that gun control is a flawed policy. Examiner.http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/?Article_ID=17847This shows the US is #6 in mass shootings.http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/?Article_ID=17847Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and DC have the strictest gun laws. They also have the highest murder rates. Criminals only prey on the weak. The biggest proponents of gun control have armed security guards. What does that tell you?

 

[DRC458]

Excellent response! Thanks, Dennis!

 

[DRC458]

I had a call (actually, two) from the Executive Editor at the Enid N&E this evening. The first, asking if my letter was ready to go. Then, he called back for clarification on NFA. So, maybe we will see some of our responses in print. If you haven't written a response yet, I would still encourage you to do so. Thanks!

 

[dennishoddy]

I had a call (actually, two) from the Executive Editor at the Enid N&E this evening. The first, asking if my letter was ready to go. Then, he called back for clarification on NFA. So, maybe we will see some of our responses in print. If you haven't written a response yet, I would still encourage you to do so. Thanks!

It said they would make a phone call verification. I got a phone # with a 214 area code today in an email, but didn't answer as I don't respond or click on phone numbers I don't know. Hope this wasn't from them, but I'm betting they don't have a 214 area code.

 

[rhart]

I read an interesting piece that suggested "social currency" was one of the drivers of mass shootings. Basically, this concept is based on the fact that everybody wants to be somebody - wants to be important/famous/notorious, known for being good at something, known as being special in some way, etc. These sadistic murdering cowards (mass shooters) get their social currency (infamy) through enacting heinous scenarios. Take away or diminish their social currency and remove their time-limited safe operating window (GFZs) and they may pursue some other means of gaining this social currency - maybe they will instead videotape their own suicides by some horrific manner instead (and these should be allowed to be posted on you tube so they gain currency from it IMHO). While there is no sure method of preventing these vile acts, it may be possible to reduce them by removing/negating the perceived benefits of perpetrating them especially when combined with hardening currently soft targets. Most of these guys have decided to die when they set out to commit mass murder so eliminating GFZs alone may not have as dramatic an effect unless the social currency is reduced/removed also. Still, if enacted, there will be some who think that if their killings are particularly horrific they will surely be treated differently and thus realize the social currency that drives these crimes.

 

[DRC458]

It said they would make a phone call verification. I got a phone # with a 214 area code today in an email, but didn't answer as I don't respond or click on phone numbers I don't know. Hope this wasn't from them, but I'm betting they don't have a 214 area code.

I seriously doubt it was them. I know my call came from the local office (580 area code).

 

[DRC458]

My Letter to the Editor showed up in this morning's Enid N&E. I'm gonna' be gone this week-end, but my son is gonna' get the paper every morning and we'll keep an eye out for others. Thanks, and keep writing!

Don

 

[dennishoddy]

Cool!

 

[henschman]

Pray that it doesn’t happen here.

After all that, this is the plan he offers. Good luck with that.

I think I'll arm, train, carry everywhere, and pray that when it happens again, it DOES happen where I am, so I can help the poor crazy bastard put an end to his mental anguish as quickly as possible.

 

[furlong222]

NEWS FLASH....the shooting was not on campus...there was a fight between 2 fraternities - off campus....so its no more than a gang fight gone south - that's straight from an acquaintance that lives in Flagstaff.