Massacre At Virginia Tech

[Doin]

The trend of school and university shootings is solely, unless I am mistaken, an American epidemic. Why does it not happen elsewhere? Surely there are wackos all over the world, disgruntled with their lives and thinking that the world owes them. But they don't have the easy access to guns that Americans do.
I am sure that more facts will emerge about the gunman's identity very soon. CNN said he was a student at that university.

Tightening the gun laws would do nothing now as the guns are already out there and in the hands of people who shouldn't own them.
Australia had a successful guns buy back scheme in the wake of the Port Arthur Massacre.

[Fadingtoblack]

I'm not seeing anything against women here at all, Bob's word of choice was just another swear word, nothing misogynistic, and I'm sure that wasn't his intent.


However, we need to cut back on some of the language in this thread, from the rules:
https://forum.metpage.org/viewtopic.php?t=8013

No excessive use of profanity. It is unprofessional, offensive and will not be tolerated.

And, The Bitch board is a few forums down if you want to discuss Bush and American gun laws

[akrtlmetallica]

The trend of school and university shootings is solely, unless I am mistaken, an American epidemic.

Funny you should say that. While you're right, it is a problem in our country, it was just revealed on cnn.com that the guy who did it was an immigrant from South Korea.

[Bert Jan]

I must say that this not only happened in the States, but since 1996, this also happened in Holland once, in Germany twice..in Schotland once, in Jemen once, and in Canada once..

Thats what our newspaper says anyway... now not all of these where massacres like this with 30 people killed, but all of them have at least 1 death and and/or several wounded...

[ret0dd]

This problem is EVERYWHERE stop blaming video games, music, governments, etc..
The only people to blame are the people who raise these lunatics.
PARENT/S

[Bert Jan]

This problem is EVERYWHERE stop blaming video games, music, governments, etc..
The only people to blame are the people who raise these lunatics.
PARENT/S

I totally disagree with you on that.
Definately...parents are a main issue in such cases..and I see it in my country as well.. more and more children are out of control and nobody knows what to do...
I wouldnt be surprised if this problem is in other countries

But I definately think that all the violent games, movies, video clips etc are also part of the problem. Now I am not saying it should be forbidden or whatever..
But I am just saying that for children who are growing up with violent movies..cartoons..videogames...start to believe this stuff is normal..

parents are to blame definately...but up to a certain point, video games and all the stuff I mentioned are to blame as well...

[akrtlmetallica]

This problem is EVERYWHERE stop blaming video games, music, governments, etc..
The only people to blame are the people who raise these lunatics.
PARENT/S

I agree. Good parents raise their kids with values and teach them that video games/movies are separate from real life. They also don't allow their kids to play violent games or watch those movies.

[Metallifold]

Let's face it- America provided the tools for this idiot to act. Don't get me wrong, it is No one elses fault that he got insane and wanted to shoot those poor people the US gun laws certainly made it a lot easier for him to act. Some people can't understand it, but you don't need to own a gun. You don't need have a weapon to "defend your home". You could just call the cops.

Blaming videogames is just being fucking ignorant. There are reasons to why GTA is for people who are adluts only of course. But thenThe thing is that People who wants to kill people after killing someone in a game so much that they actually go and do it are allready insane, and insane people have always existed, and insane ones have ALWAYS killed. One has to understand that this person who did this was crazy, a total lunatic.
Combine that with ease to get guns in the USA and you're there!

To Desert_rat: That you are actually really putting some sort of blame on Cristophe because of this happening... I mean, are you serious? You better fucking not be. Avatars doesn't make people in their right mind able to kill people.

About Bad Parenting: This could definately be a reason to why teenagers go nuts. It's bad parenting to let kids play GTA, it sure is, because kids can become influenced by things. But I'll never settle with games being the only reason to someone being insane. It has to be more than that, so much more, so much more that Video games only can be a parenthesis in the matter, if at all. Bad parenting is though something I can believe being a reason to kids loosing their grips totally.

[OutlawTorn81]

The trend of school and university shootings is solely, unless I am mistaken, an American epidemic. Why does it not happen elsewhere? Surely there are wackos all over the world, disgruntled with their lives and thinking that the world owes them. But they don't have the easy access to guns that Americans do.
I am sure that more facts will emerge about the gunman's identity very soon. CNN said he was a student at that university.

Tightening the gun laws would do nothing now as the guns are already out there and in the hands of people who shouldn't own them.
Australia had a successful guns buy back scheme in the wake of the Port Arthur Massacre.

We've had a few major incidents like this here in Canada in the past few years, and we're known for our very strict gun possession laws. They're not quite as stringent as Australia's that were introduced after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, but they're very strict and quite prohibitive in many cases.

There was the shooting of 14 women at the Ecoly Polytechnic in Montreal in December 1989. A male gunman deliberately murdered these women for no other reason than they were women.

In Mayerthorpe, Alberta, a nutbar killed four police officers who were on their way to arrest him for a litany of illegal activities.

On Boxing Day 2005, a 15-year old girl was caught in the crossfire during a gang-related incident and killed.

Last September, at Dawson College--again in Montreal--a gunman with severe mental health issues went on a rampage that killed one woman and injured 20 other people.

Gun violence happens in many places of the world, as Bert Jan correctly stated. It's ignorant on our parts to assume that it's "just an American thing" because so many of these violent occurrences happen in the United States and, because it's the United States, they are so widely reported. People are murdered with guns in just about every country in the world, it is a vile thing to occur and is rightly condemned by thinking people in all corners and walks of life. But let's not delude ourselves into thinking that it's only in gun-happy 'Merica that nutjobs are shooting each other up in the streets.

What are the sources that are setting off all of these men--and it is overwhelmingly men who are doing it--to go on these rampages? From where does their hatred of humanity emanate? What is causing them to lose their inhibitions against common integrity and morality? Is it completely off-the-wall and out-of-bounds to take a good, hard look at some of the more violent video games out there? I don't believe that it is. That's not the sole basis, but I'm of the opinion that this type of stylized violence combined with a weak and/or unstable mind can be a cocktail for tragedy. Note the words that I am using here, because there are key inherent distinctions being made as I go.

Advertisers bank on the notion that people get something out of seeing an ad for their product, be it the new super McDonald's burger, a new type of car, a Hollywood movie, or the latest video game featuring all sorts of monumental death and destruction. There is something in violent video games that attracts young men to buy them by the thousands, even millions, just as surely as there is something in violent pornography that makes it so attractive to young men. Again, a violent video game or a porn movie do not necessarily spawn a violent rapist or murderer, but they can play a role in desensitizing weak and/or unstable minds and loosening their inhibitions that prevent them from otherwise committing violence against others. Something about the violence, even though it is stylized, works for these people, and in some cases, weakens their ability to distinguish between the fantasy of blowing off an alien's head and wanting to take out retribution against that girl who blew you off when you made an advance at her, or paying back your classmates for all those times they made fun of you.

Bleix is right to say that laying the blame solely on the shoulders of Nintendo or Sony is ignorant, because it does overlook a number of important factors. But I'm not convinced that it's only a parenthetical or minimal role that the video games are having on creating sociopathic murderers in America and all over the world.

Lastly, fadingtoblack, call your wife, sister, or mother that repulsive word and then ask them why they get so upset about it. Better yet, go find someone who identifies themself as a feminist, call her that, and once you've picked yourself up off the ground, maybe you'll understand. It's not "just another swear word," it is a deeply offensive term that reduces a full human being with thoughts, emotions, and all the other notions we associate with humanity to a body part in the context that it is merely a receptable for men.

[Poolzer]

Please reflect on the guidelines of our board guys, which can be clicked on at the top of the page, in any of the forum pages. PM's have been sent out to those in question.

Lets continue this thread with the maturity most have taken and are known for.