like i said earlier...

getting rid of guns will not solve problems like this
what about homemade bombs? knifes? etc.
we need more security at public places
more cameras
etc.etc.etc.

It all depends doesnt it. If someone was doing something to someone i care about i reckon i do have it in me to do something drastic.

people keep saying "getting rid of guns won't change anything, people can still use knives, bombs etc"

But it is a step in the right direction!

Several sharp kitchen knives, a broom, chairs etc etc. Jokes aside, i'd never want to own a gun, but it is easy to understand why someone would want to own one.

Sorry, but no.

what a freaking tragedy. But I get a little tired of the "Oh what is wrong with the US" choir.

The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at the primary school in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March1996. It remains the deadliest attack on children in United Kingdom history. Sixteen children and one adult were killed, in addition to the attacker.

Friday April 26, 2002 Eighteen people were killed at a German school today when a recently-expelled pupil opened fire on his former teachers and fellow students.

Wed. Sep. 13 2006 11:28 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A gunman with a Mohawk haircut and black clothing opened fire inside Montreal's Dawson College on Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding 19 others

hmm, when one googles "school shooting" it is a bit distressing to see the sheer quantity that show up and that most are in fact in the US. In the Phillipines people are known to go postal in big crowds with machetes.

I have to agree with crypto.

how can you say that getting rid of guns is not a step in the right direction!

[quote=tesla69]

The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at the primary school in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March1996. It remains the deadliest attack on children in United Kingdom history. Sixteen children and one adult were killed, in addition to the attacker.

Friday April 26, 2002 Eighteen people were killed at a German school today when a recently-expelled pupil opened fire on his former teachers and fellow students.
quote]

I was just thinking about that one.

Amerikans use guns because the Small Pox Blanket takes too long to do the job.

ahhhh.....the good old days.

like the americans don't have their own persuasion? that they want to please everyone they know? i found this stupid. but things are different here, more free, they teach us to have our own point of view etc.. so it's hard to imagine how hard can it be in america..

we need more security, more k9's, and more cameras in public places.

perhaps a much more rigid/strict regulations to own a gun.

True,

but with more security comes more paranoia for the crazy's that do this kind of thing.

Im glad that your freinds are alright but if they were caught up in this do you think you would feel differently?

getting rid of guns will strip legal owners, responsible hunters, and responsible u[stading citizens of their firearms. It will not get rid of any black market guns, criminals smuggling guns in from another country, etc.

i think every adult citizien of USA should be required to take firearm safety classes before age 21. That way, even those that do not own guns know how to use them safely, if need be, to take out some fucker like this idiot madman at Virginia Tech.

children of responsible gun owners very arrely misuse weapons. children of gun owners who hide their shit from the kids are the ones that suffer.

police have confirmed that the shooter committed suicide, and the students at the college have been sent back to class, they will be bussed home later today.

my father and i hunt, so i agree with you 100%
He keeps all the guns in a walk-in safe
I cant handle a gun unless we are huntin' or at the shooting range

I think as bad as this school shooting is the columbine shooting is going to be the one that goes down in history. They just showed some footage from the columbine massacre on TV.

holy shit man. 34 dead? insane...

i agree w/ cheeto the u.s. of a. breeds sociopaths-- in fact, it rewards them. many are running large corporations, military projects, war operations, surgical rooms, etc.

sad news :(

Well by pleasing everyone that is a pressure put upon a person.

[devil's advocate]If guns were easier to acquire those students could have defended themselves[/devil's advocate]

And some of them may have probably been killed before reaching university age.

yes! that's why pleasing everyone is BAD! you have to please yourself at first. why always try to belong somewhere or to be popular? you only have to do things in harmony with your persuasion

The inherent hipocrisy of Europeans lies in the fact that Europe itself is the inventor of mass murders. Look at history and you'll see that many a different gun has been used to accompolish such tasks. The boring drone of ''Oh, look! Look at what the Americans did!'' is such bollocks to hear every time something like this happens. And it will happen again and again.

i didn't want to say this. i dont't agree with it. i in spite of most europeans don't think all these "oh stupid americans!" thing. because i really hate when somebody judges the nation this superficially. i just wanted to make syntheticaly understand, that the social pressure is everywhere

The reason people in Europe react to this is that America is a cultural, economic and military superpower. there is a serious arguement that tragedies like this raise, the issue of firearms is more and more relevant in the UK as you mentioned in the other thread.

It's confirmed 31 people dead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_School_Massacres

check the facts.

there's something really wrong about america and their gun policies.

so it must have been that 21 people were dead at the scene and another 10 people have since died in hospital.

Sorry, i wasn't talking about anyone in this thread in particular. More the general reaction of the European press when something like this happens and the consequent thinking that it generates in people.

This is a terrible tragedy- one that makes my heart sink in sadness beneath my tough police officer's exterior.

However, I believe we should not jump to any hasty conclusions regarding guns. Guns are not the cause of the crime, the people are. Evil is a human trait. Guns are necessary for freedom in America. Without them policing would be inefficient. Guns should, however, be restricted to only the most respectable and intelligent citizens. I think the screening process leaves much to be improved upon.

yeah i can see that, in england some news presenters get this "stupid american's" tone in their voices and in the way the present their findings on the story, which is stupid!

I'm sorry but plain sentimentalism has never helped anyone. It's plain as white bread that you're not going to find solutions to tragedies from scallywags sitting in front of their computer, that obvious. For that there are the princess Dianas and Madonnas of this world.

how come after an extensive list of massacres and etc. they still have the same gun policy... that's what is stupid.

I was about to say the same thing.

this exact same dialog occurs across the internet everytime this happens. these threads always devolve into flame wars about Amerika and it's "love" of guns.

despite our Amerikan "lifestyle" being a contributing factor in many of these type of "events", the discussion rarely rises above cultural finger pointing.

So this is what my generation is going to be famous for huh? Generation Y, the remembered famous for all the school shootings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-AJYi-wzpA

And that's exactly my point. The simplistic way in which these things are discussed, the trite sentimentality and the general consensus tha 'all' Americans are gun-loving Marylin Manson fans etc, will take nobody nowhere. The generation x thing is a tad too utopian for such things and it normally gets an interesting discussion into a cul de sac.

you're sorry about what, foo?? you're agreeing with me, right there. and i'm not being sentimental but very practical-- getting back to work as we speak.