That's horrible- seems to happen a couple of times a year somewhere around the western world. Must be very scary having it happen in your backyard. We have had similiar things happen in New Zealand but nothing on this scale.

I think the answer is to try and act a kind life and by treating others well they maybe will not feel the need to go on a rampage. 

What scares me more than this are the countries where massacres are common place and the rest of the world watches on: places like Syria and North Korea: state ordered brutality.

Bub


I own several guns, and not once in all the years I've owned them did I ever get the slightest notion of killing someone.

Of all the screaming matches, and bloody lips I received from my x-wife, I never once thought of hitting her back, or shooting her, or stabbing her, or anything like that.

The point is, and I shouldn't have shared that, but I'm kind of emotional right now, I'm still sickened by what I've read ... the point is ... if you are going to pave a path of devastation like this, you're going to do it with whatever weapon you can find. A shovel, knife, home made bomb, driving a car in the classroom, taking them hostage and slowly doing your thing.

To sit here and get on your soap box about your personal agenda of gun control and insult 314 + million people living in The United States who are sickened and heartbroken over this, not to mention the families of those involved, well, please, drop dead. You're worthless. And blocked.

I'm not pro-gun but at this point I don't think it even matters whether you're pro or anti. It's like blaming heavy metal or horror movies or video games. I've listened to heavy metal and horror movies all my life and I couldn't hurt someone unless they seriously threatened me or my loved ones. Similarly, I grew up in a house where there were guns - but I never touched one and never even thought about it.

We blame those things because we refuse to accept that human nature isn't always all sunshine and rainbows, and that some of us are seriously screwed up and totally lack empathy.

Whether we blame evil spirits, the devil, the tv, music, guns, video games, the decay of moral standards, it's all the same - placing the blame on things. 


I don't know. Acts like these sicken me yet I don't want to be comforted. I don't want interchangeable explanations to try and make me feel better, or something that I can blame to help take off the edge. I want to be sickened by such horror when it happens, always, I don't want to come to terms w/ it.

As a police officer in Ct, and having friends who knew some victims, I am deeply saddened and not too proud to say, I have shed several tears today.

The unimaginable horror, the parents and families of victims must be going through is hard to swallow.  The first responders are also grossly effected.  It is the most disguisting and sad event a parent can imagine.  Words really do it no justice.

Whatever your thoughts on gun control, America, the justice system etc are....I think the families of the victims, deserve a figurative moment of respect before those arguments are brought up and cloud their grief.  I'm not referring to just Foxwolfens post, it's more of a general statement

We blame those things because we refuse to accept that human nature isn't always all sunshine and rainbows, and that some of us are seriously screwed up and totally lack empathy.

well said, Rain.

This act of violence is sickening.  My heart is heavy for the children and the parents and families of those affected and I pray for their peace in this time of great tragedy and loss.

Something is happening in society and it's been going on since the late 60's. It's the elevation of emotion over reason. 

Emotions are dangerous things. They're not always rational. That's why they have to be constantly monitored by reason. Unfortunately, over the last 4 decades or so there has been a cultural and educational trend toward letting emotions run unchecked. We're encouraged to "listen" our emotions, and kids are taught that their feelings are right simply by virtue of the fact that they felt them. It's all part of this BS of trying to give kids an artificial and unearned sense of self esteem. 


Well look at the result. People have less self control and are more liable to snap. That's not to say that everyone is thinking about snapping and committing mass murder, but when the general trend is toward less reason and more emotion, you're going to see more instances of people snapping. 


An example of this is the current explosion in people killing their own kids because of some marital dispute or other. I have never seen as many cases of this as I have over the last 10-15 years. It's definitely getting worse. 


The economy? Hmmm. Well, well poverty and hardship were far more widespread 100 years ago and yet people weren't storming classrooms and massacring kids by the dozen. 


This is why I believe gun control is the wrong thing to focus on. You're never going to eradicate guns. Even if you banned them outright in America, a huge black market would emerge in guns smuggled from Russia and China. How's that war on drugs been working out? Made any progress? A war on black market guns would be equally as futile. 

Unimaginably horrific.

I've just watched the national BBC news bulletin with the normally very composed, calm and collected Fiona Bruce being close to tears whilst reading this which of course is the main story and having real difficulty keeping composure to bring the rest of todays news.
 
Nobody here is pointing fingers, at America or particular laws or sets of morality.
 
Please don't turn on yourselves or your policies over this tragedy, every right-sided free thinking and feeling being in this planet is feeling sympathy and sadness on hearing such horrific news.
 
As James already points out these things happen all the same even where guns are outlawed and in different nations.  Part of the pain is caused by knowing rotten fruit grows from the same tree we are all part of and none of us are immune from that.
 
I pray that time will lend some proper perspective on this and some restrained reflection, reasoned thinking and inspired guidance ultimately lead us away from these kinds of things ever happening again.

MakeShift


Personally, I think violent video games have contributed more to this than guns.  Guns have been around for 100's of years.  This is pure evil.  A desensitation to the value of human life.  This kind of evil would use what ever it could to destroy human life.  We never use to think of a commercial airliner as an instrument to kill thousands, but is also a tool for distruction. We need to figure out what in society is causing people to become these monsters and focus less on what object or tool is used to do the killing.  Evil will find a way to do evil.

I'm gonna have to rebuttal here because I am sick and tired of hearing that well-worn excuse! Media is always to blame for what happens in society. Ever stopped to think that media may be try to tell society about itself?


And to make matters worse, not saying this is right, but people get mad when movies are made about this tragedies, Again, I didn't say that was/is right, but how can hollywood be able to get people to open there eyes? I'm sure you know the altered opening to DKR when the Aurora shooting happened. This is bad because that film will forever be associated with that shooting. 


Remember the emergence of plane films during/around 9/11 or such films before 9/11, that are somehow associated with 9/11. I'm surprised the "Assassinate The President" movies don't get blasted because you would think they give someone the idea to do that, but how many presidents have been assassinated, but we don't hear the "media" excuse? What Presidential film was out when JFK was assassinated? (As Obama said: Gotta put aside the politics. I agree with him, but I think it'll only last for a moment)

Of all the modern shootings in this country, the media is the villian! I wonder if hollywood needs to make such a film for people to realize that though the media feeds the problem that they aren't the problem. Hollywood could tell there audiences to be nothing but do gooders, but there will always be someone to ignore this. Will it then be the media's problem? And media I include: Movies, TV and games as you mentioned.

Bowling for Colombine after that shooting, the aforementioned DKR "stickers" after that shooting. All the psyche-babble! "Oh, he was quiet, a loner, not-a-people person. He watches violent films and plays such videogames. I am an adult and am all those things, but I'm not going on a killing spree for no reason whatsoever. I was raised better than that nor am I stupid or ignorant since I know the difference between what's real and what's not. It'a the same excuses and going into how this is reflected in the media ...

There are films and tv shows that are just like this: 

Here you have a man/woman that is so awful; yet, there's a reason for the awfulness. IOW, psycho-analyzing what is wrong. Either it's: "I was abused as a child/My parents left me/I never saw my parents/I'm mad at the world because I didn't get what I want. These characters are what you call gray characters. Now, is the society a product of these stories or are these stories a product of what occurs in society?

The gender wars: Men are dogs - women are princesses. The countless/endless double-standards (usually voiced by women). Heck, I saw a video where both sexes were in a bar, but the roles were reversed. Girls were acting immature and the guys were acting like gentlemen (until they got around their guy friends). One guy slapped the spit out of a woman who touched him inappropriately/ Do you know what I said when the appropriate was posed: "What if the roles were reversed? Would we see equal or different treatment?" I said, "Guys would still get hosed!" and I pointed to when one slapped that very eager woman who touched him. How loud would the physical abuse cry get? Or when the man argues with his woman though she deserves every bit of it? He's wrong? Custody battles are won by the mother when the child needs BOTH parents.

All these things you see in the media, but we see and hear about them in the real-world, too! So, the BS about how the media is solely responsible is just that BS! I might be wrong, but out of all the shooters I've played (and I've played quite a few) children weren't the victims! magine the uproar companies and developers would get if they made games like this. Some already get uproar with the Adult oriented games they come out with (and I don't mean the ones that used sexuality to sell, but the act of sex and such itself) I wouldn't be surprised if they as well as films/tv shows were blamed for people becoming sexually active - persuing permiscusity!

Children/Teenagers are the way they are because the parents don't teach them anything! No disrespect is intended to the shooter's mother (may she and all other victims RIP) but if she didn't hold his feet to the fire - or if not her - somebody in his life - no wonder this happened! Am I blaming her? No. note I said, if somebody was in his life. She was (maybe she wasn't, but she's not here.) Where's his father?

I realized what I wrote in this last two paragraphs, but it proves my points about misplaced anger. Why are people violent? I don't know, but I'll be damned if I believe that if the media wasn't violent, the world wouldn't be.

I understand influences, but to use a less tragic analogy: Someone who's been sheltered. You know good and well that once s/he has been release into the world, that person is going to run wild. The country-bumpkin vs. city dweller. The bumpkin's lived where it's been quiet pretty much nothing going on, but goes to the city and is mortified by all the busy-ness as chaos that is city life or perhaps it's where s/he wanted to be.

You're right about the disensitizing (except when it comes to children and this is also seen in the media). However, I don't believe inbeing so disensitized that you become stupid. Yet, remember that audience that watched "The Peaceful Hollywood Movie?" There's one that said: "It's garbage!" completely ignoring it's message, but you blame the movie (makers)? Yeah, okay! You make something for the adults and kids go get it or convince their Adult Parents to get it for their kids and they do because the child will throw and tantrum and hurt them badly (for a respectful term)

So, who's wrong here? It ain't 100% the media fault. People are just violent or at least have that side in them. Everybody gets angry and whatnot, but it's about how you channel it.

I just heard that the mother died due to an argument she and her son were having! The world needs some serious anger management classes, but even that may not solve the problem. It's not the media! The consumer never has to buy what is being sold, but the seller gets blamed! Makes no damn sense!

So, you think that those that don't grow up violent, but enjoy shooters (players/developers) should be penalized because of what such things could cause? Yet, all of us take medicine regardless of all the side-effects. It's true, that things could be worse, but playing it safe (in some situations) isn't always the answer. I blame the POS that is "political-correctness." If not, you wouldn't have a reason to justify any action. Guy cheats on a girl, she should get mad and leave him, but give him a piece of her mind first; yet, a girl cheats on a guy, he has no justification for yelling or leaving her. (You see the in the media, too).

Girl yells at guy: "You go girl! You tell him, sister!" Guy yells at girl for the same thing: "Get away from this mofo! He ain't worth it!" Yet, both were wrong and should be yelled at!

Whatever is shown in the media tells us alot about our society - IOW, the media is a reflection of our society. We only villify it because we don't like what we see in the mirror! (not the other way around) The late MJ wrote a song called "Man in the Mirror" and it couldn't be anymore appropro and the associated video takes that even further! 

Lyrics Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdIUzBoowbQ
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

Or I'll throw in Christina Aguilera's "Reflection."  This song is more about the individual self which asks the question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzHR0IErM60 (The entire song though I only posted the first chorus) This tune really says alot ...

Who is that (person) I see
Staring straight back at me?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?

Again, I'm not disagreeing about the influence  media has on society, but isn't it monkey-see, monkey-do when interacting to mirrors? If I put my left hand up, the right hand gpes up in the mirror, but a hand goes up. period - makes no difference which. Playing the mirror game with a partner? Same thing!

So, the real question is: Who should change? Society! When this happens, everything else will, too. The mirror media) only mimics what it is exposed to (society) If you (society) don't like it, well, that is on you! This part I do agree with!

It's sad how society thinks it's blameless when it's not!

sharke


Something is happening in society and it's been going on since the late 60's. It's the elevation of emotion over reason. 

Emotions are dangerous things. They're not always rational. That's why they have to be constantly monitored by reason. Unfortunately, over the last 4 decades or so there has been a cultural and educational trend toward letting emotions run unchecked. We're encouraged to "listen" our emotions, and kids are taught that their feelings are right simply by virtue of the fact that they felt them. It's all part of this BS of trying to give kids an artificial and unearned sense of self esteem. 


Well look at the result. People have less self control and are more liable to snap. That's not to say that everyone is thinking about snapping and committing mass murder, but when the general trend is toward less reason and more emotion, you're going to see more instances of people snapping. 


An example of this is the current explosion in people killing their own kids because of some marital dispute or other. I have never seen as many cases of this as I have over the last 10-15 years. It's definitely getting worse. 


The economy? Hmmm. Well, well poverty and hardship were far more widespread 100 years ago and yet people weren't storming classrooms and massacring kids by the dozen. 


This is why I believe gun control is the wrong thing to focus on. You're never going to eradicate guns. Even if you banned them outright in America, a huge black market would emerge in guns smuggled from Russia and China. How's that war on drugs been working out? Made any progress? A war on black market guns would be equally as futile. 

To put things into perspective - 22 kids killed in China. No gun. Different culture. Human nature. http://www.nydailynews.co...hool-article-1.1220230


From human sacrifices, to crusades, to Nazi germany, to eradication of entire nations as related even in the Old Testament, and even the story of Cain and Abel - violent human nature.

Some middle-eastern religions still justify death sentence for disobedient children, in the name of "morals" - not a week goes by w/o an horror story about kids being shot in school buses or beheaded daughters who disobeyed her father or a young woman disfigured because she didn't want to prostitute... And these societies are at the opposite end of the spectrum from where America stands.

We must not forget that the population which only reached one billion at the turn of the previous century is growing exponentially, and that we are literally submerged w/ news of all those incidents. And who makes the most babies? People who can't raise them properly of course... 

I don't see this trend reversing anytime soon. In fact, I seem to observe the opposite - the more the population is dense, the less value life is given. China is once again an example of this. Anyway...


Strict morals or decaying morals, emotions or reason - looking back in history, it's more than obvious that we can and do use just about anything to explain the infamy. The Nazi had a pretty "rational" agenda. At approximately, the same period, if you look at the propaganda posters in America. you'll see that many of us here in the land of the free, held disconcertingly similar views towards "the japs", another race which supposedly deserved to be wiped. The idea was shockingly acceptable.

I think some of you have already touched on this. 

It isn't just American culture that has seen this errant and tragic behavior. Unfortunately this is the second shooting in a weeks time (Clackamas Town Center Mall, Portland area), the third high profile shooting (Aurora, Colorado) by young men in their 20's this year in America.
This is not a recent problem in the US we have mass killings of innocents going back well over a hundred years. The earliest accounted slaying of children in America dates back 1764, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. And I am sure we can find similar incidents throughout history on multiple continents.


The fact is that these acts are perpetrated by sick individuals with no empathy for the grief they are causing. My heart goes out to the parents of those children lost and to the families of the adults who perished as well.