School shooting in Parkland Florida

[Track Collector]

I have not read each and every posting to this thread, so my apologies in advance if this as been discussed before.

I'm sure that improvements can be made in both changes to the existing gun laws and the effective enforcement of whatever laws are in effect, but it seems to me that the one aspect of the discussion that virtually no one wants to talk about is: Why is it that today vs. many years ago, a greater number of the population consider killing as a viable AND ACCEPTABLE means to expressing one's anger and/or dealing with differences we have with one another? And perhaps the answer is irrelevant anyway because to understand the answers would mean to acknowledge some of the causes, to which a significant number of folks would be unwilling agents of change.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Track Collector

I have not read each and every posting to this thread, so my apologies in advance if this as been discussed before.

I'm sure that improvements can be made in both changes to the existing gun laws and the effective enforcement of whatever laws are in effect, but it seems to me that the one aspect of the discussion that virtually no one wants to talk about is: Why is it that today vs. many years ago, a greater number of the population consider killing as a viable AND ACCEPTABLE means to expressing one's anger and/or dealing with differences we have with one another? And perhaps the answer is irrelevant anyway because to understand the answers would mean to acknowledge some of the causes, to which a significant number of folks would be unwilling agents of change.

I mustn't be as observant as I thought I was. I haven't noticed that killing innocent people has become a more "accepted" means of venting one's anger. To "accept" something means to condone it after the fact...and I haven't seen any of that taking place.

[chadk66]

The left has no leg to stand on in this discussion given how they couldn't even prosecute Kate's shooter. Screw the left at this point.

[Clocker]

Better late than never.

Deputies will carry rifles on the grounds of local schools in Broward County in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel announced Wednesday.

Israel said that only deputies who are "qualified and trained" will carry the rifles on school grounds.
...

A reporter asked if officers will carry AR-15’s, and Israel said some would.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/...474763143.html

[mrhorseplayer]

seen were those kids are split on gun control however you know the only ones the media cares about.

[Clocker]

Are the schools a big part of the problem?

From The Federalist, "13 Ways Public Schools Incubate Mental Instability In Kids"

But never fear. Although people have been writing for decades about the inability of mammoth government bureaucracies to handle children appropriately, there’s always a new fad to the rescue, always another shade of lipstick to apply to the pig.

The jury should have been in a long time ago. As long as we institutionalize kids into prison-like schools built on a factory model and without any other choices, we’ll get more and more psychic alienation and social dysfunction. In this scenario, gun bans simply mean future mass killings would likely involve more knives, cars plowed into crowds, chemicals, and perhaps more bombs concocted from fertilizer and other household items.

It is well past time we investigate power elites hell-bent on preserving an alienating mass schooling bureaucracy that controls the minds and lives of all children. When will we stop feeding this beast?

http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/21/...tability-kids/

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I mustn't be as observant as I thought I was. I haven't noticed that killing innocent people has become a more "accepted" means of venting one's anger. To "accept" something means to condone it after the fact...and I haven't seen any of that taking place.

I won't speak for Track Collector, but I took his post to mean that it has become more "acceptable" to the perpetrators, not to the population at large; that is to say, where you or I might have settled a dispute with a fistfight, there is a portion of the population that now deems it acceptable to engage in lethal force to settle disputes or grievances, real or perceived.

Mule

[FantasticDan]

Twitter

[Track Collector]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I mustn't be as observant as I thought I was. I haven't noticed that killing innocent people has become a more "accepted" means of venting one's anger. To "accept" something means to condone it after the fact...and I haven't seen any of that taking place.

I am talking from the perspective of the killer, and with the assumption that the motive is anger/revenge-based (rather than attention seeking). Somewhere and somehow the idea of committing these terrible acts of violence is conceived, and unfortunately, nothing within that person's internal compass ultimately prevents the idea from morphing into action. Some may have mental illnesses, but others know the difference between right and wrong and deliberately choose to do evil things.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

I won't speak for Track Collector, but I took his post to mean that it has become more "acceptable" to the perpetrators, not to the population at large; that is to say, where you or I might have settled a dispute with a fistfight, there is a portion of the population that now deems it acceptable to engage in lethal force to settle disputes or grievances, real or perceived.

Mule

I might easily be wrong about this...but I am not seeing people killing each other in order to settle disputes. I see deranged people taking innocent lives...or killing to appease their self-interests. These aren't the spur-of-the-moment crimes that a "dispute" would cause. These are the premeditated actions of evil minds...IMO.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Track Collector

I am talking from the perspective of the killer, and with the assumption that the motive is anger/revenge-based (rather than attention seeking). Somewhere and somehow the idea of committing these terrible acts of violence is conceived, and unfortunately, nothing within that person's internal compass ultimately prevents the idea from morphing into action. Some may have mental illnesses, but others know the difference between right and wrong and deliberately choose to do evil things.

Had I seen this post of yours...then I wouldn't have written mine.

[Track Collector]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

I won't speak for Track Collector, but I took his post to mean that it has become more "acceptable" to the perpetrators, not to the population at large; that is to say, where you or I might have settled a dispute with a fistfight, there is a portion of the population that now deems it acceptable to engage in lethal force to settle disputes or grievances, real or perceived.

Mule

Yes, and Thanks!

(It often takes me a while to compose my reply, thus your posting before mine.).

[davew]

Originally Posted by Track Collector

I have not read each and every posting to this thread, so my apologies in advance if this as been discussed before.

I'm sure that improvements can be made in both changes to the existing gun laws and the effective enforcement of whatever laws are in effect, but it seems to me that the one aspect of the discussion that virtually no one wants to talk about is: Why is it that today vs. many years ago, a greater number of the population consider killing as a viable AND ACCEPTABLE means to expressing one's anger and/or dealing with differences we have with one another? And perhaps the answer is irrelevant anyway because to understand the answers would mean to acknowledge some of the causes, to which a significant number of folks would be unwilling agents of change.

The video games kids played in the 70's and early 80's have progressed from Pong and Space Invaders or Asteroids to the current ones which are heavy in people going around shooting people in a war-like setting.

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I might easily be wrong about this...but I am not seeing people killing each other in order to settle disputes. I see deranged people taking innocent lives...or killing to appease their self-interests. These aren't the spur-of-the-moment crimes that a "dispute" would cause. These are the premeditated actions of evil minds...IMO.

Well, actually I used two terms: disputes and grievances. Disputes (drugs, turf wars, etc.) are probably responsible for the high number of individual homicides we see in many urban areas. Grievances, on the other hand (bullying, social shunning, etc.) are more likely to trigger a larger scale response in someone suffering from a mental disorder, or whose thinking is compromised by psychotropic drugs that he may be prescribed to treat his mental issues.

Personally, I think the evidence is rapidly accumulating to indict the use of psychotropic drugs as a causal agent in these horrific events.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

Well, actually I used two terms: disputes and grievances. Disputes (drugs, turf wars, etc.) are probably responsible for the high number of individual homicides we see in many urban areas. Grievances, on the other hand (bullying, social shunning, etc.) are more likely to trigger a larger scale response in someone suffering from a mental disorder, or whose thinking is compromised by psychotropic drugs that he may be prescribed to treat his mental issues.

Personally, I think the evidence is rapidly accumulating to indict the use of psychotropic drugs as a causal agent in these horrific events.

I don't know why people commit the heinous acts that they do...but I do know that man's evil nature has been on full display since ancient times. The ancient Spartans used to throw their infirm infants off a cliff...and they called it "civil duty". And the bible is replete with acts of horrific cruelty, supposedly commanded by a vengeful God. I have a friend who works as a correctional officer in a Chicago maximum-security prison...and he tells me stories about the things that he sees on the job. And it infuriates me because I know that, as many "monsters" as there are locked behind bars...there are probably just as many walking unnoticed among us.

Our world is a dangerous place...and we shouldn't be reminded of that only whenever we hear of another senseless killing spree.