Regarding the Oregon mass shooting, it's the guns not the shooter.

[aristotle]

Not to be upstaged by thoughtful dialogue, President Obama raced before television cameras, yesterday, to denounce gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at an Oregon community college. Obama pledged to politicize the issue. Too many guns in the United States, too many gun owners. Obama pointed to Great Britain and Australia, both having strict policies pertaining to gun ownership relative to the United States. For whatever reason, Obama departed from his usual tact of inciting animus toward the shooter and focused, instead, on railing against guns. Guns are villains.

The gun culture so deeply ingrained in American society predates the US Constitution. Access to firearms is fundamental to the preservation of life and liberty. That tens of millions of law abiding US citizens are well armed, in their person and in their homes, stands as a bulwark against despotic tendencies of government, as well against a thief in the night. In this nation, government rules only by consent of the governed. Obama will not steamroll gun ownership in the United States. From a political viewpoint, Obama leaves. Guns stay. Bitter clingers win.

 

[LDB]

Yes, the failure in chief is likely thankful for this helpful turn of events that both redirects from his foreign policy failure with Putin and provides another opportunity to violate his oath to uphold the Constitution.

 

[JohnWC]

I'm good on doing the look up stuff.
I wander if gun violence is higher in the liberal states ?

 

[Ragman]

I'm good on doing the look up stuff.
I wander if gun violence is higher in the liberal states ?

Doesn't look that way.

Gun Deaths by State

 

[jjtdrv4u]

the shooter was reported to be singling out christians... another reason muslims and wannabe muslims in this country need to be profiled...and monitored accordingly...

 

[Yowpuggy]

Did someone said he was a Muslim?

 

[xiggi]

the shooter was reported to be singling out christians... another reason muslims and wannabe muslims in this country need to be profiled...and monitored accordingly...

So fat I have heard nothing that connects the creep to Muslims.

 

[JohnWC]

Doesn't look that way.

Gun Deaths by State

I was meaning more about theses types of of mass shootings

 

[Pilgrim]

The Oregon shooter had nothing to do with the Islamic religion but did have one other thing in common with the other mass murderers - a history of mental illness. This guy was so far around the bend he couldn't even pass the first stages of basic training in the Army; he was booted out after only one month. He was an oddball loner living with his mother and they had at least thirteen firearms in their apartment. These guns were all legally purchased by him and his relatives. Where have we heard that story before? At some point there needs to be some responsibility taken by parents or family members who knowingly provide or allow access to firearms to mentally disturbed persons, especially those with a history of violent and anti-social behavior.

Reina Webb, 19, said the man’s mother was friendly and often chatted with neighbors, but Harper-Mercer kept to himself. She said she occasionally heard him having temper tantrums in his apartment.

“He was kind of like a child so that’s why his tantrums would be like kind of weird. He’s a grown man. He shouldn’t be having a tantrum like a kid. That’s why I thought there was something — something was up,” she said.

Oregon gunman was army dropout who studied mass shooters

Of course in an election year, our man-child POTUS will have his own tantrums again over gun control and his efforts will have the same result. Gun control would be no more successful than the war on drugs. However, there could be some improvement in dealing with the mentally ill in this country and keeping lethal weapons out of their hands whenever possible.

 

[paulnstef39]

One might think getting booted out of the army during basic ought to get you looked at for placement on some list somewhere. I know the guys booted out of my basic training were social misfits.

 

[RLENT]

Doesn't look that way.

Gun Deaths by State

Looks like there's somewhat of a regional geographic component to that as well ...

Interesting ...

 

[RLENT]

Nevada Rep Michele Fiore Wishes Gun-Free Zones Would Stop Murdering Everybody

 

[RLENT]

Mass Shootings Hardly A Problem At All, Except Every Week

 

[muttly]

Wonkette mentions the Chattanooga shooter and his mental illness, but doesn't touch on his other 'issues'.
>>> A 24-year-old Muslim man who had been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disordershot up a military recruiting center and Navy Reserve centerin Chattanooga...

 

[davekc]

As I have said before, "the horse is out of the barn". People will get guns if they want them regardless of any laws. The guns are already out there and very easy to obtain. I don't personally think it is a issue that government can solve. Maybe 50 years ago, but a little too late at this point.

 

[Turtle]

but did have one other thing in common with the other mass murderers - a history of mental illness.

Turns out, it's not even that simple.
Mass Murderers Fit the Profile as do Many Others Who Don’t Kill

 

[cheri1122]

One might think getting booted out of the army during basic ought to get you looked at for placement on some list somewhere. I know the guys booted out of my basic training were social misfits.

That is a basic problem: people don't cotton to the idea of being treated against their will, any more than they want to give up guns. You won't find many mentally ill people who are agreeable to treatment, so how do we deal with them?

 

[Turtle]

That is a basic problem: people don't cotton to the idea of being treated against their will, any more than they want to give up guns. You won't find many mentally ill people who are agreeable to treatment, so how do we deal with them?

I think you hit on something of deep fundamental importance with the "people don't cotton to the idea of being treated against their will" part of that statement. The biggest problem is "treated against their will" has taken on an entirely new meaning over the last 40 years or so. Initially, there will be some who will resist the idea that I'm about to show, but upon serious reflection it becomes easier to see.

That idea is, people have become more and filled with a sense of entitlement, compounded with a desire and a need to blame other people for their problems and misfortunes, even when no one else is to blame. This blaming walks hand-in-hand with grudge-holding and projection. It nurtures the personality trait of selfishness and feeling owed, and when they don't get what they are owed then "It's not fair!" followed by "I'll show you!" And when given an opportunity to get back at those who wronged them, they do it.

More than mental illness or anything else, the one thing virtually all of these mass shooters have in common is they target specific individuals or a particular group of individuals, because of some past connection they have with their targets. The shooters didn't get what they wanted, either specifically from their targets or in life in general, they find life isn't fair, and they project and blame their targets for their misfortunes, sometimes holding grudges for years for being denied what they think they are entitled to.

The fact that what I just described can also be applied directly to children, and liberals, should not be given an inordinate amount of weight, nor should it dismissed as irrelevant. It simply is what it is.

 

[Mdbtyhtr]

There is also a paradoxical situation with law enforcement when one reports suspicious activity or questionable behavior and are told no laws have been broken and there is nothing that can be done. This is the same reaction that reduces the actual reporting of crime in economically challenged areas. You only have to get a negative or no response so many times before you lose faith in the system. This is applicable to the gun debate for all of the same reasons.

 

[LDB]

So young and yet so much smarter than a liberal.