Another Shooting!!

[Jofaba]

Before I got introduced to firearms and began studying the second amendment, I was among those disgusted when the NRA would release statements and rallys after events like these. I didn't realize that a part of the Bill Of Rights was constantly under threat, and while it's a difficult subject to discuss, I now understand.

I predicted, to my father, this kind of stuff growing when I applied for my concealed carry. My father thinks that I look at the world like it's the Wild West. I hope never to have to pull my weapon, and actually plan on carrying a twenty dollar bill in case I get mugged. Give them the money and hope they leave. If not, then take things at face value and face the consequences ALIVE.

My coworkers think if everyone was walking arond armed then these kinds of things would happen all the time. I reply that if just one person had a concealed carry permit then maybe the body count would be in the single digits instead of the double.

People are misdirecting their rage and it leads to these events. It's horrible, tragic and frightening. And unfortunately it will lead to the call for a complete disarmament of the civilian population, but it's our duty to educate. Everyone on this forum understands that when it comes to situations like this, civilian gun owners could have helped saved lives, not that gun availability has taken lives.

Some news hints at the depression rising back up into a recession, and hopefully we will see much less of this, but I fear that this will be common news for the months coming.

 

[fawcettlee]

Warped logic

He was worried about retaining gun rights so he kills 3 officers?
He deserves the lethal injection not just for that but for being so stupid.
I also second a previous post-if you must kill, can you start with the idiot staring back at you in the mirror?

 

[hardhit]

This hurts our shooting sports badly every time this happens.

If just one mass shooting that happened in the states happened in oz they would ban every gun, I have no dough.
Our new Prime Minister is looking to make a name for him self here!!

These shooting make a good case for your president to tighten your laws,
I hope that this does not happen, but beware the gun lobby are trying very hard behind the scenes.

 

[Venom1956]

First off i am at a loss for words about this shooting outbreaks. I am furious at these "men" that perpetrated it, the media and how people are using these events to further their goals...

But I will say these few things I can say,

Most of these killings are seem to be motivated from our economic state, not our country's stance on gun control. you cant stop people that feel out of options to lash out. sadly the rate things are going this seems like it will become more common...

Now it seems that people seem to just "want to feel safe" and are willing to give up things that keep them that way just to feel better.

People in my generation, I'm 22 now, seem very insulated from guns. most of my peers even in a WI deer hunting town know little or none about them or why the 2nd amendment is important. much to my frustration.

I cannot believe they put this in our local paper about this guy "he was against Obamas anti-gun laws" or some garbage like that it made me sick. this has nothing to do with that. now or ever. they make it seem like those of us that want our 2nd amendment rights are are a bunch of crazies or something. this guy sadly was not a responsible gun owner, a man by any meaning of that word, it just sad that people died to find this out.

 

[Buzzcook]

Fear breeds violence.

It would be interesting to find some of his net radio broadcasts.

 

[12GaugeShuggoth]

they make it seem like those of us that want our 2nd amendment rights are are a bunch of crazies or something.

Of course that's what they want to portray. Make it seem as if every gun owning American is a criminal or potential mass murderer and selling gun control to the general public becomes almost too easy.

The local news said "gunman armed with an assault rifle and two other guns". Of course they can't say he was simply armed, or armed with three guns; yelling out assault rifle is always bound to catch peoples' attention. It's the same reason they show a picture of a handgun in the corner of the screen even if they're talking about a stabbing or robbery, people pay attention to guns.

Going back a little bit, I found it interesting that on some of the news coverage of the North Carolina nursing home killing the reporters seemed to take extra effort to point out that it was a hunting rifle. Hmmmm........wonder if they're trying to get people to fear "hunting rifles" so that once the "assault rifles" are gone there will be a new target to eliminate. Just personal speculation of course.

The media isn't helping either. Massacres happen every day, i'm sure, but i only ever hear about them when they're gun related.

Yep. Guns sell. Whether it be in movies, T.V., video games, or on the news; when you think about it it's almost silly how many guns you can see through various outlets in a given day. I'm not trying to say that guns being visible is a bad thing, but the way in which they are portrayed and used is so crucial in how the majority of people form their opinions. I'm 21 and was raised to treat firearms as the tools that they are, specifically being raised hunting. My 11 year old cousin thinks of Grand Theft Auto when he thinks of firearms............anyone see the difference? When I aim a firearm I understand the consequences of what will happen when I squeeze that trigger, and more importantly I actually care.........nothing more dangerous than someone who is completely apathetic to the consequences of their own actions.

 

[levrluvr]

Most of my peers even in a WI deer hunting town know little or none about them or why the 2nd amendment is important. much to my frustration.
They make it seem like those of us that want our 2nd amendment rights are are a bunch of crazies or something.

venom- It's obvious you paid attention in history and in your classes on the Constitution. Your 'peers' did not. I applaud you for your individuality.
These days, there are those that call someone a constitutionalist mean it as a negative. It comes down to not just wanting our 2nd amendment rights; I think the entire Constitution is worth preserving and protecting. Our elected officials take an oath to support and defend, give true faith and allegiance to it. Some remember this oath, some do not. I have no appreciation for those who segregate out portions of this document as acceptable or unacceptable.

 

[Archie]

The left is seeking another gun ban

They're laying the foundations by booking the shootings.

So I'm paranoid. They're still out to get us.

 

[B.N.Real]

This nut called his friend before the police raided the house.

Why the bleep did'nt the guy call 911 and tell the operator that his friend said he was going to die today?

Maybe the officers would have had a warning that a nutjob was in the house.

I cannot say this enough.

If YOU want to die,KILL YOURSELF.

Don't take people with you whose lives are just as hard as yours or maybe even harder and you are too stupid to see it.

There is nothing cool or hardcore or awesome or powerful about what this nutjob did.

He was a sad scared little punk that decided to kill himself and was'nt man enough to do the job himself.

Now there are four more families that have to answer why daddy never came home from work.

We need to get the word out that if we have a person that is voicing that he wants to kill people-any people and says it repeatedly-they need to be reported.

I am tired of seeing people act like taking out as many people as you can before you go is a cool thing to do.

It's just stupid,lazy and sad.

 

[supergas452M]

I abhor the attrocities that have been recently comitted against innocents and Police Officers alike. People this is not reason for a call on gun control, in fact this is why the people need our Constitutional Rights. There will be no such thing as a total gun ban in the United States and Obama and the like know that. Taking guns from law abiding citizens will not stop these crimes.
Taking guns from law abiding citizens will just make it easier for the criminals to work their evil. The sheep will cry out "save us!" The government can't save them. In every soceity prior and every soceity hence there will be predators, criminals, mentally deficient and crazies that care not for your life or mine (or their own). It was this way before the invention of the firearm.
Hitler killed millions and there was no call to ban guns because of him. In fact it was brave men and honest men who stopped him. It will be brave men and honest, God fearing men that will stand up for what is right.


Imagine if you will, what will happen if they try to take our guns. Have you really given it any honest thought? Who are they going to get to take your guns? Your father or mother? Your brother and sister? Your friend and neighbor? The military? The Police? The National Guard?
Aren't they your father or mother, brother or sister, your friend and neighbor?
No, my friends there will be no gun seizures. Not without United States Civil War II.





I pray for the souls of the dead, the hearts of the survivors and God's swift justice on the perpertrators.

 

[Dust Monkey]

My prayers to all touched by the actions of this loon

With that said. We all need to not over react. Citizens and cops alike. There is a thread going on on your favorite plasic gun talk forum, in the coptalk section, that scares the crap out of me. You have chest thumping idiot cops calling for
Militarzation, and right now. This is not the answer. This idiot wanted to die and ambushed the cops. You have hersay that he was afraid of Obama taking his guns. You have Drudge reporting that most gun owners are this way. This is not good.

 

[flippycat]

Dust Monkey, I was fine until about page two of reading where you mentioned..then it started to get pretty bad...yeah..crap hits the pants for sure..they need to set by example which i believe some very hard to deal with feelings are getting in the way of that.

That thread should of had a mod step in for sure to take some of the heat out of that thread. I am glad tfl does what they do here to combat those sort of threads.

That was borderline vigilantism there not law enforcement

 

[EastSideRich]

Wagonman wrote:

Let me be the first

It is not the tools fault it is the user's fault. I find it odd that someone on a gun forum would be advocating a gun ban.

Crazy is as crazy does----if he had ran over three Cops in his car would you think about banning cars?

Just to be clear, I in no way advocate any gun bans or further restrictions.
I don't think I said anything that would suggest this.
I can understand how anti-gun people have a knee-jerk reaction thinking this is the solution, that doesn't mean I agree with it.

 

[erikrichard]

"This nut called his friend before the police raided the house.
Why the bleep did'nt the guy call 911 and tell the operator that his friend said he was going to die today?
Maybe the officers would have had a warning that a nutjob was in the house."

The nutjob called his friend in the middle of the shooting. The friend he called heard lots of gunshots in the background, and thought his friend sounded in pain, like he had already been shot.

It's the mother, who made the original 911 call that got officer's out there that might not have let them know what he had and how f'd up his mindset was that may or may not share some blame.

What I don't understand is how so many officers got shot. Don't they get trained in situations where if one officer gets shot in the head, you don't go to him - you get the hell out of the line of fire?
It's disappointing that this %$#@&^% was taken alive. Now taxpayer money gets spent on his trial and appeals. What a WASTE of money.

 

[djohn]

Domestics calls are risky not knowing what lies ahead and ususally police dont come with there guns drawn,unless weapons are mentioned from the get go at least in my town with only one murder in like 30 yrs. They should come with better tactics in mind because Domestics is violence in most cases and If they Go to a call they should use better tatics.I mean one officer behind the other officer is a like domino effect.If the police go through a door they know better then just going in single file so to speak not being prepared to a gun men behind the door or off to the side.I think What happened here is a nutjob with a plan to take out people and the police where to relaxed when they approached and caught totally off guard.On that note my prayers go out to the officers there familys.God be with you

 

[Bud Helms]

erikrichard, do you have a source for that info?

 

[erikrichard]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090404/...burgh_shooting

 

[Venom1956]

AK...

He had an AK type assault rifle... Jeezus... If he possessed an AK assault rifle apparently he was breaking the law already.:barf:

I'm sure if the had said, the shooter had a semi-auto WASR-10 and two handguns every one would have been like what the (Beep) is a Wasr? and those are the people that need to educated themselves before rushing out to remove our 2nd amendment.

If someone told me the had an AK type assault rifle. (my friends I shoot with) I would assume they meant that they acquired a full-auto rifle that would most likely be breaking several laws...

I mean god there was that senator that wanted to ban all kinds of stuff. then an interviewer asked her what a Barrel Shroud was. she didn't know... but guessed something like "the thing that sticks out the back" Lord help us.

 

[alan]

Pittsburgers and others who read the following, might consider writing or calling.

A city grieves: The societal plague of gun violence hits home hard
Monday, April 06, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A contagious rage has seemingly possessed America in recent days. The common denominators -- guns in the hands of angry and irrational people -- have been the same whether the scene is a nursing home or a community English class for immigrants.
And, on Saturday morning, in a city that prides itself on its decency, friendliness and common sense, the madness came home. The deadly ambush of three Pittsburgh police officers in Stanton Heights was more than a tragedy for immediate families and colleagues.
These brave men died for us. Nobody doubts that this was an assault on the community, and the community has reacted with the proper mix of anger and deep sorrow. In a city that hasn't seen a police fatality for almost 14 years, three officers were suddenly lost in a single incident for the first time in its history. It was horrible and senseless almost beyond belief.
The person accused of the crimes, Richard Andrew Poplawski, appears to be another archetype loser who was all about rights but not responsibilities and whose mind had been poisoned by drinking deep of irrational anti-government conspiracies and gospels of hate.
On Fairfield Street, no rights of gun ownership or free speech were vindicated. The police were just doing their thankless duty, answering a domestic disturbance call, for which they were caught in a coward's ambush and murdered. It was their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that were lost.
But there will be time enough to consider how lunatic it is that an AK-47 assault rifle can find its way into the hands of a seething fool, to weigh the culpability of politicians who resist sensible limits on guns and to take to task the radio talk show hosts who foment evil by banging drums of hatred.
Today we mourn Pittsburgh's fallen heroes -- Officers Paul Sciullo III, Stephen J. Mayhle and Eric Kelly. God bless them and their colleagues (two of whom were also injured). God bless these United States, where we have come to this.
First published on April 6, 2009 at 12:00 am

Aside from the above editorial, there was a news story dealing with this shooting, bylined Jon Schmitz. Mr. Schmitz can be reached via e-mail at jschmitz@post-gazette.com or at 421-263-1868. His article, near it’s ending on page A-4 referenced the “AK-47 assault-style rifle”. Comment on the editorial should be addressed to letters@post-gazette.com

I would suggest polite comments be addressed to both Mr. Schmitz as well as to the paper in the form of Letters To Tjhe Editor, pointing out the problems with media’s indiscriminate misuse of technical terminology, “Assault Rifle” is such a term. As to “assault-style rifle”, I hesitate to characterize that, as I prefer to remain within the bounds of polite conversation. I will however pose the following question. What in blazes might it be?

Letters and other comments, in my view, should stress the following point. The incorrect, sloppy use of technical terminology, in some cases solely for the emotional impact thereby gained, can be very destructive to a news outlets credibility. Sunday morning, WDUQ FM, public radio in Pittsburgh, in their 10 AM newscast was guilty of the same misuse of technical terminology, a Ms. Jacobs was the “news reader“.

Credibility is hard earned, easily lost and if it can be regained at all, the process is difficult to say the least. Media people, print as well as broadcast need to keep this point in mind, however unless they are called to task for their failures, they won’t, or so it seems to me.

The rest is up to those who troubled to read the foregoing. Thanks for your attention.

 

[Bud Helms]

Threads merged.