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Post by Shake on Dec 24, 2012 20:00:36 GMT
This one happened very close to me, just 2 towns over in fact. It seems that firefighters were responding to a call about a house fire and 4 were shot at the scene. Two have died from their wounds. Again, the shooter is also apparently deceased now, so here's another case where we won't get his(?) perspective on it. A neighboring home was also damaged by the blaze. This is getting crazy now. What kind of a sick person targets first responders like this? Can't wait [/sarcasm] to hear how the pro-gun folks respond to this! Google Maps puts this as just under 20 miles from my house, most of that on one highway, if I were to drive there. It's not far from the closest, and one of the oldest, amusement parks in the area. It sits right on the lake. Sad. Just sad. Think I'll just stay inside with my family for the rest of the week. The world seems to be going crazy. |
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Post by Kye on Dec 24, 2012 20:02:39 GMT
That's horrible!
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Post by tangent on Dec 24, 2012 20:37:28 GMT
What kind of a sick person targets first responders like this? Something similar happened in Manchester in the UK a few weeks ago. IIRC, two police officers responded to a burglary call and they were both shot. One died. It is sickening. There is no realistic defence against this. Police officers and fireman cannot go around wearing full body armour all the time. |
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Post by Shake on Dec 25, 2012 19:39:31 GMT
The shooter apparently staged this as a trap. He was previously jailed for 17 years for killing his grandmother with a hammer. One other update is that 7 homes total were destroyed or severely damaged because obviously, the firefighters couldn't get close enough to get things under control for a while.
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Post by tangent on Dec 26, 2012 0:49:43 GMT
That's terrible  |
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Post by Sarah W. on Dec 26, 2012 15:16:28 GMT
:-(
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Post by Moose on Dec 26, 2012 17:37:05 GMT
I think that all the media surrounding each shooting tends to urge people on. It's scary to think that out there in the US there is probably someone, maybe more than one person, who is plannign to do something even worse than Sandy Hook
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Post by Alvamiga on Dec 26, 2012 21:07:10 GMT
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Post by tangent on Dec 27, 2012 0:35:22 GMT
Piers does make people cringe but I don't think that's the reason people want to get rid of him. There is also a counter petition to keep him in the US (not to my knowledge started by people in the UK). |
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Post by Alvamiga on Dec 27, 2012 7:09:54 GMT
 ...ignoring that, so much for "freedom of speech"!  |
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Post by Shake on Dec 27, 2012 18:40:58 GMT
We might have a visit from Fred Phelps' crew to the scene, from what I've heard. Speaking of petitions, there is one on the White House site to get the WBC classified as a hate group.
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Post by Alvamiga on Dec 28, 2012 7:03:03 GMT
I assume you mean Westboro Baptist Church? I had to look that up!  The second result was for the World Boxing Council, but I was still pretty sure that boxing isn't about hatred, just violence!  |
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Post by tangent on Dec 28, 2012 10:48:19 GMT
Or else Warner Bros. Cartoons?
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Post by ProdigalAlan on Dec 28, 2012 11:12:48 GMT
I cannot work out why these people cannot see the link between gun ownership and gun deaths! To be honest I don't see a direct link. I own a gun. It got used this year for the first time in ages on the boxing day clay pigeon shoot. ( I was rubbish but we had a good time in the pub afterwards ). IIRC on the same day as the Sandy Hook shootings a man had gone on the rampage in China and killed schoolchildren with a knife. People with an urge to kill will kill - it's that simple. OTOH I can't for the life of me understand why we need to give anyone outside of the military access to assault weapons. |
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Post by Moose on Dec 28, 2012 17:34:25 GMT
The man in China killed nobody. He INJURED 22 children with a knife. The pro gun lobby on facebook all reported that he'd killed 22 children - that was a simple lie and the person who initially started it must have known that it was. None of the Chinese children died.
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Post by Alvamiga on Dec 28, 2012 18:25:26 GMT
I cannot work out why these people cannot see the link between gun ownership and gun deaths! To be honest I don't see a direct link. I own a gun. It got used this year for the first time in ages on the boxing day clay pigeon shoot. ( I was rubbish but we had a good time in the pub afterwards ). IIRC on the same day as the Sandy Hook shootings a man had gone on the rampage in China and killed schoolchildren with a knife. People with an urge to kill will kill - it's that simple. OTOH I can't for the life of me understand why we need to give anyone outside of the military access to assault weapons. I suspect you are a responsible owner though and don't leave it lying around where other people can pick it up (loaded) and use it for their own purposes. People who have to get a gun the slow way, when there isn't one immediately available, have a chance to calm down. |
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Post by Alvamiga on Dec 29, 2012 8:11:35 GMT
Just encountered Alistair Cooke's Letter from America which was broadcast this week by the BBC about the subject from 19 years ago, which also explained that "The right to bear arms" is a corruption and not the actual intent of the amendment. I found it very interesting. It is only about 10 minutes long (if the BBC will let you at it). |
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Post by ProdigalAlan on Dec 29, 2012 11:29:43 GMT
The man in China killed nobody. He INJURED 22 children with a knife. The pro gun lobby on facebook all reported that he'd killed 22 children - that was a simple lie and the person who initially started it must have known that it was. None of the Chinese children died. Sorry - but I did say IIRC. I got it from the beeb on the radio while I was driving. |
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Post by tangent on Dec 29, 2012 11:40:23 GMT
It was certainly very interesting.
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Post by Moose on Dec 29, 2012 17:40:32 GMT
Alan - I did not mean that YOU were lying But the pro gun lobby has been throwing this around on facebook since it happened, and deliberately saying that the Chinese children died. They must know that they did not |
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Post by ProdigalAlan on Dec 31, 2012 11:17:07 GMT
Non taken ! In all honesty - I'm damn sure that the beeb radio news said there had been deaths in China, OTOH we're all learning to be less trustful of the integrity of the BBC these days and I should know better. The thing is I can't see how gun control in the USA could work. Let's suppose that all the honest citizens of the lost colony handed in their guns and ammo. That still leaves a lot of crooks ( more than 20 at the last count  ) who would still retain huge arsenals of weapons. I'm of the opinion that gun control in the USA is a nice idea but utterly impractical in practice. |
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Post by tangent on Dec 31, 2012 11:51:09 GMT
OTOH we're all learning to be less trustful of the integrity of the BBC these days and I should know better. According to the figures, only marginally, and the BBC is still trusted much more than other media outlets. |
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Post by Shake on Jan 3, 2013 1:55:57 GMT
I assume you mean Westboro Baptist Church? I had to look that up! Oh yes, that's correct. Sorry for not being more clear. |
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 15, 2013 10:01:05 GMT
Just stumbled across This video of Bill Clinton and he makes good points. Did he do anything about this kind of stuff when he had the chance? |
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Post by Fr. Gruesome on Jan 15, 2013 16:42:05 GMT
Let them buy as many weapons as they like ... just don't sell any ammunition ...
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Post by Moose on Jan 15, 2013 17:07:31 GMT
They could club people over the head with them then.
I read a shocking story yesterday about a boy who shot and killed his abusive father with his own handgun. Said boy, at ten years old, is now on trial for mureder
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Post by tangent on Jan 16, 2013 1:26:01 GMT
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Post by Shake on Jan 16, 2013 6:27:52 GMT
Here's the article in my paper from Tuesday about the new gun law here in NY. Pertinent to this particular incident is this: |
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Post by Moose on Jan 16, 2013 19:49:08 GMT
The NRA are deranged.
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Post by Shake on Jan 17, 2013 5:41:58 GMT
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) who would still retain huge arsenals of weapons. 