US school massacre by gunman.
Chinese school massacre by knifeman.

What is it that convinces people this sort of action is a solution to their problems?

Severe mental illness and a detachment from reality, I hope !

Call Of Duty or rap music, clearly.

^ These are definitely not helping things.

Nothing to live for, nothing to lose and the desire to go out with a bang.

Another vote here for rap music. When I was younger, my hamster was subjected to a lot of gangsta rap and it was ALWAYS biting me. Two words for any potential rodent owner - Classic FM.

It is very worrying. I can only imagine that these type of crimes will increase in time ahead.
How can it be stopped ? Better parenting ? Education ?
More legistration against violent films/Games ?

It seems to me its all about money and power and nothing must stand in its way to achieve profit. No matter what the cost.

Of course this is nothing new and has been going on for centuries.
But now its on all our back door steps !

Well Scotland's going to be licensing air weapons in a ridiculous unilateral move. I'm sure the baddies won't think of driving to England to source one....

Or getting a real gun.

What is it about politicians that understand than its generally not legal held firearms that are the problem.

I was speaking ironically. I don't subscribe to the belief that killing people in a computer game makes you any more likely to do it in real life.

It could be argued that the escapism it offers would decrease the chances of mimicry, but that's a whole other topic.

Rap music is generally terrible, so I'll stick by that.

If the police could have their way ALL firearms would be confiscated and destoyed.
A pal of mine owns a small shotgun business. He may buy or sell one a week or so. He is fully licensed and gets regular visits from plod just dropping in for a cuppa.

He knows now something simple as a speeding fine could loose him his licence when up for the next renewal.

Legaly held firearms account for a good propotion of gun crimes. Fact !

Cowardice, pure and simple - that's why they select schools/kids. It's time for the states to repeal their gun laws and move towards being a civilised nation. The genie is out of the bottle but they have to try to get it back in.

Sad days, suffer the children

Yes very sad

I do subscribe to that belief, Anders brevick is testimony to this. Just as Smoking dope can bring on psychosis in young people if they are predisposed to the condition, violent video games can encourage unhinged individuals to carry out their fantasies.

Much as a prank phone call is unlikely to be the sole reason for a nurse committing suicide, Call Of Duty didn't make Anders Brevick kill 70-odd people.

He says it helped him 'train' for the massacre (something I would contest made him any more proficient), but not that it was a catalyst.

Hundreds of millions play Call of Duty et al everyday; a microscopic amount of them do it for real.

I don't have the answer to stop these types of things from happening (I don't think there is a way) but I'm not convinced that banning violent computer games is it.

Maybe politicians don't read news stories as selectively as you do. Three major shootings in the US this year (this one, Aurora and Wade Michael Page's attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin) and, in all three cases, the guns they used were legally held.

The banning of violent video games is not feasible and neither is there the will to do so with such vast amounts of money at stake.
Teenagers have to sit in a dark room for a couple of years, however, I would encourage parents to attempt to steer their children away from this medium which glamourises violence and perhaps point them towards a musical instrument, that would surely be healthier and more beneficial to both society and the individual concerned.

My reply was referencing MRS post about airguns and Scotland. Perhaps I could have made it clearer.

My reading habits on firearms and relatd topics are probably wider than most on this forum being both an airgun owner and target rifle shooter so maybe politicians dont.

Of course it's shocking, disgusting and tragic when these things happen and if they can be prevented then all the better. But does America necessarily have a problem with mass killings?

Norway has had more per capita over the last 10 years.

^^ Indeed, look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

I believe you but the states has 34 gun deaths every day, every week, every year - on average. That's a colossal loss of life in any context and no less tragic because the "per capita" stats say others have % more

It is but other countries have even higher levels and with lower gun ownership levels.

As i said i have no doubt, but for the most civilised, richest nation on earth they ought to be able to reverse the trend

I would question the "most civilised" part of that statement Steve.

Despite my 50% western side of the Atlantic roots, I would never want to live in the USA.

Just seen this on the Facebook. It's been quoted as being a comment made on the shooting by Morgan Freeman. I've no idea if there's any truth in that but it doesn't really matter...

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations­, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

This is precisely why the right to bear arms is a joke and should be revoked. Joe Public is impressionable and lacks trained discipline and moral fibre.
An amnesty should be put in place.
Firearms usage should rest with the MIL, trained police and like govt. agencies.
No one else.

"You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

Most of the statement attributed to Morgan Freeman above is true however the last sentence quoted is clearly false. Donations and research into mental health are needed but equally so is gun control as it is far too easy for unhinged individuals to acquire lethal weapons. America must wake up to the fact that upholding the 'the second' will kill more than it saves.

I'm thinking of becoming a special constable.

My dad was firearms and at one point the most senior person routinely walking his beet armed. As ex-military he was sure he would rather not have had the need to be armed. That was the 1970s!

It is not computer games or fire arms training/access that is the coarse. I have played more 3d shooters than most of you put together and had access to fire arms.

Well there's a turnip for the books.



I don't think anybody is suggesting that if you play computer games and have access to firearms then you will go on a shooting spree - clearly anybody who decides to do such a thing has some fairly major problems. Rather the argument is that removing public access to firearms makes such events less likely, because it removes, or limits, the means to carry out such an attack.

What is the compelling argument for allowing *anybody* living in a modern-day 1st world country to have access to deadly weapons?

Assuming you mean deadly weapon to be just firearms, Under the FAC all applicants must provide reasonable cause - these could include Pest control, hunting, target shooting.