NE Sailboat wrote:
We need to admit that something in our society is producing disturbed
individuals who will use
too easily available lethal weapons to kill the innocent.
=====================================
The "gunman" is from China. Could it be that the soy sauce is bad?
Or, too much rice? Or .. just maybe ??? He was NUTS.

===========================================

I forgot .. there are no nuts in Canada..

=====================================

Did you read what the other guy posted? We've had shootings here. The École Polytechnique here in
Montréal. 14 female engineering students shot dead in their seats. Why do you turn this into some
retarded rant about foreigners? If the nuts in either country can't get the guns, it makes it harder
for them to commit mass murder.

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:57:46 -0400, Peter Hendra
wrote:

I know that this is off topic but it is very saddening to hear of yet
another mass killing in America.

I had thought of making a quip about yet another "Christian terrorist"
but the thought of the parents, siblings, grandparents and friends
unconsolable grief at this time would make it too flippant and in poor
taste.

Wilbur, and those others of you who support your "constitutional right
to bear arms" consider this as an example of why you should not make
owning hand guns so easy.

I could have bought any weapon during my 5 day sojourn in Florida
recently. A friendly policeman with whom I was having coffee - real
coffee - Cuban, not that brown dishwater that poses as coffee that
Americans seem to prefer, explained that after three days of making an
application I could walk out of a store with any type of weapon I
desired, even an M-16 which is standard issue to Malaysian Customs.
Why a citizen would want such a weapon is beyond me. They are not a
hunting rifle. They are an offensive, not defensive weapon for killing
people.

In New Zealand, it is illegal and virtually impossible for anyone to
possess a hand gun. The police do not even carry weapons. Most do not
even bother to carry their batons. They have access to them when
required as well as training in their use, but the armed offenders
squads seldom shoot to kill; they usually disable the offender by
shooting the legs. Don't think that we don't have violent crime and
robberies in God's Own, we do. It's just that the criminals generally
don't have access to handguns. If procuring one was as easy as in the
U.S., then no doubt the situation would be diferent. We also have a
law that makes it an imprisonable offence (at the worst) if a citizen
does not go to the aid of a policeman who requests it or who fails to
help if they see a policeman in trouble. Our police are also well
trained in unarmed defence.

At 16 I acquired a licence to own a rifle which I used to hunt deer,
pigs and goats in our forests. You cannot have an automatic weapon,
there is no need for this in hunting.

Handguns are made to kill human beings, not rabbits or other species.
The Virginia Tech. killer used two pistols, one a 9mm automatic. I
have one of these as part of my uniform. It usually is kept locked in
a desk drawer. My belt holster is a good place for cigarettes. After
the initial cocking, each pull of the trigger will fire a bullet and
with 15 bullets to a clip, you can shoot them all in about 15 seconds.
Why would a private citizen need a weapon like that?

In Malaysia it is a capital offence to possess an unlicenced firearm.
Robbers must therefore resort to knives.

I am a loss to understand how you can be so strident in defence of
your "constituational right" to carry a firearm when you didn't even
raise a murmur at the Patriot Act which removes more of your rights
and freedoms.

Frankly, I would be afraid to live in a country where any psycopath or
inadequate person could pull out a gun and "get even" with me over
some minor imagined slight, but then I have issues with those wanabe
Rambos who aim paintball guns at other humans.

I know that this is off-topic but I wanted to express my saddness.

cheers
Peter Hendra


Peter my man,

You are making Malaysia sound like some sort of utopia.. No guns so
all the bad people have to resort to kitchen knives and bearing
scrappers. Maybe years ago but not in recent times. I frequently read,
in the Straits Times, of criminals in Malaysia with pistols, the last
was a Singaporian bloke called "Mad dog", got caught last summer in a
hotel with two or three pistols. However, the guns were not in the
same room as Mad dog when the good guys came calling and the Malaysian
Police ruled that they couldn't prove that the gun's were actually in
Mad dog's possession...;. So they repatriated him to Singapore where
he was wanted for murder.

"Frankly I would be afraid to live in a country .... Care to comment
on what language "Amok" belongs to?

And, as a scion of the empire you probably know that in jolly old
Blighty where they have some draconian gun laws the villains are
turning to guns more and more.

I agree with you that the shooting was a bad thing but as you say I do
have a constitutional right to bear arms.

It is probably O.T. but I can tell you that outlawing firearms has not
ever, anywhere, denied guns to criminals. I believe that you were a
Malaysian Customs Officer so you probably know about the arms
shipments from Cambodia to Indonesia? "War Weapons" were illegal in
Indonesia the last time I looked. I could go on and on, New York
"Sullivan Law" passed in 1920-something outlawing unregistered
pistols, hasn't bothered the bad guys a bit, the guy in Australia that
shot that woman's boyfriend out in the bush. And on and on.

But enough.

Cheers for now.





Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Apr 17, 9:53 am, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
"Peter Hendra" wrote in message

... I know that this is off topic but it is very saddening to hear of yet
another mass killing in America.

snipp

It takes a real piece of **** to use the death of so many young people
and to have as their primary concern, not sympathy or a word of
understanding and support for the survivors and loved ones of the
deceased, but pushing a socialist political agenda.

You disgust me as much as the gunman disgusts me.

Wilbur Hubbard

Peter writes a thoughtful post with compassion and understanding,
illustrates with specific examples of what he sees as wrong in our
gun-happy society, gives suggestions on how we can curb violence in
the US, and backs up his claims with compelling evidence of how strict
gun control laws greatly reduce violence in other countries. In
response Wilbur calls Peter "a real piece of ****" and doesn't even
try to refute his statements. Wilbur, you have just exposed yourself
as a total asshole. Now maybe Peter realizes what we are up against
in this country.

Steve Foy

On Apr 17, 9:53 am, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
"Peter Hendra" wrote in message

... I know that this is off topic but it is very saddening to hear of yet
another mass killing in America.

snipp

It takes a real piece of **** to use the death of so many young people
and to have as their primary concern, not sympathy or a word of
understanding and support for the survivors and loved ones of the
deceased, but pushing a socialist political agenda.

You disgust me as much as the gunman disgusts me.

Wilbur Hubbard

Peter writes a thoughtful post with compassion and understanding,
illustrates with specific examples of what he sees as wrong in our
gun-happy society, gives suggestions on how we can curb violence in
the US, and backs up his claims with compelling evidence of how strict
gun control laws greatly reduce violence in other countries. In
response Wilbur calls Peter "a real piece of ****" and doesn't even
try to refute his statements. Wilbur, you have just exposed yourself
as a total asshole. This is exactly what's wrong with this country-
way too many assholes like Wilbur.

Steve Foy

I just learned that the house behind a pond being shown in some of the
newscasts is the house where I lived from age 2 to 7. I'm glad I missed it.
I'd like to keep those memories as far from all this as possible.

--
Roger Long

* Joe wrote, On 4/17/2007 10:16 AM:
....

Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according
to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers
are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by
illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001.


As usual, Joe repeats bogus "statistics" as though they are facts.
While its true the Steve King made that comment, he did not release
any actual statistics or reference any study. It appears that he
simply made up the number for shock appeal. The quote has been
frequently repeated in the conservative press as a "study" but no
study is actually mentioned. The number can be shown to be false
simply by looking at the total number of Hispanics arrested for murder
in California (one of the states where these statistics are kept).
Even if they were all illegals, it still would not add up.

In fact, the "12 a day" number roughly equals the total number of
white and Hispanics arrested for murder each year. In other words,
Rep King is claiming that all murders by non-blacks were by illegal
aliens. That's quite a stretch!

Of course, King may have some secret information that all unsolved
murders in the country were actually perpetrated by illegal aliens,
but its easier to believe that he just made up the numbers.

In article ,
Roger Long wrote:
It struck me hard enough to break my on topic rule because I lived there
until I was seven and my earliest memories are of that campus and walking up
the steps of a building that looks just like the ones on the news to visit
my father in his office. All those innocent early memories will now be
tinged with this.

It's interesting to contemplate what the government's reaction would have
been if a muslim fundementalist had done this. Another roll back in civil
liberties is necessary to protect Americans. The amount of shampoo
permitted in carry on airline luggage will need to be further reduced. Only
Republicans can protect Americans from this kind of carnage. Etc, etc.

Instead, there will just be purring agreement from the White House with
National Rifle Association statements due any moment now to the effect that,
if every student had been issued a gun upon admission, nothing like this
could have happened.

Here, here. Thank you.

--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

In article om,
wrote:

snip

" This shooting is an obscene tragedy. We need to admit that
something in our society is producing disturbed individuals who will
use
too easily available lethal weapons to kill the innocent."


And that's why the good folks ought to have access to the tools to
defend themselves. Doesn't do much good to call 911 when the shots
are being fired. The police typically arrive after the shooting is
over with and then try and figure out the who/what/why/where stuff.

We could start with the most important tool of all... our
brains. Sadly, it's easier to just mouth the same bs about our
"Constitutional right" to own a gun.




--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

In article .com,
wrote:
Peter writes a thoughtful post with compassion and understanding,
illustrates with specific examples of what he sees as wrong in our
gun-happy society, gives suggestions on how we can curb violence in
the US, and backs up his claims with compelling evidence of how strict
gun control laws greatly reduce violence in other countries. In
response Wilbur calls Peter "a real piece of ****" and doesn't even
try to refute his statements. Wilbur, you have just exposed yourself
as a total asshole. Now maybe Peter realizes what we are up against
in this country.

Fortunately, most people in the US are not like Neal Warren, troll of
asa.
--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

And that's why the good folks ought to have access to the tools to
defend themselves. Doesn't do much good to call 911 when the shots
are being fired. The police typically arrive after the shooting is
over with and then try and figure out the who/what/why/where stuff.

We could start with the most important tool of all... our
brains. Sadly, it's easier to just mouth the same bs about our
"Constitutional right" to own a gun.

--
Capt. JG

Brains didn't help the victims much in this case. Capt JG, if one of
your family members had been in the classroom and there was another
student or teacher there with the ability to engage this murderer,
would you want them to or not? Whether it's a constitutional right or
not, the right of self defense is often recognized as a natural right
and a right not given by the constitution but recognized and preserved
by the constitution.