A crackpot today made the Columbine massacre seem small by killing 27 people (early reports) including 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dickenson Drive in Newtown (Connecticut).
The killer, identified as Adam Lanza (20), is also among the dead.
Media reports say more than a 100 rounds were fired in the shooting that happened around 9:20AM in the morning.
Police Leading Children Out of Sandy Hook School
(Pix courtesy: AP)
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown is 60-miles northeast of New York City.
Most of the children killed today were in two classrooms.
Adam’s mother, who was a teacher in the school, was among his victims. After killing his mother at home, Adam started for the school.
Until today’s tragic incident, the biggest school shooting was in Columbine, Colorado.
On April 20, 1999, two high school students in a Columbine (Colorado) school killed 12 students and a teacher, injured several and then killed themselves.
Why So Many Shootings in America?
The major problem with controlling shootings in America is the easy availability of guns.
Lawmakers have little incentive to curb gun ownership because polls show the public strongly favors gun ownership.
The Republican Party and the powerful National Rifle Association strongly oppose any attempts at gun control.
Due to the easy availability of a variety of cheap guns, shootings in America are frequent in public places including in malls.
And the public is used to these violent incidents.
For three days after a violent incident, there’s a big hue and cry. But on the fourth day things are back to normal until the next incident and then the three-day hue and cry starts again.
The powerful Pro-Gun lobby in America believes the Second Amendment gives them the right to own Guns.
America must make it very hard to acquire guns if it wants to curb the repeated acts of insane violence.
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India’s pathetic record of terror attacks is matched only by the pathetic record of gun violence in the US. The law must be cruel to these kind of criminals.
Access to assault weapons must be made next to impossible.
This is what happens when laws are not amended periodically to be in sync with time.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: The law must be cruel to these kind of criminals.
Except in the case of idiots like Raghunandan Yandamuri, the notorious killers lately usually commit suicide or are shot by police at the scene of the crime. Examples: Portland mall shooter, Wisconsin Gurdwara shooter, the above CT school shooter etc all died at the scene.
At least, these beasts saved us the expense of the trial. In contrast, Yandamuri is costing us a lot!
True.
The colorado guy who went crazy during the dark knight rises show and the guy who almost killed a colorado (?) Senator were captured alive unfortunately.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The AZ guy Jared Lee Loughner who shot the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson is a nut case (of the real kind) – He had to be forcibly medicated during the trial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Lee_Loughner#Medico-legal_proceedings
If Jared Lee Loughner were ‘sane’ he’d have killed himself at the scene.
Only nut jobs and idiots too stupid to kill themselves survive their massacres.
Even the Columbine high school murderers (1999) killed themselves.
You don’t pause to think!
Your brainwaves need a dose of stimulants.
Anybody compares equals to equals.
Yandamuri had no gun to kill himself with!
And you say those crackpots who killed themselves were smarter than him. For all you know, those beasts did not come out of high school.
How “sold out” could you fellows be? It is beyond me that such servile minds as you could be beyond reason?!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Yandamuri had no gun to kill himself with!
Good Lord, are you completely stupid? Now, that was merely a rhetorical question….so don’t bother to answer it.
You don’t need a gun to kill yourself or others.
Did Yandamuri need a gun to kill grandma.
Yandamuri had a knife, didn’t he?
If you’re determined to kill yourself or others, lack of guns is hardly a deterrent. What guns do is turn impulsive rages into tragic certainties. Without guns, impulsive anger might have cooled down but with guns it quickly turns the rage into a disaster.
Yandamuri did not kill itself because it was too stupid.
That idiot told the police after his arrest that he wanted the “reward” money established to track Saanvi’s kidnapper to be given to his wife! Ha ha ha ha!
2. You write: How “sold out” could you fellows be? It is beyond me that such servile minds as you could be beyond reason?!
Kid, don’t you go around using expressions you have no understanding about.
Before taking shots at us and our country America, maybe you ought to worry about the dishnorable barbarians in your midst.
I’ll give you one more thought to ponder about: Why do you think Telugus are migrating to the U.S. in droves over the last two decades?
By the way “How “sold out” could you fellows be?” was a rhetorical question too!! 😉
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, that fella is a sick fuck that I treat with the contempt such contemptible creatures deserve.
When I wrote one of my rare positive reviews, for SRK’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan, it got very mad, started frothing at the mouth and wrote a slanderous comment containing wild accusations that I deleted. All, just because I said Jab Tak Hai Jaan is an enjoyable movie! Now its rabies has worsened and gotten into the incurable stage.
In any case, ‘sold out’ makes no sense in this context because your loyalty tends to be toward your own country first of all.
Would you have to rewrite / rephrase now?
http://www.searchindia.com/2012/11/29/for-the-whackos-who-whine-about-america/
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good question, Sweetie!
But all things considered, I’d still say Life in America is better than in Mera Bharat Mahaan (India). That’s the reason why 99.99% of desis here despite all their bitching and moaning about racism, bias, difficulty in getting good jobs, discrimination at work, high cost of living, difficulties with their ABCD children etc etc will never return to India except for short vacations.
Sure, there are a bunch of things that need to be addressed here – Gun control, public transportation, affordable health care (Obamacare partially takes care of that), Wall St shenanigans, Washington Lobbyists etc. I hope we can make some progress on those issues.
‘America Bidda’ has done the noblest actions!
It pales in comparison to what any ‘Telugu Bidda’ did anywhere on the planet! He has not only murdered his own mother but took away so many young hearts.
Now do your posts praising the ‘virtues’ of Amreeka!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Sweetie, when you have easy access to a gun it’s easy to go on a rampage.
Of course, what Adam Lanza did was terrible and wrong! Media reports say he suffered from some kind of personality disorder!
does america has more psychopath killers than any other country, and these killers were so young,around 20 -25 years,
SearchIndia.com Responds:
It’s hard to say if America has more psychpathic killers than any other in the absence of extensive studies.
But the younger generation of Americans, the 20-25 age-group you mention, is in terrible shape.
They don’t see much hope for themselves. College Education is frightfully expensive and can run between $15,000-$40,000 per year. After graduation, few jobs are available but they’re heavily in debt because of college loans (you can’t get rid of college loans through bankruptcy).
Plus, if they lack health insurance they’ll die because medical expenses are unaffordable. Most American doctors are obscenely greedy, say compared to France, Germany etc. Most public mental hospitals have been closed. So if you’re under stress or have other mental disorders you’re on your own.
The only jobs available for youngsters are low-wage fast-food/Walmart kind of jobs without benefits like health insurance and impossible to survive on. On the other hand, they see all the foreigners coming in daily and making good money.
On the job front, America’s youth is squeezed between the Mexicans/Hispanics at the low-end and Indians/Chinese etc at high-end.
America’s youth is seething behind the placid exterior.
I fear things will only get worse.
As I’ve often said, when agriculture became mechanized, we had industry to fall back on…when industries/factories were dismantled and the jobs went to China/Bangladesh/Mexico etc we had the service sector (selling each others houses, cars, medical services, accounting, customer service, tech support, insurance, plumbing, entertainment etc).
But when even a part of the service sector jobs starts moving out to India/Philippines etc and is made worse by a collapse in housing/finance sector, the economy is under terrible strain, recession sets in and consumption starts falling down because few people have money any more. Then things get very bad for the Youth as they have now because they don’t have a financial cushion to fall back on.
Plus, the terrible income inequalities brought about by corporate takeover of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party (to a lesser degree) makes it hard to fix things like raising wages or restoring manufacturing jobs here.
On the whole, the future looks bleak for America’s youth.
According to Freud, there is a beast in everyone of us. It does not depend on the race (Be it an american / telugu bidda / tamil). It is within control, only because of the society formation, customs, laws and penalties associated with it. The only thin line between the murderers and the ordinary human beings is that the latter did not cross the line for some reasons. But, aggression is a basic tendency found in human, like that of animals which use it to protect its territory and for self survival.
There is not a full explanation on how the serial killers or the crackpots on this post get formed. Some cite family environment, some cite genes, and some cite frustration and stress caused from the suppression of basic emotions towards sex and hunger, etc.
One of the explanations for the sudden outburst of emotions is – a disturbed prefrontal cortex. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex). Prefrontal Cortex of a brain plays a major role in (sudden) decision making, and controlling social behavior. This along with Amygdala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala) control our behavior and emotional reactions. For psychopathic killers, it’s found that they have an increased Amygdala activity.
One interesting study on the prefrontal cortex was the case of Phineas Gage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage) who met a frightening accident while at his work. A large iron rod passed through his cheek, took off one of his eyes and passed out through his head while taking a piece of prefrontal cortex. It’s observed that, he was a kind, polite, humble man before the accident and he became an incredibly different personality using profanity and violence at others to a large extent.
Coming back to the topic, even though the law may strictly prohibit the use of guns, humans have a strong tendency to come up with another weapon or tool to inflict pain on others as a result of their aggression.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Random thought – Some food stuff like sugars, additives, color agents etc tend to increase hyperactivity.
2. You write: Coming back to the topic, even though the law may strictly prohibit the use of guns, humans have a strong tendency to come up with another weapon or tool to inflict pain on others as a result of their aggression.
Rubbish.
Show me the proof for your argument.
Show me one civilian weapon developed in the last 100 years (other than Tamil “actor” Ajith Kumar’s movies) that has the ability to inflict maximum pain on the masses in the minimum time comparable to the gun.
Nothing can match the Gun in mass killing quickly.
It takes more time, more effort to kill a lot of people with easily available weapons like a cricket bat, baseball bat, kitchen knife, fists etc.
More Guns = More Murders with Guns.
a) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/index.html
b) USA Key Crime Stats
270 million guns
60% murders done with gun
88 Guns per 100 people
9,146 murders with Guns
Data Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list#data
Ignore the map in above link. Focus on the table….You can sort the table any way.
If you ignore the barbaric nations with endemic drugs-fueled violence like Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela, the U.S. has the most deaths from guns.
c) http://www.americanbar.org/groups/committees/gun_violence/resources/the_u_s_compared_to_other_nations.html
Totally agree on the point that Gun plays an undeniable role in Mass-killing.
My point was more on the side of humans’ tendency to show aggression even if the Gun is not present with them. That is something that can’t be stopped, however developed/civilized a nation / society may be.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good Lord, I seem to be arguing with kids.
My unambiguous point is that the human ability to show aggression and wreak maximum havoc is limited/minimized in the absence of guns.
How many people can you go around killing with your arms or a cricket bat or knife in 5 minutes? Maximum 3. But with a Gun, you can kill 30-50 in 5 minutes!
Guns multiply the destructive power in very little time and give no scope for emotions to cool down. That’s the essential point.
Not whether humans always kill or always show aggression or blah blah blah blah.
Plus, Guns make it possible to kill in a impersonal way from a distance without getting close to the victim, a process that increases the inhumanity. Au contraire, with a knife, cricket bat or bare-fists or chains, you have to be up close to the victims, which is where the humane aspect comes in and makes it harder for the killer to massacre large numbers.
Information is still trickling in, but doubt if any regulation could have flagged down this one. This man used his mother’s legal weapons. Any background checks or regulation would have been for his mother and not him. Does gun owner regulation extend its scope to family ? Where is the perimeter drawn in that case ?
NRA members seem to welcome background checks –
http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/media-center/pr012-09.shtml
Is conducting background checks enough ?
Any background checks could not have helped in this CT elementary school case.
Also, background checks for ‘private sellers’ requirements are ambiguous, which the Wisconsin shooter exploited.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/10/23/wisconsin-mass-shooter-exploited-background-che/190872
Even after such a grave incident, there is so much buzz in social media and on the Internet that ‘guns don’t kill people, people do’. There is a huge huge American cultural issue here with fanatic second amendment defenders. Is the right to bear arms relevant for the times we live in ?
If folks are still itching to pull the trigger on a Sig Sauer, they should stick to Xbox360 or PS3.
I don’t think regulation, background checks, ban of automatics are going to help, they are at best half-measures.
Yesterday incidentally there was another madman who rampaged through a school in China and knifed 20 kids. No fatalities.
Unfortunately we have vastly different outcome of a similar incident here in CT. Guns are not allowed for private ownership in China.
Either we are allowed to own firearms and live with the implications or we ban firearms for private ownership to end incidents like this one. There are no two ways about it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The key issues are:
1. Strong public support in America for gun ownership (assuming polls are not rigged).
Leaders must overrule the public in rare instances.
Rules must be changed to make the process of getting a Gun very hard and very expensive (like owning cars in Singapore). You’re right, there can be no half-measures like background checks etc.
If leaders “follow” or “ask” the public on everything, all that the public will demand is lots of Caviar, Steak, Dum Biryani and endless access to the buxom delights of Anushka Shetty. 😉
There’s some virtue to Plato’s notion of Philosopher-Kings.
2. Argument by Pro-Gun ownership supporters – ‘guns don’t kill people, people do,’
I’m familiar with that oft-repeated point each time there’s clamor for gun control after a violent incident.
But I’m not convinced by the argument.
Guns have a power of mass destruction unmatched by other easily available weapons like fists, knives, baseball bats or chains.
Also, Guns don’t allow emotions to cool down.
3. Finally, go back 2,000 years to Cicero’s famous question: Cui bono?
If you ask cui bono (who benefits) in the context of the guns in America, the answer leads straight to Gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association.
More violent incidents, ergo more people will buy guns benefiting the gun industry and the NRA.
who woulda thunk norway unleash the biggest monster.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I feel so sad for Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian killer of 77-people.
The poor guy only has a three-cell suite with a television, exercise equipment, good lodgings (but without a view), Electric typewriter to unleash his literary talents, vitamin pills, electric shaver etc.
How dare the prison authorities use handcuffs on him or check between his buttocks for weapons or give him a stab-proof pen!
Goddammit, JFK was very right when he said Life is Unfair. 😉
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/world/europe/norway-killer-breivik-complains-about-prison.html
http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/190607-norway-killer-slams-prison-conditions
I don’t understand what is Obama waiting for!
He does not have to worry about offending the NRA and the conservatives – they get offended regardless of what he does.
Having already won a second term, he has the luxury of not giving a sh!t about what others think.
How many more lives is it going to take to swing the public opinion? This is sick!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. As I see it, Republicans are in disarray after the elections, shell-shocked.
If Obama jumps on Gun control right now, it’ll become the rallying point for the Republicans to unite around an issue.
Obama seems to be shrewdly waiting for public anger to escalate over gun violence before he moves on Gun control.
2. You write: Having already won a second term, he has the luxury of not giving a sh!t about what others think.
True that Obama has won a second term and has the luxury of not giving a sh!t about what others think but he does not have the luxury of passing laws. It’s Congress that passes laws and there the President faces stubborn resistance from the Republican beasts on any subject. He does not have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the Democrats are in the minority in the House.
3. Plus, Obama already has two big challenges on his hands currently – Tackling the Fiscal Cliff without caving in to ReThuglican demands for savage cuts in social programs and the aggressive demands from Hispanics for Amnesty. A President who tries to accomplish too many things ends up accomplishing nothing.
4. Not to forget Obama’s inherent nature/agenda has never been radical despite that characterization by his opponents. Perhaps, Obama is convinced that America can be governed only from the middle.
5. Finally, for Obama to tell the people they are idiots and asking them to change their views on Gun Control is easier said than done.
6. Oh, wait…what are you going to do about the 270 million guns that are already out there?
Bottom line, no easy solutions here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/us/politics/bloomberg-urges-obama-to-take-action-on-gun-control.html?hpw
Seems many are in favour of bringing in Gun control. Aren’t they?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
What about the 270-million plus guns already with the people?
How do you address that problem even if you put in place tougher restrictions for buying a gun.
What has been allowed to fester into a problem over two centuries is not going to be resolved in a few months! 🙁
Plus, I’m not sure if it’s only people with mental problems (as suggested by one person in your above link) that engage in shooting sprees.
Guns make any angry person feel ‘powerful’ when his hand is on the trigger not just people with mental issues.
Off-topic:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-student-critical-after-being-gang-raped-in-moving-bus-four-held/articleshow/17650230.cms
Delhi!!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
That was the first thing I saw this morning.
Beyond Terrible! 🙁
So many incidents of rape/murder/attacks in and around Delhi over the last 12-18 months.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila DikShit is like Manmohan Singh – a very ineffective leader.