Once again...

[Duke]

i know this has nothing to do with the media. i was saying that YOUR world view of america and its people are obviously based off of what you see in the media.

As opposed to? Own personal experience? Pure guesswork? Absolute knowledge about everything? These days almost everything we hear and see about other areas of the world more than 100 miles away are of course largely based on the media. Of course my idea of America is largely based off the media. Just like your perception of the rest of the world is. Hell, even the part of America that you do not know personally, the image you have of it is based off media experiences. It doesn't automatically mean perception of A is wrong when it's based off media.

i did not concoct any excuse at all. i was stating the truth. the common factor in these shootings.

Other common factors that apply to more than 80% of the incidents is that the shooter is white, male and between the age of 12 and 20.

So they were on medication. Big deal. Nearly a quarter of America's population is on some form of medication. Now, not that constant medication to solve petty problems is good, because it isn't, but to throw it up as a semi-reason for such things happening when ignoring the obvious (guns) isn't a shining example of convincing argumentation. To point the finger at everything else except the availability of firearms is hilarious to most of us here in sane Europe. You live in a country where every time a cop pulls over a car he needs to worry about a possible Rambo emerging, yet that these school shootings happen is everyone's fault, from shooter to victim to Advil to the rest of the world, all but the simple fact that every average Joe has packaged lethality in his dresser.

Bless the land of the free.

 

[Jokerman]

So they were on medication. Big deal. Nearly a quarter of America's population is on some form of medication... to throw it up as a semi-reason for such things happening when ignoring the obvious (guns) isn't a shining example of convincing argumentation.

Nearly a quarter of America's population has guns...to throw guns up as a main reason for such things happening isn't a shining example...

We're not talking about "some form of medication" like Advil. We're talking about antidepressants. Virtually all of the gun-related massacres that have made headlines over the past decade have had one thing in common: they were perpetrated by people taking Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil or a related antidepressant drug. That most definitely is a cause and effect semi-reason for such things happening. By your logic, you would say cars are the main reason that drunk drivers kill people. And that to throw up alcohol as a semi-reason isn't a shining example...

You live in a country where every time a cop pulls over a car he needs to worry about a possible Rambo emerging.

A war hero?

 

[Duke]

Nearly a quarter of America's population has guns...to throw guns up as a main reason for such things happening isn't a shining example...

We're not talking about "some form of medication" like Advil. We're talking about antidepressants. Virtually all of the gun-related massacres that have made headlines over the past decade have had one thing in common: they were perpetrated by people taking Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Paxil or a related antidepressant drug. That most definitely is a cause and effect semi-reason for such things happening. By your logic, you would say cars are the main reason that drunk drivers kill people. And that to throw up alcohol as a semi-reason isn't a shining example...

A war hero?

Well, the difference between the car and the gun is that they're both a reason for the respective problems, but that the car has a valid everyday function in life. The same cannot be said about guns. I agree that the existence of the gun itself of course isn't the main reason that shit like that happens, but the gun is available as a tool without a real daily function. Car and gun are both partly to blame for the accidents they cause.

Simply put, in my opinion and most others, having guns around in large numbers in society (and I'm not talking criminals here, just average Joe with the 9mm in the cupboard) cause too many problems for the use/joy they provide. The balance is gone. With cars, yes "they" do kill, but the car as a personal means of transport has changed the way we live. It has a non-replaceable role. With guns, it's just not worth it having them around for all the trouble their massed existence causes. Human beings are in general not responsible enough to own things like firearms that do not have a good trade-off function to justify the inherent risk they pose.

 

[the_pharmacist]

How can you blame the society for turning the shooter into a psycho? If I remember correctly, the main reason behind the massacre is that the shooter is sick of what he referred to as the rich students in the university. Is it the society's fault that the university accepted him as a student, where he is to have rich students as classmates, or is the society's fault that he hadn't enjoyed the same financial status as the rest of his peers?