This blog is going to be brief despite the title that invites long discussion.
This brouhaha in the international press about the tragedy in Virginia Tech seems to be focusing mostly on the gunman's profile and how all the signals slipped unnoticed through society's mesh that is supposed to be a safety catch.
I have only one comment. If there are NO GUNS to be easily bought, there would have been no mass shootings. All this talk about civil liberties especially the right of the individual to bear arms and defend himself is B__L S__T. Availability of guns for any Tom, Dick or Harry (pardon the cliche) has no bearing, in my opinion, on crime rates – a much-debated issue in gun control.
Gun advocates say: people kill, not guns. STUPID ARGUMENT.
If all those mass shooters had no easy way of accessing guns, there would have been no Columbine High, no Waco, Texas, no Virginia Tech carnage.
| Charlton Heston and gun lovers will go ballistic over this blog. : ) Easy access to guns really feeds on the mind of loonies like Marc Chapman. Lennon's killer. On the other hand, determined mass murderers could resort to gas (Japan), bombs (Bali), even an airplane (New York). But America should address the national malady of loneliness and depression that leads to rage. And you are correct, keep away the guns. |
|  Gun advocates say: people kill, not guns.  If you have no guns, you cannot shoot to kill, even if you wanted to. But if you have a gun, you need only a second of despair to use it. See NASA's deadly shooting last Friaday at the Johnson's Space Center.
I read that the rifle association suggested to also arm the students especially in Virginia Tech, to put a stop to these amok shooters. Isn't that ridiculous? If that happens, it won't take long, we will go armed to eat out in restaurants like in the saloons in cowboy movies. |
 | gwiz wrote on Apr 22, '07 the rifle association suggested to also arm the students Stupid NRA. They have been stupid for a loooong time. I just hope that with this V Tech incident, somehow a tipping point against this stupid NRA thinking will be reached. |
| a tipping point against this stupid NRA thinking will be reached I doubt. The Columbine incident didn't make them change their minds. Neither do I know what has still to happen, to open their eyes. |
 | I agree with everything you said, but i can't help wondering and thinking about what drove him to do such a thing. what made him that crazy. I've heard stories about the horrific peer pressure and the unbelievable 'inhuman' discrimination they have there in the states. i think it all boils down to family values, focusing on this most basic structure of the society should be the first and foremost priority if there is going to be any real change. |
| yes, dahil din yan sa culture of indifference. walang paki-alaman. andami na sanang warning signs..... why does it have to be always too late? |
 | I feel sorry for the Korean guy, he didn't get help, and the last thing he made will leave stupid remarks on his part for some people. Discrimination, rasism and bullying is sad and unfortunately part of their culture (american) aminin man nila o hinde.... In my kids school they always discuss how to deal with peer pressure, and always, always encourage them to talk to their counsellor, parents or principal. Another sad example happenned in my son's school, the girl being bullied for years just decided to kill herself..... |
 | other side of the coin lang pala ang mga nabasa ko..I'll get to research more about him..although I know maraming factors for big frustrations. May case din dito, of a similar account..but he commited suicide..didn't run amok. |
| gwiz wrote on Apr 22, '07 but he commited suicide..didn't run amok. At the risk of sounding unfeeling and grim – at least he only killed himself. Hindi na siya nagdamay pa ng iba. Can you imagine if this kid, bullied and filled with hate and anger towards his tormentors, got hold of guns? He might have easily gunned down others, as this Korea-born guy did. |
| Ban the Gun. That’s the proven way to have the lowest crime rate.
Singapore is one of the few countries with the strictest anti-gun laws in the world. Zero households with guns.
Roam around the busiest areas and see if you will find a single bank with heavy security armed with a handgun guarding the entrance door. This doesn’t exist in Singapore. You go inside a bank and you will find an armed security guard, alone, (where most of them are senior citizens) either standing in one corner with eyes close taking a snooze or filling empty boxes with bank forms to ease their boredom.
No malls, McDonald’s, KFC, or any fast food with security guards by the entrance door.
Gun crimes is almost unheard of, that one murder with firearm a year ago and a couple of armed robberies, became huge concerns to local residents, almost blaming the police how these people managed to bring in gun in the country.
I felt sorry for the local police, as they have been doing their best to keep about a decade straight records without any gun offense.
Strict gun ban sends a strong signal to would-be offenders, deterring them to commit crimes involving firearms. The government makes no apology for its tough laws not only on gun ban. Singapore has had no kidnappings for years.
No record of a repeat offender who has been previously caned (such a strong punishment to remember). My son, Sky Bono, had an educational trip to Singapore Prison, where an officer explained well about caning as punishment then showed caning demo. Reaching home, I simply asked my son, "Well???" He replied with a smile, "I'll behave."
Singapore strict gun law even covers filming with firearms as props.
I produced a movie and a still photo shoot, which required real guns/automatic rifles. Any filming of feature films or commercials that need firearms whether real or mock up needs permit. No restrictions if you need real guns as long as no bullets. The Singapore Army does rent various models of firearms. An authorized person must be in the shoot to hand over the gun to the talent/actors only during the takes, giving you not much chance to play around with it.
Boring? Nope! Not at all. Having peace of mind that my kids are in a safe place is what matters most.
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 | E kasali pala si George Bush sa NRA (national rifle association)! Kaya pala tameme ang loko sa issue ng gun ban! Tapos pupunta pa sa Vtech para mag-speech! Ang Kapal! |
 | silverpixie wrote on Apr 23, '07, edited on Apr 23, '07 I admit, if I have a gun matagal nakong nakapatay... O matagal na akong PATAY. =) |
 | Banning guns in the US is not that simple. The US Constitution guarantees "the right to bear arms," and it will require a constitutional assembly and an amendment to change that. That particular clause in the US Constitution was included during the pioneer days when Americans needed a rifle to hunt and to protect themselves. Unfortunately it was never taken out, even when times have changed. |
 | cyfunk wrote on Apr 23, '07, edited on Apr 23, '07 Criminologists however have been arguing that if we want to guess by how much the U.S. murder rate would fall if civilians had no guns, the non-gun homicide rate in the US is three times higher than the non-gun homicide rate in, for instance, England. For historical and cultural reasons, Americans are a more violent people than the English, even when they can't use a gun. This fact sets a floor below which the murder rate won't be reduced even if, by some constitutional or political miracle, they became gun-free.
I read this in an article: "Easy access to guns makes deadly violence more common in drug deals, gang fights and street corner brawls...
However, there is no way to extinguish this supply of guns. It would be constitutionally suspect and politically impossible to confiscate hundreds of millions of weapons. You can declare a place gun-free, as Virginia Tech had done, and guns will still be brought there."
Perhaps, alongside all this talk about banning guns, a lesson that should emerge from the Virginia Tech killings is that we need to work harder to identify and cope with dangerously unstable personalities, and not to ignore danger signs. This is not just "somebody's" job but "everyone's", otherwise, if "no one" will do it, "anyone" can be dead senselessly - anytime. |
| did you see, in "Bowling for Columbine", how Charlton Heston reacted to Micahel Moore when he talked to him about the senselessness of NRA and what they stand for...in the light of the violence in the American societies? Heston was so stupidly pissed he just pushed Moore out...you could see how he felt cornered and didn't know what to say. |
| There's a reason why this Korean kid became "unstable." He was an Asian immigrant living in a predominantly white state and experienced racial prejudice. He was constantly bullied in school, laughed at because of his accent, pushed around, humiliated, didn't fit in and therefore had no friends. He said it all in his video monologue. All this hatred and resentment continued to build up, and without family nearby and friends to lend moral support, he simply snapped. The race card has been ignored by the media and all they're saying is that he's insane and a stalker. By the way, he is not alone. There are many more immigrant kids undergoing the same humiliation and indignation in the hands of the native-born Americans. I know because it's alsp happening here in Canada. There are other Koreans in Virginia Tech but if they're US-born Koreans, they will think and act American and probably did not socialize with this guy. The same with immigrant Pinoy kids and US-born Pinoy kids - big difference in their thinking and attitude. The California environment is different from Virginia. California is a multi-cultural state with a huge Asian population. In fact the Pinoys are the biggest Asian group in the state and therefore most of them easily fit in. |
| di ba there's this movie starring Nicholas Cage, yung Lord of War, about gun running. Grabe! it shows how ONE person can single-handedly create wars. this movie was based on actual events! |
| He was constantly bullied in school, laughed at because of his accent, pushed around, humiliated, didn't fit in and therefore had no friends. He said it all in his video monologue. All this hatred and resentment continued to build up, and without family nearby and friends to lend moral support Being mobbed is not a joke for this critical age...I just wonder how his family reacted with all these problems..May stage pa naman ang lahat where we really don't understand the world. I read once, that at boys at puberty or young men, have more the tendencies for suicide due to hormonal factors...
Sa autopsy ni Cho, they didn't find any neurological problem daw sa brain..ay naku whatever is, I'll just hope or we'll just that something like this won't happen anymore, and as usual, actions should take over..
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 | I say a speech or two to children who play with toy guns without being too KJ. Start them young. Sometimes it's the parents who give these toys to their children. What are they teaching them? |
| gwiz wrote on Apr 25, '07, edited on Apr 25, '07 Right, Faith. What signals are we giving the children if we let them play with toy guns? The school where all our children attended pre-school and grade school, JASMS, has an anti-gun policy. Thus, toy guns are strictly prohibited. Parents are advised about this policy and are encouraged to adopt it in their homes as well.
Of course, it is a different story already when my boys grew up and got enamored of the various computer games that invariably feature shooting wars. But I believe that my boys take all this gaming in perspective, because anti-gun, anti-violence values have already been inculcated in them since childhood. I do not think they would be inclined to take up guns for real, much less contemplate using them for harming others.
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| gwiz wrote on Apr 25, '07 I rest my case with what Helene wrote about Singapore. Guns in the hands of ordinary citizens have no place in modern civilized society. We no longer hunt for our food anyway, to put it lightly. |
| gwiz wrote on Apr 25, '07 Yes, I have heard it said that the main business of the United States of America is armaments, Nagtataka pa ba kayo kung bakit palaging involved sa war si Uncle Sam?
It is very sad to think that this gun culture, this business of arms is one of the cornerstones of the terrorism issue, the blame for which the US ironically casts on their adversaries. . |
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