Jerseygirl

well said.

FlaviusAetius

There are some points to ponder in this situation. First, with respect to gun control, there are about 300 million guns in private hands in this country. How do you control that? Second, some of the areas with the strictest gun control laws have some of the highest rates of gun-related murders, i.e. Chicago and Baltimore. Third, there is an assumption here that the gun crazies in this country are likely to be in-bred rednecks - but in this case the shooter was black. There is also a culture of being offended and holding grievances over off-hand remarks by others - here, the shooter alleged that the victim made some "racist" remarks.

The shooter was characterized by a spokesperson for the station as having some skills as a reporter, but also one who kept searching for statements as to which he could take offense. Apparently if it was true that the victim made some remark that he interpreted as "racist" and offensive, that gave him all the justification, in his mind, he needed to take her life, as well as that of the cameraman who was on his last day on the job, and the perfectly innocent interviewee.

Alfresco

Shocking and sad story to wake up to.

london_calling

The gun nuts always come out with that one. You think some giant magnet at the city limits sucks all the firearms out of circulation? The guns are just purchased and trafficked in from places with fewer gun laws.

Married2abrit

I totally agree about the "collateral damage" line of thought. There is a pin on Pinterest that said something to the effect of "there is no fight about gun control in America. When we as a nation decided that the massacre of 20 children at a school was tolerable ( no sweeping national reforms), the battle was already lost".

FlaviusAetius

So...how do you propose to "control" guns?

If we can't comprehend deporting 11 million undocumented aliens (and no sane person can), what would be the mechanism of rounding up 300 million guns from across the East to the West Coasts and the Gulf to the Canadian border, as well as Alaska - assuming the federal government banned all guns from civilian hands?

Pulaski

Please stop trying to be logical, it just irritates those who advocate the outlawing of private gun ownership.

BTW You forgot to mention that it is actually fairly easy to manufacture a gun with a very modest metal working lathe and tools. Even a basic revolver is not an especially sophisticated machine.

FlaviusAetius

You're right, Pulaski. I suppose it makes them feel so superior to heap scorn on the knuckle-dragging Myrkynz. Advocating gun control reminds one of the legend of King Canute.

Remember the home-made zip guns of the '50s? No high tech there, but deadly at close range.

Trixie_b

My thoughts go out to all affected by this nightmare. I'm currently not going into work because of one individual who has "lost his shit" over innocuous work related questions - "what time are you coming in tomorrow?" and "could you do task x from your job description". I'm this guys target and I've been questioned as to why I feel that I'm under threat from this guy - I sent the links from this event to my HR team.

I made the decision to watch the videos from both the news agency and the (sick bastard's) go pro camera. and it strikes me (as a gun owner) how much a gun takes the violence out of the situation. For example, lifting a fist or bat or knife to injure someone has to have a certain amount of aggression, to cause deadly injuries. While pulling a trigger is so removed from active violence. When he aimed and wasn't seen and readjusted himself it was like he was waiting for someone to stop him - but they didn't

FlaviusAetius

I understand the killer was waiting for the cameraman to re-position the camera back to the interviewer (he had been panning the camera over the lake) so that the killing would go out live over the feed and he could be sure that his statement was heard and seen by the world at large. It is an absolute horror.

Jerseygirl

Jim Gilmore...presidential candidate and former Governor of Virginia...has just been interviewed on CNN and said guns are not to blame. That it's American's right to bear arms and if he was president he would support the 2nd Amendment. He blames mental health issues.

Trixie_b

wow, just wow... the guy clearly had mental health issues for way over 2 years - but it only took him 2 months after acquiring a gun to become deadly.

AhCrap

Exactly, it really isn't surprising considering this is the same nation that considers 88,000 deaths to be an acceptable price for recreational consumption of alcohol. Further more is it really surprising they don't consider it a problem when gun deaths make up one one hundredth of one percent each year of the USA population, three one hundredths of one percent if you include those wounded? It would take a hundred years before one percent of the population was killed by firearms.

tonrob

Apparently we're now averaging more than one mass-shooting per day this year.

We’re now averaging more than one mass shooting per day in 2015 - The Washington Post

Beaverstate

Don't confuse gun deaths with murder or even self defense. 64% of US gun deaths are suicide. I suppose it would be less messy if they hung themselves.
Many more people are dying from gun suicides than gun-related homicides - The Washington Post