Shooting at Virginia Tech

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by wolf

What makes people choose to do nothing, when nothing is clearly going to result in your death?

99% of the people in the world are sheep. Until the first person sacks-up and does something nobody else will even think about it.

[duck_duck]

In a state of panic I doubt many people would think to do something. I bet in that situation I would curl into a ball in the corner somewhere.

[tw]

Originally Posted by duck_duck

In a state of panic I doubt many people would think to do something. I bet in that situation I would curl into a ball in the corner somewhere.

Having been in enough severe situations where immediate actions were 'required', I know exactly what I would think if lined up to be shot. I would be completely mystified why I did not solve it or averted it somehow. Only once can I remember anyone who paniced during an event.

[piercehawkeye45]

Wolf, bluesdave is right, this people are probably only 20 years old if younger. I personally am not scared of death but I am the minority, and I am not 100% sure I would rush the attacker unless I knew other people were behind me. I know many people my age that would probably help rush the attacker but I know many many more that wouldn't in fear of getting shot or dying plus the situation was probably so chaotic no one had a chance to rush the shooter. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were still the minority in rushing the shooter at your age but I am not sure.

Also, unless you are more informed than me (this is not sarcasm), we have no idea what really happened and what the situation was. They could have been lined up in a way that resulted them in not being able to rush the attacker.

[warch]

I find the "blame the victim" line of reasoning misplaced.

[freshnesschronic]

Shoot, I'm 19 and I am anticipating the rest of my life eagerly, I don't want to get die now, not at all. I'd be scared shitless if this happened at Illinois. I actually can't honestly say I'd do one thing or the other. Because what happened at VTech today is out of this world and I can't even imagine experiencing anything remotely like it. Inside a campus building? 32 people dead? This is supposed to be a safe environment of academia, that situation is just so outrageous I would feel like it is actually a movie or something unbelievable like that.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

we have no idea what really happened and what the situation was.

I'm sure we'll hear more over the week. We know that some did fight back.

"Kids were running out of the building and I saw a teacher who had been shot in the arm being escorted out by an officer. I heard that the shooter came down the hall and kids were throwing desks at him."

The whole thing is gut wrenching and depressing. Completely destroyed my day to catch the news as this happened. Has me rethinking a lot, too.

I started digging through Wikipedia on school violence and found this interesting bit of history I'd never heard of, before:

Forty-five people killed in bombings at a school, most of the victims in grades second through sixth, by a man upset that taxes had been levied in order to fund its construction. He even loaded a car with every conceivable piece of jagged scrap metal he could find before parking it in front of the school and detonating the bomb inside. The year? Not as recent as you might think.

[Aliantha]

So shocking. My heart goes out to the family and friends of all the victims along with the family of the shooter. How must they be feeling now.

Originally Posted by Bullitt

Just because you own a gun, does not mean you know what the hell to do during a shoot out.

You point the gun at the bad-guy and pull the fucking trigger.
Whew, that sure was hard!

[Aliantha]

What if the bad guy is a mate of yours who's lost his head for whatever reason? Don't you think that in a closed environment like a college campus, it would be hard to make a call like that, especially if you're young and scared out of your brain.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by warch

I find the "blame the victim" line of reasoning misplaced.

Who is doing that? And how?

[CzinZumerzet]

I am really so very sorry for all of the victims in this tragedy.

I did find myself wondering while watching the news, where are all the guns we hear about, if this young man went about the killing without being at least challenged by another person with a weapon. Although never having lived in an armed society I honestly don't know if I could have pulled a weapon on another human being.

I hope all of the people involved get the help and support they need to get through this.

[piercehawkeye45]

I am not looking to start a pro-gun/ban gun debate but I just want to here the personal expierences from the pro-gunners.

First, do any of you know of anyone personally that has protected his or herself with a handgun (emphasis on handgun)?

If not but know of someone that you don't know personally, please explain.

Second, since most times you have protect yourself at short range, what do you think the difference between a gun and a very powerful stun gun shaped like handgun that can also mark the victim in some way?

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

You point the gun at the bad-guy and pull the fucking trigger.
Whew, that sure was hard!

You don't consider this even slightly over simplified? You're telling me that when they hand a guard, police officer, or solider a gun they could do nothing more than simply include the instructions "1. Point at bad guy. 2. Pull Trigger"? There's nothing more to it than that? No emotional aspects, no panic control, no training on how to handle high pressure life and death situations, no efforts required to concentrate as people around you lay bleeding to death? "Mental clarity" is not how even the most experienced officer would describe their thoughts during something like the VT situation and it completely evaporates in people who are going about their everyday business and are suddenly thrown into shock by events that they come closest to only in the worst of nightmares and cheap Jerry Bruckheimer flicks.

Just "pull the fucking trigger". Right.

Sadly enough, my CCW test didn't even go that far. It included absolutely nothing more than "show me how to make the weapon safe". Drop magazine, lock open the slide, check chamber, lay on counter. "You passed, you're done, go enjoy the range." That, plus a photograph, a money order, and 90 days does not make one ready for situations even remotely similar to what happened yesterday.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

First, do any of you know of anyone personally that has protected his or herself with a handgun (emphasis on handgun)?

You've been registered here since October, but maybe you missed this thread on this very topic two months ago.