Can it be possi ble? Another shooting

I just barely caught wind of this one.

It's at Texas A&M. Three dead, I heard.

Here's a link. Texas A&M Shooting

The only good thing about this is that the whole student body hadn't returned to campus yet. Why are there so many shootings?
It's like there's an epidemic or something. Everybody has problems; they're just different for each individual. But why be so cruel????

I have decided to try and treat these shootings mentally the same way I do car accidents and train crashes: "Gosh, that's awful. I'm so sorry for the families," and then move on.

I'm not trying to be cold or callous, but have run out of energy on these dreadful incidents. We have plenty of access to guns; of course we cannot keep them out of the hands of the very few who lose it and decide to take a lot of people with them. Just as we cannot anticipate the drunks who drive and kill others, we cannot know in advance who will lose it and start shooting. You know, dozens of people die all across the US every day in more 'ordinary' shootings: gang activity, aggrieved workers and spouses, angry teenagers, etc. They don't make the papers much; we're use to it.

There's probably some connection between violent video games, violence in general, gun ownership, and mental processes. I'm not out of compassion; I'm just tired. You know, soon there will be yet another shooting like this.....

Ellemm, that's probably a good way to think about it. Especially since the news media has just released information of another shooting earlier today.

This one happened at the Family Research Council in Washington, DC. No one was killed.

As far as I know, the shooter is in FBI custody and has not yet been charged. A law enforcement official said at one point in the scuffle, the shooter expressed views that differed from those of the Family Research Council.

The official also said the shooter was carrying a bag that had a Chick-Fil-A bag inside.

Apparently the Research Council is conservative, and has expressed similar views against same-sex marriage as Chick-Fil-A’s chief executive.

Authorities did not identify the shooter or the security guard. They also would not say what kind of gun the shooter used or whether the security guard was armed. They still are uncertain of a motive, they said.

Security guard shot in downtown DC.

Oh, thanks, Anne. I was afraid I sounded like a lunatic. But if I am a little numb and cynical they made me that way. We don't even try to get drunk drivers off the road -- at least not much. In other countries you'd lose your job, your license, and go to jail. Here, we like to talk big but are so married to the idea that your driving privileges are sacred that we often give people a tap on the wrist.

You know, we're not ever going to insist that people learn to drive competently before they're let loose on the road, drunk or sober. We're the same way with our guns: ownership is sacred and just about anyone can get one.

You know, there are plenty of folks who think we don't have enough freedom with our guns. They want all restrictions lifted, including the ones on fully automatic weapons and military-grade ammunition. Soldiers have to account for their weapons and their ammunition, but civilians don't.

I'm only going to live so many more years. I only have so much energy to devote to incidents that don't really affect me. Of course I think these shooting incidents are terrible, but they're part of life here.

You make good points, Ellemm. I'll not address the guns issue here, I don't have much knowledge of what it takes to get a gun.

But I will talk about your comment on driving. I agree that we just churn out licenses to our 16 year olds without making sure they really can drive.

I recall realizing this when my daughter was taking driver's ed in school. My husband and I often drove with her during the learning process. When she completed the school class, she took the road test and was granted a license.

To me, it almost appeared to be a "rubber stamp" process: As long as you had the piece of paper from your school saying you had taken drivers ed, the process to take the road test and get a license seemed to me to be pretty automated.

My assessment was that my daughter was NOT yet ready to be out on the road driving. But she had the piece of paper from the state that said she was...

You can imagine her surprise when I announced to her that she MAY have passed the state's test, but she had not yet passed mine. I can't remember how much longer I made her drive with a parent in the car, but it was several months.

Did the same thing with our son.

Even so, both of them managed to bend a few fenders during high school. I guess that is why car insurance is so much more expensive if you have young drivers in the family.

But these days, both kids have good driving records, and are very competent drivers. I'm glad I made my own rules.

Speaking of guns, the mayor of our city just got a huge amount of guns off the streets, by initiating a gun buy-back program.
Citizens' were turning in truck loads of guns, all sizes, all types.

I've heard of those events. It's always amazing to me how many guns they round up this way. Hope this means your community is going to feel a little bit safer for awhile.

At least it's a step in the right direction. Less guns on the streets has to translate into less folks' being shot!!!

This time the shooter was in New York City. Near the empire State Building -- a disgruntled employee.

I'm guessing many of us caught this on the TV with our morning news... If not, here's a good link to information from the Wall Street Journal.

I recall making the decision to let an employee go a number of years ago when we had a large staff. I actually hesitated because the person had a temper, and I wondered which action would cause the least number of repercussions: let the person go or keep them on...

Once we did the termination, all the remaining employees were so thankful. I'd had no idea he was stressing everyone that much. Thanks be to God he never came back with a gun...

But I think it is very telling of our society that I actually found myself worrying about this.

Anyone else have scary experiences with co-workers?

Not sure what to think of this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/v...8d67_story.html

It IS horrendous news. But I am at least glad the NYPD has come clean about this so quickly -- rather than trying to stonewall.

There seems to be shootings in our city practically every day!!! It's crazy. I cannot understand why people hurt other people. Is it pure meanness? Or is it stupidity???

Well, jabber, not only are you a nice person, you're mentally stable. A lot of these folks are really mentally ill and their thought processes are not anything like what normal people would recognize. Give them a gun and the results are too-often what we see.

But you raise an interesting point: I do think a lot of people have poor impulse control and very bad tempers. They're the ones who just might want to get even with someone, hence the fired employee who returns and shoots up the office, the guy who shoots his wife, etc. I don't think these folks are crazy by any legal or psychiatric definition, but they are powder kegs.

In fact, I know a guy like this. He owns his own business, is a committed Christian and reads his Bible daily, but he has a titanic temper and a lot of people are afraid of him. (So am I). If he ever loses it, there won't be people on television saying they can't understand why such a nice guy would do something like this. I think he actually does have something wrong with him; someone who is in his 50's should not be acting like an out-of-control teenager emotionally.

I think you hit the nail on the head there, Ellemm, with the poor impulse control. It's probably a lot more complicated than that, though. There are anger issues, feeling one has no control over one's life, and sometimes there are physical causes like a small tumor in the part of the brain that controls impulses. And then there are those who have addiction issues, which leads to poor or no impulse control as well as extreme anger triggered by things of no consequence to most of the rest of us.

Temper is something everybody should work hard to control. What I don't understand is how any human being could shoot another person in the face. And I've heard of this several times in recent months. How cruel is that? It goes beyond comprehension.
IMHO...