Shootings

[mxgolf]

I am shocked from what happened on Monday in my home town the shooting at Clackamas Town Center. My sister has a store there and it's really freaked me out. Now some one shoots a bunch of kindergarden kids and teachers. This is getting too close for comfort. Why would anyone do this type of badness. What's happening to the world? I can't believe it and am in total shock. I start to tear up just thinking about these tragedies. I just wanted to vent a bit and pray for the families that are effected by this major event.

 

[outasight20]

What's happening is all the obscene TV shows, movies, rap music, video games, etc. are finally beginning to catch up with us.

This stuff makes me so incredibly angry. I think technology is bringing the world together in one sense and isolating people in their own twisted worlds in another sense.

 

[dpaul007]

It is crazy. I wish he would have killed himself BEFORE stepping foot in the school. Would have saved a lot of tears. What's going to annoy me the most about these incidents is there are probably going to be stricter gun laws. But I don't even want to get started about that...

 

[Nelly]

Not again, so sad, how many more times is this going to happen?

RIP

 

[Xavias]

The kids... and the families of the kids.. I just can't even...

 

[mxgolf]

It's totally heart breaking! I too think all the stupid video games and the crap on TV are partially to blame. Real life is not a game. All these idiots are chicken ***** by taking there own life after taking some one elses. No justice then. Just sadness.

 

[texcollect]

I can understand the purpose of a rifle (hunting, target practice, vermin control), but a hand gun has only one purpose (to cause harm to another individual).

It was an incident like this in Dunblane, Scotland in 1996 that caused hand guns to be outlawed in the UK.

 

[Karate.Snoopy]

This is just awful, I have a 2 year old and another one on the way. As a parent I can't even begin to fathom the gravity and grief of this situation.
There will be a lot of finger pointing during the next week. Some will blame the guns,some the media, some will go after the psychologist and some after the big pharma. I think its a collective issue which includes all of the "usual suspects" as listed and more. Society has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades with the deluge of psuedo trans-humanism using all the gadgetry available to our disposal.The decadence , the sacrificing of human values at the altar of efficiency and economy is totally abhorrent and needs to stop, starting at home.

I am going to get home, grab my kid and tell him I love him.

 

[motojoe122]

I thought I was reading about the first one again, then I realized it was a 2nd shooting. Unbelievable...and so sad....

 

[lytehouse]

it's hard to type thru the tears.......

but that man was pure evil

 

[callmegandhi]

Too all potential mass shooters. Please for the love of God, eat a bullet and let the rest of the world carry on without you. Thank you.

 

[Kazza]

What is wrong with this world. 28 dead, 20 kids!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[Yamma~Tiger]

I have close Family friends that live 20 Minutes from where this occured. They have a little boy.

My mother sent this to me in an email today before we had herd about the shooting
.... And after hearing about the shootings my mind went right back to it:



"Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?



At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its

dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'



The audience was stilled by the query.



The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:



Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.



I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'



Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.



At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.



However, as Shay stepped up to the

plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.



The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.



Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.



Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.



All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'



Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to third!'



As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team



'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.



Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day !



AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.



If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?



A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them."

 

[Ssky0078]

An unfortunate thing that happens in many of the previous great civilizations, Rome, Ancient China, Great Brittain, etc. there came a tipping point where as the society devolved random and gruesome acts of violence increased or periods of lawlessness came to be.

Behavioural psychologist have tested some of these theories by overpopulating enclosed spaces with mice and saw that eventually there was an increase of aggressive behavior by a few. Also, one study tested the prison theory of overpopulating with the same sex and found that it also increased aggressive behavior for a few, and interesting side note an increase in homosexual behavior as well.

Another genetic/biological argument is the Warrior Gene. When we don't have a society established to direct the Warriors of the group to satisfy their aggressive behavior then it will come out in not so socially accepted ways.

The final comment I have is that I would not blame the video games, rap music, or movies. I would blame the news. If you all haven't noticed after each one of these shootings the next shooter is more prepared. Why are they more prepared? I argue that the detailed information that is presented on the news presents the playbook for the next level of one-upmanship in who can be the deadliest loon. If you noticed most of these assailants often fail on the reload, so they are getting bigger and bigger magazines, or multiple weapons so they can fire off one weapon and switch to the next.

Ultimately it comes down to how healthy the community is, where the priorities are set, and how readily available is mental/behavioural health available to these potentially violent individuals.

 

[LERecords]

I am still just in shock.. i cant even think about how anyone could bring themselves to shoot a little kid.. evil and monster just don't quite say it... right before xmas.. just feel blah like what the f...

 

[hattu345]

there will always be angry teenagers (20 in this case) and where guns are available, these things will continue to happen... but last time I mentioned gun laws in a forum they thought I was uncool and kicked me out

 

[Tailgate]

Aren't such video games great!:

 

[Ruggybuggy]

Aren't such video games great!:

Combine that with the easy of getting a lethal weapon and it's a disaster waiting to happen. It's in the American DNA to own guns. I'm all for gun ownership but there has to be a restriction on the type and procedure for acquiring a gun. How did he manage to get his mother's guns? In Canada we have to store our guns in a locked approved metal gun cabinet. Fully automatic guns are prohibited, hand guns are restricted but still allowed and there are laws on barrel length and magazine size. I myself have six guns and it's perfectly legal for me to have them. By limiting the amount of damage my guns can do, making it hard to conceal them, doing mandatory gun safety training, restricting to qualified owners and making me locking them up you can reduce gun shooting incidences.

 

[hattu345]

You know it's in the culture when a teenage mother and schoolteacher keeps several guns in her home. That kid has been dreaming about using those guns for all his life.

 

[Ssky0078]

You know it's in the culture when a teenage mother and schoolteacher keeps several guns in her home. That kid has been dreaming about using those guns for all his life.

I think it's a level of respect for the weapon/tool and a respect for human life.

If people would treat each other with a high level of respect/regard, then they may not feel alienated or disenfranchised that they want to fight back against society.