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I have to agree that the privacy laws have gone too far. There should be some mechanism whereby a teacher or counselor can alert authorities to a potentially dangerous person.
There are such mechanisms in place. If a counselor/therapist/doctor has reason to believe that a person represents a danger to him/herself or others, they are legally obligated to report it to the authorities.
Are AK47s and Bushmasters easily available to walk-in buyers in VA? In Texas you can just go to your neighborhood gun show and buy an AR15 for little more than the price of a good handgun. In fact I have had Bushmasters in my hands and been tempted, because I have available an outdoor place to play with it...
I was thinking that if he had wanted to he could have wiped out a much larger number of people with a more efficient firearm. That's still less impersonal, a more directly personal act than using an automobile -- or fertilizer.
There are such mechanisms in place. If a counselor/therapist/doctor has reason to believe that a person represents a danger to him/herself or others, they are legally obligated to report it to the authorities.
Yes, but not all "shooters" are deemed "disturbed" nor show signs of mental illness. No one really knows for sure.
The student who shot 3 people at my Univ (inside our classroom during Russian History) wasn't considered a "mental" case. From the information we received, his girlfriend (one of the victims) broke up with him during the weekend. A simple break-up provoked him to kill his girlfriend, and 2 others (a student sitting next to her, and our professor who was a priest). He knew he only had 4 bullets because he used the fourth one in his head.
He didn't own a gun but managed to stole a gun from his friend's father (who didn't even know his gun was stolen until the police contacted him). I'm not sure if stricter background checks on owning guns matters as it certainly didn't apply in this situation.
I guess one can endlessly argue whether we should or shouldn't ban guns. I strongly feel that guns do not belong to anyone except in the hands of law enforcement officers. I never care for hunters either as I don't like the idea of killing another animals for sports/hobby. I just don't agree with cruelty to animals or anyone who is helpless. I feel that I'm in a position to voice my opinion as I have experienced this nightmare at least twice. I was in that class when the shooter killed those 3 people whom I knew. No one can really tell me how horrible it feels unless that person has experienced the same thing I've experienced.
The second nightmare I endured was 3 years ago when I walking my dog in the middle of the day. A white SUV drove by Hollywood Blvd and started firing. Luckily I was fast enough to pull my dog by the dumpster and hid there until I knew it was safe. One of the bullets hit the dumspter but thankfully missed us. I momentarily found out that the shooter killed 2 guys walking on the street. The police managed to catch the guys right in front of our driveway. I was so freakin' afraid but was more afraid for my dog than my own life.
I suufer from occasional anxiety especially whenever I hear school shootings. I know how those students and teachers feel about this nightmare. I'm not a religious person, hence, I can't really say that I'll pray for them. I do wish them well (and their families) and hope they get the necessary help. I was lucky enough that help was readily available. As I said, I still suffer from anxiety whenever I hear or read about shootings especially in schools. It seems that I'll really never recover from this unless shootings especially in schools become non-existent. I know, however, in my heart that "gun control" is our country is a futile cause. I think it's a futile cause because this is the same country where people still drive SUVs despite of the scarcity of oil.
As I'm typing this, I just found out that at least 150 died today from another bombing in Iraq. I'm still hoping that there will be PEACE (of some sort) before my time comes. How can the Iraqis enjoy living when they fear for their lives on a daily basis? Even though I've had my shares of "shell shock" experience, I'm still lucky that I don't live on a daily basis fearing for my life. I's so corny, but I do want WORLD PEACE. I may be wishing for a miracle here, but I'm still hopeful. In the meantime (instead of protesting for various causes I strongly believe in), I've been devoting some of my free time saving lives at our local animal shelters as well helping the homeless especially children. I must say that it is helping me cope with my occasional anxiety attack.
Originally Posted by NATURAL JOCK,Apr 18 2007, 01:09 PM
Yes, but not all "shooters" are deemed "disturbed" nor show signs of mental illness. No one really knows for sure.
The student who shot 3 people at my Univ (inside our classroom during Russian History) wasn't considered a "mental" case. From the information we received, his girlfriend (one of the victims) broke up with him during the weekend. A simple break-up provoked him to kill his girlfriend, and 2 others (a student sitting next to her, and our professor who was a priest). He knew he only had 4 bullets because he used the fourth one in his head.
He didn't own a gun but managed to stole a gun from his friend's father (who didn't even know his gun was stolen until the police contacted him). I'm not sure if stricter background checks on owning guns matters as it certainly didn't apply in this situation.
I guess one can endlessly argue whether we should or shouldn't ban guns. I strongly feel that guns do not belong to anyone except in the hands of law enforcement officers. I never care for hunters either as I don't like the idea of killing another animals for sports/hobby. I just don't agree with cruelty to animals or anyone who is helpless. I feel that I'm in a position to voice my opinion as I have experienced this nightmare at least twice. I was in that class when the shooter killed those 3 people whom I knew. No one can really tell me how horrible it feels unless that person has experienced the same thing I've experienced.
The second nightmare I endured was 3 years ago when I walking my dog in the middle of the day. A white SUV drove by Hollywood Blvd and started firing. Luckily I was fast enough to pull my dog by the dumpster and hid there until I knew it was safe. One of the bullets hit the dumspter but thankfully missed us. I momentarily found out that the shooter killed 2 guys walking on the street. The police managed to catch the guys right in front of our driveway. I was so freakin' afraid but was more afraid for my dog than my own life.
I suufer from occasional anxiety especially whenever I hear school shootings. I know how those students and teachers feel about this nightmare. I'm not a religious person, hence, I can't really say that I'll pray for them. I do wish them well (and their families) and hope they get the necessary help. I was lucky enough that help was readily available. As I said, I still suffer from anxiety whenever I hear or read about shootings especially in schools. It seems that I'll really never recover from this unless shootings especially in schools become non-existent. I know, however, in my heart that "gun control" is our country is a futile cause. I think it's a futile cause because this is the same country where people still drive SUVs despite of the scarcity of oil.
As I'm typing this, I just found out that at least 150 died today from another bombing in Iraq. I'm still hoping that there will be PEACE (of some sort) before my time comes. How can the Iraqis enjoy living when they fear for their lives on a daily basis? Even though I've had my shares of "shell shock" experience, I'm still lucky that I don't live on a daily basis fearing for my life. I's so corny, but I do want WORLD PEACE. I may be wishing for a miracle here, but I'm still hopeful. In the meantime (instead of protesting for various causes I strongly believe in), I've been devoting some of my free time saving lives at our local animal shelters as well helping the homeless especially children. I must say that it is helping me cope with my occasional anxiety attack.
The professor did request that Cho go for counseling, but they couldn't force him to go if he didn't want to go.
So many people simply do NOT understand this. If the person is an adult, as he was, even his parents have no controls. In fact, if he did go, they would not be informed of his condition unless he consented to it.
Just thinking someone may do a terrible act sometime, even with an apparent mental illness, is not grounds for any action by any agency or law enforcement that I am aware of. Thankfully, the millions of people who have a mental illness never act out the terrible acts we often think they might.
Just thinking someone may do a terrible act sometime, even with an apparent mental illness, is not grounds for any action by any agency or law enforcement that I am aware of.
Mere suspicion doesn't meet the legal threshold, it has to be supported by clinical evidence. Unless the laws have changed in the past few years, I know from personal experience that those who are believed to pose a danger to themselves or others must be reported and in some cases may be committed involuntarily. Confidentiality laws do not supercede those laws protecting the public or the individual. This type of law may not be in force in all States, but it is an at least five of which I'm familiar.
Unfortunately, none of this is applicable to the case at hand.
