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WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?  Trying to make sense of another mass shooting in tonight's blog post.

http://lewisliterarylair.blogspot.com/ (http://lewisliterarylair.blogspot.com/)

Not exactly a mass shooting (one shot fired to set off a bomb), but the one incident worth noting in the first half of the 20th Century is the Bath Disaster.  Wasn't far from where I grew up, so I'd heard of it, but it seems shockingly unknown for being the deadliest case of mass school violence in US history.  As you'd expect, it's a pretty awful story.  But I know you like your history, so I thought you might find reading the wiki summary of interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster)

Its a good blog :)

I do believe the student wasn't an American citizen and they whiled his name because they thought he was Muslim.


I do think the only answer to this story is more security. Originally I think it was stupid to have metal detectors in the school but today we live in the ME generation and kids today have a "I'm going to be famous no matter what the cost" attitude... and this can be destructive!

Nice, thank you Indy....And as we are not always politically aligned I really mean this.   Its so easy to go with the "ban gun" or "armed heroes" routes with this stuff.    THis event happend about 50 miles from where I'm sitting now and it really effected me. 

(probably old guy scapegoating here) Y;know I think this might be the end product of a generation's worth of violence santitization.    Allow me to expand:
1) In the olden days, the worst you saw on a film was Tom Mix or whom ever shoot and there MIGHT be a bandage on the arm later, or a hat or pistol fly off.... obviously fake. 

2) Also, the use of guns was not as collector's items or...and yes I'm going there...grown up toys.   You had the family rifle or shotgun and you used it to go get something to eat.  And as a hunter, you see what a gun can do to  a living creature.  Its why I stopped hunting mammals some years ago, after a while I couldn't handle being personally responsible for death.  A real hunter has it drilled into them that guns can hurt and you do not mess about. 

3) Today most guns are never fired at anyting containing meat, and theres a fetishism appled to them in the name of defense, or respect, or even politics.  Add in the sanitized consequence free gun use in video games and shows and movies.  You end up with people who can't SEE that they make big holes in living creatures.  Theres no element of responsibility or empathy.

OK, I'm getting off track and really don't want to argue with anyone it solves nothing, thank you for the thoughtful essay I really appreciate it. 
 -Ed

Addendum..Sorry for the tone here, I'm on current events overload. 
-Ed

Nothing to apologize for, Ed. 
Your comments were heartfelt and sincere.
I thank all of you who took the time to read my writings.
I update once a week about any number of subjects; sometimes serious and sometimes lighthearted.
Drop by again.


(I think next week I'm going for lighthearted after this heavy and depressing subject.)

Lighthearted is always good :)

As for this subject - well if we factor in the population of 100 years ago and compare it to the population of today - is it more violent today?  1927 the world population was at 2 billion.... Today we are almost 7 billion people in the world.  If there was 1 idiot every 10 thousand of people... well it would look like there wasn't that many idiots in 1927 as it would be compared to today. (something to think about).


Here is a true story/history lesson:

In the early morning hours of xxxxxxxxxxx, Whitman murdered his wife and mother in their homes. Later that day, he brought a number of guns, including rifles, a shotgun, and handguns, to the campus of the University of Texas at Austin where, over an approximate 90 to 95 minute period, he killed 14 people and wounded 32 others in a mass shooting in and around the Tower.


You would think this happen within the last 5 years ago... but this happen in August 1, 1966!

I am very familiar with that case - because my parents and siblings were THERE that day!  They passed him on the sidewalk as he was headed towards the tower with a trunk on a dolly.  Later it was revealed that all his weapons and ammo were inside that trunk.  They left the campus about 10 minutes before the shooting started.

I can just take myself as an example: Born during a civil war, I grew up around guns - my Dad was in the army and later in the police reserve - and I have a healthy respect for weapons as they can be both your friend and enemy.

I don't own a weapon: I would if it wasn't so hard to obtain a gun licence here - and I would ONLY use it (a) for target practice or (b) if my life or someone else's were in danger.

I know it's hard to believe but 99% of all the legal gun owners in America would also follow your A & B rule. It's that 1% of legal gun owners that causes the problems of legal gun ownership in America. Even though, almost all American Gun Violence is committed by illegal gun owners. Which becomes the problem because the gun restriction's only hit the legal owners.


wow... that must of been one hell of a scary story. I'd only bring this up because it happen almost 50 years ago.

I do think there is a society issue (but it's not because of too much violence in the movies or porn on the internet). Today the kids have this mentality that they are feeling cornered and worthless unless they do something that causes meaning to their lives. It's just that some 'kids' want a bigger bang - and that usually ends in murder.

Well spoken, guys. Keeping a weather eye on our own emotions is a sign of maturity.
Guns don't think or act: People do.
What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The same selfishness that we are all vulnerable to. That's why God says we must think beyond ourselves.

Once, in Ireland I had along talk witha guiy about guns and whatnot.  after a while I understood that his perspective was like yours....His country had been in a  shooting war in living memory (at that time), there were firefights in teh street and people had no romantic attachement to guns.