Shootings at Northern Illinois Campus

Non-Phish General
#1

What is the deal with these kids feeling the need to take innocent lives for their shortcomings. I just don’t understand this unfortunate trend. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims and even the shooter. This goes all the way back to Columbine and most recently Virginia Tech.

Yeah school is tough. It’s not easy if your the kid being picked on or if you have a tough home life. I just wish these kids would seek out help as their are plenty of other routes you can take. Help yourself don’t hurt others.

#2

It’s becoming an epidemic.

I didn’t think it would get worse than Columbine, and was proved wrong last spring.

#3

my God, I didn’t see the details of this til this morning on the local news.

My friends little sister goes to NIU.

Really hit home in that regard.

My feelings go out to those who have lost.

#4

Just remember…

Gun don’t kill people, People kill people.

::slight_smile:

I hate the NRA. >:(

#5

^though it’s not much more than a thinly veiled catch-phrase to justify some people’s love of the idea of owning weapons that can cause horrible injury or instant death, there is some legitimacy to it.

and i just mean that if the sane, rational folks got thier way, it would be a lot harder for the “good guys” to obtain guns in a legal manner. but the crazy, criminal element would have no problem getting them in the ways they always have gotten them.

it’s definately a “people problem”. and here in the west, our culture is quite insane, as evidenced by things like kids shooting other kids in school. but society is just a reflection of the inner workings of our minds. i kind of think the progressive, forward thinking folk are getting a much better foothold these days, but the darker elements are coming on stronger as well.

very very interesting, crazy times we live in.

#6

The other thing is, these cowardess fucks always shoot themselves in the end of the whole thing. I don’t see why they have to go and kill a bunch of people, total strangers no less. I wish they could just off themselves without making the rest of us have to worry about getting shot up for nothing.

#7

Well, news today says it wasn’t 14 people but only 5 who died. I guess that’s better…uh…somewhat.

Strangely, it wasn’t some kid…it was some 27-year old who had never been in any legal trouble before and apparently went off his medication before the shooting. In other words…there’s probably no reason…he was just nuts…

And, yeah…I loved how my Mom was saying “I think it’s the internet that feeds these people to do it” I said “You don’t get guns off the internet.”

The worst?..he bought the guns legally. Same as the VA Tech guy. Not much you can do there.

Oh well…

They weren’t kidding.

Stevo

#8

it’s the columbine generation entering colleges, these kids are not adults yet, but they get the freedom of adults

i noticed this when i was in college as well, there were some who were mature enough to handle all the things that go on when your out on your own, others were still kids and were not able to handle things… But I felt that there was a majority of responsible kids, well maybe the tide is shifting, these colleges are basically extended high school anymore, at least for the undergrads

just seems like todays youth is maturing more and more slowly, some sort of chaperoning may need to be put in place for undergraduates under the age of 21 or something, tuff to really put a guideline on maturity b/c it’s a situational thing, but it just seems like this pattern of shooting by students and shit is going to continue

#9

You Americans and your guns. I know it’s not most sane Americans out there lobbying for firearms to be readily available to every “honest hard working American”, but how are these people still getting their way? This is what the NRA and a lot of America wants obviously, so it’s getting harder and harder to feel any compassion for America’s loss as a whole. On a personal level, I really feel horrible for the families of the victims, but on a societal level, I can’t feel bad anymore. You could have put an end to this after Columbine (or way before), but just making it impossible to procure a firearm unless you are a peacekeeper.

i’m not going to rant, this tragedy speaks for itself.

#10

^ I agree to the extent of firearms that are concealable, hand guns are the most widely used firearm, and for what reason? b/c you can hide the fucking thing, u can walk around and nobody knows you have a gun

no need to ban rifles/shotguns, I mean if a guy is walking around with a shotgun or rifle, somebody is generally going to notice it, I suppose you can hide those under treanch coats as we have found out ie) columbine, but I don’t know. You take away shotguns and rifles, then what type of gun could you use to go hunting?

it’s a big debacle of problem without a clear cut solution. maybe ban all firearms, and the only way to get one is to be a peacekeeper or go through a pretty stringent set of tests/requirements to be able to get one

that doesn’t help with all the old guns that are on the street, but may make a difference 50 - 100 years from now, if civilization is even around then

#11

Come on, people.

We’re talking about the second amendment to the United States Constitution. The second-most sacred document in United States history.

A guy could shoot up half of NYC and guns will still never be “banned.” Regulate and tighten restrictions, but any Joe Schmoe could find away around it. Like drugs.

#12

^^ But why do you NEED to hunt? Just because its your right? That’s a load of BS to me man. You can go to the grocery store and get your meat like everyone else.

#13

I would never in a million years hunt another living thing or even tag along with someone who does.

HOWEVER, hunting has been around as long as man has. It will continue to be that way. Also, hunting is part of the cycle of life. With no hunting - for fun or for necessity - there’d be a shit load of wild animals walking around.

#14

You’re right Neil. Hunting goes back as far as man almost, but guns were only available within the last 150 years. You can hunt with a bow and arrow, but you can not go on a killing rampage at your school with a bow and arrow. And animal population control isn’t as difficult as you think. In fact it’s a very common occurance, and maybe we could get a lot of species up to a level of sustainability if people would just stop hunting them.

#15

#16

Ah, some much needed levity, thanks Will!

#17

Speaking as a hunter, both archery and firearm, I get a lot a flack from others who aren’t educated in modern day hunting.

A large part of hunting involves wildlife management. I don’t condone the sale of handguns, I don’t really see the point.

And I do agree that the use of firearms does make it easier for these type of events to take place, but there are many responsible gun owners out there that do use them for the correct purpose.

I was raised in a hunting household and have done it all my life, needles to say that had it not been done around me from such an early age, I would have never started. But it is a great way to bond with my father and family and I don’t regret any of it.

#18

Simple then. Leave the guns alone, they’re innocent.

Just don’t let any people have guns.

:wink:

What really gets me upset about this is the way the media latches onto it and meticulously chronicles the entire saga so that they can be sure we’ve ALL seen it.

If they didn’t report so thoroughly, there’d be a chance that the crazy copycat criminals-to-be might miss it.

Freakin’ money grubbing American media. No Stoop Is Too Low.

#19

^no stoop is too low, right you are. america in general is in a state of disgrace these days. what with our absolute bad joke of an informational media system, or our hero-worship of train-wreck celebrities, or our younger generations being raised on ultra-violent video games and internet porn, or our “there’s a pill for your every ill. here it is, now get out of my office” healing mentality, or our blatantly corrupt government and their foreign policy of greed and violence…maybe folks are just fucking losing it.

on the bright side, i do believe that, quietly, the tide is turning. not just in America either, but world-wide. i think over the coming decades, if the trends i’m noticing and studying gain momentum and a critical mass for change is acheived, we will finally grow out of our ego-centric worldviews and into more of a working whole. and shit will be in a lot better prespective. that’s what keeps me going anyways.

#20

i would like to point out that slavery was in style when the constitution was written, and it was also believed that women were not fully capable of anything but cooking dinner and it wasn’t too long before when it was widely believed that the world was flat.

back on the original topic here i would like to express my deepest remorse for all the kids lost here just because some asshole felt like leaving a bitter stain on the world.