UT Shooting

[Bronc24]

Explain how that would work.

 

 

I believe the sheer number of guns would rise if legal and, therefore, so would the number of gun related crimes.

[LeviF]

More updates, per CNN:

People have been cleared to leave the campus

There is no second suspect

Police are still checking for possible explosives left behind

[Chef Jim]

I believe the sheer number of guns would rise if legal and, therefore, so would the number of gun related crimes.

 

 

But that's not what you said. You said that if the number of guns were to go down that the streets would be safer. It doesn't work both ways.

[meazza]

The Montreal massacre prompted the ban on automatic firearms. While I agree with 10 x more people = more incidents, I would submit that gun regulation in some form contributes to the number of incidents.

 

Never should read RARELY.

 

What's interesting is that Kimveer Gil purchased his gun legally...

 

Thank god it was registered!!

[b stein 22]

Where did you see any mention of "automatic" weapons?

If you read the article of the second link its says an AK47 was used.

[Booster4324]

If you read the article of the second link its says an AK47 was used.

 

I doubt it was an actual automatic though. Semi-auto sure, but the media always mangles that. The actual AK-47 is selective fire (switching between the modes), but those are fairly hard to get.

[BuffaloBill]

Before I clicked in here, I went straight to CNN, and didn't see a headline, so I thought this thread was going to be about this:

 

Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was a student at the University of Texas at Austin and an ex-Marine who killed 14 people and wounded 32 others during a shooting rampage on and around the university's campus on August 1, 1966

 

 

Yeah I recalled that story too - though it was back in 66 sad that the same campus has been hit yet again.

[Chilly]

I was talking to a few co-workers and ex-classmates still at UT earlier. Outside of some of them being stuck in campus for hours on lockdown, it sounded like things were actually pretty smooth there today, all things considered. They had SWAT teams searching all the buildings and patrolling campus with APCs, and the warning sirens playing (those things were really annoying when they'd test em). One of my friends was helping run the call center used to take calls for the emergency, and that had calmed down by 3:00 or so, and everyone had pretty much left campus by then. Luckily, everyone I talked to indicated it wasn't too much of a big deal, and things should be back to normal relatively soon.

 

One thing I can tell you from going to school & working there, UT is *very* good about emergency situations, whether it's something like this or weather. They have tons of warning systems (mobile, text, email, sirens, etc)., and can lockdown campus in a matter of seconds. There was one time where there was a bomb threat at UT while I was there, and they had everyone locked down and alerted *extremely* fast. That situation ended without an explosion or anything, which is why it didn't get national headlines, but they were in control the second they found out about the threat.

Edited September 28, 2010 by BlueFire

[WVUFootball29]

Lesson time:

 

An automatic weapon is a gun that when fired extracts the casing and loads a new round into the chamber. Automatic does not exclusively mean a machine gun where you hold the trigger and continue to fire until the magazine is empty, that would be Fully-Automatic which for the most part are illegal. Automatic many times truthfully means Semi-automatic where when a shot is fired and the next round is loaded the trigger needs to be pulled again for the next shot to fire. The media typically calls any weapon that is semi-automatic an "automatic" because that is the technical term and sounds more deadly.

 

So we hear that shooter is using an AK-47, that means fully-automatic because that's what we typically see in the media when you look at wars overseas. The truth is the AK-47 which is legal in many states is actually a semi-automatic rifle and is very popular due to its maintenance and reliability. It also uses a 7.62x39mm round, similar to a .308 which is a popular hunting round because of its knockdown ability.

 

But an AK-47 is much more dangerous than a deer hunting rifle right? Not really, all guns are dangerous and capable of killing, that is what they are made to do. The biggest difference between an assault rifle and hunting rifle is the amount of ammunition held in the magazine and a "pistol grip." Truthfully a good hunting rifle is much more accurate than any AK which means it is deadlier in the hands of a skilled shooter.

 

Now I'm a gun advocate, I possess and carry weapons. I'm a former police officer and my dad was a police officer so I've been around them all my life. I don't believe that a ban on any type of weapon is a solution to any violence problem because there are a plethora of unregistered weapons in the hands of people throughout the country and trying to take them all away will be about as effective as making all drugs illegal. Its an endless war and you'll never stop either, you can only hope to do your best containing them.

 

If this country wants an effective method of gun control, this is my idea. All weapons, handguns, rifle, shotgun, etc must be registered to a licensed weapon owner. To become a licensed weapon holder I feel you need to do more than just fill out an application and submit to a background check. I believe that if you are going to own a weapon you must be trained and qualify on that weapon in a class where you not only learn to operate that weapon, but properly and effectively shoot a target and safely store the weapon. Also, it might not hurt to have to pass a psyche evaluation. Hey, I had to do it to be in the police academy, no reason any other nut shouldn't have to to own a weapon.