Stitch on 16/4/2007 at 22:28
Quote Posted by Dia
Why is it that shit like this has to happen before somebody starts thinking about instituting better security measures to protect our children?
Because you generally can't reasonably implement security measures that would stop anyone truly determined to go on a public massacre. We live in an exposed and vulnerable environment because it's better than the alternative.
SD on 16/4/2007 at 22:32
I'm the last person who's going to be arguing in favour of Big Brother-style security, but there are perfectly reasonable steps that could minimise the chances of this sort of thing happening. It's wrong that someone can buy an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons with no licence or background check as easily as they could buy a can of soup.
fett on 16/4/2007 at 22:56
Right on Stitch - I guess an evacuation would be all kinds of stupid. I just can't help but think - what was going on during those two hours that the shooter was at large? Class hadn't started when the first shooting occurred. Position police and campus security at the entrances to the school - set up a perimeter and don't let anyone in or out at the very least. They could have kept a lot of kids off campus, canceled classes, and so on even before 8:00 am. With the other recent incidents in the town, you'd think they'd be a little more on the ball with something like this.
Just senseless and so sad... :(
Tiamat on 16/4/2007 at 23:12
The biggest problem is that there just aren't enough police officers to hold down a campus this size. Tech takes up a huge amount of space, and there are a ton of ways in and out - the town of Blacksburg and campus police combined still aren't enough to hold it all themselves. The real man-hunt couldn't begin until we called in cops from other counties and Christiansburg - and both the town and University didn't think it was serious enough to call in the backups.
NamelessPlayer on 16/4/2007 at 23:36
Not again...at least I don't live in Virginia anymore.
I ought to just leave this planet, alone, in my very own ship. Extremely unlikely, but if it happens, I'll never have to put up with this crap.
As for something more likely...well, I guess I'll have to hope that I don't run into any psycho gunmen, and if I do, either run the hell away or disarm that motherf***er at all costs if he's in melee range. If I'm going to go down, I'd at least want to do so fighting tooth and nail.
In any case...I don't even think I can speak anymore. I'm just too disgusted.
Dia on 16/4/2007 at 23:39
Quote Posted by Tiamat
The real man-hunt couldn't begin until we called in cops from other counties and Christiansburg - and both the town and University didn't think it was serious enough to call in the backups.
See,
that's the part I'm having problems with. There's an armed man who's already shot two people running around on the loose and they didn't think
that was serious?
Btw Tiamat, I'm exceedingly glad you're okay and weren't harmed. My prayers go out to your schoolmates and their families.
Jonesy on 16/4/2007 at 23:39
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
It's wrong that someone can buy an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons with no licence or background check as easily as they could buy a can of soup.
Chances are they bought them legally. To apply for a concealed carry in Virginia you have to go through a background check. To get a gun in Virginia you have to go through 5 separate criminal databases and be checked off from each one.
National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, a calendar file on handgun purchases required to monitor and enforce lawful handgun limitations and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.
The fifth database accessed during this check is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) which searches the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) consisting of the Wanted Persons File, Protection Order File, Interstate Identification Index (III), Deported Felons File, US Secret Service Protective File, Foreign Fugitive File, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ Violent Felon File, and NICS indexes: Illegal/Unlawful Aliens File, Mental Defectives/Commitments File, Dishonorable Discharges, Citizenship Renunciants, Controlled Substance Abuse File and Denied Persons File.
(
http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_VFTP.shtm)
Stop getting your information from whack-job websites, it's not that fucking easy.
SD on 16/4/2007 at 23:54
Quote Posted by Jonesy
Stop getting your information from whack-job websites, it's not that fucking easy.
I got it off the American firearms expert on BBC News actually, but if he's wrong, he's wrong ;)
Scots Taffer on 17/4/2007 at 00:05
Horrible. Simply horrible. As if there isn't enough pain, murder and needless aggression already in the world.
Glad you're okay, Tiamat. This is just awful.
steo on 17/4/2007 at 00:05
Getting guns in the US is still a hell of a lot easier than in most developed countries, bar Switzerland.
Oh and StD, do you notice that this shooting spree has happened less than a month after the release of STALKER, a game boasting ultra realistic weapon physics made in Ukraine. I hear students are right in the target audience for these games as well so its really a clear cut case - the Ukrainians are utilising the evils of computer games to wreak terror upon the american nation. Hell, they're probably even supplying nuclear materials to Iran and arms to Iraqi insurgents.
I don't mean to seem insensitive, no offence to anyone intended.
