As movies and video games are probably about to come under fire again because of this, we must be ready to answer this question.

Another shooting: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/06/national/main3583180.shtml

The kid was only 19. Why are these kids cracking and going on shooting sprees? Are violent movies and video games to blame? Any thoughts or opinions?

Guns are to blame. It's very hard to shoot anybody without one. Gun rights advocates are azzholes who's fathers never taught them how to fight.

I would say bad parenting is a lot more to blame than the guns...outlawing guns just makes the innocent more vulnerable. Now if guns were powered by gasoline, that might make people think twice before they fire it.

Yes! Gas powered guns with a pull start like a lawnmower.

I see your point as outlawing guns would hardly stop gun violence, but these stories always have an element where these nutcases have easy access to guns. They also have an element of lonely loser guy.

Maybe if loser virgin wackadoos where given goverment funded hookers things like this wouldn't happen.

o its def the movies. Blame hollywood, blame em till they decide to stop making mindless films that service the part of your brain that gets off to violence. Its proven that men cant handle their aggression as easily as women, we have some crazy triggers. I myself have never really gone nuts like this (i think the worst case was when a kid dumped some milk on my head and I chased him around with another thing of milk and was screaming like a monkey as he evaded me, i never got him with the milk tho)

Our culture is so dumb downed by what people consider "entertainment", I have seen these types of films and no where in them does it even try to handle the situation of "violence" showing it how it really is. Movies like "bully" are just puthetic excuses to get the director to admit he fantasizes about this ****.

actually u know, I am a liar. I have violent dreams all the time, but demon slaying is a lot different cause demons need to die. ex. Ill Quake it up or play Doom or Mario Kart and ill have dreams about them, only much more violent. Ill go through rooms thoughtlessly slaying mofos. Ive even had a dream once my whole house flipped upside down and everyone (including little babies) were monsters and I had to execute them all in such brutal ways.

what gets me is I am very squeemish. Ill be in the grocery store and people will be giving blood and ill freeze and just watch them and I cant move, Ill just freeze and be feeling gthat needle. it drives me nuts people can do that cause needles make me sick! or if people simply talk about getting hurt, or they have a story, I Can barely tolerate hearing it, I start to feel their pain and it makes me queezy.

so how am i able to go around killing everyone in dreams but in reality I could never hurt a fly?

actually the other day i experienced killing ants. I hadnt done this since i was little (actually I only killed snails then) but I found it extremely empowering to watch over ants and squash whichever ones I wanted. It was actually troubling to know i was ending somethings living existence, and i wonder if its fair cause anything could come along and sqish me!

who knows what this kid was thinking, we'll never really know cause he dinked himself before anyone could ask him. the guy obviously was possessed by something that haunted him and he couldnt bare doing this BS anymore. I dont blame him, look at wher ehe killed people, a mall. What a pointless existence a mall is. What a waste Im sure he was thinking. I dont use any stores at the mall i havnt been there in 3 years. if we learn anything from this we need to reconsider what sort of environment we're existing in.

the natives of this land didnt need malls, and what happened? The white guys came over, slaughtered em and made malls. The guy was simply trying to take back his freedom.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kyle Johnson,

Shopping malls were invented by Ed Norton's grandfather

quote:

Originally posted by REDking:
Guns are to blame. It's very hard to shoot anybody without one. Gun rights advocates are azzholes who's fathers never taught them how to fight.

Read history mate. People have been killing other people for a LOOOOONG time. With, and without, guns

Right, but I'll take my chances against a spear instead of a fully automatic 50 cal. Read physics mate.

touche!

But the real debate here isn't gun control, the real debate here is why these kids are so mentally screwed up.

quote:

Originally posted by Forsakenproductions:
the real debate here is why these kids are so mentally screwed up.

Meh, I don't think its really screwed up. Its part of who we are. Is there anyone that HASN'T wanted to break into a crowd of people with guns blazing? Or anyone that hasn't secretly wished that the earth would be overrun by zombies so they could slaughter things by the dozen with pickaxes and bowling balls Dead Rising style?

Agreed and I respect your point Foresaken. I wonder what the history on this sort of thing is, I mean were there Pilgrim teens who killed settlers at the general store with a musket? Seriously I would be willing to bet media and entertainment has a very small effect here and it's got more to do with bad wiring.

Although I bet boredom has a huge effect here I mean usually these things happen in boring places like say Indiana. Read above.

yah that bad wiring can be the affect of disoriented views of reality inflicted by the TV/movies/media.

supposedely people killed themselves when they heard war of the world's broadcasted.

whose to say this kid dint wake up once day, see the movie Elephant, and decide "well gus vant sant did it, why cant I?"

wheras Gus Van Sant could of really said something about school shootings instead of making a glorified romp of his stupid fantasies and disoriented view of American youth.

i know people whose realities are consumed by the TV, theyll watch nothing but movies, what happens when they leave thatt? thats right, the movie is still with them, they become it,thus we have valley girls and macho men and serial killers. Its always been to be something in reality, to assume a persona, but movies and media these days are stretching just what people are really DOING as they personas. Not everyone is a goddamn crazy person ready to kill people, but more people are coming out as this cause thats the reflection they see on the TV.

****, when Tarantino sucked my soul I became an ******* criminal. I swear it wasnt me! Was i just an idiot, no, the influence is there. Influence is the most powerful thing.

quote:

Originally posted by braininabox:

quote:

Originally posted by Forsakenproductions:
the real debate here is why these kids are so mentally screwed up.

Meh, I don't think its really screwed up. Its part of who we are. Is there anyone that HASN'T wanted to break into a crowd of people with guns blazing? Or anyone that hasn't secretly wished that the earth would be overrun by zombies so they could slaughter things by the dozen with pickaxes and bowling balls Dead Rising style?

Having fantasies and acting on them are two totally different things. I've had my share of day dreams where I went on a zombie shooting spree.

And I think Kyle hit a point. There can be mental instability in a person, but when they see violent solutions to a problem portrayed on tv, they may be more apt to act upon them.

Ask any psychologist: prolonged exposure to a certain behavior will result in the recreation of that behavior.

one dude. one mall. one incident. pardon the faux pas, but who cares?

9 people died. death is death is death. it's the way populations work. the crazy people are here to balance out overpopulation. what if there were no tragedies, diseases, shootings, etc.? there'd be no space.

9 ain't a drop in a bucket.

it's an electron in a swimming pool

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Hawkins, Omaha Mall Shooter:

I know everyone will remember me as some sort of monster, but please understand that I just don't want to be a burden on the ones that I care for my entire life.
I've just snapped. I can't take this meaningless existence anymore I've been a constant disappointment and that trend would have only continued.

I love you mommy, I love you dad. I love your Kira. I love you Valenica. I love you Cynthia. I love you Zach. I love you Cayla. I love you Mark (p.s. I'm really sorry)

Just think tho, I'm gonna be ******* famous

quote:

9 ain't a drop in a bucket.

I'm sure it would be if it was someone you knew and loved. Sure disease, war, violence and all that stuff controls population growth, but that really doesn't make it justified or acceptable. I think that this depersonalization is ridiculously dumb, and just goes to show how shallow the world is today.

The truth of the matter is that everyone has their breaking point. They always have, always will. The thing is knowing how to control yourself, your thoughts, and the words you say. There are so many pressures being put onto people, whether it's trying to look good like people on tv, or just trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. Sometimes they may be legitimate pressures, sometimes they may be something stupid that seems important to the person. Stack enough pressure on anyone and they'll crack eventually. They may not go and kill someone, but they will try to relieve the pressure. I don't think that most people are really ever taught how to control their stress either. That coupled with an impersonal world can really have a toll on someone.

quote:

Originally posted by "Fuc*in Fascist!":
one dude. one mall. one incident. pardon the faux pas, but who cares?

9 people died. death is death is death. it's the way populations work. the crazy people are here to balance out overpopulation. what if there were no tragedies, diseases, shootings, etc.? there'd be no space.

9 ain't a drop in a bucket.

it's an electron in a swimming pool

It's not one incident. If your going to come into a conversation, make sure your up to speed with the points already made.

There was I believe TWO mall shootings earlier this year, making a total of THREE. And, do I need to mention Virginia Tech also happened this year?

What stress are these kids feeling Kreg? Obviously not academic, as American academic standards are extremely low compared to Japan and Germany, and they cope.

Perhaps it is the disensitization to each other, and we've become self centered, that everyone else is just someone to step on to advance yourself?

quote:

Originally posted by Forsakenproductions:
What stress are these kids feeling Kreg? Obviously not academic, as American academic standards are extremely low compared to Japan and Germany, and they cope.

Did you get a chance to read the majority of his suicide note that I posted above? It just sounds like he was tired of failing and letting everyone down, and instead of killing himself quietly in a closet and dying as a nobody, he wanted to be remembered for something

Yeah I read it. Was it academic failure? or a general failure at life?

Or was it something in his early childhood that encouraged his failure in academics?

I guess I just want to understand where these people come from, and not write it off as "just another nut job."

yeah that guy was very confused. he had the problem most people on TV have. they think theyre monsters