i don't know what manner of--

[slumber]

I thought that campus shootings had truly ended in the 90s, that we've heard the last of them and Virginia Tech was simply an aberration. But 7 people have now died in Northern Illinois University, just ten months since Virginia, apparently, and it's just. Short of doing bag checks at every entrance of a campus to ensure our own safety, this is really the kind of thing that no one can predict, let alone prevent. (Do you really think it's a matter of reaching out to the potential gunman in your class? Someone somewhere will tick in a way you would never see coming, I think, and we're all fucked up one way or another and it's just a matter of how we cope, and this is just where others' coping leads, sometimes.)

The thing with tragedies like this is that they should not be happening this frequently. I want to know what's going wrong but I'm inclined to think that these things remain senseless and that there are no answers.

Comments

[boho.livejournal.com]

hello, american gun law, aren't you just super!?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

I think part of it is the culture of violence that seeps into all forms of media and pervades daily life. I shan't talk about something I'm not too familiar with, but I'm inclined to believe the problem isn't inherent in whether or not people are allowed to have guns, though. Whether it's legal or not, if someone wanted something they would find a way to get it--don't most countries have drug laws, for instance? But if their society shapes them so that they're less attracted to the idea, then whether or not it's allowed they just won't.

[boho.livejournal.com]

i do see where you're coming from but i do think it's interesting to note the differences in shooting and gun crime of america to other countries.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Do you mean the correlation of gun laws to gun crimes/shootings, or just in general?

[boho.livejournal.com]

both? haha. the correlation, but particularly in amerique.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

lol, wasn't clear in the comment. like i said, i'm not gonna touch on what i don't know much about, though. :P

[boho.livejournal.com]

btw, how are you these days?

[slumber.livejournal.com]

good, good. tired, plenty of times, but done with the quarter! \o/ et toi?

[boho.livejournal.com]

same really, apart from being done. heh.

[capitol-barbie.livejournal.com]

That's is pretty much a no-brainer; the correlation is rather self-explanatory, I think. I've always been of the opinion that even though guns may be legal &c and all that, they shouldn't be so easy to get.

Something brought up a few months ago that I thought was interesting (in a sort of morbid way) was the fact that all the papers, for a bit, were really concerned about the increasing rates of knifing in London (and perhaps because of the actual acts of shooting and knifing, knifing tends to come off as more brutal, rather than hsooting, which is a bit more. Separated? I don't even know what I'm talking about), and whether, if the gun laws were similar, there would be more shootings instead. I think Evy has a few good points regarding the saturation of violence in American infotainment, but I'm definitely inclined to believe that a huge part of it is the gun law system. It just needs to be a lot stronger.

[boho.livejournal.com]

i can see evy's points completely, i just don't think it's as... not 'unpredictable', but... 'strange' (?) as it's often made out to be? and like, after the massacres of 1996 (eg dunblane) our gun laws were restricted further, and i'm not saying that's solved the problems, but it did 'decrease' the shootings in places such as schools, etc. (although our school shootings are not quite like american ones, in that it's generally 'adult strangers'.) hm. gun crime is certainly all around us, and i'm not saying it's solved, or ever will be, but i live in one of the worst/deprived areas of the country apparently & i'm not 'scared' of gun crime, but i would be in certain parts of america.

[capitol-barbie.livejournal.com]

I don't really think that I specify in my mind what kind of crime I'm concerned about in certain parts of the US (to be honest, not that I frequent said parts, but when I'm there, I tend to be rather on-guard), haha. It would be weird if people were walking around going "I am worried about gun crime but I'm fine with just assault" but I know what you mean. I just totally am not thinking properly right now. Um, anyway though. I.... have nothing else to say that is productive in any sort of way, actually.

[boho.livejournal.com]

heh, see, i think it's a lot more likely to be assaulted/knifed where i am... :| but yes. it's 5am & i'm not making sense lol. i just think that the availability of guns is a serious factor in looking at tragedies like this?

[ness-va.livejournal.com]

What scares me the most is that my classes are so, so small. We only have about 10 people in each class. So if a gun-person ever came in, there's nowhere to hide. I guess Australia has less guns than the US, but a freak shooting is still a freak shooting.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

That's true; it really could happen anywhere, and there's no way to stop it if it ever does. I remember reading about a shooting at a preschool in some European country (I don't remember which) many years ago, and there had never been a tragedy of its kind before and everyone had been so shocked about it.

[ness-va.livejournal.com]

Then there was that shooting in the Amish country somewhere too the other year. Of all the places to have a shooting I think the Amish would have really least expected it.

[boho.livejournal.com]

are you thinking of dunblane?

[boho.livejournal.com]

this may be interesting to you?

[boho.livejournal.com]

& this?

sorry for spam.

[gifted-dream.livejournal.com]

I was born/raised in Virginia and one of the VT people graduated from my high school, that day was so horrible. :(

And yeah, it's just crazy.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Like, one of those who died, or just one of those who was there? :\

[gifted-dream.livejournal.com]

One of the people that died, he was on our swim team so lots of people knew him...It was a scary time since a lot of people had siblings that went there so people were freaking out. But yeah, welcome to America? o.o

[miss-charmed.livejournal.com]

oh man. not again. that is so fucked up. :(

evy, take care. ♥