BREAKING NEWS: Virginia Tech shooting. 20 dead

[ganeil]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Lott's research methods are less than stellar:

One source of criticism is the National Academy of Sciences panel on firearms research which looked into the question of whether Lott’s conduct was ethical. They concluded that he almost certainly fabricated a mysterious survey and that his results were the product of coding errors.

Another source of criticism was a study by Ayres and Donohue of Stanford Law School, which claims that Lott's conclusions were incorrect.

A review of his book More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws in the New England Journal of Medicine states:

[Lott] finds, for example, that both increasing the rate of unemployment and reducing income reduces the rate of violent crimes and that reducing the number of black women 40 years old or older (who are rarely either perpetrators or victims of murder) substantially reduces murder rates. Indeed, according to Lott's results, getting rid of older black women will lead to a more dramatic reduction in homicide rates than increasing arrest rates or enacting shall-issue laws.

One critic says that the conclusions drawn in More Guns, Less Crime suffer from the same lack of robustness as other statistical analysie.

I'd honestly like to look at the data and methods myself, but I have to register on his site to view the data.

I could counter with Vernon L. Smith, 2002 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, and Walter E. Williams, all of George Mason University as well as Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, and J. Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School who praised his work.

[ski360]

Originally Posted by ATG

Intelligence is a narrower term that can mean that Cho was intelligent enough to know how to put a bullet in a gun and pull the trigger. Now, education is a much broader term, which, when applied to the facts, can mean that Cho was not properly (and I'm emphasizing this word) educated that killing a human being is an absolutely unacceptable behavior for a civilized person.

That's not what I'm debating. You said that education reduces violence. I disagree. I'm saying that maybe you meant Intelligence reduces violence. Cho was a psychopath. He knew just didn't care.

Intelligence is the the global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment. Cho had the education, however, lacked the intelligence in how to deal with it. and BTW intelligence is the broader term then educated. You can have all the education in the world but with out the intelligence to implement the theory's you've learned they're useless.

[ganeil]

Originally Posted by ATG

I'm wondering where are those bad people coming from if the majority of them was born and raised in Jesus Land? (at least according to the results of the last presidential election)

BUT seriously, I'm not against firearms in general. I am for stricter controls for those who want to buy them. No doubt, you and your wife are normal people who can adequately control themselves and use the gun only when needed. But to sell a gun to Cho, who had a history of mental illness incident is a different story ...

I have absolutely no clue as to what you are talking about with the Jesus Land comment.

Your point about Cho's mental state is well taken. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution from purchasing a firearm. If Cho fell into this category, the Instant Check should have flagged him. I do not know if he did not meet the criteria or the Virginia database is at fault.

[ski360]

Originally Posted by ganeil

I have absolutely no clue as to what you are talking about with the Jesus Land comment.

Your point about Cho's mental state is well taken. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution from purchasing a firearm. If Cho fell into this category, the Instant Check should have flagged him. I do not know if he did not meet the criteria or the Virginia database is at fault.

I don't think he did, He fell though the cracks it seems. From what I've read he was only sent because his roommate thought he was suicidal.

[ATG]

Here you go: Jesus Land

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesusland_map

[Xens]

What did I say?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nas...ire/index.html

[ganeil]

Originally Posted by ATG

Here you go: Jesus Land

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesusland_map

OK... but what does that have to do with the discussion?

[ATG]

Nothing, except I was wondering why bad people/recent mass murderers are being born and/or raised in the states with very strong conservative and religious traditions. Maybe there is something wrong with the educational system there? And what's more interesting not all of them are mentally ill, at least by conventional medical standards.

[ski360]

Originally Posted by ATG

Nothing, except I was wondering why bad people/recent mass murderers are being born and/or raised in the states with very strong conservative and religious traditions. Maybe there is something wrong with the educational system there? And what's more interesting not all of them are mentally ill, at least by conventional medical standards.

What standard are those....99.9% of people get physically sick in there life time. Why is it so hard to believe that maybe 50% of those suffer from some type of mental aliment at sometime or another. The problem is most people don't recognize the symptoms related to mental disorders therefore never get properly diagnosed. Its not like a head cold. Could you recognize the symptoms of Bipolar disorder? And the people that suffer from them never know it either.

[ski360]

There's a lot of messed up people out there. The problem lies with in detection and from there maybe prevention.

[Kiemyster]

Originally Posted by Viral

this is the most IGNORANT comment I've probably ever heard (and I've heard LOTS of them).

You're worried about what brand of car the shooter owns at a time like this??? You ignorant fuck.........YOU (not the shooter) give BMW owners a bad name asshole

My condolences go out to those who lost their loved ones......

just trying to lighten up the situation. we should not mourn their deaths, celebrate such ppl lived. yes its a hell of a thing to go through. srry about my reaction, thats how i deal with things. via humor. if u didnt know that. so yeah sorry for not having the perfect response in order. (at least one person liked my joke....)

[Neurorad]

Originally Posted by ganeil

I could counter with Vernon L. Smith, 2002 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, and Walter E. Williams, all of George Mason University as well as Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, and J. Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School who praised his work.

All biased gun owners, who praised the conclusions of his work.

(I don't see any Nobel Peace Prize winners in that list.)

And I don't equate the Nobel Prize in Economics with much, other than each of them came up with a good theory about how money and markets fluctuate.

Lots of intelligent people love the feel of power that a gun gives them. God damn, guns are fun, too! I used to shoot .22's when I was little.

Screw this whole gun debate - just use some common sense, and keep your guns in a rented locker at the range, or sell them, until your kids move out of the house. Children don't have the emotional maturity to live in a house with guns.

[djmatty]

Ok, I'll say it. Wtf?

[mpimping]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ocon/guns.html

[djmatty]

This thread is over 7 months old.

why the fuck would you want to bring this thread up?