Now this isn't intended as a guns are evil thread, so please don't take it as such. But after the Amish shooting I found myself wondering: Why does America have so many multiple shootings of this nature ? Consider that the term 'going postal' has now become part of the language. Over here in Britain we've only had two that I can think of, that is, Hungerford and Dunblane, yet in America it does seem to be a pretty regular occurance.

Any thoughts as to why that might be ?

There is something fundamentally fucked up with our society and the raising of our children. We shelter our children from anything sexual in nature, but allow them to expose themselves to all sorts of violent content in everything. Other countries attempt to control children's viewing of violent media which is in stark contrast to other nations. Maybe that isn't exactly correct, but that's part of my theory. It has absolutely nothing to do with guns because there are other nations that have just as much or even more exposure to guns and nobody is doing this sort of thing. For some reason Americans in general have little or no understanding of just how precious life really is.

I don't think violence in films, video games, or television is the cause. Maybe the way it is presented is involved though. While you would expect violence to be seen in a negative light it usually is seen as being heroic. That being said I am strongly against censorhip in these forms of media. I think this is more of a relflection of our attitude towards violence in genaeral which is that of "Americnas kick ass" and being the tough guy is seen as a positive quality rather than being the intelligent or nice guy.

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"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I agree, it isn't the actual viewing of violence, it is the attitude that goes along with it. I don't agree with any forms of censorship as it is the parents responsiblity to control what their kids watch, but we glorify violence without actually understanding what it really is. There is somehow a breakdown in the parenting of our children in some families and it needs to be addressed. We aren't ever willing to tell parents that they suck as parents and need to get their kid in shape, we blame kids problems on ADD or some wishy-washy emotional problem. As an assistant scoutmaster I have made some parents very angry at me because I when dealing with uncontrollable kids I often tell the parents straight up that their kid is a little shit and needs some discipline and that I am not willing to hold this kid's leash.

Some people actually belive that its other peoples responsibility to raise thier children. They somehow belive teachers and other people of authority are supposed to raise them and instill values in them. It dosn't take a village to raise a child, it takes a good parent to make sure their children turn out ok despite the village they grow up in. Somewhere along the way it became acceptable to blame all your shortcomings on others and claim victimhood.

Most gun crimes are committed in large, polluted, morally bankrupt cities run by Democrats.

I found that informative.

It happens because we're a cultural cesspool of idiocy. That, and we're very diverse and a lot of races and ideals often clash.

Gun control doesn't really have anything to do with it. It's all about the culture.

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Weiner.

Well, if it's the violent culture ... wouldn't that be the best argument FOR gun control?

Its not diversity. 27% of our population are born overseas ... and another 25% have at least one parent born overseas.

The local high school has students from over 80 different countries.

I do think its about culture though. and maybe it is the Americans kick ass attitude that makes other ways of dealing with issues less attractive.

No - simply because the problem is not the gun, but the people.

Funny thing though - there are mass murders in other nations too, just as there are here.

People also seem to forget that the US has a LOT of people in it. What sounds like a lot to someone in a nation with only about 10 million people or so, really isnt all that much in a nation with 300 million.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

I think those types of deliberate misconduct with firearms are the result of some of the citizenry not being well regulated, as in a militia of people who keep and bear arms.

Because right and wrong have become relative in our culture. Morality has become relative.

Our society has generally become untethered from the plain and simple truths of reality.

Of course our local relativists will enter and blather some meaningless nonsense lending credence to my claims. Maybe they'll bite their tongue to prove me wrong

We'll see

I was going to comment about this. I give up.

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During the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every profession is chosen as a means to an end but continued as an end in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent act of stupidity.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Wanderer and his Shadow

All good socialists have villas in Southern France. That's not the point.
-Eurosocialist

Tell that to the Amish; tell that to the citizens of Colorado .

My home town of Paducah Kentucky is very conservative and has a terriable crime rate in the city. It isn't run by democrats.

__________________
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"