[News] News crew gunned down live on air in Virginia.

[GasBandit]

Actually, DC and Chicago don't even show up in the Top 10 when you look at crime rates.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/

I think the problem here is people see gun control as an "all or nothing" scenario. Either they get to have every gun and ammo type they want or they'll be completely disarmed. Or they adopt a "slippery slope" fallacy wherein they believe more intensive background checks are just a couple steps away from death camps. I don't think anybody's pushing for a complete disarmament.

Well, the question posed in this thread was "do you guys really need to bear arms?"

Also, your list is violent crime, not necessarily gun crime in specific, which is what I was talking about. Chicago is definitely in the top 10 for gun crime, and DC isn't too far below that.

Trust me, we have this discussion every single time there's another media spotlight on a shooting. It's become a tiresome going-through-the-motions experience.

 

[DarkAudit]

In this case, the "good guy with a gun" mantra turns into utter bullshit. I haven't seen or gone looking for the gun nut assholes blaming the victims for not returning fire, but I'm certain it's out there.

It's hard to return fire when the first sign something is wrong is you've just been fatally shot. Hell, the first sign the guy was even THERE was you've been fatally shot.

The types who advocate arming everyone and who ridicule gun-free zones as a "target-rich environment" are people I don't want to know, and theirs is a society I want no part of.

 

[GasBandit]

In this case, the "good guy with a gun" mantra turns into utter bullshit. I haven't seen or gone looking for the gun nut assholes blaming the victims for not returning fire, but I'm certain it's out there.

It's hard to return fire when the first sign something is wrong is you've just been fatally shot. Hell, the first sign the guy was even THERE was you've been fatally shot.

The types who advocate arming everyone and who ridicule gun-free zones as a "target-rich environment" are people I don't want to know, and theirs is a society I want no part of.

The "good guy with a gun" scenario does not posit that said armed good guy automatically stops murder from happening like some kind of trump card.

It is also used in the context of an indiscriminate mass shooting, or a prolonged robbery or a hostage situation. This was a meticulously planned murder of two people, with a third unfortunate victim who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Really, given the circumstances, the preparation, and the lack of awareness of his victims, he almost could have succeeded using a knife.

So, no, any of the victims being armed would not have saved them in this circumstance. But don't hand me a tennis racket and tell me it's proof that spaghetti cannot be strained.

 

[redthirtyone]

You beat me to the point I was wanting to make. Despite his "manifesto" or whatever hearsay pointing towards any motivation regarding the South Carolina shootings, this is just a good old fashioned chicken-shit revenge murder. The only thing making this special is that is occurred on live TV, which was by the killer's design.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Something just occurred to me: how did he know where they'd be there? He'd obviously meticulously planned this and they were the intended targets. But I don't think appearances or interviews like this are widely known to the public, right?

 

[Frank]

Something just occurred to me: how did he know where they'd be there? He'd obviously meticulously planned this and they were the intended targets. But I don't think appearances or interviews like this are widely known to the public, right?

He probably just followed them out of the studio.

 

[drawn_inward]

Since he worked in the business and their studio, he likely knew their "formula" for the morning news show, and did what Frank said.

 

[fade]

I don't want to turn this into a political thread, but like many, many liberal Americans, I (gasp!) support the second amendment for the reasons for which it was intended. However, I don't think that includes a bunch of idiots with CHLs or open carries in a spree shooting. All that does is make it spree-ier.

 

[GasBandit]

Something just occurred to me: how did he know where they'd be there? He'd obviously meticulously planned this and they were the intended targets. But I don't think appearances or interviews like this are widely known to the public, right?

Well, some are, some aren't, but it's never a big secret in any case. I don't know about this specific broadcast (it seems more likely to me that he just followed them from when they left the studio, like Frank said), but for example, when any of my stations are going to be doing a remote broadcast we pre-promote the hell out of it - complete with details about where we'll be, which jock is going to be there, and from what time to what time.

 

[redthirtyone]

If it's anything like most morning news shows, they probably teased the hell out of it throughout the show. It's a fluff piece - between the first & second weather segments. "Coming up later... Tricia Takanawa is live at the Renaissance fair, but first...."