Month: June 2003

Where the Hell are the PARENTS?

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Suicidal Student Had Bag Full Of Guns At School

WELLSBORO, Pa. — A 12-year-old student who committed suicide in a middle school bathroom had brought more than one gun to school but only fired the shot that killed him, authorities said.

Elementary school and high school classes resumed Thursday in the Northeast Pennsylvania twon, and students were expected to return Friday for the last day of classes at the middle school.

Police haven’t said why the boy, a fifth-grader, might have shot himself.

(Sigh)

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was growing up I “had access” to guns and ammunition. Most of the kids I knew did. And they didn’t do this shit!

“Gun availability” is not the problem! “Making guns safer” doesn’t address the problem. “Safe storage” won’t keep this from happening. And concentrating on these idiocies avoids the question of “what is the cause?” “Gun availability” hasn’t changed. What has?

What makes a 12 year old load a duffel bag full of guns and (I have to assume) decide to kill just himself instead of a bunch of other people first? What makes someone think this is an answer to anything? How can parents not notice that their child is that disturbed?

And, finally, was this kid on prescription drugs? Prozac? Xanax? Luvox? Ritalin? Paxil? Something else? Are we trying to replace parenting with chemicals? And are the chemicals at fault, or just a symptom of a bigger problem?

What the hell is warping our children?

KevinLeave a comment

Sorry, but Blogging Will be Light Today

I’ve got a lot to do, and not a lot of time in which to do it.

New visitors: Please peruse the archives, or just read the “Best Posts” list.

And leave some comments, please. Feedback affords opportunities for improvement and an exchange of ideas.

KevinLeave a comment

Arm the Wimmin! Dept.

This week’s Carnival of the Vanities over at Drumwaster’s Rants held a Second Amendment gem. The link belongs to WalterinDenver , but it points to this Boulder Weekly story. Follow the links. Here’s a teaser:

Ari tells me he hopes two things will come out of this weekend. He hopes first of all to demystify guns so that I come to see them as tools, as opposed to little metallic monsters, the embodiment of violence and evil. He also hopes to combat stereotypes I might have about people whom we in Boulder might simply call “gun nuts.”

I go to bed feeling more than a little nervous. Before I fall asleep, Neo pops into my mind. “Guns,” he says. “Lots of guns.”

I’ve never even held a gun.

Outstanding.

Oh, and please inform everyone you know about the invitation on the left side of my page.

KevinLeave a comment

Say WHAT?

I found this piece on Yahoo! News, and overall I don’t have a problem with it. But THIS left my jaw on the floor:

Each day, more than 100,000 teens bring handguns to school.

No attribution for the factoid, just a baldfaced – statement.

Now, why should I believe anything else in the story?

Here’s the original piece.

I think I need to ask Dr. Fow where he gets his statistics.

UPDATED: I found this link that has this attribution:

Each day more than 100,000 weapons were brought to school and approximately 40 children and youth are wounded or killed by these weapons (Children’s Defense Fund, 1990).

AH! Statistics creep! The story goes from 100,000 weapons (which includes pocketknives, clubs, brass knuckles, etc.) to 100,000 handguns.

That’s very much like this quote:

“And what about the more than 4,000 children who die in gun-related accidents each year? That’s 11 kids a day. And we’re not talking about crimes, or intentional shootings. We’re talking — or not talking enough — about accidents.” “What a few good mothers can do,” Salon.com, March 13, 2000

Yup, give ’em a little information, and they’ll stretch it all out of proportion to aid their agenda, and pass it on (without attribution, because “it’s common knowledge”) as gospel truth.

KevinLeave a comment

Follow-up to: “It’s Not My Place To Second-Guess…”

Apparently his shooting was effective

TACOMA – Police in Tacoma have found the body of a man they believe was killed by a disabled homeowner, after he attempted to rob the bedridden man in his Tacoma home Monday afternoon.

A 64-year-old man, reportedly a paraplegic, told authorities he heard someone enter his house in the 600 block of 88th Street at about 12:30 p.m.

That’s when he armed himself with his gun. When the masked intruder entered his bedroom, the man fired at least one shot at the suspect, who fled from the home.

Jim Mattheis, Tacoma police spokesman, said investigators followed the blood trail and scoured the area, but found no sign of the suspect.

It wasn’t until just after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning that officials received a phone call from a man who claimed he was shot in his back. That led them to a house in the 6400 block of South Lawrence Street.

Inside, they discovered the man suspected of breaking into the victim’s home. He had already died.

Officer Mark Fulgham, of the Tacoma Police Department, said the 33-year-old suspect was well-known to officers, and had a lengthy criminal history, including robbery.

The homeowner was not injured in the incident. It is still unknown whether charges will be filed against him, but Fulgham said initial investigation finds that he acted in self-defense.

Just had to get that in, didn’t they? Can’t show approval of mere citizens actually defending themselves. Even when the guy is a bed-bound paraplegic.