# Another fucking school shooting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668 "2008-02-14T22:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/21 "2008-02-15T00:18:42Z")
It’s really easy to sneak a monkey with a gun inside a trenchcoat into a public building, popping and shooting innocent passerby’s. Should we outlaw monkeys? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/22 "2008-02-15T00:21:35Z")
As an NIU grad who took a Geology class in Cole hall, I’m finding this all pretty surreal. This is the first time that I can clearly picture exactly what it looked like because I’ve had a class in that room. I’m glad your daughter is okay, **Bus Guy**. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/23 "2008-02-15T00:24:21Z")
\ so allow me to express my condolences to all those involved ☹ ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/24 "2008-02-15T00:31:58Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] It’s really easy to sneak a monkey with a gun inside a trenchcoat into a public building, popping and shooting innocent passerby’s. Should we outlaw monkeys? [/QUOTE] [Nevah!](http://www.trunkmonkey.com/) ! -XT ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/25 "2008-02-15T00:54:16Z")
Hijacking my own thread: One of the local newspapers interviewed a girl who was in the classroom at the time. This girl has the EXACT same name as my daughter - they’ve even met, because there were some e-mail problems with them having the same name and all. They even have one class together this semester, they had to talk to the professor together to make sure papers didn’t get mixed up. Anyway…so far I’ve fielded phone calls from CNN, and Fox News asking if this was the father of the girl that was in the article. “Yes, my daughter is a student there, but no, was not in the classroom, and was not interviewed.” My brush with fame. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/26 "2008-02-15T01:21:46Z")
CNN says 5 dead now, including gunman. ☹ ETA - sad smiley not for gunman ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/27 "2008-02-15T01:33:36Z")
The child is home, quite the emotional homecoming. Her roommate was in the classroom, along with another of her good friends. They’re both fine. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/28 "2008-02-15T01:36:51Z")
I love it when people equate guns with other ways of killing people. Then it shows how stupid their arguments are. For example: My high school chemistry used to say that people can be killed just as easily with a chair as with a gun. Okay, fine then. Chairs are usually cheaper than guns, why don’t you just carry a chair around to feel safe? What? You really don’t equate the killing power of chairs with guns? Gun advocates want to equate killing ability with other usually innocuous items, but then if they really wanted to put their money where their mouths were, they’d have no problem carrying whatever innocuous item they were championing instead of an actual gun. But since they never do, then I can’t take their argument seriously. There really is no getting around the fact that guns are easier to kill with. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/29 "2008-02-15T01:56:59Z")
[QUOTE=Shawn1767] Gun advocates want to equate killing ability with other usually innocuous items, but then if they really wanted to put their money where their mouths were, they’d have no problem carrying whatever innocuous item they were championing instead of an actual gun. [/QUOTE] Exactly, so all we need to do is stock up on cars, monkeys, alcohol, drugs, and nuclear bombs, right? Right?! 'Cause if not, I need to return some things for store credit. **Mr. Bus Guy** , I am so glad your daughter is safe and sound. I hope she and her classmates continue, as best they can, to cope with having their safety threatened so close to home. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/30 "2008-02-15T02:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Yahoo News said this was the fourth school shooting _this week._ Man, what a wonderful society we’ve become. ☹ [/QUOTE] Too bad we can’t look into the educational system, or even worse, try to figure out what the shooters’ school experiences - NOT just anecdotal attempts at post mortem psychoanalysis - have in common. Because Og forbid we should start taking the academic and social pressure off kids or make schools any more humane and understanding places. There are those who argue they’re too humane _now_. No, the only course of action is to keep fumbling around and asking why? about individuals, because that way we as a society don’t have to take the blame. **Note** : The following is the only time the word _guns_ appears in this posting. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/31 "2008-02-15T02:25:01Z")
[QUOTE=Shawn1767] Gun advocates want to equate killing ability with other usually innocuous items, but then if they really wanted to put their money where their mouths were, they’d have no problem carrying whatever innocuous item they were championing instead of an actual gun. But since they never do, then I can’t take their argument seriously. There really is no getting around the fact that guns are easier to kill with. [/QUOTE] Actually, I drive my car nearly every day. Ass. ETA: Which is certainly more often than I handle a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/32 "2008-02-15T02:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] It’s called a slippery slope. How about this one…you are much more likely to be killed by alcohol on a college campus than by a nutball with a gun (by at least an order of magnitude). Should we outlaw booze? By the same token, you are more likely to be killed by drugs on a college campus than guns, should we… … … Oh, wait…drugs ARE illegal. Hm… -XT [/QUOTE] So is alcohol for most students. My daughter is an RA in a dorm, and she enforces this rule. And, as such, I’m glad your daughter is okay **Mr Bus Guy** and I hope her roommate is okay also. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/33 "2008-02-15T02:27:30Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] As far as the cars vs guns debate, you are much more likely to be killed in the former than by the latter. But people are really horrible at risk analysis so… Carry on. -XT [/QUOTE] That’s true, but if those who want almost everyone to be armed, so they can be John Wayne and shoot the gunman early get their way, I’m sure we can turn around those statistics. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/34 "2008-02-15T02:28:45Z")
Geez. Hell of a thing to wake up to. Same old story. Some disgruntled (ex-) student dressed in black, crowded room. Next comes a makeshift memorial, flowers, teddy bears, a school assembly, grief counselors. Some mornings I just want to resign from the human race. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/35 "2008-02-15T02:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shawn1767] I love it when people equate guns with other ways of killing people. Then it shows how stupid their arguments are. For example: My high school chemistry used to say that people can be killed just as easily with a chair as with a gun. [/QUOTE] You had a high school chemistry? Interesting. What shows ME how stupid people are is how poor they are at assessing risk. My father in law is deathly afraid of flying for instance. Won’t set foot on a plane because he’s afraid it will crash or be hijacked. All the while driving around with no seat belt and a 6 pack of beer under the front seat. He fears catching obscure diseases…while eating that triple cheese burger with extra large fries and double cheese. People are deathly afraid of guns or of some nut case with a gun coming into a school and shooting it up. All the while never realizing they are much more likely to be killed putting up their Christmas ornaments at their house. They want to assert what they feel is control over their lives by banning or restricting access to the evil gun…but that supposed control is illusory. [QUOTE=Shawn1767] Gun advocates want to equate killing ability with other usually innocuous items, but then if they really wanted to put their money where their mouths were, they’d have no problem carrying whatever innocuous item they were championing instead of an actual gun. [/QUOTE] My money is where my mouth is. I’m many times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver or by some mope being chased by cops than I am to be shot by some nut case who has gone off the deep end. [QUOTE=Shawn1767] But since they never do, then I can’t take their argument seriously. [/QUOTE] Take a class in probability statistics sometime. Then look at your chances of dieing from that triple cheese burger compared to being shot by some idiot with a gun. [QUOTE=Shawn1767] There really is no getting around the fact that guns are easier to kill with. [/QUOTE] That being the case why aren’t more people killed with them then? In a country of several hundred million people, all purportedly armed to the teeth, death by gun isn’t even at 1% of the population. OTHER, supposedly innocuous things are much higher probability wise than death by gun…especially death by nutball with gun. You are more likely to be killed in your car in an accident than by a gun. More likely to be killed doing stuff around your house than by a gun. MUCH more likely to die from heart disease or cancer than by a gun. If it’s any consolation you are less likely to be abducted by aliens and anally probed than killed by some nut case wandering into the local store to shoot it up. Especially if you get that Alien Abduction protection Trunk Monkey… -XT ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/36 "2008-02-15T02:34:40Z")
Christ. Talk about setting a land speed record for a thread about a school shooting turning into a gun control debate. Shit was on by post #2. [QUOTE=myskepticsight] CNN says 5 dead now, including gunman. ☹ ETA - sad smiley not for gunman [/QUOTE] [It’s six including the gunman now.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/niu_shooting) Glad to hear your daughter is okay, **Mr Bus Guy**. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/37 "2008-02-15T02:42:43Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] So is alcohol for most students. My daughter is an RA in a dorm, and she enforces this rule. [/QUOTE] And that’s good (though in my day they had supposed restrictions on it as well…and we always found ways to get around it). I’m still at work but a quick google brought up [this](http://www.radford.edu/~kcastleb/myths.html) cite (no idea how accurate it is): > [@](#): > > Page 5: The Myths and Facts of Alcohol > > There are many little known facts and many known myths about alcohol and its consumption. > Some of the myths include: > Myth: “The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll pass out and have a hangover tomorrow.” > The fact is that death can and does occur from drinking too much alcohol. This is known as alcohol poisoning or acute alcohol intoxication and occurs when the level of alcohol in the body acts as a poison, causing death from the drug overdose. Another way that alcohol can cause death is due to alcohol related accidents, such as drunk driving, falls. and suicide. > Myth: “People pass out from drinking all the time. It’s nothing to worry about.” > The fact is that you pass out due to the body’s inability to tolerate the amount of alcohol that you have put into it. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that works to slow down the heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and slow your breathing rate. Once your brain has been depressed enough by the alcohol, you pass out. The amount of alcohol it takes to make you pass out is dangerously close to the amount of alcohol it takes to make you dead! > Myth: “The best thing to do for someone who is drunk is to put them to bed and let them sleep it off.” > Although this is partly true, the fact is that a drunk person is helpless and must be cared for. DO NOT LEAVE A DRUNK (INTOXICATED) PERSON ALONE!!! Stay with the person, check their breathing, check their skin temperature, and frequently try to wake them. > Myth: “If my friend passed out, I wouldn’t call for help. I couldn’t live with myself if I got them in trouble”. > The fact is that if you don’t call for help, your friend may not live to be mad at you. When someone passes out from drinking too much, they are unconscious and have consumed too much alcohol. This person is suffering from alcohol poisoning and needs medical attention.Did you know that. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > ``` > * Between 2% and 3% of the current American college population will die from alcohol related causes. > > * Thirty percent of college failure is alcohol related. > > * Drinking and driving is the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 17-24. > > * In the U.S., 70 people are killed daily in drunk driving accidents, that is roughly one person killed every 22 minutes. > > * 69% of all drownings are alcohol related. > > * One in every three suicides involves alcohol. > > * The average female college student spends $150.00 per year on alcohol. > > * The average male college student spends $300.00 per year on alcohol. > > * The average DUI arrest costs the charged person $3000.00. > > * Alcohol plays a role in 50% of all arrests. > > * 90% of the vandalism that occurs on college campuses is a result of alcohol use. > > * 75% to 90% of campus rapes involve alcohol use. > > * 75% of men and 50% of women involved in sexual assaults had been drinking prior to the assault. > > * The abuse of alcohol is present in 70% of all murders and other violent crimes. > > ``` Scary stuff…though again I don’t vouch for how accurate those numbers are as they don’t list where they are getting them from. [QUOTE=Voyager] That’s true, but if those who want almost everyone to be armed, so they can be John Wayne and shoot the gunman early get their way, I’m sure we can turn around those statistics. [/QUOTE] I don’t advocate that everyone go armed with hand poised to draw at the slightest provocation. All I’m saying is…nut balls go off from time to time. It has happened from time out of mind that people snap…and when they do, violence (or penis) ensues. It’s tragic if you happen to be caught in it…but it’s also HIGHLY improbable. Taking away the guns might mean that instead of going to some college campus or into the local Post Office wearing a Donald Duck mask and with a Mossberg said nut case instead decides to drive his car head on into traffic or make a bomb out of common house hold cleaners and plumbing materials and set it off in a mall…or gods know what else. You simply can’t nerf the world and prevent anything bad from ever happening. Life happens…shit happens. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/38 "2008-02-15T02:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=interface2x] As an NIU grad who took a Geology class in Cole hall, I’m finding this all pretty surreal. [/QUOTE] Ditto here. Until today, I had two main memories of Cole Hall. First…sitting through dull elective courses my first two years. Second…watching _Gimme Shelter_ one Friday night with my future wife, both of us baked out of our heads. That was such a fond memory, now forever altered. A small loss though, comparatively. After the Virginia Tech shootings happened, I sometimes thought about what it would be like to be in that situation. Whenever I thought about it, I always imagined it taking place in Cole Hall. Very sad. Again, very happy to hear that Mr Bus Guy’s daughter was unharmed. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/39 "2008-02-15T02:57:29Z")
**Mr Bus Guy** , I’m very glad to hear your daughter and her friends are okay. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668/40 "2008-02-15T03:06:25Z")
I’m glad to read that your daughter is safe at home, Mr. Bus Guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-fucking-school-shooting/437668.md?page=3)