# Another Mass Shooting (San Bernardino)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 2, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242 "2015-12-02T19:58:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/141 "2015-12-03T06:17:13Z")

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> [@madsircool](#):
>
> The LA Times reporters mention that the killers had ‘long guns’.  
> What the hell are long guns? Rifles? Shotguns? Plasma weapons?

It’s what they say when they’re not allowed to say “assault rifles.”

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/142 "2015-12-03T06:29:26Z")

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> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> It’s what they say when they’re not allowed to say “assault rifles.”

Very good 🙂

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**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/143 "2015-12-03T06:33:08Z")

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> [@madsircool](#):
>
> What the hell are long guns?

It’s what you use to hunt long pig.

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**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/144 "2015-12-03T06:40:48Z")

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> [@madsircool](#):
>
> The LA Times reporters mention that the killers had ‘long guns’.  
> What the hell are long guns? Rifles? Shotguns? Plasma weapons?

Long guns would mean rifles or shotguns.

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/145 "2015-12-03T06:43:48Z")

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> [@Grumman](#):
>
> Long guns would mean rifles or shotguns.

I get that. But lets please be a bit more specific.

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/146 "2015-12-03T07:02:55Z")

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The Times is reporting that two confiscated guns were purchased legally.

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**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/147 "2015-12-03T07:06:52Z")

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> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> How exactly do you think that would work? We would all still hear about an incident like this (e.g., via social media) but would be unable to get any factual information from, in your words, “the fucking press.”

That’s true. Not having media coverage is treating the symptom rather than the cause - to get at the root cause of this sort of thing, you need to stop caring so much about it. Stop getting outraged. Stop focusing on it. Stop giving the killer the exact infamy and attention they crave. Because they do it with the full knowledge that the world will pay attention to them for once, to hear their grievance, to feel their wrath. By making such a big deal out of these things, you create the exact incentives that spur the next one.

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/148 "2015-12-03T07:07:52Z")

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> **[San Bernardino shooting updates](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-bernardino-shooting-live-updates-htmlstory.html)**
>
> San Bernardino shooting live updates

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/149 "2015-12-03T07:09:21Z")

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> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> That’s true. Not having media coverage is treating the symptom rather than the cause - to get at the root cause of this sort of thing, you need to stop caring so much about it. Stop getting outraged. Stop focusing on it. Stop giving the killer the exact infamy and attention they crave. Because they do it with the full knowledge that the world will pay attention to them for once, to hear their grievance, to feel their wrath. By making such a big deal out of these things, you create the exact incentives that spur the next one.

They are terrorists, not attention whores. People need to be made aware of the danger.

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**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/150 "2015-12-03T07:11:01Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I really wish that the police would make more effort to capture the perpetrators of attacks like this alive. And no, I don’t just mean so that they can live to stand trial in a court of law, though that would be nice, too. If we’re going to actually do anything about attacks like this, then we have to understand the motives and mentalities behind them, and that means studying the perpetrators. We can’t do that when they’re dead.

Sometimes they’ll have a manifesto/note/video along the lines of “blah blah the world has ignored me, the world has caused me pain, no one notices me, now is my time to make the world notice me, to get revenge on the world, to make the whole world notice me” and then they get what they wanted.

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/151 "2015-12-03T07:14:34Z")

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> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> Sometimes they’ll have a manifesto/note/video along the lines of “blah blah the world has ignored me, the world has caused me pain, no one notices me, now is my time to make the world notice me, to get revenge on the world, to make the whole world notice me” and then they get what they wanted.

They were none of these things.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/152 "2015-12-03T12:58:05Z")

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> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> Makes me wonder what kind of person has friends that would join him in a mass shooting on a moment’s notice.

That may suggest that this was planned.

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/153 "2015-12-03T13:01:11Z")

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I’m guessing they’re going to find these two (three?) were radicalized, and this was a planned attack. Perhaps a workplace grievance played some part in this, maybe it influenced the target selection, but there was _way_ too much planning for this to have been spontanious.

For that matter, reports are saying that Sayeed Farouk recently married this woman in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps ISIS or al-Qaida sent her over to assist in the attack.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/154 "2015-12-03T13:15:25Z")

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> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> Sometimes they’ll have a manifesto/note/video along the lines of “blah blah the world has ignored me, the world has caused me pain, no one notices me, now is my time to make the world notice me, to get revenge on the world, to make the whole world notice me” and then they get what they wanted.

You will note that they are dead. “They get what they wanted” is pretty meaningless to the dead, both perpetrators and victims.

I’m really uncomfortable with the idea that news should be withheld from me for my own good. One, it’s paternalistic; two, in the internet age, it won’t work. Up here, the news won’t cover suicides. So when there is a public suicide or suicide attempt, everyone just gets the news from Twitter instead. Perhaps it prevents copycat suicides, but it’s not like failing to cover the news removes the idea from circulation. The horse has bolted.

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**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/155 "2015-12-03T13:24:17Z")

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Listening to NPR this AM, they are reporting the woman was his wife and it appears that they are now concentrating on those two and it’s possible that there was no third individual. And the FBI, while not ruling out terrorism, is also not confirming that they have any evidence of it, which seems strange since most terrorists (of any stripe) make every effort to let their ‘cause’ be known.

Give it another 24 hours. Hopefully things will be clearer.

(Of course, the politicians will have had a full day to come up with wonderfully stupid remarks from all points on the spectrum, so we have that to look forward too…)

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/156 "2015-12-03T13:26:11Z")

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> [@Diceman](#):
>
> I’m guessing they’re going to find these two (three?) were radicalized, and this was a planned attack. Perhaps a workplace grievance played some part in this, maybe it influenced the target selection, but there was _way_ too much planning for this to have been spontanious.
> 
> For that matter, reports are saying that Sayeed Farouk recently married this woman in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps ISIS or al-Qaida sent her over to assist in the attack.

Something happened at the party and Farook left in anger. He returned with his wife, Malik. It might eventually be shown that they were radicalized but for now that doesn’t seem to be the case. The fog of war - details are coming, slowly. Peeling the onion.

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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/157 "2015-12-03T13:28:48Z")

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> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#):
>
> (Of course, the politicians will have had a full day to come up with wonderfully stupid remarks from all points on the spectrum, so we have that to look forward too…)

Especially in this election year. Already stupid things are being said, on both sides of the aisle.

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**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/158 "2015-12-03T13:51:34Z")

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> [@Grumman](#):
>
> Long guns would mean rifles or shotguns.

Or indeed Punt Guns.  
Actually, a Punt Gun mounted on a long-base pick-up truck, cowled with a tarpaulin — \* “It’s a mini-crane, officer” \*— could get through a large crowd of victims in seconds.  
Back in the day Market Hunters depopulated North American wildfowl; and even in Britain where they were invented, which killers were rather more peasant-like and less businesslike, they cleared out the marshes and wetlands.

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/159 "2015-12-03T13:52:17Z")

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A current CNN article contains this little gem:

> [@CNN idiot](#):
>
> Two handguns were traced back to Farook, an official said; he bought them three to four years ago.
> 
> Someone else bought the two rifles, possibly a former roommate, also three to four years ago. That person isn’t believed to have anything to do with the shootings, the official said.

So, his roommate moved out, and simply forgot to take his 2 assault rifles. Sure :rolleyes:

Can you say “straw purchase”?

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mass-shooting-san-bernardino/739242/160 "2015-12-03T13:56:38Z")

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> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> Something happened at the party and Farook left in anger. He returned with his wife, Malik. It might eventually be shown that they were radicalized but for now that doesn’t seem to be the case. The fog of war - details are coming, slowly. Peeling the onion.

It’s possible that the argument had something to do with it. But there’s already overwhelming evidence that this had been planned for some time. They had military-style gear, assault rifles purchased 3-4 years ago (either under a false name, or by a straw purchaser), and pipe bombs that were tied to toy cars (which thankfully didn’t work). This was absolutely not something done in the heat of the moment.

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