# Reporter shooting in Virginia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942 "2015-08-26T13:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/181 "2015-08-29T01:19:52Z")
BBC reporter [x.com](https://twitter.com/franzstrasser) : > [@](#): > > Just at the scene of the suspects shooting on I-66. Police told me to delete footage or lose camera. > . . . > One officer threatened to tow my car and take my camera. > . . . > Watched me delete my one file, and let me go. Other officer apologized and said we have to understand. > . . . > Reason for confiscating camera was that it was evidence. Threatened to tow the car because it was illegally parked. > . . . > But why they are then okay with deleting ‘evidence’ makes one question their reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/182 "2015-08-29T01:38:19Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I think it’s an excellent example. People were being murdered in the videos. You may object to viewing all murders or may only object to view murders committed WITH a firearm. Either way, someone decided to commit those murders and then proceeded to carried out those murders. The weapon of choice is a secondary consideration. Except to those who object to the private ownership of firearms. I don’t know what you’re on about, I didn’t make whatever political statement you’re addressing. I didn’t think it was a good example because you don’t see the victims like this one. You don’t see them smiling and talking and dying. You don’t see the terror in their eyes or their last breath. You just see a inanimate object crashing into another. That’s why I thought beheading videos were a better comparison, they’re up close and personal, like this one. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/183 "2015-08-29T01:41:10Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’ll bet that’s not the first banana to impale her. I was going to insert the obligatory Monty Python link here but it was a long day at work ---- so just picture it in your brain. Unless your brain hurts; then picture that sketch instead. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/184 "2015-08-29T04:45:54Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s correct. Guns don’t kill people. They’re inanimate objects. Do you think taking the gun out of the picture stopped the guy from murdering those 2 people? he could just as easily stabbed both of them through the heart with any knife or run them over with a car or **an infinite number of other ways of murder.** Including feathers. I could shoot someone, or I could smother them to death with feathers, so, as deadly weapons, there’s no difference between guns and feathers. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/185 "2015-08-29T06:14:25Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > (post shortened) It’s amazing how fast LEO’s can fight crime when they’re not working overtime to prevent looting, arson, and rioting. You’re like a poorly designed robot. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/186 "2015-08-29T06:35:57Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying. The number is zero. And what does this semantic argument do to the actual point which you understood perfectly well? Everyone knows that a gun murder is a shorter way to say a murder performed by a person using a gun. The point isn’t that guns kill people. The point is that easier access to guns makes it easier for people to kill more people. You want to argue with that, be my guest. But political slogans won’t really get anywhere. * * * Still, I’m glad we’re talking about guns and not race. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/187 "2015-08-29T19:32:54Z")
I haven’t seen anyone else comment on this, and I may get flamed for it but… Is anyone else a little bothered by the fact that the dead reporter’s father has seemingly been on television _constantly_ since the very day of the attack? I mean, it’s certainly not unusual for family members to be interviewed in these cases, and I understand that he wants to bring attention to the larger issue of guns, violence, etc. But I would think if your daughter had just been violently murdered, you might want to take a day or two to quietly grieve. But I turn to FOX News (I know, I know) and he’s talking to Megan Kelly. A while later I flip to CNN and he’s talking to Anderson Cooper. Then he makes the round of the broadcast networks. Then back to CNN with Don Lemon, and again later with Wolf Blitzer or Erin Burnett’s fill-in or whomever. He just seems a bit too eager to be in the spotlight. Okay, I’m a horrible person for thinking the above about a father who just lost his daughter. But, Dude, get off camera for a couple of days and take care of yourself and your family. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/188 "2015-08-29T20:26:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The point isn’t that guns kill people. The point is that easier access to guns makes it easier for people to kill more people. You want to argue with that, be my guest. But political slogans won’t really get anywhere. That’s just it, the point is that guns don’t kill people. If you remove the gun from picture the intent allows other tools to be used. In this instance he could have stabbed the reporter and photographer with a knife or driven over both of them with a car. It’s the person who commits murder and not the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/189 "2015-08-29T20:30:48Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I haven’t seen anyone else comment on this, and I may get flamed for it but… > > Is anyone else a little bothered by the fact that the dead reporter’s father has seemingly been on television _constantly_ since the very day of the attack? I mean, it’s certainly not unusual for family members to be interviewed in these cases, and I understand that he wants to bring attention to the larger issue of guns, violence, etc. But I would think if your daughter had just been violently murdered, you might want to take a day or two to quietly grieve. But I turn to FOX News (I know, I know) and he’s talking to Megan Kelly. A while later I flip to CNN and he’s talking to Anderson Cooper. Then he makes the round of the broadcast networks. Then back to CNN with Don Lemon, and again later with Wolf Blitzer or Erin Burnett’s fill-in or whomever. He just seems a bit too eager to be in the spotlight. > > Okay, I’m a horrible person for thinking the above about a father who just lost his daughter. I’m European so this isn’t my battle, but I disagree. The poor man has every right and every reason to speak up - on any and every show that’ll hear him out. Nothing wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/190 "2015-08-29T20:31:46Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I haven’t seen anyone else comment on this, and I may get flamed for it but… > > Is anyone else a little bothered by the fact that the dead reporter’s father has seemingly been on television _constantly_ since the very day of the attack? I mean, it’s certainly not unusual for family members to be interviewed in these cases, and I understand that he wants to bring attention to the larger issue of guns, violence, etc. But I would think if your daughter had just been violently murdered, you might want to take a day or two to quietly grieve. But I turn to FOX News (I know, I know) and he’s talking to Megan Kelly. A while later I flip to CNN and he’s talking to Anderson Cooper. Then he makes the round of the broadcast networks. Then back to CNN with Don Lemon, and again later with Wolf Blitzer or Erin Burnett’s fill-in or whomever. He just seems a bit too eager to be in the spotlight. > > Okay, I’m a horrible person for thinking the above about a father who just lost his daughter. But, Dude, get off camera for a couple of days and take care of yourself and your family. That could be his way of dealing with his feelings, and “taking care” of things. He is a man who just lost his daughter, don’t judge how he handles it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/191 "2015-08-29T20:37:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The point isn’t that guns kill people. The point is that easier access to guns makes it easier for people to kill more people. You want to argue with that, be my guest. Vertical axis, homicide rate. Horizontal axis, prevalence of guns: [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/no9ocpf4fa049ph/gunsvhomicide.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/no9ocpf4fa049ph/gunsvhomicide.png?dl=0) Crazy people murdering people in countries where guns aren’t available: > **[Man dies after crazed random knife attacks](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-331834/Man-dies-crazed-random-knife-attacks.html)** > > A man arrested over a stabbing rampage which left one person dead and five others seriously injured has 'a history of mental illness', police said. A police chief said the attacks in north London appeared to have been 'a completely random... [http://gatesofvienna.net/2014/12/a-non-jihad-event-in-nantes/](http://gatesofvienna.net/2014/12/a-non-jihad-event-in-nantes/) [http://www.thelocal.se/20150810/triple-stabbing-at-swedish-ikea-store](http://www.thelocal.se/20150810/triple-stabbing-at-swedish-ikea-store) People who want to kill people, kill people. It’s just not that hard. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/192 "2015-08-29T21:31:34Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Vertical axis, homicide rate. Horizontal axis, prevalence of guns: > > [Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life](https://www.dropbox.com/s/no9ocpf4fa049ph/gunsvhomicide.png?dl=0) Higher homicide rate than Yemen, a basically lawless current war zone. _ripple of applause_ ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/193 "2015-08-29T22:06:10Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s correct. Guns don’t kill people. They’re inanimate objects. Do you think taking the gun out of the picture stopped the guy from murdering those 2 people? he could just as easily stabbed both of them through the heart with any knife or run them over with a car or an infinite number of other ways of murder. If it’s just as easy to kill someone with a gun as without a gun, that’s a pretty poorly designed gun, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/194 "2015-08-29T22:07:26Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Higher homicide rate than Yemen, a basically lawless current war zone. _ripple of applause_ The statistic of 4.8 for Yemen is from 2010. Way before it became the “lawless current war zone”. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/195 "2015-08-29T22:13:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > If it’s just as easy to kill someone with a gun as without a gun, that’s a pretty poorly designed gun, isn’t it? You could run down a bus load of kids waiting to board easier than shooting them. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/196 "2015-08-29T22:16:01Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > You could run down a bus load of kids waiting to board easier than shooting them. How do you know unless you’ve tried? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/197 "2015-08-29T22:27:18Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The statistic of 4.8 for Yemen is from 2010. Way before it became the “lawless current war zone”. Fair point, well made. OK then, the 2010 homicide rate for the richest and most advanced large first-world country was still higher than that of Yemen. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/198 "2015-08-29T22:44:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How do you know unless you’ve tried? because it’s easy to drive down a road. The skill set doesn’t change if people are standing on it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/199 "2015-08-29T23:05:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Fair point, well made. OK then, the 2010 homicide rate for the richest and most advanced large first-world country was still higher than that of Yemen. … and? You’re comparing apples and oranges. US culture is unlike Yemen’s. Also unlike UK’s, France’s and Denmark’s. There are all kinds of influences to the homicide rate, and availability of guns is just one of them and no idea how significant. The graph presented certainly doesn’t suggest a huge correlation. The earlier post’s suggestion of comparing Seattle and Vancouver is interesting, since they have similar populations in kind and in size (around ~600,000). Vancouver had 42 homicides in 2013. Seattle had 23. Of course, in Seattle most homicides are done with guns, but in Vancouver with knives. I am sure those killed by knives are very comforted by the fact that they were not victims of firearms. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942/200 "2015-08-29T23:17:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > You could run down a bus load of kids waiting to board easier than shooting them. The most lethal move of them all has already been clearly established: > [@Could you knock out an enraged chimp?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-knock-out-an-enraged-chimp/545830/24): > > first blow is to the wind pipe with the sharp of the knuckles and the second to both temples with both fists at the same time. This is done because the energy of a singular blow is partially absorbed by the deflection of the head. Striking from both sides doubles the force of a single blow and with nowhere for the head to deflect it transmits all the energy. I’m sure there is probably some additional trauma to the brain from 2 intersecting shock waves but I’ll leave that to engineers to explain. Maybe if you lined them up half a dozen abreast like this: (◑‿◐)(◑‿◐)(◑‿◐)(◑‿◐)(◑‿◐)(◑‿◐) You could punch the temple of the kid on the left while you’re punching the temple of the kid on the right, knocking all their heads together with the Double Monkey Punch. The resonance waves within and between all their tiny skulls would make their heads explode. |/|/|/|/|/|/ _‿_ _‿\*\*‿_ _‿\*\*‿_ _‿_ /|/|/|/|/|/|\ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reporter-shooting-in-virginia/728942.md?page=11)