Tragically, a gunman opened fire on a lecture hall before turning the gun on himself this afternoon. There are currently six dead (including the shooter).

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the deceased/wounded. NIU is only 1.5hrs outside of Chicago, and I know several people up there.

What is this world coming to?

More info can be found here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,1760508.story

 

more people need guns!...then they could have shot back

 

This is a messed-up crazy World we live in...

 

I use to be anti-gun, but after really thinking about it and all the shootings that have gone on in the last few years, it is really hard to say that getting rid of guns is the answer. Sure, on paper, banning guns is a great idea, but they are so easy to get, it would just put them in hands of dishonest people. I honestly agree now that more guns should be allowed to be carried. At least then someone might have had a chance to prevent this from happening.

RIP

 

not funny

 

x2

 

I don't think it was meant to be a joke and I agree with him. Instead of 6 people dead, this could have ended with only 1 person being shot, the attacker.

Guns aren't going away. I wish every state allowed CCW, but unfortunately they don't.

 

We accept violence in various forms all the time in our society: we glorify it, we encourage it, we ignore it. These tragedies will continue until we can accept the fact that people, not objects, are the real problem.

 

I wonder if this person was influenced by the Valentine's Day Massacre..?

 

i am totally pro-gun. i probably got over 20 at my house. chea!

 

Oh for crying out loud, people...this isn't a gun problem, it's a people problem. Those guns didn't magically float in to the room and start shooting people. They were carried in and used by a sick piece of garbage that should have just shot himself instead of taking others with him. Don't blame the tools he used. Blame the person. Untill we start dealing with why people do this crap, it's never going to stop no matter how many laws we pass.

 

 

And how do you plan on dealing with these people? Obviously it's the people that cause the problems, but what can we do, force every single person to go through psychological exams every few months? Some people are just naturally messed up in the head and one small incident will make them snap. How do you prevent that?

What do you do about the guy that just got dumped by his girlfriend, gets ____ed off at the world, and wants revenge?

 

I’m not claiming to have all the answers. I don’t. But I do know what is not the answer. We as a society can’t stand to feel helpless. When something like this happens, we want answers. We want to do something about it. We have no instant fix for the people who do it, so let’s blame it on the guns they used. That gives us something to rally behind so we can feel like we have some control. Instead of any personal responsibility, we would rather just have our government pass a bunch of new laws. Yeah..that’ll stop ‘em. Only, the last time I checked, murder was already against the law.

As for my opinion on what might be part of the problem: We live in a culture of violence. We grew up with it. It’s on TV, in movies and in video games. It’s the top story on the News every evening. If someone does something sick and hurts someone else, it'll be on the news. It’s shown all over the world so other sick people can pick up on the same idea. Have you noticed how many kids have been thrown from bridges lately? I grew up on a steady diet of violence…same as you. I haven’t killed anyone. But then again, I’m not mentally disturbed. Imagine how that stuff might affect someone who is.

 

Maybe we can blame doctors?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/15/uni...rss_topstories

Of course, Im being sarcastic. If this guy did stop taking his meds, then, once again, this is a problem with a person, not his doctor, etc.

Do you really want an answer to your question? No sugar coating, just the truth?

There is NOTHING we can do to ensure a life is unjustly taken if we live in a free society.

Is this fair? No, but life is not about fair. This is one price we pay for freedom. People have been killing each other looooooonnggg before there were guns. If a human wants to kill another human, they will find a way.

 

Exactly.

 

We want a name. We want one name and we want it fast because it gives us our security back. We can say,"Here was the one man..unlike the rest of us. We named him and he's no more. And his reasons,they're gone too."

But the truth is,we don't know his reasons. We don't know why he did it,why it came to this. We can pretend we do--but we don't know and we'll never know.

And still, we feel safe...

 

Well said.

 

QFT!

The shooter has been identified as Stephen P. Kazmierczak, a former NIU grad student.


As far as the gun control thing goes, he waited for permits to clear on all of his weapons... also, another gun in the hands of a student wouldn't have made any difference. Reports were that the shooting happened so quickly, it's unlikely that anyone could have done anything to prevent it.

We need to start blaming the people involved, rather than the laws... in fact, just about every shooting in recent history has had some link to mood-altering prescribed drugs... perhaps that's where people should start investigating.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!