Author Topic: Another school shooting  (Read 765 times)

Hawkmoon

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Another school shooting
« on: January 16, 2020, 11:51:18 AM »
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Friends-Bellaire-teen-dream-Army-school-shooting-14978701.php

Bellaire, Texas. Both the shooter and the victim were members of the JROTC program. I had to search a bit to find an article that's not hidden behind a paywall or a registration wall. I think the above link should be clear.

Apparently, the shooter and the victim were friends and the shooting was accidental. The shooter had brought the gun into the school and took it out to show to his friend. The gun discharged, striking the victim in the chest. The shooter fled the scene and was arrested 3-1/2 hours later. He has been charged with manslaughter. The shooter's name has not been released because he's a minor.

Naturally, I found articles that did their best to portray this incident as another example of "gun violence" in schools, with the obligatory calls for the "vioelnce" to end. I'm not going to argue that getting shot and dying as a result is peaceful, but this was an act of negligence combined with stupidity (poor gun handling, not knowing if the gun was loaded or how to handle it), not malice. There were multiple witnesses who have reported that the two kids were friends and that the shooting was an accident. I think it's disingenuous to portray this as anything other than what it was -- a tragic accident resulting from ignorance and stupidity.
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MechAg94

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2020, 12:12:57 PM »
Quote
Bellaire investigators expressed concern Wednesday evening that the weapon used in the shooting had not been found. It was not yet known how the teen obtained the gun, which Bellaire Police Lt. Greg Bartlett described as a .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol. It was not part of the JROTC program, officials said.
I wonder if it was one of those "unloaded" pistols.
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MechAg94

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2020, 12:14:54 PM »
Quote
In an earlier statement, HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said additional police officers, crisis counselors and administrative staff will be present at Bellaire when classes resume Thursday.

“Unfortunately, HISD is not immune to the plague of gun violence afflicting school campuses nationwide,” Lathan said. “We are committed to vigilantly protecting students and staff at our schools. HISD will continue to evaluate our security measures, as we regularly do, in order to maximize the safety of our children and staff.”
Unless some different information comes out, I wouldn't even call this "violence".  And it could have happened anywhere if they were friends.  School just happens to be a place they spend a lot of time.
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

K Frame

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2020, 12:37:50 PM »
Unless some different information comes out, I wouldn't even call this "violence".  And it could have happened anywhere if they were friends.  School just happens to be a place they spend a lot of time.

Now now... never let a fallen body go to waste to further your agenda.

I'm sure that this will also be added to the list of mass school shootings, because.... REASONS.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2020, 05:15:42 PM »
Unless some different information comes out, I wouldn't even call this "violence".  And it could have happened anywhere if they were friends.  School just happens to be a place they spend a lot of time.

But it did happen in a school, and schools are gun-free zones under the law.

So much for laws making us safe.

As to the violence, I agree with you. Under a dictionary definition, I will concede that getting shot and dying is a violent way to go. But an accidental/negligent shooting, one in which even the prosecutor has publicly acknowledged that there was no intent, is not what the general populace regards as "gun violence." But the anti-gun forces can be counted on to seize upon any and every such incident to build up their statistics proving that "gun violence" is a major problem.

The issue, of course, is that their proposed solutions always involve enacting more laws. What's the point if/when the laws already on the books failed to prevent an incident? How many existing laws were broken by this kid's bringing a loaded handgun into a public school? First, obviously, he brought a loaded gun into a gun-free zone. Was it his gun? He's sixteen years old, which I think means he can't legally own or possess a handgun. (Not sure on that.) If if was a parent's handgun, then he stole it in order to bring it to school. How did he get to school that day? Does Texas allow unlicensed carry of loaded handguns? By minors? And if he rode a school bus, there's probably a state law prohibiting the carry of firearms on public transportation. I'm sure a good lawyer could probably dredge up several more laws that were broken.

But the incident happened, in spite of all the laws that should have prevented it. Obviously, then, we need another law that makes doing illegal things more illegal.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2020, 10:59:47 AM by Hawkmoon »
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Doggy Daddy

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2020, 05:27:21 AM »
Unless some different information comes out, I wouldn't even call this "violence".  And it could have happened anywhere if they were friends.  School just happens to be a place they spend a lot of time.

Why don't we start speaking of "automobile violence" and "5 gallon bucket violence" etc.?  Let's take their word away from them and change it's implication.
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WLJ

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2020, 09:52:12 AM »
Why don't we start speaking of "automobile violence" and "5 gallon bucket violence" etc.?  Let's take their word away from them and change it's implication.


After guns are gone they'll get on it no doubt.
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MechAg94

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2020, 10:13:37 AM »
After guns are gone they'll get on it no doubt.
Knives will come first I am sure.
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WLJ

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2020, 10:25:13 AM »
Knives will come first I am sure.

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"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Another school shooting
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2020, 11:13:11 AM »
Why aren't we protesting bathtub violence?

https://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/Someone-drowns-in-a-tub-nearly-every-day-in-1201018.php

https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/aug/15/tucker-carlson/carlson-guns-dont-kill-people-bathtubs-do/

https://danger.mongabay.com/injury_death.htm

Quote
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2000 . . . . . One-Year Odds . . . . . . Lifetime Odds
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Firearms discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776 . . . . . . 354,776 . . . . . . . . . . . 4,613

Drowning and submersion while in or falling into bath-tub . . . 341 . . . . . .  807,349 . . . . . . . . . . 10,499
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