[CaliAtenza]

Originally Posted by sajo

And Minal Panchal too no? Sad...

yeah man....i saw her orkut, couldnt bear to read it much..:(

[sajo]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

yeah man....i saw her orkut, couldnt bear to read it much..:(

Yeah, even I was going through her orkut profile today morning. Very sad indeed.

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Guns don't kill people, people do.
Ban all guns and a dedicated psychotic can take a car and run through a crowd of people killing them.
Ban all guns, ban internet, ban this ban that are knee jerk reactions from politicians who want to get mileage.

True, guns don't kill people, but if the killer had a knife, I doubt he would have been able to kill 30 people before being stopped.

There is always a way for someone who is hell-bent on doing something, but the point is to make it as tough as possible.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

u have to be a permanent resident or citizen with no felonies on your record. You guys have to understand the gun culture in the us..its is a constitutional right (the second amendment) to have a gun in your home or on your person. Its rooted in history, the founding fathers decided on that amendment so that they could protect the citizens against a tyrannical government...just in case the US goverment became like King George's. The people could form a milita, overthrow the government, restore democracy, etc.

my friend on H1-b visa has got one.

about the culture, they take their personal freedom very seriously. recently a new law was passed called "stand your ground" which allows them to shoot at anybody who seems to be a possible threat. till then it was permissible only in one's own house.

Stand-your-ground law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

you can't just obscenely relate to the women of an american, push, slap and get away with it, as in india.

[cheap_deal]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

my friend on H1-b visa has got one.

are you sure? damn its too easy to get a gun there.

No im not planning on getting a gun... atleast for a while

[mclarenracer]

vivekiny2k sorry to say mate but your friend is breaking the law, only greencard and citizens are allowed.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by mclarenracer

vivekiny2k sorry to say mate but your friend is breaking the law, only greencard and citizens are allowed.

I don't know about the details, but he went thru the local police support and all the hurdles to secure one. and generally indians on H1-B don't do anything outside the law, for obvious reasons.

Also, each state has it's own set of rules and regulations when it comes to guns.

[benbsb29]

Guys, did you see the front page pics TOI put up on today's newspaper?
Snapshots/pics of the killer imitating some really violent South Korean movie, which was also an inspiration for the Hindi movie 'Zinda' starring Sanjay Dutt and J.A.

Seems he drew quite some inspiration from it ! :(

[rks]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Guns don't kill people, people do.
Ban all guns and a dedicated psychotic can take a car and run through a crowd of people killing them.

This is the standard NRA line. I used to believe it, but not any more. Guns (automatic or semi-automatic) that fire several rounds in a matter of seconds make it too easy for the *casual* killer, as opposed to a determined killer, who can always get around laws and acquire guns.

In this specific case, my thoughts are the following.

(1) The Korean kid was mentally ill, no doubt. But his case was probably mishandled by the police and the locals who complained against hiim. They no doubt dealt with him in an insensitive manner and the treatment meted out to him amounted to public humiiliation. This, coupled with the extensive prejudice against foreign students in US university dorms (see my experience below), probably aggravated the kid.

(2) There is a lot of prejudice in US dormitories, and the locals make it clear in various subtle ways that foreigners are not welcome. I personally asked a local student at the U. Of WA (Seattle) as to why students are not given permanent room at the dormitories; they are shunted around during vacations and made to apply for rooms fresh at the start of each academic session. This clearly affects foreign students badly, since the locals vacate dorms and go home during vacations. The official reason is that it is expensive to heat up all the dorms and so it becomes necessary to herd all the (mostly foreign) students into a single dorm with double and triple-room occupancy. Anyway the local student was more frank. His answer to my question: "To get the aliens out of the dorms".

(3) When the kid had openly threatened to commit suicide and this was known to the police (coupled with his bad mental state) there was no way his gun purchase should have been cleared. This is serious bungling by the police and the families of the victims should sue the US Govt. in a big way to ensure that sufficient pressure is applied to right-wing groups like NRA to bring about gun control laws.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

You guys have to understand the gun culture in the us..its is a constitutional right (the second amendment) to have a gun in your home or on your person. Its rooted in history, the founding fathers decided on that amendment so that they could protect the citizens against a tyrannical government...just in case the US goverment became like King George's. The people could form a milita, overthrow the government, restore democracy, etc.

The constitution is not some sacrosanct thing. A few guys got together many hundred years ago and came up with a guiding framework. That's about it. What was relevant then need not be relevant now. That's why we have constitutional amendments.

And I don't really think the right to be armed was to be able to overthrow a Govt. that goes wrong, as you put it. Would a few citizens armed with guns stand the might of the Govt?

The America of that time was more or less lawless with personal security not guaranteed by the Govt. Hence the option for people to bear arms to safeguard themselves. With a good governance (atleast for its own citizens) and policing in place, the situation is not the same today. The gun culture needs to be controlled if they want to avoid such incidents.

And as Rtech rightly said, even though it is men that kill (not guns as NRA say), limiting availability of guns would greatly reduce the chances of man killing.

[esteem_lover]

Wish someone could do this in a political rally here in India. We might be rid of some useless insane idiots.

[benbsb29]

@E_L : Wishful thinking.... but you wouldnt want that here on the Net, where it can be traced to you.

Off topic: What's that new emoticon?

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

What was relevant then need not be relevant now.

tell that to the law makers. our own country has laws from mid 20th century and moral dictators following rules from 12th century.

[DriverR]

In today's Times of India (Hyderabad) at the bottom of the front page was an article of a fake Orkut profile of Mirnal, where the profile creator says that she ("I") is still alive...... some people have really sick minds. Got really mad reading it. How sick can some people be
According to the report, the profile creator is suspected to be an Engineering student from Medak, Andhra Pradesh. As it is not confirmed, I'm not naming the name mentioned in the report. The profile has been deleted from Orkut.

[tsk1979]

more guns = Less crime or more crime?
The debate has been on since guns were invented
There are points to score on both sides of the fence. Read this article
WorldNetDaily: 25 years murder-free in 'Gun Town USA'