Side story on the recent gun spree

[streamfortyseven]

Gun prohibition only works if there aren't many guns in circulation to begin with, and it's quick and easy for law enforcement/military to pick up those guns, and the law enforcement/military people aren't corrupt or infiltrated by criminals. For example, Mexico has nearly absolute gun control, with only one legal gun store in the country, but it's pretty easy to get a gun (illegally) there - you just go to a cop, pay the requisite amount of money and the cop delivers the gun and ammo to your door, and he'll even teach you how to fire it. There's a separate marketplace for drug gangs, some of which have infiltrated the army or local police forces, or both.

That's not the situation in the US, we have an estimated 300 million guns in circulation, almost one for every person in the US. A "War on Guns" would have the same success as the "War on Drugs" and enforcement would be costly in terms of dollars and human lives, not to speak of the political effects amongst the population. With gun prohibition, there'd probably be a resurgent militia movement, and troops going house to house to seize guns might kick off a domestic insurgency, especially if people were killed in the process.

School shooters tend to be individuals who are socially isolated, odd, intelligent, and who have been severely bullied, and it's that last part which is not really being mentioned in the most recent controversy. In the case of Adam Lanza, when he was still in school, when he'd walk down the hall, if he encountered students walking towards him, he'd flatten himself against the wall, and hold his briefcase up in such a manner as to shield himself. It strikes me that this is a learned behavior - probably he'd been repeatedly punched.

A rabbi in Newtown stated that:

I personally know from a classmate and neighbor of Adam Lanza that he was brilliant, odd and severely bullied.

From:http://www.thejewishweek.com/editori...cies-are-vital)

Lanza was referred to a school psychologist because it was thought that he *might* be a target for bullies, but it strikes me that there is a good amount of denial going on here, in retrospect. Instead, Lanza, like the other school shooters, is characterized as "evil" and the blame is set squarely on him. That's the easy way out.

Here's another case which, thankfully, did not result in a school shooting:

I stood out like a black thumb; I was the most bizarre-looking kid in town. My style was met with equal parts disgust and fascination by my classmates, and the bullying predictably escalated—I was verbally and physically assaulted on a regular basis, receiving death threats at least once a month. Teachers not only didn’t bother to defend me, they would often chime in with comments about my appearance, maybe in an effort to impress the more popular kids, who were usually the offspring of the grown townspeople with high standing in the community.

The bullying was not only halted by the people whose job it was to do such things, it was actively encouraged. Once again, the victim of the bullying was sent to the school psychologist:

I was also informed that I was emotionally disturbed and I was ordered to undergo sessions with the school therapist twice a week. I hated him. He was smarmy and condescending, and when I told him I was tired of being harassed he told me that the other kids were just blowing off steam, that their reactions were normal. He also claimed that people probably weren’t picking on me as much as I imagined. When he walked me out after that session, two people yelled “psycho” at me in front of him.

The bullying didn't stop, with this result:

Thus, my clothing and behavior became increasingly bizarre—I felt that upping the ante was the only reasonable solution to the cards I had been dealt. I wanted to create a persona that would help to minimize my harassment, which I figured would be a hyper-real, meaner version of myself. I grew tired of trying to do damage control so I figured I may as well give them what they wanted. Every step I took caused a scene—all I had to do was show up at a school function and people would get visibly upset. I once made a brief 15-minute appearance at a formal dance wearing a short silver dress, and those 15 minutes resulted in weeks of chatter—tales of my “insane” dress circulated until it was said that it had spikes and squares sticking out of it. It was like being a celebrity. A PTA meeting was held, and one of the topics debated was whether I could be banned from all dances and after-school functions.

Luckily, she was able to get out of that town, and get some insight as to what she had gone through, and was able to make a decent life for herself. Here's the whole article: http://www.vice.com/read/i-was-a-sus...school-shooter

It's not gun control which needs to be addressed here, because desperate people, people driven crazy with a need for revenge, will always find a means to bring it about. Mental health screenings might help, but as above, if the underlying causes of the problem are not addressed, those will be of little use as well.

[carl]

Welcome aboard streamfortyseven.

Many, many people are bullied in school. Not many turn into criminal murderers. To that extent the bullying victims who turn to mass murder can, and in my opinion should, be considered evil. They most certainly are cowardly. The planning and execution of their crimes show that with certainty.

I don't know how many of these criminals have been bullied. I do know that the two criminals who murdered at Colombine were not. Within the school crowd they fit in pretty well. The problem was one of them was very well developed psychopath/sociopath and the other was a follower. They formed one of those criminal pairs that sometimes occur.

The approaches to bullying that I have read about go after the wrong targets. Bullies can't be got to. They have to much fun doing it to give it up sans some kind of immediate penalty or possibility of an immediate penalty. Adults won't be on the scene when they are needed. I think what should be concentrated on are the good kids and this is where the adults come in.

The adults, teachers and parents, should make it clear that we are all our brothers keeper and if somebody is bullied somebody else should stand up for them. There is honor in that. Honor in the strong protecting the weak. That is the key to the thing. For if the bullies know that some of the other kids are going to intervene if they cross the line, they won't do it.

My Mom told me a story once about bullying. She was in 5th or 6th grade and was walking home with my aunt who was two years younger. They saw a 7th or 8th grade boy picking on a 2nd grade girl. They told him to knock it off or else. He didn't think much of that coming from two girls so he continued bullying. They then lit into him beat him some. He stopped his bullying. That is the kind of thing that should be encouraged.

(The 8th grade boy told his brother that the bruises on his face came from a fall. His brother was friends with my uncle and when my uncle heard the 'fall' story he said 'Well let me tell you what really happened.' That 8th grade boy didn't do much bullying after that.)

The other thing that can work is teaching the bullying victims to fight. I don't mean turning them into Seagal, I mean some judo or boxing lessons. That gives them just enough confidence that they are more likely to stand their ground which has a hugely dissuasive effect on bullies, who are cowards.

Adults can help with that too. Another story, I like stories.

My aunt (see above) was a phys ed teacher in the 60s and 70s. She taught the boys boxing and set up some intramural matches. She, not by accident, matched a bully with his victim. The victim had the advantage of some fighting lessons and a situation that encouraged him to fight. He whaled on the bully. Of course my aunt didn't happen to see any infractions that might have been committed against the bully. "Ain't ya gonna call that?" "Shut up and fight." The bully didn't pick on the former victim after that.

Those old fashioned things worked. I don't know if they can be done any more.