How An Inability To Get Guns Stops School Shootings
A Chinese man rammed a car loaded with a spare gas tank and firecrackers into a group of 23 middle schoolers, injuring 13 in the country's latest attack on students. He later lit a bottle of diesel fuel to set the car on fire, but police put the fire out. SFGate, via @Drudge:
Students were hospitalized with injuries that included skull fractures and crushed feet.....Citing eyewitnesses, the Beijing-based state-run Jinghua Times said the accident occurred when students were leaving school for noon break and that the car accelerated and knocked down students, many of whom were on bikes.
On Dec. 14, a Chinese man took a kitchen knife and went on a stabbing spree that left 23 students wounded in an elementary school in Henan province.
China has seen more than a half-dozen school attacks in less than three years, though the death tolls have been mostly in single digits, largely because knives have been the most-used weapon. China largely prohibits private ownership of guns.
Crazy people or even people who have the will will find a way to hurt or kill people.
Sometimes all it takes is a match and some fuel. Plus stupidity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daegu_subway_fire
John Paulson at December 26, 2012 8:34 AM
A paraphrase of something I heard Ted Nugent say. It was long the lines of:
Jim P. at December 26, 2012 5:17 PM
You would think that stories like these would be an argument for how bad things happen everywhere and gun control is not the answer to stop these things. But in fact, I have heard more than one person say that we need gun control because at least these kids are just injured and not dead.
chickia at December 27, 2012 7:28 AM
The best way to stop a knife-wielding nutjob, at least from a distance, is with a GUN. If you try to stop him with your own knife, or a baseball bat or whatever, you're likely to get cut. Of course, you could throw stuff at him (chairs, etc.), but that's only likely to drive him to do mayhem in the next room unless you knock him out.
mpetrie98 at December 28, 2012 11:51 AM
Sorry Amy, have to say you made the opposite point here. If he had instead used a semi-automatic weapon, a lot of those kids would likely be dead. Jim P., the argument is not that gun control would stop bad things from happening. The argument is that gun control would reduce the number of mass killings with overpowered weapons. Reduce, not eliminate.
George K. at December 28, 2012 1:29 PM
How An Inability To Get Guns Stops School Shootings
A Chinese man rammed a car loaded with a spare gas tank and firecrackers into a group of 23 middle schoolers, injuring 13 in the country's latest attack on students.
On Dec. 14, a Chinese man took a kitchen knife and went on a stabbing spree that left 23 students wounded in an elementary school in Henan province.
Amy, few, if any, people are claiming that regulations on guns will "stop" attacks on innocent people. What they likely will do is reduce the degree of the carnage, reduce the number of people who are killed.
The two examples you note demonstrate this. 13 middle schoolers were injured with the car, and 23 students were wounded with the knife. At Sandy Hook, 26 people were killed by the murderer who used guns.
JD at December 28, 2012 5:37 PM
George: Sorry Amy, have to say you made the opposite point here. If he had instead used a semi-automatic weapon, a lot of those kids would likely be dead.
Exactly.
JD at December 28, 2012 5:39 PM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/12/how-an-inabilit.html#comment-3533584">comment from JDWhat reduces the degree of carnage the best is not counting on a person to be unable to get their hands on illegal types of guns (which are readily available just blocks from my house), but having people at a school who can pull a concealed firearm and take them out.
Amy Alkon
at December 28, 2012 6:14 PM
reduce the number of mass killings
As this James Alan Fox points out:
with overpowered weapons
What is an overpowered weapon? A .223? What about 5.56MM? Because it's semi-auto? How about a 30-06 caliber rifle? What about a Desert Eagle?
This hasn't been confirmed in the press yet, but as I understand it, the AR-15 was found in the trunk of killer's car -- not inside the school.
Reduce, not eliminate.
The National Firearms Act of 1934 which banned fully automatic firearms did not stop or significantly reduce firearms deaths.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibited "Saturday Night Specials" and imposed the felony owner restrictions.
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act went into effect in 1994. That included the background checks, and further restrictions on possession by felons.
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) went into effect in 1994 as well. Columbine happened in the middle of it. If it was effective it would have been renewed in 2004.
Feinstein proposed a new AWB today.
The problem with gun control laws is that they are followed by law abiding people. A criminal doesn't care.
By the time Newtown nut job stepped on the school grounds he was in violation of 40 laws already including murder, theft, possession of a handgun under 21 among many others.
By the time the firemen showed up in Webster, NY, the killer had broken such laws as firearm possession by a felon, felony murder, felony arson.
Gun control laws have been implemented repeatedly, and have they not stopped, or even truly slowed gun crime. Chicago, IL, with some of the toughest gun laws in the country, is expected to have a record 500 firearms murder by tonight.
What's the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Jim P. at December 28, 2012 8:29 PM
Oklahoma City.
Exactly.
How about the equivalent of the FFDO program for schools?
Jeff Guinn at December 29, 2012 11:58 PM
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