Virginia Tech Massacre

[greg]

And what happen with the spanish lessons? I'm ready
to renounce to my fee, and give it free of charge.

no te voy a pagar nada, dawg! es cierto
pero sí que estoy agradecido 

[knight66]

I quote myself...anyone got any helpful information for me please?

As the USA is federal, can specific States make their own laws ro restrict the kind of weapons citizens can own? Obviously here I am thinking of the semi automatic weapons. I don't understand why they are allowed unless there are specific reasons that people would need them. I gather some States have different rules from others about how easy it is to get a gun: but do any take it further than that? Or does the constitution prevent them from the kind of restriction I have asked about?

Mike

[knight66]

Thank you...so there is nothing to stop States moving to some extent on the issue without a change to the constitution.

Mike

[Michel]

Thank you...so there is nothing to stop States moving to some extent on the issue without a change to the constitution.

Mike

Yes, like the death penalty did.

[greg]

I quote myself...anyone got any helpful information for me please?

As the USA is federal, can specific States make their own laws ro restrict the kind of weapons citizens can own? Obviously here I am thinking of the semi automatic weapons. I don't understand why they are allowed unless there are specific reasons that people would need them. I gather some States have different rules from others about how easy it is to get a gun: but do any take it further than that? Or does the constitution prevent them from the kind of restriction I have asked about?

Mike

ha, yeah, it's a different world out here- every state for himself 

[Mayfielder]

The gunman lived in America for most of his life, and according to some recent articles surfacing about the bullying he received from peers in high school, it seems his social and psychological problems, if not started here, certainly developed here. And him being Korean is pretty irrelevant. It's not as if he came over to America last week and started killing Americans. Further, he wasn't racially motivated, and neither did he even show nationalistic tendencies. This was a severely troubled young man who grew up in America, and there's no need to bring race or nationality into the matter. I might add that the Korean government wanting to come over and apologize was completely unnecessary.

I didn't bring nationality into this matter - other posters to this thread did when they made the unfathomably stupid statement that Americans are violent and gun-loving, and citing Virginia Tech as an example. I was just responding to this by pointing out that the gunman was not American, but Korean. And with regard to your statement that his being Korean is "pretty irrelevant" then the fact that the crime was perpetrated on American soil is pretty irrelevant as well. You can't have it both ways. 

[MishaK]

I quote myself...anyone got any helpful information for me please?

As the USA is federal, can specific States make their own laws ro restrict the kind of weapons citizens can own? Obviously here I am thinking of the semi automatic weapons. I don't understand why they are allowed unless there are specific reasons that people would need them. I gather some States have different rules from others about how easy it is to get a gun: but do any take it further than that? Or does the constitution prevent them from the kind of restriction I have asked about?

Mike

Knight, did you not read my response to you above?

State law is unconstitutional if it either violates specific provisions of the federal constitution (which trumps state law via the Supermacy Clause) or if it is found to infringe upon a legal area that has been preempted by the federal branch. One such area would be the regulation of interstate commerce which is specifically reserved to the federal government. Insofar as state law regulating weapons were to be interpreted as infringing upon interstate commerce in weapons, it could be struck down as unconstitutional. Even if it were to pass muster (and many states have very restrictive gun control laws), they are in most cases not worth the paper they are written on since the states cannot police their borders and prevent the importation of weapons from less restrictive states. E.g. Washington DC has very restrictive gun control laws, but Virginia next door is very liberal. So people go and get their guns in Virginia and the DC law is a paper tiger.

[knight66]

Mench, I am really sorry, I must have scrolled past your post, I had been hoping you would be one of the ones to respond, thanks. I can see there is a real difficulty in making the law stick.

Cheers,

Mike

[cx]

I didn't bring nationality into this matter - other posters to this thread did when they made the unfathomably stupid statement that Americans are violent and gun-loving, and citing Virginia Tech as an example. I was just responding to this by pointing out that the gunman was not American, but Korean.

The statement "that Americans are violent and gun-loving, and citing Virginia Tech as an example" is idiotic, I agree, but I don't see how him being Korean is contrary to it. He grew up largely in America and lived in American culture.

And with regard to your statement that his being Korean is "pretty irrelevant" then the fact that the crime was perpetrated on American soil is pretty irrelevant as well. You can't have it both ways.

I don't see why not. The idea that you must accept both (1) a correlation between nationality or race and shooting rampages and (2) a correlation between shooting rampages and locations, without being able to admit the possibility of one or the other being false, is a logical fallacy. So, yes, I can have it "both" ways. But feel free to explain your reasoning, as I don't see any of it.

-CS

[greg]

I was just responding to this by pointing out that the gunman was not American, but Korean. And with regard to your statement that his being Korean is "pretty irrelevant" then the fact that the crime was perpetrated on American soil is pretty irrelevant as well. You can't have it both ways. 

the guy was more American than Korean. He still had somewhat of an accent, but he's obviously American. (if you've read his plays, you can see he definetely doesn't struggle with foul language) 

[quote author = CS]I don't see why not. The idea that you must accept both (1) a correlation between nationality or race and shooting rampages and (2) a correlation between shooting rampages and locations, without being able to admit the possibility of one or the other being false, is a logical fallacy. So, yes, I can have it "both" ways. But feel free to explain your reasoning, as I don't see any of it.[/quote]
well, as i said before, you're more likely to have a troubled white guy or Asian guy who is antisocial to do a shooting spree than someone from the hood (their style is drive-by shootings or just plain murders)
so there is some type of correlation.... though i think my point is different entirely....

[PerfectWagnerite]

the guy was more American than Korean. He still had somewhat of an accent, but he's obviously you're more likely to have a troubled white guy or Asian guy who is antisocial to do a shooting spree than someone from the hood (their style is drive-by shootings or just plain murders)

Well, as someone who grew up in the 'hood so to speak I think in general Brothers are very social (how many single person gangs do you see?). Dealing drugs, pimping, drive-by shootings and carrying out armed robberies usually require more than one person.

[greg]

Well, as someone who grew up in the 'hood so to speak I think in general Brothers are very social (how many single person gangs do you see?). Dealing drugs, pimping, drive-by shootings and carrying out armed robberies usually require more than one person.

must suck to grow up in the hood, huh?
probably in less than 10 years, where i used to live (and basically, grew up) will be a complete ghetto the way it's going, that's one of the reasons my family (and me with them) moved out a bit.

so you're saying all the crime was involving more than one person? like if you get carjacked, there's two people?

[PerfectWagnerite]

must suck to grow up in the hood, huh?
probably in less than 10 years, where i used to live (and basically, grew up) will be a complete ghetto the way it's going, that's one of the reasons my family (and me with them) moved out a bit.

so you're saying all the crime was involving more than one person? like if you get carjacked, there's two people?

Not all, but most. One person to commit the crime and one to stand watch for the cops.

Well I moved out of the 'hood after college, but my parents like living there...

[Harvested Sorrow]

must suck to grow up in the hood, huh?
probably in less than 10 years, where i used to live (and basically, grew up) will be a complete ghetto the way it's going, that's one of the reasons my family (and me with them) moved out a bit.

Could be worse.  The town where my father grew up has turned into one large ghetto.  Not a section of it...the entire town.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Could be worse.  The town where my father grew up has turned into one large ghetto.  Not a section of it...the entire town.

Where would that be? St. Louis or New Orleans?

[Haffner]

Where would that be? St. Louis or New Orleans?

Portland. Maine (just kidding).

[greg]

Could be worse.  The town where my father grew up has turned into one large ghetto.  Not a section of it...the entire town.

i wonder if there ever has been a ghetto that's eventually turned into a fancy, upper-class neighborhood 

[MishaK]

i wonder if there ever has been a ghetto that's eventually turned into a fancy, upper-class neighborhood 

Upper West Side, parts of Brooklyn, several neighborhoods in Chicago, etc. Really, as of late, gentrification has quite considerably changed American urban landscapes. Consider that the ganag wars of West Side Story were set where today Linconln Center is located.Rents are ridiculous around there. There are several Trump-owned condo buildings around there.

[greg]

Upper West Side, parts of Brooklyn, several neighborhoods in Chicago, etc. Really, as of late, gentrification has quite considerably changed American urban landscapes. Consider that the ganag wars of West Side Story were set where today Linconln Center is located.Rents are ridiculous around there. There are several Trump-owned condo buildings around there.

really? that good news 

[MishaK]

really? that good news 

If you consider rent for a studio at $1,900/month good news, then yes...