BREAKING: 20 injured in stabbings at Pennsylvania school

I think psychologically it is easier for someone to go on a knife slashing rampage, then a gun shooting one.
Let me try to be very clear with this comment.
If someone is thinking about doing mass harm to others, just grabbing a knife seems like an easier out, then to get a gun and go through the motions of that. There is less thought involved. It's more spontaneous.

Jefferton
I find it amusing to no end how many times guns have been mentioned in a stabbing thread.
Agendas are fun.

you noticed that too, 'eh?

AnteBellum
I think psychologically it is easier for someone to go on a knife slashing rampage, then a gun shooting one.
Let me try to be very clear with this comment.
If someone is thinking about doing mass harm to others, just grabbing a knife seems like an easier out, then to get a gun and go through the motions of that. There is less thought involved. It's more spontaneous.

Yes. With that said, any object will do in the heat of the moment.

This is a really small town. My mom grew up in Murysville and my grandparents lived there all their lives. Sad times.

AnteBellum
I think psychologically it is easier for someone to go on a knife slashing rampage, then a gun shooting one.
Let me try to be very clear with this comment.
If someone is thinking about doing mass harm to others, just grabbing a knife seems like an easier out, then to get a gun and go through the motions of that. There is less thought involved. It's more spontaneous.

I would have to disagree with you. A stabbing or cutting is VERY personal as you are VERY close to the individual you are trying to harm. A gun you can use from a distance so there is a easier disconnect of emotion once already in that state of mind. If the gun is already loaded there are not a lot of motions to go through. If you have to go buy one then yes, there are way to many motions to go through unless your intent is simply to cause harm with a gun....in which case the crime has usually been fairly well planned or thought out and there should be PLENTY of signs prior to this person doing the deed.

My guess would be this guy already had a knife or sharp object on his person and it was just a convenient weapon to use. If he had to go get one then the same would apply to any weapon....forethought and planning, so a gun or knife would be the same in my opinion.

Again, comes down to people paying attention and relating more for me. If you are involved in someones life you should be able to tell if they are about to go kill a bunch of people in my eyes.

Jefferton
I find it amusing to no end how many times guns have been mentioned in a stabbing thread.
Agendas are fun.

Watching CNN, when they aren't doing their continued coverage of the missing plane, they are inserting updates on this unfortunate stabbing incident at the school. The first 3 people they had on, during the time I watched, talked about guns. Yes, there are people with agendas in the MSM talking about guns too. I haven't a clue why they would be bringing up a weapon that was not used today...but they did.

Des

Watching the news now.. The lead investigator guy is talking.... Why don't they call this kid the suspect? He called him the "actor".
Firepiston

It's really blowing my mind how much information these kids are posting/have posted via their Twitter accounts! The inundation of information and how quickly it spreads nowadays is stunning. I remember when Columbine happened, I was glued to the news waiting for updates to trickle in.

Destinyone

Jefferton
I find it amusing to no end how many times guns have been mentioned in a stabbing thread.
Agendas are fun.

Watching CNN, when they aren't doing their continued coverage of the missing plane, they are inserting updates on this unfortunate stabbing incident at the school. The first 3 people they had on, during the time I watched, talked about guns. Yes, there are people with agendas in the MSM talking about guns too. I haven't a clue why they would be bringing up a weapon that was not used today...but they did.

Des

My reason for bringing up guns was that had any of the school official been armed and trained, there could have been a much different end to this story with a lot less people being harmed. One person with a weapon of any kind and with ill intent, in a situation where nobody else is armed or trained and responders are over 5 minutes away is the worst situation I would want to be in, especially in a school environment. The false sense of security these people have in LEO being able to respond in a timely manner to a situation that can turn deadly in seconds is amazing to me. I would never want to be in a position I could not defend myself or those I love....simply ignorant to believe anyone has the ability to protect you more than yourself in a situation like this. I don't rely on anyone in a life threatening situation to help me or my family out except myself, and once they are out of harms way I will help those I can.

LEO are trained to get to the situation site, congregate with a plan then go in. By that time who knows how many will be harmed...no thank you.

I'm wondering will this lead to a ban on knives?
Good bye to the trusty steak knife at your favorite restaurant!

reply to post by Vasa Croe

I would have to disagree with you. A stabbing or cutting is VERY personal as you are VERY close to the individual you are trying to harm. A gun you can use from a distance so there is a easier disconnect of emotion once already in that state of mind.

You are right! I stand corrected to a degree. . . (not sure what degree yet)

Here is an interesting tidbit from the reports:

Four of the victims were taken to area hospitals via helicopter. Those injured were between 14 and 17 years old, Stevens said, adding that not all of them were stabbed or slashed with a knife.

Source

So if they weren't ALL injured with a knife then what was the other weapon? They also say it was a 10th grade student that is the suspect.

FirePiston
Watching the news now.. The lead investigator guy is talking.... Why don't they call this kid the suspect? He called him the "actor".
Firepiston

Long time lurker first time poster.

I caught that too, I even recorded it on my phone. Just seems too weird for an investigator to use the word "actor" when he can easily have said suspect or aggressor. I have the video but no youtube account if people are interested.

luciddream
Availability and lethality.

knives, bows, crossbows, etc, are commonly available, and are easier to obtain than firearms.

i can make a regular bow, and arrows from materials at a hardware store, or from materials in the wild..the idea that it's easier to get a gun, is patently absurd.

Contrary to the belief, this story is actually anti-gun, this shows the difference between the damage caused by a nut with a gun and a nut with a knife.

i'm not sure where you get that the story is anti-gun....i was under the impression that it wasn't specifically anti-anything....except maybe anti-dead kids -shrug-

it's a report that somebody stabbed a bunch of people....please leave your agenda-driven slants at the door...

Any moron can go to a store and get a gun in a heat of frustration and unleash hell. Where as a knife wielding nut can only do so much(this story is a prefect example).

there are certain controls in place that ensure not just "anyone" can go get a gun, and start offing people straight away...so that's B.S.

plus, "unleash[ing] hell" is an overly dramatic way to put it...if you're a lousy shot, and you don't hit anyone, then you've done little more than scare the bejesus out of a bunch of folks..

how is it so hard for you to understand that the TOOL is not what's inherently dangerous, it's the person using it? if you're a lousy shot, and you go unload in an office building, and you don't hit anyone, or you hit a lot of people, but they're all flesh wounds, and nobody dies, how is that any worse than going into an office building, and stabbing people? you hurt the same number of people, nobody dies...same result, different tools...

in japan, a guy went nuts, went into a school, and stabbed a bunch of kids and teachers....IIRC, there were fatalities, and a bunch of injuries.....this sort of thing happens.

You cant change the people that are retarded, you have to control the inanimate object(be it cars, guns, knifes) and their availability.

and it is dangerously ignorant to believe that limiting or outright removing the availability of certain objects is going to do ANYTHING to reduce crime, or instances of mass violence...you know how you get rid of bad people? allow people to defend themselves with lethal intensity, and lock up the ones that survive, forever...

Heck, there is a good amount of people that are against any type of check, they want gun to be given to anyone, no questions asked.

which, under current circumstances, wouldn't work AT ALL....it would require the "justice" system to actually do it's job, and that's not gonna happen so long as profit, and the law are co-mingling...

Today you can be a loving gun owning father, tomorrow you are a divorced, frustrated, drunk who went on a rampage at your wife's workplace.

so now we wanna punish people for things they either haven't done yet, or won't ever do?

sure, FBI Pre-Crime Division..let's get right on that...

When these lunatics use Crossbow, knife, baseball bat, or a car to mow down civilians over a gun, we will talk about putting restriction on the availability on Crossbow, knife, baseball bat, or a car.

well, the knife thing just happened today in the states, and it happened in japan, and in scores of other places.....and people use cars to kill fairly regularly, and i'm sure if i look around, i can find instances of people using baseball bats, and crossbows to kill people.....so yeah, let's just ban EVERYTHING, because that'll make it all better... -rolls eyes-

Agit8dChop

Knives, guns.. maybe whats in the hands isn't the problem, maybe its just Americans?

Mental illness is not synonymous to the USA.


Unfortunately people at the top condone violence under the auspice of war, democracy, and controlling the enemy; they are setting bad examples for are youth.

FirePiston
Watching the news now.. The lead investigator guy is talking.... Why don't they call this kid the suspect? He called him the "actor".
Firepiston

It appears to me. In today's politically correct environment. The bad guy is never called the bad guy anymore. They are called everything that dances around the issue of the fact they did something horrible in front of many witnesses. The alleged culprit. The detained person. The (fill in the blank with everything but the bad guy who did something horrible) person.

I think it helps to desensitize the general public, to how horrible their acts really were. It's like giving the bad guy a free pass in being held responsible for their actions, in the minds of people hearing the story. We immediately start looking for an outside source to blame instead of looking at the bad guy, and what he/she did.

Des

AnteBellum
I think psychologically it is easier for someone to go on a knife slashing rampage, then a gun shooting one.
Let me try to be very clear with this comment.
If someone is thinking about doing mass harm to others, just grabbing a knife seems like an easier out, then to get a gun and go through the motions of that. There is less thought involved. It's more spontaneous.

I think its easier to kill someone from a distance where you don't see their emotion.

Knife on the other hand, you need cold heart and its very close to carve another human out.

If someone is doing a mass murder, its far easier to grab a gun, thus its a common choice.


It seems your views are heavily biased to see knife being potentially more dangerous than a gun.


I don't favour gun but if i had to massacre a group and had an option between a knife and a gun, i will pick the gun.

Destinyone

FirePiston
Watching the news now.. The lead investigator guy is talking.... Why don't they call this kid the suspect? He called him the "actor".
Firepiston

It appears to me. In today's politically correct environment. The bad guy is never called the bad guy anymore. They are called everything that dances around the issue of the fact they did something horrible in front of many witnesses. The alleged culprit. The detained person. The (fill in the blank with everything but the bad guy who did something horrible) person.

I think it helps to desensitize the general public, to how horrible their acts really were. It's like giving the bad guy a free pass in being held responsible for their actions, in the minds of people hearing the story. We immediately start looking for an outside source to blame instead of looking at the bad guy, and what he/she did.

Des

It may have something to do with that guy that the news media had fingered as being the bomber at the Olympics in Atlanta years ago... when he was just a security guard doing his job.
The media has to be careful, if I remember correctly, he sued them for slander or something.

Destinyone

Jefferton
I find it amusing to no end how many times guns have been mentioned in a stabbing thread.
Agendas are fun.

Watching CNN, when they aren't doing their continued coverage of the missing plane, they are inserting updates on this unfortunate stabbing incident at the school. The first 3 people they had on, during the time I watched, talked about guns. Yes, there are people with agendas in the MSM talking about guns too. I haven't a clue why they would be bringing up a weapon that was not used today...but they did.

Des

like i said, ANY excuse to spew agenda-driven rhetoric...

a dude could set off a bomb in a school, and the idiots on the MSM channels would be talking about how much worse it would have been if someone had used a gun...

when you have an agenda to push, "never let a good crisis go to waste"

whoistravis

FirePiston
Watching the news now.. The lead investigator guy is talking.... Why don't they call this kid the suspect? He called him the "actor".
Firepiston

Long time lurker first time poster.

I caught that too, I even recorded it on my phone. Just seems too weird for an investigator to use the word "actor" when he can easily have said suspect or aggressor. I have the video but no youtube account if people are interested.

In addition to "actor," other words/phrases for consideration...
"set the stage"
"fire drill"
"applied pressure"
"Forbes"
"classified"
"do not believe"
"suspicious"