"Multiple Victims Reported in Illinois Mall Shooting", page 3
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ATS Members have flagged this thread 2 times


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 09:49 AM by Areal51
reply to post by LooseLipsSinkShips



Your comments represent one of the most ignorant attempts at deductive logic that I have ever seen. I suppose if the authorities were allegedly looking for an overweight White man then you would have remembered the overweight White women that you've seen in and around Lane Bryant? You would then have had the hunch to infer, based on that flawed logic, that the shootings were just a scene in a passion play?

A loose grasp of logic is no better than loose lips.


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 11:39 AM by Areal51
reply to post by C0le



reply to post by gunner36



reply to post by apc



reply to post by Raist



I have a question for all the pro gun people: Do any of you ever consider that if it were one of you who were suddenly fired upon in a crowded area, that even if you were carrying, that you wouldn't have time and/or opportunity for an adequate response? How, even if you were "armed to the teeth" (as some of you are fond of saying), would that fact improve your chances or the the situation?

I've thought about these types of shootings and I cannot come to the clear conclusion, that you seem to have come to, that theses types of situations would happen less frequently if everybody carried weapons. Right now, with the current gun laws and the millions of guns that are already in people's hands, these types of crimes still persist. It seems, to me, that they are becoming more prevalent. Gang bangers blow each other away regardless of whether guns are present with their targets or not. In that scenario, guns are not regarded as a deterrent. Snipers couldn't possibly care less if every single person in the country was carrying. Because of the way snipers choose their targets, it simply doesn't matter. They use invisibility and unpredictability as their accomplices. The crazed gunman in a crowded public place scenario includes a mentally unstable suspect and unpredictability. The suspect generally fires at people randomly, and usually at the persons closet at hand. If the suspect is mentally unstable to begin with, why should the thought of losing one's own life cross the suspect's mind? That's something that would likely take place in the suspect's mind before the rampage, not during, if at all. If the suspect is truly insane, then people carrying firearms may act as more of an incentive than a deterrent. A psychopath would not have a care in the world, regardless of stability of mind. Period. When psychopaths set out to kill, they kill, and if they are caught or sent to jail, they never show any remorse for their actions, simply because they are incapable of having the emotion. Then there is the scorned employee or former employee scenario, where the suspect is temporarily insane and just as determined as the psychopath to get those who the suspect believes are responsible for his or her condition. This type of suspect in the heat of the moment wouldn't care who was armed either.

With the possible exception of the sniper, I do agree that these types of persons would be at increased chance to be lethally subdued. Albeit at different degrees of probability. What I don't understand is how the conclusion can be made that these types of situations would somehow be perceived as being better. Regardless of whether the suspect is killed, wounded, escapes or is jailed, the tragedy of innocent lives having been lost would live on. Whether the victims were strangers or loved ones, a tragedy is a tragedy. To me, it seems that the only people who would be deterred from committing these types of crimes would be rational and mentally stable people. With the possible exception of some gangsters, those types of persons are not generally held responsible for these types of crimes.

Seriously, how would an armed citizenry necessarily also be a deterrent to these types of crimes?





[edit on 3-2-2008 by Areal51]



reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 11:53 AM by C0le
reply to post by Areal51



Life is a risk. and the odds of not getting shot by a lunatic are in our favor...

Chances are it won't happen, and chances are should it happen the odds are still in our favor that we won't get shot, And we have an option most people don't, we are either going to die and theirs no more control over that then dying in a car accident but if we do not get shot, we can shoot back, while other people like yourself who aren't armed will get shot in the back running away... I prefer my option over your no option.


Freedom is risky and its a risk I'm willing to take.



[edit on 3-2-2008 by C0le]


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 11:57 AM by Areal51
reply to post by Golack



That's what I don't agree with. I don't agree with the assumption that a suspect, of the types of crimes that this thread covers and that I've mentioned, "would have to think twice", as you have said. And even if the suspect did, why should that be perceived as a deterrent. Perhaps many suspects think twice, or maybe even more times than that, especially in the case of snipers, but the fact or possibility of suspect considering the actions about to be taken should not be seen as a deterrent. I say this because the crimes that were deterred by a person "thinking twice" are crimes which have never happened. We don't know anything about why those persons "thought better of it". If the suspect goes ahead and commits one of these types of crimes anyway, then the presence of armed citizens did not behave as a deterrent.


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 12:10 PM by Areal51
reply to post by C0le



Why would my chances of getting shot increase because I, A) wasn't carrying a firearm and B) was running away? Also answer, what if I were carrying a firearm and still chose to run away, how does that increase or decrease my chances of getting shot? Your argument seems to say that if you were carrying a firearm then your chances of getting shot would be lower than mine because I wasn't carrying a firearm. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me.

[Edit: I changed terminology -- "weapon" to "firearm". Got rid of impolite laughter.]



[edit on 3-2-2008 by Areal51]


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 12:41 PM by C0le
reply to post by Areal51




Yeah your chances of survival would be lower, though initially the odds are in anyones favor those odd run out over time, the longer that person is alive and shooting the chances of you getting shot increases, those of us with a firearm could take him out within seconds, and the chances of further victims goes to 0, whereas if he survives those chances increase, as does your chance of being one of those victims...

unlike you who I would presume don't prepare and train for the event of running away from lunatics and dodging their bullets, people like myself who carry and are armed have thousands upon thousands of rounds worth of experience dealing with reactionary targets and training to react to these situations should they happen.

As I have said, I like my chances better then yours.
Your chances depend on luck alone, ours depend partially on luck, and primarily on training.


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 12:42 PM by LooseLipsSinkShips
Originally posted by Areal51
reply to
post by LooseLipsSinkShips



Your comments represent one of the most ignorant attempts at deductive logic that I have ever seen. I suppose if the authorities were allegedly looking for an overweight White man then you would have remembered the overweight White women that you've seen in and around Lane Bryant? You would then have had the hunch to infer, based on that flawed logic, that the shootings were just a scene in a passion play?

A loose grasp of logic is no better than loose lips.


What are you even talking about? they were looking for an overweight black man from second 1. i don't see you doing anything but attacking other posters and criticizing what they have said. Instead of attempting to be the most difficult poster on ATS, why don't you actually add to the thread instead of trying to hog the thread all to yourself? this isn't about you moon man. it's about these innocent victims and the gunman on the loose. get over yourself. quit deflecting your miserable life into each and every one of the posts you make. you are doing this board, and this thread, an injustice.


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 12:55 PM by Areal51
reply to post by LooseLipsSinkShips



Tell me, what does "big black women working there or walking in with name tags" have to do with the suspect that the police are after? How does your observation of those women lead you to speculate that the crime committed was a crime of passion?

FYI, I am adding to the discussion by pointing out and trying to determine what is factual and what is not. What is opinion and what is fact. And by asking folks to explain their viewpoint to me, so that I might understand the arguments that they make. I'm not simply assuming that they are right or wrong about any of it. Nor have I made any indication of what I think is better. What I would like to see, though, are better explanations. Better explanations rather than the usual emotional invective that passes for a good argument around here. This thread alone, on the first page alone, there are posts from members who automatically refer to those who are proponents of gun control as "slaves" and as "fish in a barrel". Cliches? Sure, but used to humiliate and boost an argument that is not well presented to begin with. And so rather than do the same, I ASK for clarification.



[edit on 3-2-2008 by Areal51]


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 01:09 PM by Areal51
reply to post by LooseLipsSinkShips



Well, I didn't question the deductive reasoning of authorities dealing with the case. I questioned your reasoning, which clearly as you have just implied, was at best erroneous. And contrary to your viewpoint, it's not an attack on you, it was a response to the reasoning that you offered.


reply posted on 3-2-2008 @ 01:58 PM by Areal51
reply to post by C0le



Well, that's a good explanation. But it's only good if you have the chance to respond. And depending on the situation, someone running may have a better chance of survival than one who is armed who also chooses to shoot it out with the suspect. I understand that you feel more secure because you carry a weapon, and I also understand that the feeling is also due to your faith in your training and your abilities. It's just when I think about a scenario that involves a crowded place, a crazed mass murderer or a sane mass murderer who faces both armed and unarmed individuals, it seems the chances of survival for any person belonging to any group of individuals are unknown. There's also the possibility that the individuals who are obviously armed would be the first persons that a suspect would choose to target.

Anyway, I see your point, but I think being armed and trained for self defense is more effective in burglaries, robberies, and one to one attempted assault or murder situations than for the types of scenarios we've discussed in this thread. For example, when I think about the Virginia Tech case, it's difficult for me to come to the conclusion that an armed faculty, staff, and student body would have necessarily made the campus safer. I say this because it generally seems to me that killers make great use of known variables, whereas the victims are always facing unknown variables.



[edit on 3-2-2008 by Areal51]
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