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Nine killed in shooting at Omaha mall, including gunman

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Mammon

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/05/mall.shooting/index.html

(CNN) -- A 19-year-old gunman who killed eight people and then himself Wednesday at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, left a suicide note, police said.

Five other people were injured, and two of them were in critical condition, hospital officials said.

Chief Thomas Warren of the Omaha Police Department called the shooting "premeditated," but said it "appears to be very random and without provocation."

Why do things like this keep happening? Sign of the times?

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Personally I think it's a backfiring of our culture of narcissism. Myspace, Youtube, LiveJournal, Deviant Art, everyone nowadays has ten billion ways to feed mental constructs of unwarranted self-importance and baseless ego. The desire to be "famous" and "popular" now supersedes redundant high-school situations that kids usually grow out of. That desire now reaches all ages across the globe. Impressionable young men like this guy get constantly reminded of their flaws by displaying thousands upon thousands of normal people just like them who seem more successful, more popular, and more attractive than them, even if they really aren't. The desire to have "what everyone else has" can become so strong when reinforced by countless cases of dumb kids with mass media that young men can really, truly feel like they are the lowest, most inferior being on the planet. Thus, as a twisted form of redemption they seek out "fame" like none of the "superior" people have. A wikipedia article and a youtube clip of a Fox News report with their name blazed across the screen like a heroic banner.

My sentiments to those involved with this mess.

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My roommate used to work at that mall. Kinda weird for her to think about that happening at a place at which she's worked and hung out so many times. I've been there only a couple times myself, but it's still kind of creepy. Thankfully none of us knew anyone who was murdered. I certainly wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now.

It was the largest body count from a single incident in this state since 1958, and the biggest bit of criminal news since a 2002 bank robbery/murders in the small town of Norfolk. It's pretty amazing that this is tied for the top ten in the history of this country in terms of body count from a single incident, because OMG liek I thot that assult weponz killd millunz of ppl!

Seriously, if assault weapons are such a major problem, why are incidents like this so rare and so few people are hurt or killed? Not that a body count is some meaningful measure of loss, but it is a meaningful measure of how many people are actually killed with [assualt weapons].

The sad part is that this all could have been prevented if Nebraska just banned concealed weapons instead of allowing people to carry them. Or at least didn't interfere with property owners who wanted to ban guns on their property. Surely this homicidal maniac with such a respect for life would have observed a pertinent law or mall policy. Oh wait, it's exactly the case here. Nebraska allows concealed carry but the mall prohibits it.

Oh well. Let's not let facts get in the way of a good gun control argument.

[Edit: changed "guns" to "assault weapons."]

Edited by Groovenstein
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The sad part is that this all could have been prevented if Nebraska just banned concealed weapons instead of allowing people to carry them.

If Nebraska did have a law against it, don't you think the guy still could've been able to get the gun into the mall by hiding it(under his jacket or something)?

BTW, what is a concealed weapon? Is it allowing use of weapons for private citizens, or is it weapons that are hidden from plain sight?

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You'd better edit that again: the SKS is NOT an "assault weapon." It is a SEMI-automatic carbine.

Sorry, but in response to the Democrats pushing an agenda of edit conservation, the government has restricted all forum posts to one edit per post. :D

To progressiveman: I think I laid the sarcasm on pretty thick there, but it's not something I consider worth debating, you dig? To quote many a member of the urban culture, "It's all good."

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Ah, then to clarify: Technically speaking, an "Assault Rifle" is a rifle (i.e. fires rifle caliber bullets) that carries a 20+ round magazine and is capable of fully automatic fire. (I.e. hold the trigger down and it fires repeatedly until you let go or it runs out)

The term "Assault Rifle" comes from the first assault rifle, which was the German Sturmgewehr, which translates as "assault rifle," or - more literally - "storm rifle." The term was invented by Hitler after firing one of the rifles and was adopted for propaganda reasons.

In the present day, gun banners have adopted the term "Assault Weapon" in the tradition of new-leftist neologisms to attempt to vilify any weapon. The implication is that the weapon is for "assault" and not self-defense, inferring that the weapon is designed for criminal purposes. What's worse, they use the term to refer to weapons which in no way can be classified as assault rifles - i.e. semi-automatic rifles (i.e. those which fire only one round per squeeze of the trigger and are incapable of fully automatic fire), rifles with magazine capacities of 10 or less rounds, and weapons which fire pistol calibers and not rifle calibers.

That's the sense in which it has become an anti-concept. So now you know.

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'Salright. The whole "assault weapon" thing has become an anti-concept, anyhow.

You know, I wonder if there is such a thing as a "non-assault weapon"? I get the image of someone running around smacking everyone with a dildo. It's an INsult weapon. :nuke:;)

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