Sad day At Virginia Tech
Senior Member
Joined: 08-20-2006
Posts: 21,640
From: Hillsdale, Michigan
Interesting to see how the rest of the world views this!
World Reacts to U.S. Shooting
By PAISLEY DODDS
1 hour ago
LONDON - The deadly university rampage in Virginia that killed 33 people sent shock waves around the world Tuesday with newspapers and talk shows delving into the American psyche and raising questions about lax gun controls in the United States.
The gun control debate echoed across Europe, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the world.
Prime Minister Tony Blair offered his condolences to the victims' families.
"I would like to express on behalf of Britain and the British people our profound sadness at what has happened and to send the American people and most especially, of course, the families of the victims, our sympathy and our prayers," Blair said.
Two professors from India and Israel were among the dead at the Virginia Tech shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history.
Liviu Librescu, 75, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer tried to stop the gunman from entering his classroom by blocking the door before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview of his father, who immigrated to Israel from Romania, and then moved to Virginia for his sabbatical.
A 51-year-old Indian-born lecturer in the engineering department was also among the dead, the man's brother told Indian media.
Most expressed shock at the shooting but few said they were surprised _ criticizing the availability of guns in the U.S., lax gun controls and the number of Americans who cling to the constitutional right that allows them to bear arms.
"The Queen was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the shooting in Virginia," Buckingham Palace said. Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, are scheduled to visit Virginia May 3-4.
British Home Office Minister, Tony McNulty, earned a masters degree in political science at Virginia Tech in 1982.
"I think if this does prompt a serious and reflective debate on gun issues and gun law in the states then some good may come from this woeful tragedy," McNulty said.
Many families expressed relief when they heard their children were safe. Some were still waiting for news.
"He sounded OK. I think they had been very shocked all day _ struggling to get in touch with their friends," Charles Barnwell of Birmingham, England, whose son George, 20, was locked in his dormitory with eight friends during the shooting.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the shooting underscored the problems of a U.S. "gun culture."
Howard staked his political leadership on pushing through tough laws on gun ownership in Australia after a lone gunman went on one of the world's deadliest killing sprees 11 years ago in his country.
"We took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country," he said.
The Times of London ran an editorial delving into the American psyche and the weak gun laws across the country.
"Why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?"
Gun crime is extremely rare in Britain, and handguns are completely illegal. The ban is so strictly enforced that Britain's Olympic pistol shooting team is barred from practicing in its own country.
Britain's 46 homicides involving firearms was the lowest total since the late 1980s. New York City, with 8 million people compared to 53 million in England and Wales, recorded at least 579 homicides last year.
"What exactly triggered the massacre in Virginia is unclear but the fundamental reason is often the perpetrator's psychological problems in combination with access to weapons," Swedish daily Goteborgs-Posten commented.
The shooting drew intense coverage by media in China, in part because the school has a relatively large Chinese student body and because U.S. reports said the gunman may have been Chinese or Asian.
Private citizens are forbidden from owning guns in China.
"Why are there were so many shooting incidents in American schools and universities?" said a comment posted on the popular Internet portal Sohu.com. "People should think why an American-educated student would take revenge against America?"
Yuan Peng, an American studies expert, was quoted by state-run China Daily as saying the shooting illustrated America's problems with gun control and a lack of security at American universities.
"This incident reflects the problem of gun control in America," said Yuan, from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a Beijing-based think tank.
Only 7 percent of the more than 26,000 students at Virginia Tech are foreign, according to the school web site. But Chinese undergraduate and graduate students comprise nearly a third of that. There are about 600 or so students and teachers and their family members from China at the school, said Xue, the Chinese student union president.
In Italy, leading daily Corriere della Sera's ran an opinion piece entitled "Guns at the Supermarket" _ a critical view of the U.S. gun lobby and the ease with which guns can be purchased.
"The latest attack on a U.S. campus will shake up America, maybe it will provoke more vigorous reactions than in the past, but it won't change the culture of a country that has the notion of self-defense imprinted on its DNA and which considers the right of having guns inalienable," Corriere wrote in its front-page story.
In Italy, there are three types of licenses for gun ownership: for personal safety, target practice and skeet shooting, and hunting. Authorization is granted by the police. To obtain a gun for personal safety, the owner must be an adult and have a "valid" reason.
Several Italian graduate students at Virginia Tech recounted how they barricaded themselves inside a geology department building not far from the scene of the shooting.
World Reacts to U.S. Shooting
By PAISLEY DODDS
1 hour ago
LONDON - The deadly university rampage in Virginia that killed 33 people sent shock waves around the world Tuesday with newspapers and talk shows delving into the American psyche and raising questions about lax gun controls in the United States.
The gun control debate echoed across Europe, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the world.
Prime Minister Tony Blair offered his condolences to the victims' families.
"I would like to express on behalf of Britain and the British people our profound sadness at what has happened and to send the American people and most especially, of course, the families of the victims, our sympathy and our prayers," Blair said.
Two professors from India and Israel were among the dead at the Virginia Tech shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history.
Liviu Librescu, 75, an engineering science and mathematics lecturer tried to stop the gunman from entering his classroom by blocking the door before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday from Tel Aviv, Israel.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview of his father, who immigrated to Israel from Romania, and then moved to Virginia for his sabbatical.
A 51-year-old Indian-born lecturer in the engineering department was also among the dead, the man's brother told Indian media.
Most expressed shock at the shooting but few said they were surprised _ criticizing the availability of guns in the U.S., lax gun controls and the number of Americans who cling to the constitutional right that allows them to bear arms.
"The Queen was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the shooting in Virginia," Buckingham Palace said. Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, are scheduled to visit Virginia May 3-4.
British Home Office Minister, Tony McNulty, earned a masters degree in political science at Virginia Tech in 1982.
"I think if this does prompt a serious and reflective debate on gun issues and gun law in the states then some good may come from this woeful tragedy," McNulty said.
Many families expressed relief when they heard their children were safe. Some were still waiting for news.
"He sounded OK. I think they had been very shocked all day _ struggling to get in touch with their friends," Charles Barnwell of Birmingham, England, whose son George, 20, was locked in his dormitory with eight friends during the shooting.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the shooting underscored the problems of a U.S. "gun culture."
Howard staked his political leadership on pushing through tough laws on gun ownership in Australia after a lone gunman went on one of the world's deadliest killing sprees 11 years ago in his country.
"We took action to limit the availability of guns and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country," he said.
The Times of London ran an editorial delving into the American psyche and the weak gun laws across the country.
"Why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?"
Gun crime is extremely rare in Britain, and handguns are completely illegal. The ban is so strictly enforced that Britain's Olympic pistol shooting team is barred from practicing in its own country.
Britain's 46 homicides involving firearms was the lowest total since the late 1980s. New York City, with 8 million people compared to 53 million in England and Wales, recorded at least 579 homicides last year.
"What exactly triggered the massacre in Virginia is unclear but the fundamental reason is often the perpetrator's psychological problems in combination with access to weapons," Swedish daily Goteborgs-Posten commented.
The shooting drew intense coverage by media in China, in part because the school has a relatively large Chinese student body and because U.S. reports said the gunman may have been Chinese or Asian.
Private citizens are forbidden from owning guns in China.
"Why are there were so many shooting incidents in American schools and universities?" said a comment posted on the popular Internet portal Sohu.com. "People should think why an American-educated student would take revenge against America?"
Yuan Peng, an American studies expert, was quoted by state-run China Daily as saying the shooting illustrated America's problems with gun control and a lack of security at American universities.
"This incident reflects the problem of gun control in America," said Yuan, from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a Beijing-based think tank.
Only 7 percent of the more than 26,000 students at Virginia Tech are foreign, according to the school web site. But Chinese undergraduate and graduate students comprise nearly a third of that. There are about 600 or so students and teachers and their family members from China at the school, said Xue, the Chinese student union president.
In Italy, leading daily Corriere della Sera's ran an opinion piece entitled "Guns at the Supermarket" _ a critical view of the U.S. gun lobby and the ease with which guns can be purchased.
"The latest attack on a U.S. campus will shake up America, maybe it will provoke more vigorous reactions than in the past, but it won't change the culture of a country that has the notion of self-defense imprinted on its DNA and which considers the right of having guns inalienable," Corriere wrote in its front-page story.
In Italy, there are three types of licenses for gun ownership: for personal safety, target practice and skeet shooting, and hunting. Authorization is granted by the police. To obtain a gun for personal safety, the owner must be an adult and have a "valid" reason.
Several Italian graduate students at Virginia Tech recounted how they barricaded themselves inside a geology department building not far from the scene of the shooting.
Banned
Joined: 10-14-2005
Posts: 9,121
From: Rochester,N.Y.
We don't need to outlaw guns. We need to outlaw crazy people. 
I doubt the shooter was Asian like part of the article speculated. I'll bet anything he's white because it's always crazy white people that do things like this. 
I doubt the shooter was Asian like part of the article speculated. I'll bet anything he's white because it's always crazy white people that do things like this.
Member
Joined: 04-04-2007
Posts: 55
From: San Antonio
Authorities ID gunman in Va. Tech rampage
College president says gunman was a student; 33 killed, 26 wounded.
The Virginia Tech Police Department identified him as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior in the English department.
College president says gunman was a student; 33 killed, 26 wounded.
The Virginia Tech Police Department identified him as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior in the English department.
Last edited by Fin; Apr 17, 2007 at 08:49 AM. Reason: more info
Senior Member
Joined: 07-17-2006
Posts: 6,053
From: Dallas, GA
9mm, 18 round mags, 22 cal, unknown mags capacity
min of three shots per person that was hit (how many may have missed?)
60+ hit
Think it was planned?
You do the math.
OH, guns don't kill people, it's the idiots holding them.
min of three shots per person that was hit (how many may have missed?)
60+ hit
Think it was planned?
You do the math.
OH, guns don't kill people, it's the idiots holding them.
Last edited by solman98; Apr 17, 2007 at 02:29 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: 08-20-2006
Posts: 21,640
From: Hillsdale, Michigan
A little insight:
Gunman's Writings Were Disturbing
By ADAM GELLER, AP National Writer
36 minutes ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was identified Tuesday as a English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.
Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior, arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began.
Police and university officials offered no clues to his motive in the massacre, the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as "troubled."
"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."
She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.
Gunman's Writings Were Disturbing
By ADAM GELLER, AP National Writer
36 minutes ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was identified Tuesday as a English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.
Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior, arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began.
Police and university officials offered no clues to his motive in the massacre, the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.
Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as "troubled."
"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."
She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.
Senior Member
Joined: 03-10-2007
Posts: 211
From: Ottawa, Ontario
It’s so sad that this happened, and by the sounds of it, was committed by someone who had problems. People recognized that he was having difficulties and tried to help him, but he still lashed out.
I know that it has been pointed out that guns don’t kill people, that it takes a person to do so. The problem with this argument is that the common denominator is guns. If guns were more strictly controlled, shooting deaths could be reduced. Just look at the statistics listed in a previous post to see what the situation is in the UK.
How was this troubled young man able to get his hands on a handgun? Perhaps because they are so easily accessible? It is a question that America is once again forced to answer. Does “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” give people the right to own guns that are only designed to hurt people.
Ban handguns and assault rifles.
This is coming from someone who has served in the Canadian Forces and knows full well how much fun it is to use assault rifles, machine guns, handguns, etc. I also know well enough to respect these weapons, recognize that they aren’t useful hunting firearms, and believe that they should not be available to the public.
Just my
I know that it has been pointed out that guns don’t kill people, that it takes a person to do so. The problem with this argument is that the common denominator is guns. If guns were more strictly controlled, shooting deaths could be reduced. Just look at the statistics listed in a previous post to see what the situation is in the UK.
How was this troubled young man able to get his hands on a handgun? Perhaps because they are so easily accessible? It is a question that America is once again forced to answer. Does “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” give people the right to own guns that are only designed to hurt people.
Ban handguns and assault rifles.
This is coming from someone who has served in the Canadian Forces and knows full well how much fun it is to use assault rifles, machine guns, handguns, etc. I also know well enough to respect these weapons, recognize that they aren’t useful hunting firearms, and believe that they should not be available to the public.
Just my