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Timeline: US school shootings

Monday 16 April 2007 | general

BBC News has a timeline of US school shootings. Eighteen in less than ten years.

What does that say about us as a nation?

6 Comments

  1. mes

    This event doesn’t speak highly of us as a nation. Its interesting to note that the culprit of this instance – the worst in our nations history – was a Chinese national here as an exchange student. I’m just waiting for some idiot to say we should stop all exchange students.

  2. gls

    I didn’t know anything about the perpetrator had been determined and/or released. If he is a Chinese national, then it adds quite the unexpected twist…

  3. gls

    And so it was a Korean. Where did you hear about it being a Chinese national?

  4. mes

    It was an early report but FOX News did say the information was “not confirmed.” He was not a Chinese national or an exchange student. So the preliminary information was incorrect. Since he’s been here since 1992 – 8 years old? – culture would have an effect but maybe not that much?

  5. gls

    Well, I wasn’t implying that it was culture. Obviously the young man was severely mentally ill. I was referring to the ease with which people can get guns that enable someone to kill 32 people so quickly.

    I asked K and J, knowing the answer, “How many times has something like this happened in Poland?” “Oh, never.”

    There was one instance where a boy killed a teacher with an ax, but that’s about it.

  6. mes

    It seems that when an event happens like this in America the first question that arises from a lot of folks is: shouldn’t we outlaw guns. The logic is simple: if there were no guns there would be no murders. The logic ignores the most basic and fundamental fact: guns don’t kill people – people kill people. If guns killed people then pencils mispell words.

    Didn’t Canada outlaw guns? Is it true that crime increased by 30% since? Not sure of those facts.