[Opinions][Colorado tragedy] Forget about gun laws and think about mental stability.

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
Yes he used guns which he obtained legally and ammo which was obtained legally. I haven't read if he obtained the body armor or the gas legally. But in light of all this shouldn't we worry about the mental stability of the killer. We know he was getting his doctoral for neuroscience but was in the process of pulling out. He was described as a loner by one neighbor. People are too busy thinking about gun regulations instead of what make him tick. He's been obviously planning this for months since he bobby trapped his apartment.

What are your opinions on all of this? Focus on gun regulations and laws. what makes a killer. Etc.

I think this couldn't have been predicted. This may change when we know how he obtained explosives and body armor
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
Obtaining a drivers license requires a written and driving test. Why not the same for guns including a psycological screening?
 

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
Obtaining a drivers license requires a written and driving test. Why not the same for guns including a psycological screening?

I don't know much about guns but don't they have a gun licence or something? I feel they should stop selling guns online and such. But much rather have a controlled area.

I agree. Maybe like getting a drivers license.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
I have noticed Republicans are more then willing to pass more restrictions on voting to "fix" a problem that doesn't exist but are against any kind of common sense gun control that may help with an actual problem.

Voting, while not strictly a constitutional right is just as precious as the right to bear arms so why the disperate treatment?
 
Last edited:

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
Obtaining a drivers license requires a written and driving test. Why not the same for guns including a psycological screening?

Driving is NOT a right.

Why not do that reading, writting, testing and psycological crap to vote?

Get a clue.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
Driving is NOT a right.

Why not do that reading, writting, testing and psycological crap to vote?

Get a clue.

The fact that guns if operated as intented kill people may give you a clue.

So its ok to allow crazy people to buy guns?
 

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
I have noticed Republicans are more then willing to pass more restrictions on voting to "fix" a problem that doesn't exist but are against any kind of common sense gun control that may help with an actual problem.

Voting, while not strictly a constitutional right is just as precious as the right to bear arms so why the disperate treatment?

NO, those of us that what reform in the voting process is mostly to stop the dead, the made up, the multiples and the non-citizens from voting. We want ALL US citizens that want to vote, TO VOTE!

Yes, I understand that Democrats feel that will restrict their cheating but I don't care.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
NO, those of us that what reform in the voting process is mostly to stop the dead, the made up, the multiples and the non-citizens from voting. We want ALL US citizens that want to vote, TO VOTE!

Yes, I understand that Democrats feel that will restrict their cheating but I don't care.

I know, 86 out of over 300 million sure is widespread voter fraud. If that's your concern I would be more worried about the handling of ballots by municipalities and absentee ballots.
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
Listen guys, if he took enough time to plan and build a network of tripwire activated bombs capable of flattening his apartment building, and possibly up to several of the surrounding buildings, he could have prepared enough to pass a psych eval. This guy was highly motivated, extremely highly organized, and massively efficient. Considering he has graduated with highest honors in neuroscience from Cal-Riverside I highly doubt he was going to be less intelligent than some state sponsored psychologist.

He did obtain the armor legally from a retailer online that specializes in arming our police and military, and the armor is something anyone can buy. The tear gas, or whatever it was, we reported to be a homemade mixture iirc; as were the bombs in his house.
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
NO, those of us that what reform in the voting process is mostly to stop the dead, the made up, the multiples and the non-citizens from voting. We want ALL US citizens that want to vote, TO VOTE!

Yes, I understand that Democrats feel that will restrict their cheating but I don't care.

In regard to the recent voting reform, it is absolutely disgusting. Fixing a non-issue in a way that could prevent hundreds of thousands of Americans from voting is silly.
 

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
The fact that guns if operated as intented kill people may give you a clue.

So its ok to allow crazy people to buy guns?


Two of the greatest mass killings of our citizens did not use guns.

There are tens of millions of legal gun owners and guess what? They didn't kill anyone illegally today.

Do you know about the shooting in the spring in Aurora, CO that ended with just two dead? That would be the one victim and then the criminal that was killed by a person that was armed?
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
0
0
Like I said in the other thread about the Colorado shooting, I think trying to identify people with mental issues like this is a good idea, but I don't see why doing so means that's the ONLY thing we can do. In other words, I disagree that seeing what makes crazy people tick necessarily requires us to forget about gun laws.
 

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
In regard to the recent voting reform, it is absolutely disgusting. Fixing a non-issue in a way that could prevent hundreds of thousands of Americans from voting is silly.


If those hundreds of thousands that are prevented from voting are not eligible to vote, what's the problem?
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
Listen guys, if he took enough time to plan and build a network of tripwire activated bombs capable of flattening his apartment building, and possibly up to several of the surrounding buildings, he could have prepared enough to pass a psych eval. This guy was highly motivated, extremely highly organized, and massively efficient. Considering he has graduated with highest honors in neuroscience from Cal-Riverside I highly doubt he was going to be less intelligent than some state sponsored psychologist.

He did obtain the armor legally from a retailer online that specializes in arming our police and military, and the armor is something anyone can buy. The tear gas, or whatever it was, we reported to be a homemade mixture iirc; as were the bombs in his house.

Intelligence does not always equate with sanity. If it's your contention we don't need to concern ourselves with crazy people buying guns then so be it. If we need to be concerned what do we do about it?
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
If those hundreds of thousands that are prevented from voting are not eligible to vote, what's the problem?

It's not an issues of ineligibility, it's an issue that they are being forced to spend money/additional effort to exercise a right that they had previously exercised without issue. See the PA Voter ID thread in P&N for evidence of what, in PA, has essentially become a Poll Tax for a few hundred thousand Pennsylvanians.
 

TerryMathews

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,464
2
0
Obtaining a drivers license requires a written and driving test. Why not the same for guns including a psycological screening?

Because it's a constitutional right. A driver's license isn't.

Is there anyone who knew this guy was mentally defective before the shooting? There is a process to disqualify someone from gun ownership if the mental defect is known.
 

IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,967
140
106
clearly this guy is a uniBomber type. Highly educated. Apartment strewn with Al Gore books..just like the uniBomber. Probably voted for obama. Frustrated because his obama entitlements failed to materialize. And just like the uniBomber he developed rational to hurt people. I suspect this guy is also on SSRI's or ADD drugs of some sort. Future "discovery" about the shooter should be most interesting.
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
The intention was to figure out what could be done to prevent this from happening again.

I think this is one of the cases where there may be nothing that could have been done. We don't want to give up our freedoms in regard to firearms, and we have a poor stigma in regard to mental health. I don't think this is a "gun-control" problem as much as it is a result of cultural issues.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
38,814
31,861
136
If those hundreds of thousands that are prevented from voting are not eligible to vote, what's the problem?

86 out of 300 million is not hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile fixing a hangnail with a machete disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of eligible voters. That has already been proven.

You do remember Bush won Florida by a little over 500 votes and there were more then that removed from the roles who were elegible.
 

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
Because it's a constitutional right. A driver's license isn't.

Is there anyone who knew this guy was mentally defective before the shooting? There is a process to disqualify someone from gun ownership if the mental defect is known.

From what I've heard. He was very smart. But a loner type
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
0
0
Listen guys, if he took enough time to plan and build a network of tripwire activated bombs capable of flattening his apartment building, and possibly up to several of the surrounding buildings, he could have prepared enough to pass a psych eval. This guy was highly motivated, extremely highly organized, and massively efficient. Considering he has graduated with highest honors in neuroscience from Cal-Riverside I highly doubt he was going to be less intelligent than some state sponsored psychologist.
That's not how (good) psych evaluations work though. Being smart or prepared doesn't really work because a psych eval isn't a cognitive test, it's an evaluation of HOW you think. Being able to pass a psych evaluation would require you to be able to understand how you were supposed to think while actually thinking some other way. But if you really were able to do that, you wouldn't be crazy in the first place.

I'm not saying it's impossible to trick a psychologist or anything, but I think it's a lot harder than you might think. Don't think of it from your perspective, since you would probably not set up a network of tripwire activated bombs or shoot up a theater...it's easy to pass as sane when you are ;)