Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 12:45 pm**

University of Texas Tower. Bloody Red
http://content.answers.com/main/content ... Orange.jpg

Happiness is a Warm Gun
for release 04-17-07
Washington DC
by Lightning Rod

The Virginia Tech tragedy has special resonance for me. I thought I was having a flashback. I'm sure many people are having flashbacks. Some are remembering the Amish students who were recently slain. Some are remembering Columbine. Some are remembering Kent State or the myriad other school shootings of recent years.

But my flashback was to 1966 in Austin, Texas. It was August 1. I was seventeen years old and about to enter my senior year of high school. Two of my school buddies and I had taken a road trip in Charlie's new GTO with the Tiger Paws. We had been to San Antonio and around noon that day we rolled into Austin. It was the first time I had ever been to Austin. We naturally were drawn to the campus of the University of Texas. That's where we figured that all the girls would be.

It had already started when we parked the GTO at the end of 'The Drag.' Guadalupe St runs alongside the campus. The first thing I noticed was that people were running. It looked exciting, so, like the stupid kids that we were, we ran toward the action. My first inkling of danger was when I saw the windshield of a parked car explode. Then I began to hear the shots. There were people diving behind cars. I was one of them.

We were running then and I came upon a fallen girl. She had been shot. I held her hand until help came to move her to safety. She lived, but the baby she was carrying did not. I've often wondered if they included the baby in the body count of 14. More of that story here.

Until the massacre at Virginia Tech, the Austin incident was the worst carnage on a US campus in terms of people killed. Newscasters keep reminding us that this gruesome record has now been shattered. It almost sounds like they want to give the guy a posthumous medal or something?

My friends and I got the hell out of Dodge. We didn't stay around to be interviewed by the cops etc. We went to Lampassas which is just a few miles from Austin. I had family there and we watched the aftermath on TV. We considered ourselves lucky. It was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn't even a student there. I was just passing through on a sunny afternoon. My point here is that there is no viable method of protecting yourself from from this type of incident. Oh sure, we could create a world where nobody is frustrated and bitter and desperate and where nobody's classmates bully them or nobody's girlfriend gives them the gas. But no amount of gun control or metal detectors or security cops is going to make us safe when somebody cracks and goes berserk. We've had to invent a new idiom for this called 'going postal.'

A friend called me on the phone when the news broke about the VT shootings. Facts were sketchy at the time. Knowing that my friend was a gun expert, I asked him if he thought that one shooter could have made that many kills. He said 'sure, two pistols and a jacket full of clips and I could get a hundred.'

He went further to assert, "If even one of those students or faculty members had been packing, then there would likely not have been so many killed."

I'm no gun fan, but I think he is right. At some point, especially in close quarters and short time, we have to take responsibility for protecting ourselves. The robber or the madman is not going to take a coffee break while you call the cops.

I have to come down on the same side of this as GW. We have the right to bear arms. It is slightly amusing that Bush feels impelled to uphold the second amendment when he pretty well ignores much of the rest of the Constitution. But if more people exercised this right and carried guns, then even a nut with buck-fever like the guy at Va Tech would consider twice before assaulting a group of people when he knows that there is a reasonable expectation of return fire. Manners would also improve.

The Poet's Eye doesn't want to see this tragedy become a gun control issue when it is just a crazy man issue. The Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, not to behave like a ballistic madman and murder people. But things happen. When animals or humans go into rut, or feel the onerous dehumanization of society in some way or become indoctrinated with some brand of religious fanaticism, they take leave of their senses. They do crazy things. My advice is that if you can't make everybody in the world feel good about themselves and life, then you had better keep your gun handy.

Happiness is a warm gun
Happiness is a warm gun, momma
When I hold you in my arms
And I feel my finger on your trigger
I know nobody can do me no harm
---Beatles

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 1:04 pm**

What makes you think GW is on your side in this?

Just curious.

Yes I agree
If someone was there with a gun there may not have been a second victim.

You got more faith in Bush then I do Clay.

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 1:31 pm**

I agree, we all should carry guns, and shoot at will, there are too amny people now so what is needed is a thinning out.. Just kidding, I am in a morbid mood. below is what I posted at our site about all of this.

I am so disgusted with the people in this country. The same mother fuckers sitting around dissecting and mourning the shooting and the people killed will be on the news tomorrow telling us how it is our duty to keep the war in Iraq going, wake up mother fuckers there are over 100 Iraqi’s killed there everyday and at least 5 of our soldiers, why is an American life more important than an Iraqis, me I see no fucking difference.
I see this fact, however, as humanity grows and expands so does our inhumanity, when we can say one group of people are more important than another. Do not get me wrong I am deeply saddened by the deaths in Virginia and I mourn for their useless deaths, but for me I mourn every fucking goddamn day at the inhumanity as people die in Iraq and elsewhere in this world. Children are dying in Africa of AIDS, or starving, there is genocide in Sudan and other places, why aren't we mourning this. Fuck I am disgusted with the whole fucking human race so why do I mourn so much. Another thing, those same mother fuckers that are crying on the news about the killings in Virginia and will be upholding the war tomorrow are the same ones that want to stop abortions and will kill anyone that disagrees with them because they say it is a sin to take a life but those same hypocritical mother fuckers support the war in Iraq. I am confused by the hypocrisy, stop it, stop the killing or kill them all, I am not sure what I want anymore. It makes no fucking sense to me and now I hear the man that killed those people in Virginia did it because he thought they were immoral, probably something some goddamn bible toting preacher taught him. Sorry it all is so confusing, thank god I don’t own a gun. "C"

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 1:39 pm**

LRod, do you not think that the ease and availability of guns played a huge roll in this? you are saying we need more guns when there's already a plethera of them out there. my friend's father purchased an $1500 camera that came with 4 weeks of classes teaching him how to use it. when you buy a gun does it come with educational classes that includes safety training? no. i mean you can buy ammo at wal mart for christ's sake. 50 feet from the fabric department. overkill? i'd say so.

after having said that, let me also say that my father protected my mother, me and my brother with a gun from someone trying to break into our house when i was younger. i know and have experienced the value of self defense with a gun. my father was an ex-cop and it was his piece from when he was on the force. however, after the incident when my brother and i started asking questions about the gun. my mom made my dad get rid of it.

i don't want to erase the second ammendment. but i certainly don't think that teachers should be given weapons to have in their classrooms. to me, that's just begging for trouble.

american children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any other industrialized nation. in one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States. Clearly there's a problem somewhere.

http://neahin.org/programs/schoolsafety ... istics.htm

i don't know what the answer is. and i'm not pretending to know. i just don't know if more guns is that answer everyone is looking for.

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 1:42 pm**

you make A LOT of good points.

iblieve wrote:I agree, we all should carry guns, and shoot at will, there are too amny people now so what is needed is a thinning out.. Just kidding, I am in a morbid mood. below is what I posted at our site about all of this.

I am so disgusted with the people in this country. The same mother fuckers sitting around dissecting and mourning the shooting and the people killed will be on the news tomorrow telling us how it is our duty to keep the war in Iraq going, wake up mother fuckers there are over 100 Iraqi’s killed there everyday and at least 5 of our soldiers, why is an American life more important than an Iraqis, me I see no fucking difference.
I see this fact, however, as humanity grows and expands so does our inhumanity, when we can say one group of people are more important than another. Do not get me wrong I am deeply saddened by the deaths in Virginia and I mourn for their useless deaths, but for me I mourn every fucking goddamn day at the inhumanity as people die in Iraq and elsewhere in this world. Children are dying in Africa of AIDS, or starving, there is genocide in Sudan and other places, why aren't we mourning this. Fuck I am disgusted with the whole fucking human race so why do I mourn so much. Another thing, those same mother fuckers that are crying on the news about the killings in Virginia and will be upholding the war tomorrow are the same ones that want to stop abortions and will kill anyone that disagrees with them because they say it is a sin to take a life but those same hypocritical mother fuckers support the war in Iraq. I am confused by the hypocrisy, stop it, stop the killing or kill them all, I am not sure what I want anymore. It makes no fucking sense to me and now I hear the man that killed those people in Virginia did it because he thought they were immoral, probably something some goddamn bible toting preacher taught him. Sorry it all is so confusing, thank god I don’t own a gun. "C"

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 1:44 pm**

The Times of London -

“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.

...and that is just one comment out of many countries throughout the world that question our right to shoot.

As the most armed nation on earth, we have the most people in prison, the most homocides among other nations... and the most fear than any other country. Yes, our right to bear arms is in our constitution and we treasure our guns... so much so that it would seem impossible to have any control over the situation at this point. But why do we cry and moan, weep and cry and hear how horrible it is to hear of our own citizens dying innocently while at the same time stand up in our defense to bear the same arms that have killed so many? Back to fear. Our "home of the brave" is in actuality the "home of the scared." Why else do we want to arm ourselves? We want to protect ourselves from our freedom to defend ourselves from ourselves.

If the only way left for Americans to stave off fear is to arm themselves openly - carry guns daily to work, to school, to church and the post office, to carry guns to the movies and the grocery store, what does that say for our country to every other nation on earth? Are we brave or are we terrified?

We are destroying Iraq due to our fear. We have more nuclear armament than any other country on earth due to our fear. We overthrow governments due to our fear (economic security)... the list is long and our fears continue to increase in proportion. But we must defend our Constitutional right to bear ams at any cost... even at the cost of our youth. We are sick and we know it. We take more drugs than any other country on earth, too. When will it end...

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 2:05 pm**

mtmynd wrote:The Times of London -
“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.
...and that is just one comment out of many countries throughout the world that question our right to shoot.

As the most armed nation on earth, we have the most people in prison, the most homocides among other nations... and the most fear than any other country. Yes, our right to bear arms is in our constitution and we treasure our guns... so much so that it would seem impossible to have any control over the situation at this point. But why do we cry and moan, weep and cry and hear how horrible it is to hear of our own citizens dying innocently while at the same time stand up in our defense to bear the same arms that have killed so many? Back to fear. Our "home of the brave" is in actuality the "home of the scared." Why else do we want to arm ourselves? We want to protect ourselves from our freedom to defend ourselves from ourselves.

If the only way left for Americans to stave off fear is to arm themselves openly - carry guns daily to work, to school, to church and the post office, to carry guns to the movies and the grocery store, what does that say for our country to every other nation on earth? Are we brave or are we terrified?

We are destroying Iraq due to our fear. We have more nuclear armament than any other country on earth due to our fear. We overthrow governments due to our fear (economic security)... the list is long and our fears continue to increase in proportion. But we must defend our Constitutional right to bear ams at any cost... even at the cost of our youth. We are sick and we know it. We take more drugs than any other country on earth, too. When will it end...

Amen--fear is the soul killer, and maybe I was right the first time, let us all buy a gun and shoot at will, thin out the disease so it will not spread. Loved your reply to LR's brilliant piece of writing.

As an after thought, I don't own a gun and at my age I feel happy to still be able to shoot a wad from time to time, lmao. Now there's a thought if we all were playing with our guns betwen our legs and shooting our harmless sperm at each other no one would die-------- shit I forgot about aids etc, fuck back to guns and bullets I guess. "C"

"C"

Posted: **April 17th, 2007, 2:16 pm**

Arming ourselves to the teeth will not make use safer only more insecure!!!! One person's homicidal rage shouldn't make us right at finding a solution that will makes it so we stoop to that level!!!! True we can bear arms but we should have responsibilities with those arms at all times!!!! If we don't then we are as guilty as those who commit to those shooting rampages!!!!
_________________
Foot Problems Forum

Posted: **April 18th, 2007, 7:24 am**

I was seventeen in '66 too and I remember it well, even though I was in Phar Lepht...just barely in Texas. The horror of 'Nam was a greater horror to me at the time...but I remember the randomness and the fact that those kids were, many of them, in college so they wouldn't have to participate in a war they didn't want...we had the draft. They died anyway.

Grew up in a family of hunters too, so guns were around but no one was allowed to touch one without some knowledge or instruction on how to use one and it was always, ALWAYS emphasized how dangerous and deadly they could be. We allow any Joe Blow off the street to arm himself to the teeth without any restrictions or little if any especially in some of our southern neighbor states.

There should be gun restrictions just like there are restrictions on who can drive a car. And should we let automatic weapons, armor piercing bullets and other gee-gaws of human destruction be available to whomever wants them? Why don't we just give everyone a bomb? Or how about a missile? That way if the guy tries to get away that has offended us...we can just blast him to smithereens. Somebody might get us...somebody might take our stuff...somebody might want my gun...

Rod...you are on the wrong side of this issue in MHO and look who's side you claim to agree with...'nuff said.

Posted: **April 20th, 2007, 12:25 pm**

cant stop crazy.

restrictions eg car licenses, i think, are fine. thats about it.

this event had nothing to do with guns, any more than 9/11 was about airplanes.

increased security at airports won't stop hijackings, and different gun laws won't stop mass murders.

drug laws dont prevent drug use.

underage drinking laws dont prevent underage drinking.

speed limits dont prevent speeding.

it's nice to think otherwise, but it's simply not realistic.

prevention is something we seem to have grabbed onto as if it were something realistic, something we could aim for. maybe it's all salk's fault. vaccinations can prevent medical problems, but social events are not medical problems. you cant prevent or even predict with any certainty the words someone will use in response to any given question in any given situation. how in the fuck do we expect to be able to prevent crazy?

Posted: **April 20th, 2007, 1:08 pm**

firsty: "how in the fuck do we expect to be able to prevent crazy?"

agreed. but one big sign is blame... crazies blame everyone and take no responsibility for their own actions.

Cho: "It was your fault that this happened!"

there are warning signs if only people would listen... and react.

Posted: **April 21st, 2007, 11:39 am**

to the teeth ~ani difranco

the sun is setting on the century
and we are armed to the teeth
we're all working together now
to make our lives mercifully brief
and school kids keep trying to teach us
what guns are all about
confused liberty with weaponry
and watch your kids act it out
and every year now like christmas
some boy gets the milk fed suburban blues
reaches for the available arsenal
and saunters off to make the news
and the women in the middle
are learning what poor women have always known
that the edge is closer than you think
when the men bring the guns home
look at where the profits are
that's how you'll find the source
of the big lie that you and i both know so well
by the time it takes this cultural
death wish to run it's course
they're gonna to make a pretty penny
and then they're going to hell
he said the chickens all come home to roost
malcolm forecast the flood
are we really going to sleep through another century
while the rich profit off our blood
yeah it may take some doing
to see this undoing through
but in my humble opinion
here's what i suggest we do
open fire on hollywood
open fire on mtv
open fire on nbc and cbs and abc
open fire on the nra
and all the lies they told us along the way
open fire on each weapons manufacturer
while he's giving head to some republican senator
and if i hear one more time
about a fools right to his tools of rage
i'm gonna take all my friends
and i'm going to move to canada
and we're going to die of old age

Posted: **April 24th, 2007, 9:20 am**

i fecking love ani, and it's always good to get her thoughts, even tho they are often predictable (her feminist tendencies create victims of everyone except adult males, but i can live with that because her music is so damn cool). it's nice to know her opinion, but i still disagree with her.

mtmynd, there are warning signs all over the place. listening to cho's words as something like a valid forewarning is impossible. crazy people are crazy, see? can you imagine what would happen if we put the writings of every literate crazy person on the interwebs and or delivered them to politicians and law enforcement? seeing the world thru the eyes of crazy people isnt going to do a goddammed thing to help us understand the world. we cant go around reacting to every insane person.

in this case, the reason the school kept this moron enrolled is beyond me, but what that has to do with guns, i dont know. virginia gun laws are obviously bad, but i'd feel pretty safe walking thru most of virginia right now, with or without a gun.

Posted: **May 5th, 2007, 1:55 am**

How come the USA believes in gun control for Iraq? Is it a question of scale?

Remember - Nuclear weapons don't kill people - people using them kill people. So leave Iran alone to develop its nuclear weapons - it will make for a more polite world.

Posted: **May 5th, 2007, 12:28 pm**

How come the USA believes in gun control for Iraq?

That is an odd remark.
Since the USA only believes in gun control for its own citizens.
We have armed the world. Weapons R Us.

Kruschev "The West will sell us the rope we will use to hang them."

So leave Iran alone to develop its nuclear weapons - it will make for a more polite world.

Yes indeed.
In one way or another.

Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Happiness is a Warm Gun--Reflection on Virginia Tech

Happiness is a Warm Gun--Reflection on Virginia Tech