Man stabbed and beheaded on Greyhound bus

[Peikko 1,575]

Erm, ok, but let's put it this way if you like, guns have killed far more than they have saved (at the hands of their handlers of course in case we get into one of these ridiculous guns don't do anything arguments) however, the ratio in the case of seat belts is entirely favourable to the seat belts.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... guns have killed far more than they have saved ...

Please post a link to a study quantifying that with verifiable data.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Fear is killing the American Spirit and turning us all into paranoid pansies.

Not in my case. While I was in Barranquilla a few weeks ago, I helped corner a thief in the restaurant I was eating at. If I was paranoid, I wouldn't have even gone to Colombia in the first place. I'd be too afraid to leave the USA. Too afraid to leave my house! I'd be hunkered down, watching Fox News or something...

As for public transportation, ONLY WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

People react to fear in different ways. We'd do ourselves a tremendous favor if we'd recognize that fear for what it is instead of giving it rationale and reason. Fear is probably one of the worst social diseases there is.

Dare I mentioned the big furore over child s*x offenders at this point. Listening to people talk about this - you would be forgiven for imagining that there are stunty little Nosferatu men lying in wait to snatch children as soon as they step off the garden path.

Same principle more or less. All rooted in a deep-seated fear of becoming a victim of violent crime when the statistical likelihood is generally pretty low.

Hmmm...guess we shouldn't bother with seatbelts, for the same reason.

Not really the same - but ok... Though if the implication here is to compare carrying knives and guns to wearing seatbelts that seems pretty wonky to me.

The likelihood of being in an accident is generally pretty low also, yet we have measures to protect ourselves in that situation.

Oh come on - that's just relativistic garbage and you know it.

You can't seriously equate the wearing of a seatbelt for the purposes of avoiding injury in a car crash to the example of someone who reads a news story and decides they need to carry a knife.

But by all means lets get down to the semantic level of defining the meaning of individual words and relativising terminology until we've totally lost the plot and can't see the forest for the trees.

Edited July 31, 2008 by Number 6

[DARUMA07 25]

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

[Peikko 1,575]

Oh good grief, are we going to get any more oesoteric?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

Yeap.

You should kill yourself now, deny your neighbor the pleasure.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I'd be all for allowing someone with a CWP to carry a gun while riding a bus, but in this case, if it were the sleeping man, not likely that he'd be able to get to his gun after being attacked (element of surprise). If it were another passenger, they might have been able to stop the guy from cutting the head off, but again it was a surprise attack and happened in the blink of an eye.

I do think though, that allowing CWP to carry a gun on a bus would deter some people from acting out criminally on a bus.

[DARUMA07 25]

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

Yeap.

You should kill yourself now, deny your neighbor the pleasure.

GFYS...........

[Peikko 1,575]

I'm gonna move West to a town where only the Sherif has a gun, and all the citizens have to leave their weapons at the town's permimeter.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

Yeap.

You should kill yourself now, deny your neighbor the pleasure.

GFYS...........

Ok, I will.

And you will go kill yourself.

Deal?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'd be all for allowing someone with a CWP to carry a gun while riding a bus, but in this case, if it were the sleeping man, not likely that he'd be able to get to his gun after being attacked (element of surprise). If it were another passenger, they might have been able to stop the guy from cutting the head off, but again it was a surprise attack and happened in the blink of an eye.

I do think though, that allowing CWP to carry a gun on a bus would deter some people from acting out criminally on a bus.

I'll agree with that - but it probably isn't going to do much to prevent an irrational psychopath. The sort of behaviour described in the OP article is so far outside the norm that I can't see how someone could have predicted it.

Though I'd be surprised if the guy wasn't acting oddly beforehand... Clearly very abnormal psychology at work.

[DARUMA07 25]

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

Yeap.

You should kill yourself now, deny your neighbor the pleasure.

GFYS...........

Ok, I will.

And you will go kill yourself.

Deal?

Hiding behind that computer again, Tough Guy??

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I'd be all for allowing someone with a CWP to carry a gun while riding a bus, but in this case, if it were the sleeping man, not likely that he'd be able to get to his gun after being attacked (element of surprise). If it were another passenger, they might have been able to stop the guy from cutting the head off, but again it was a surprise attack and happened in the blink of an eye.

I do think though, that allowing CWP to carry a gun on a bus would deter some people from acting out criminally on a bus.

I'll agree with that - but it probably isn't going to do much to prevent an irrational psychopath. The sort of behaviour described in the OP article is so far outside the norm that I can't see how someone could have predicted it.

Though I'd be surprised if the guy wasn't acting oddly beforehand... Clearly very abnormal psychology at work.

We need advanced surveillance technology that can monitor people in public spaces, their body temperature, heartrate and physical movements, and be able to alert authorities when someones vitals and/or behavior deviates from acceptable norms.

#######! The scary part about this is we all could have a neighbor just like this crazy man... You never know?

Yeap.

You should kill yourself now, deny your neighbor the pleasure.

GFYS...........

Ok, I will.

And you will go kill yourself.

Deal?

Hiding behind that computer again, Tough Guy??

Where else would I hide?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'd be all for allowing someone with a CWP to carry a gun while riding a bus, but in this case, if it were the sleeping man, not likely that he'd be able to get to his gun after being attacked (element of surprise). If it were another passenger, they might have been able to stop the guy from cutting the head off, but again it was a surprise attack and happened in the blink of an eye.

I do think though, that allowing CWP to carry a gun on a bus would deter some people from acting out criminally on a bus.

I'll agree with that - but it probably isn't going to do much to prevent an irrational psychopath. The sort of behaviour described in the OP article is so far outside the norm that I can't see how someone could have predicted it.

Though I'd be surprised if the guy wasn't acting oddly beforehand... Clearly very abnormal psychology at work.

We need advanced surveillance technology that can monitor people in public spaces, their body temperature, heartrate and physical movements, and be able to alert authorities when someones vitals and/or behavior deviates from acceptable norms.

Two words:

Minority Report

[Peikko 1,575]

Wouldn't have deterred an insane guy - probably and this guy had to be insane. Poor sod that got stabbed though, really, it's just terrible.