No-Gun School Zones!

[Ultrachimp]

Yay for mine!

INCIDENT: Robbery

LOCATION: [near my friend's dorm]

WHEN: Friday, January 18, 2008 at approximately 7:40pm

SPECIFICS: On Friday evening at about 7:40pm a student was walking in the
area north of [my friend's dorm in the heart of the residence halls]. The victim was approached by the suspect
who displayed a handgun and demanded her purse. The suspect then fled the
area towards [streets]. The victim was not physically injured.
The victim is missing a large dark brown "Coach" brand purse.

Suspect Description: Black Male; 6'0-6'1; early 20's; thin build; wearing
blue jeans, red sweatshirt with a hood (hood down), black jacket

PRECAUTIONS:
· Avoid walking or jogging alone and never walk or jog alone after dark.
· Always choose a well-lit path and avoid dark or vacant areas.
· Carry a whistle to summon help.
· Be alert to your surroundings. If you suspect you are being followed,
run in a different direction; go to the other side of the street and yell
or whistle for help; or head quickly to a lighted area, a group of people,
or an Emergency Telephone.
· If you are confronted by a thief, give them what they want and don't
chase them as they leave. Report suspicious persons or activity
immediately to the Police.

I'm so glad we've got these precautions to keep us safe! (Although blowing a rape whistle at a guy is something that will actually just serve to piss him off - if I have any friends get hurt over this stupid advice I'm filing a lawsuit against the campus police).

Huzzah for gun-free school zones!

They never fail! (pic not related)

Yeah guize, Cho here, just wanna give a shout out to gun-free sk00l zones, they work reel well!

 

[highorder]

in poor taste, IMO.

 

[Ultrachimp]

in poor taste, IMO.

I'm sorry.

It's meant to shock people into realizing just how useless gun-free school zones are.

I guess posting it here might be preaching to the choir - I'll delete the pic if other people say it's not really useful.

 

[NG VI]

yeah it is in poor taste

 

[politicalgeek]

this is The High Road, remember. Do what you think is in your best judgment. The point here, though, is to engage in mindful debate. I think the intent of your post is there, the image adds nothing.

Maybe you should have talked more about:

The school where this occurred, demographics, state etc.
Tell us what is being done to change the mindset there.
Maybe something about the victim, if available. Is she eligible to carry concealed in your state otherwise? Has she considered applying for a license, if the state allows? What other means of self defense has she considered or uses? (Obviously a knife or pepper spray to a gun fight does no good) These might not be available depending on how much was reported.

 

[B yond]

I'm not offended, but you are preaching to the choir.

Easy victim -excuse me- gun free zones are illogical, whistles won't protect you from anything but silence.

 

[highorder]

I guess posting it here might be preaching to the choir

that was my second thought. but, there must be a way to turn your intent into some form of activism. Think globally, act locally, as the saying goes.

 

[Werewolf]

Offensive? Some of you guys need to grow thicker skins.

The OP IS preaching to the choir here. I'd suggest he go post exactly the same thing over on the Democratic Underground.

It'd be taken down pretty quick but it might - just might - get one or two folks attention and open their eyes just a little wider.

 

[akodo]

yes, he is preaching to the choir, but the picture is accurate, chow was not stopped by any signage man can create. He could have been stopped with some of man's other creations however

 

[Winchester 73]

Please remove the picture.
This lunatic has had enough posthumous publicity to last all our lifetimes.
To me,the fact we're the choir is immaterial.
But the choice is yours of course, Ultrachimp.

 

[Werewolf]

This lunatic has had enough posthumous publicity to last all our lifetimes.

And maybe that picture can help undo some of the harm he did? The OP is on the right track he just needs to switch over to another one down the line where his message may have an actual impact.

 

[Winchester 73]

And maybe that picture can help undo some of the harm he did

Werewolf,are you Ultrachimp's designated mouthpiece?I was addressing him in my post, not you or anyone else.That should be obvious.You had already made your position clear in a previous post.
But I suppose you'll chime in again and the OP will remain silent.
Go ahead counselor.

 

[bogie]

I wonder...

Do you think a picture of he-who-should-not-have-a-name with the caption "Virginia Tech Was Also A No Self Defense Zone" would be effective printed on a sticker, and slapped onto various "no guns" signs around campuses, etc?

Yeah, it's a sticker. Welcome to the world of guerrilla activism.

 

[ornithoid]

Offensive? Some of you guys need to grow thicker skins.

The OP IS preaching to the choir here. I'd suggest he go post exactly the same thing over on the Democratic Underground.

It'd be taken down pretty quick but it might - just might - get one or two folks attention and open their eyes just a little wider.

I agree. I am not offended by it.

Instead, what offends me is the intransigence that people display when they see what happened at Virginia Tech and still insist on victim-disarmament. THAT is what's offensive. THIS is just a way to shock them out of that kind of stupidity.

I agree that it's too thin-skinned to say that this painful reminder should be removed. Self-censorship like that is a symptom that WE feel that WE are doing something wrong -- and we're NOT.

 

[TCB in TN]

I am not Ultrachimp or his designated mouthpiece, but my .02 is that for years we have taken the "high road" and allowed the anti's to set the tone of the debate and we have struggled to hold the line. Perhaps a little "shock" therapy is in order. I would not personally have went that way, but I see nothing wrong with it. As the choir we all DO know what the current laws do, they do nothing but create criminal safety zone and keep us all in danger, perhaps it is time to take off the kid gloves and really fight back. That image might help some to understand, how useless these type of laws really are. I really do not see it offending anyone or causing someone to turn against our cause who is not already there, while it very well might be enough to get the attention of some who might otherwise ignore the truth.

 

[Mannix]

There's really no need to "shock" us. You're kind of preaching to the choir on this one.

 

[mekender]

unfortunately not talking about things like this and not showing pictures of the people that do these evil heinous acts leads to complacency... its just like with the 9/11 attacks... everyone is so afraid of hurting or offending someone that the images from that day are rarely shown.. and the problem is, they need to be shown... people forget all too quickly how horrific the actions of some people can be and they need to not just be reminded, they need to have it pounded into their head... people are all to quick to forget that there are truly evil people in this world that have no qualms about disrupting their pretty little lives...

it was so bad after 9/11 that not only did they quickly stop showing images of the events... but they went out of their way to remove pictures of the towers from movies, magazines etc... oh the horror of making people remember!!! instead, we erase it and pretend that it didnt happen, and give medication to anyone that is disturbed by it...

its like a movie i watched once about fighter pilots... after a pilot was killed, they never spoke his name, it was easier to forget that he had existed than it was to embrace the fact that he was lost...

sorry, but reminders like this are needed, even among those of us that "know" the danger... i personally go out of my way to make sure that i never forget...

 

[RobTzu]

Blow your whistle, so more people with whistles will come? Is the point to amass a choir of whistles to fend off evil doers?

 

[Tribal]

I disagree completely about the need to "shock" people. The killer's name, image, and any memory of him needs to be erased from history. People do this sort of thing because they want attention. Respectfully, Ultrachimp, please edit your post to remove his name and picture.

I went to Virginia Tech and I was in Blacksburg (though not on campus at the time) while the shootings happened. Never Again.

 

[Crunker1337]

Shocking people into listening to you is not an acceptable tactic. Gain support through logic and compassion.

 

[Winchester 73]

This lunatic has had enough posthumous publicity to last all our lifetimes.QUOTE

And maybe that picture can help undo some of the harm he did?

I will try to take The High Road this time.

Cho was a copycat.Klebold and Harris were two of his hero's.Are there future copycat's out there who view Cho as their hero?Maybe,maybe not.
History seems to indicate yes.
Images of Cho in full battle mode are not a positive, IMO.It has nothing to do with PC.
But its America.If a person(s) feels the pictures will have a positive effect on awareness or whatever,fine.
And Werewolf,I'll run my four miles first before I post ,the next time I feel the need to blow off steam.
After 3,000 plus posts you deserve better.Mea Culpa.

 

[bluestarlizzard]

believe or not i agree with both sides of this little argument. factual and un hyped record of the Virginia Tech Shooting and the murder should not be erased from history. you don't erase history, you learn it and then you try to learn from it. while i agree that flashing his picture over national news networks for two weeks straight was way over the top, denying who that kid was and what he did is, as pointless as claiming that the holocaust never happened.
and ignoring or denying history never works.
as for the picture here, well, thats part of the presintation. shock value is not needed on THR. not to mention it seriously detracts from the rest of your post.

 

[Ultrachimp]

Blow your whistle, so more people with whistles will come? Is the point to amass a choir of whistles to fend off evil doers?

Have you not witnessed the full power of the whistles? The shock and awe they can bring is amazing!

Maybe you should have talked more about:

The school where this occurred, demographics, state etc.
Tell us what is being done to change the mindset there.
Maybe something about the victim, if available. Is she eligible to carry concealed in your state otherwise? Has she considered applying for a license, if the state allows? What other means of self defense has she considered or uses? (Obviously a knife or pepper spray to a gun fight does no good) These might not be available depending on how much was reported.

The idea wasn't to tell ya'll where I live

The point was just to bring another example of the no-self-defense zones failing. This is pretty much the most important issue to me - it's *my* life that's on the line here.

disagree completely about the need to "shock" people. The killer's name, image, and any memory of him needs to be erased from history. People do this sort of thing because they want attention. Respectfully, Ultrachimp, please edit your post to remove his name and picture.

I went to Virginia Tech and I was in Blacksburg (though not on campus at the time) while the shootings happened. Never Again.

Erasing things from history is a great way to make sure they happen again. Why else do you think Iran is so adamant that the Holocaust never happened? We don't try to erase Hitler's name from history - the Holocaust museum exists to help us remember what happened.

"Never Again" - it will happen again and continue to happen - if not at VTech, then at other places (such as my school ) if we don't change gun laws to be less conducive to spree killers' objectives.

Respect +1 to Winchester 73 for admitting that he was in haste. People don't tend to do that on the web.

And Werewolf - I've been banned from the DU a few times already - I'll see if I can't boot 7 proxies up and get a few images up

EDIT:

I have decided not to remove the picture. It seems to have gotten ~50/50 approval/disapproval and since it's already been up we might as well leave it up. Sorry to any who are offended by it - that wasn't the intent.

 

[bogie]

I think we _can_ positively use images like that.

"Protect Your Children From People Like Him - Get a Concealed Carry Permit!"

"Ask the manager if he thinks this sign would stop someone like him!"

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

though the pic in combination with the comment underneath were imo in poor taste I feel he has made his point as far as the bigger picture is concerned, yelling or blowing a whistle is not going necissarily stop a person who wishes you bodily harm. Somthing more needs to be done about making these "no gun school zones" safer.