And yet another shooting.
Washingtonpost.com:
One person has been killed and three others wounded in a fight that escalated into a shooting near a Greek-life dorm at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.
The suspected gunman, 18-year-old freshman Steven Jones. is in custody, NAU Police Chief Greg Fowler said. The injured survivors — identified by the school as Nicholas Prato, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring — are being treated at Flagstaff Medical Center.
Freshman Colin Brough was killed in the shooting, the school said.
According to Fowler, the police chief, “two separate student groups got into a confrontation” shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. “The confrontation turned physical,” Fowler said, and Jones “produced a handgun and shot four other students.”
Will it ever end? Probably not. However, I am going to speculate that this killing wasn’t really spree killing. Instead it sounds like drunk college students who can be about as stupid as it gets.
I grew up in a college town. I know how crazy, mindless and stupid college kids, especially boys, can get. they do not need to be armed.
I might relent on a commuter campus–you know, where everyone comes in daily, goes to classes, might study a while on campus, and then leaves. I will never relent about a campus where students live, work, eat, drink, do drugs and play. It’s a deadly combination. Ask John Mosby. He didn’t even have TV to be a bad influence.
I could be wrong. This could be a loony killing but I am betting against that. At first glance, it does appear to be that deadly combination of testosterone and booze. Throw in a little estrogen to cheer things on and it got deadly.
Another shining example of responsible gun ownership. How’s Arizona’s open carry law working out? And where’s big, bad Sherriff Joe when you need him?
There was not open carry allowed on that campus. The student who murdered was in violation of that school’s gun policy. Sheriff Joe is in Phoenix, isn’t he? This incident happened in one of my favorite towns, Flagstaff.
Steve, wherever you are. Do you agree with my assessment of this shooting?
How do you feel about arming students on campuses?
I think it’s critical to note that some of the college shootings have been bad drug deals and other forms of crime. Other college shootings are booze, testosterone and women.
Then there are loony shootings. Different etymologies. Oregon, Texas, and Arizona all seem to be different causes.
I also don’t think 18 year olds should have guns. Let’s push that to 21. If I had to repeal an amendment it would be the 26th, It gives adult privileges to people who aren’t adults.
Nothing will change-the NRA owns too much of Congress.
Perhaps if there weren’t so many guns available, these things wouldn’t happen so frequently.
This isn’t a “spree killing”. This is no different than what happens in any big city with certain regularity, where mostly young men use guns to settle scores. 16 per day in Chicago. The fact that this happened on a college campus is immaterial. Whenever groups of young men engage in mutual combat, there is a chance that weapons will be involved, and in certain cases, the weapons will include guns. Those of us who advocate for campus-carry do so because we know, in addition to lunatics like the VA Tech and Oregon murderers, thugs and rapists also visit or are enrolled in colleges.
@Starryflights
Sure, because prior to the invention of gun powder, murder never happened.
@Moon-howler
Have to research AZ law, but here in VA you have to be 21 to purchase a handgun, or to carry one openly or concealed.
How about usage? Do you have to have a parent with you to actually use one? For instance, if I had an 18 year old, could that kid use my handgun without me being around?
I said NO and opened up the chamber and slapped a combination lock on it. (Many years ago) No one used it. I am sure there are more genteel ways to handle the problem but I was taking no chances.
Hot heads don'[t need access to guns.
Most of the gun killings are not as a result of the so called “mass shootings”-they are only a small percentage of the 30,000+ gun deaths each year. But they are more sensational and meet the old newspaper adage: “If it bleeds, it leads.” It is the totality of gun killings that should horrify folks but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I think that we tend to feel less badly about criminals or people who get shot while engaged in criminal behavior. Not saying it’s right to feel that way but that’s pretty much the way it is.
I don’t know what to do about crime ridden neighborhoods with drive by shootings either. That sounds to me like a city problem. Increased lighting, increased cops, gang task force, big brother and big sister programs seem like a good place to start.
@Moon-howler
“Usage” is a pretty broad term. It would depend what they were using it for, and where they were using it. Here’s the state code on usage age restrictions http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-308.7/
18 year old adults may own handguns and long guns. They can follow all the laws of the land in regards to shooting. Concealed carry is only open to 21 years and older.
This AZ shooting seems to be a criminal get together gone bad.
I don’t think 18 year olds are adults. Can they buy booze? Noooooooo. Then they shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns either.
@Moon-howler
18 year olds cannot purchase handguns in Virginia, just rifles and shotguns. They can’t purchase rifles if they meet the states definition of “assault rifle”.
I would probably prefer that they not be allowed to purchase any guns at all until age 21. We don’t make an exception for liquor.
I am glad they cannot purchase hand guns. I would like them to have to be accompanied by a parent for using hand guns. We all know that you don’t have to be the purchaser to have access. Let’s just say a form of parental oversight needs to be involved. I have no problem at all with teenagers or 20 year olds using guns with their parents supervising.
If a kid thought he was going to go to the big house for using a gun when under age, then perhaps we would have less crime death.
Spree killings or not, what these crimes have in common is the cheap accessibility of guns. We will never get a handle on this senseless violence until we as a society accept that reality and deal with it.