tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post5504361148146128634..comments2024-02-20T09:54:37.105-06:00Comments on Talking About Ritual Magick: NRA and the Sponsorship of Mass MurderFrater.Barrabbashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11689013897789072360noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-82753800807137679832012-08-01T21:10:29.656-05:002012-08-01T21:10:29.656-05:00I'm just catching up on my reading here, I fel...I'm just catching up on my reading here, I felt the need to chime in about a bunch of stuff in this post. First it's a tragedy, no bones about it. Would banning assault weapons have changed anything? No. The AWB doesn't cover the type of weapons used here. <br /><br />That being said, you can't just prohibit people from owning things because you disagree with them. That's how we had witching trials and all that. ;) The car, for instance, is the most popular weapon among women (per John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime"). why? because no-one taught them to shoot. Surely no-one would propose banning the sale of cars to women.<br /><br />But I think you're missing the obvious here - IEDs and similar are so popular in places literally saturated with guns (Afghanistan, Iraq) and much more lethal toys (tanks, drones) because they're so effective. Thankfully the shooter was a fool and only set off tear gas instead of a legitimate explosive device. There's very few serial shooters in modern history, and many more serial bombers. It really could have been worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-47144951877786242252012-07-29T20:45:06.354-05:002012-07-29T20:45:06.354-05:00The Massacre was tragic and I am torn as a gun own...The Massacre was tragic and I am torn as a gun owner at times knowing the destructive potential of guns yet One reason to own a gun is built into your constitution as a deterrent from Tyrants, am I correct? Looking at the direction your government is going w/ its Patriot act, I would think more of you would be arming yourself in preparation to defend your crumbling Constitution. Until the western has some sort of grand spiritual awakening there will be a lot of unbalanced people out there, taking away guns will not stop them from coming up w/ inventive ways to fulfill their delusions nor will it protect us from our freedoms being taken away.<br />A Canadian,<br />PuerJohn Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13983496546069265739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-52566196419231255892012-07-25T15:58:31.785-05:002012-07-25T15:58:31.785-05:00Have to agree with Dave Griffin here. I live in A...Have to agree with Dave Griffin here. I live in Arizona where our 2nd Amendment right is supported across the board; we don't need a permit to carry a pistol concealed or otherwise. Since the law was passed that repealed the need for a CCW, our crime rates have dropped markedly. Its proof of the adage "an armed society is a polite society".<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />SESorcerousEndeavorshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13639527592361642026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-80488841815352074122012-07-25T15:23:28.754-05:002012-07-25T15:23:28.754-05:00@David: Through a room filled with irritating, obs...@David: Through a room filled with irritating, obscuring gas? I happen to be an excellent shot at the target range and I'm not sure that I could have done it under the circumstances of the attack, especially given how off-guard everyone was taken. Apparently a lot of people in the theater thought that it was some sort of publicity stunt until they realized people were dying. With the gas and the confusion, I expect that I would have to have been pretty close to the shooter to pull it off quickly enough to make a difference.<br /><br />As far as the shooter's selection of targets, it's clear that he specifically wanted to shoot up a screening of the new Batman film. Could he have chosen a different theater that allowed weapons, or is Nevada like Minnesota in that concealed carry is allowed but guns are banned in most public buildings? If the latter is true, I don't see how he had much of a choice. Also, my experience with the mentally ill tells me that they don't usually think through what they're doing to the extent that deterrence is going to make a difference. While at this point we don't know whether or not the shooter is in fact mentally ill, everything I've seen so far points to yes.Scott Stenwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12389664381513219613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-9081506667081931452012-07-25T11:57:43.961-05:002012-07-25T11:57:43.961-05:00@ Scott
Almost anyone with even basic hunting trai...@ Scott<br />Almost anyone with even basic hunting training should be able to make a headshot with a pistol at that close range. He was wearing a helmet but his face was wide open. His hands were also exposed which would have disarmed him as well, even in a non-lethal manner. At that close range, a face shot would have been the easiest target though. <br /><br />You are also overlooking the deterrent factor. Do you believe it was simply an accident that this Joker chose a theater with a weapons ban in place for his act of cowardice? He deliberately chose what was an unarmed crowd, with little or no risk they would return fire.<br /><br />More concerning to me as a magician is what appears to be an archetypal/demonic manifestation. The Joker took Heath Ledger's life and the same demonic magical energy had now claimed the lives of all of these innocent people.Imperator David Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05569334890339311989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-244446309563422372012-07-25T11:48:37.220-05:002012-07-25T11:48:37.220-05:00@David: Scott is correct, the assailant was wearin...@David: Scott is correct, the assailant was wearing body armor and a gas mask. He had released a canister of an irritating gas into the air of the theater. Bringing him down using hand guns would have done little more than kill or wound other victims. As for Nevada's low crime rate, maybe that has to do with the lower population level and the mind-set of openness of the southwest. I doubt that such a regimen would work in a heavily populated area, like New York, Chicago, L.A., or Detroit. We can agree to disagree about this issue. <br /><br />@Scott - I agree that such a future ban would have to be quite sensible, thorough and enforceable. But I doubt that it will be possible to even consider the possibility, given the present political environment. <br /><br />FBFrater.Barrabbashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11689013897789072360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-75583029526130694102012-07-25T10:29:13.865-05:002012-07-25T10:29:13.865-05:00@Barrabbas: Hopefully if new legislation ever does...@Barrabbas: Hopefully if new legislation ever does get proposed, it will be more intelligently crafted than the "assault weapons ban" that expired in 2004. While some of the restrictions made sense, such as those on high-capacity magazines like those used in the Colorado attack, the law also banned a lot of guns on the basis that they looked scary rather than actually being more dangerous.<br /><br />@David: I'm not so sure that even if some of the people in the theater were armed they would have been able to stop the attack. The shooter was wearing tactical body armor, so without armor-piercing shells he still would have been hard to stop. As I recall, there was a case in which a standoff between a SWAT team and two perpetrators in body armor lasted for an hour and a half and left several officers dead even though the police were wearing vests themselves and were armed with military-grade weapons.Scott Stenwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12389664381513219613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6817682567561164198.post-65468921669769498112012-07-25T09:33:29.968-05:002012-07-25T09:33:29.968-05:00I certainly do not condone mass murder and my hear...I certainly do not condone mass murder and my heart goes out to the families of the victims. It was a terrible atrocity. <br /><br />We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one, however. I live in one of the most pro-gun counties in the nation. And guess what? We also have one of the lowest crime rates. I do not consider myself a "gun nut" as you call those of us who value our freedoms protected by the 2d amendment. Your suggestion that an armed populace in the theater would have led to a worse tragedy is mistaken. Where I live, I seriously doubt the shooter would have gotten off even a second round before someone in the audience put an end to his madness. <br /><br />You did add one important fact to the discussion, however, namely that handguns were banned at the multiplex. Herein lies the problem that emboldened this whack job to do what he did. He would not have tried something like that in Nye county, Nevada. Things like this simply do not happen where I live.<br /><br />Here is a video of an aurora style massacre that didn't succeed Tthank Goddess!)<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTct7OB_n78Imperator David Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05569334890339311989noreply@blogger.com