School shootings

[Andail]

My first reaction to this whole thing was "let's ban all guns", while my parents' reaction was "video games, music, movies, internet - all bad". Though after calming down a bit and learning that the gun was purchased completely legally and with a recommendation from his resident gun club (gun permits are generally very difficult to acquire here), I realized that guns are hardly a main cause of something like this.

I just learnt that Finland is the third most armed country in the world, counting by weapons per citizen (only USA and Yemen are worse), and that you can get a license at the age of 15. Although you naturally have better knowledge than me in this case, it seems unlikely that getting a license is very hard, compared to other countries.
Why were you calmed by the fact that he bought the gun legally? Isn't that a reason to worry?

Obviously, the fact that weapons are abundant and easy to obtain isn't a reason for why these things happen; the reasons are always psycho-social and cultural and multi-layered. But one must account for factors that might amplify the extent of the consequences.

[Tuomas]

Yeah, but it goes like, you can get a gun, but not just like that. This person was a sharp shooter, or that was his registered hobby, also professionals have one. You don't get one for protection, also you can't have just if you just feel like it at the moment, you have to go through a lot of bureaucracy before you get a lisence. That's different than a spontaneous killing spree.If I went nuts and wanted to kill everyone it'd take me several months to get a gun. Yet, having said this, I still don't support the gun law and would rather that no-one was allowed to have one, same goes everywhere.

[Raggit]

So now ask yourself what's the most traumatic thing that happens to nearly everyone at this guy's age?   How much do you want to bet this guy doesn't have a girlfriend? 

Meaning you speculate he got dumped by a girlfriend and that pushed him over the edge?  Not quite sure what you're saying.

Reading his manifest was a chilling experience for me.  He's saying that the masses are ignorant, the governments are corrupt, justice is not served, and he is speaking of natural selection.  It sort of scared me because these are a lot of the things I talk about frequently: government corruption, the seemingly hopeless and incurable ignorance of the masses and society as a whole, and so on.  So what's to keep me from eventually taking up a gun and killing people? 

Sort of a scary question, until I realized something:  He's one of them; the oppressors.  He did absolutely nothing to fight government corruption.  He just killed innocent people.  He went in and forced his philosophy and beliefs on other people.  Yet, isn't that what he was supposedly fighting against?

Yes, the governments are corrupt, yes many people are stupid, yes society is fucked up.  But killing others only makes it worse.  If he didn't want to be in society any more, he should've killed himself only.

These things are so complicated and scary to me. 

What's going to happen to society and government?  Are things ever going to improve?  Or are we just going to kill ourselves off?

[LimpingFish]

Like I said earlier, I doubt his "philosophy" was any more than a way for him to justify his desire to punish innocent people for the way he believed life was unfairly treating him.

[Tuomas]

So now ask yourself what's the most traumatic thing that happens to nearly everyone at this guy's age?   How much do you want to bet this guy doesn't have a girlfriend? 

I could bet all my money, because i know this guy sent an apology to her girlfriend through SMS just before the incident.

[Nikolas]

My first reaction to this whole thing was "let's ban all guns", while my parents' reaction was "video games, music, movies, internet - all bad". Though after calming down a bit and learning that the gun was purchased completely legally and with a recommendation from his resident gun club (gun permits are generally very difficult to acquire here), I realized that guns are hardly a main cause of something like this, nor are violent media as we all would probably argue. ...

I think it's most a case of the well-being of youths in our country and around the world, and as the authorities are now emphasizing, without pointing any fingers, a case of social service. People are now asking ... and what's pushing young people to do things like this ...

I whole heartedly agree with you on these points.  To answer the  question "What's pushing young people to do things like this?", IMHO, at least in the US, kids are sheltered from failure experiences from an early age.  Everything is structured and arranged so that every kid will succeed.  Even when they fail they are told that they have succeeded.  In US schools it's fashionable to build self esteem, deserved or not, at all costs.  Unfortunately this can be done for only so long.  Eventually kids grow up and begin to experience the harsh realities of life and are totally unprepared.  So now ask yourself what's the most traumatic thing that happens to nearly everyone at this guy's age?   How much do you want to bet this guy doesn't have a girlfriend? 

In addition, I do think that everyone is getting plenty of ideas and visual input from movies/games/stories/the news. I mean to even start thinking that, on your own, it's kinda hard. But now, everyone on the internet has every little detail about those things, and maybe, even maybe, AGS members have fantasies about this kind of thing. "I hate those bastards, I will take a gun and kill them, like that guy did in...". Of course fantasising and doing it, is a large large step, but it's 1 single step, as far as I can see.

Bottom line is that the knowledge is there. A violence is being turned into some kind of cult imagery some times (look at CGTalk and everyone drawing monsters, and heavy distorted faces, etc. Very few go and draw... a nice face. And why should they? A nice face can be found in a normal pic...)