Why do people shoot other people?

[undeterred]

:shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. According to Kurt Vonnegut

bad chemicals.



I'd tend to agree.

[pitohui]

2. there are just tons and tons of reasons

bad chemicals -- mental illness -- is just for starters, i'd be surprised if the majority of the cases involved mental illness, the charles whitmans and columbines get the publicity but the shootings that happen every day occur because of revenge (guy is sleeping with your wife), to settle disputes where courts won't or can't (drug deals gone bad shine here), economic (armed robbery gone bad)

[uppityperson]

3. I hate when they do it backwards. If you are going to shoot people, shoot yourself first.

Not advocating suicide at all, but if you are going to suicide, do it before shooting others.

[undeterred]

10. That's the thing in these situations-

the people never stick around long enough so that you can ask them. Makes it neater from a legal perspective, but behaviorally, I think it makes it harder to understand and prevent. A lot of times its people who just break down- and they've never harmed anyone seriously in the past.

[pitohui]

14. i don't agree, most shootings are economic/drug related

i think if you look at that stats, you are going to find that the overwhelming majority of people who shoot other people intend to survive and that they do it for an economic reason, such as to get money for drugs, to get rid of a rival on disputed territory, or as part of an armed robbery gone bad -- years ago, the most dangerous job for a woman was convenience store worker because of the high rate of murder on the job (don't know current stats)

back in the day they used to say that 90 percent of violent crime was economic (done for money or the ever-popular to get money for drugs), i'd be surprised if anything much has changed

[undeterred]

17. I was thinking of the type of situation that happened today

where the shooter just takes down a room full of people they don't even know and suicides at the end. This is much more uncommon than what you're talking about, of course- where people are shooting to use force in a crime but they are rarely shooting more than a couple of people and they aren't killing themselves.

[pitohui]

21. this situation sounds like a pure mental health issue

crazy dude decides to go out in a blaze of glory and get his name on the color teevee while at it

i've often wondered if we could put a stop to some of these killings by weak-minded copycats if the perpetrator's name was not released so he didn't get posthumous credit for his kills, but there are probably real freedom of press issues that would preclude this

another approach would be to hold up this type of killer as the useless cowardly fucktard that he is

it doesn't seem logical this would work, but many suicides have an image in their mind of how it will be after their death, and everybody being awed or sorry or whatever is part of that image

[MrScorpio]

4. I don't know

Whatever the reasons, they're not justifiable

[nini]

5. I can't wrap my brain about that either..

I hate to kill a bug for God's sake - for the life of me I don't understand how someone can take a life or even hurt another being.

[Mojambo]

6. To get to the other side. n/t

[otherlander]

7. Hmm...

Paranoia: "They're out to get me...Have to kill them..."
Revenge
Money
Desperation
Insanity
Obedience to authority

[PassingFair]

8. Because they can.

It makes them feel powerful.
For a moment....

[trof]

9. Guns don't kill people.

People with GUNS kill people.
So...if we just get rid of PEOPLE, then people with guns won't kill people.
:-(
My head hurts.

[Mojambo]

15. I've been advocating getting rid of people for years.

But I don't like guns so I'm kinda stuck.

[trof]

19. The world would be a better place.

Really.

[KG]

11. cause they got guns.

can't shoot 'em without one. :eyes:

[Scout]

12. because guns are the easiest way for the average asshole to kill

without putting themselves at risk of injury.

[dembotoz]

13. i agree

mechanically killing with firearms is easy.
kind of like point and click
sad just sad

[Connonym]

18. I think there's a lot of truth to this

It's far more impersonal with a gun. Like playing a video game, it's too easy to not feel the immediate consequence of your action. How can it be denied that a gun allows killing of more people more quickly? I don't understand the passion people feel about owning a gun. How can it be justified in the face of tragedy like this?

[Taverner]

20. It's merely a tool

A dangerous tool - dangerous by design...

But there are times when they are necessary. In cases of tyranny.

I don't own a gun and (hopefully) never will, however.

[pitohui]

24. i agree scout -- in most cases, the gun is used to give the person an advantage over another

i would say that 99 times out of 100 when a gun is used, the reason is usually to get one's way without risk of harm to self -- i can rob a pretty big man if i have a loaded weapon and he doesn't-- or i can drive by and shoot a rival from a distance and drive off before any effective response can be made

today's case however doesn't fall in that category

in the case of mental illness where the person intends to shoot themselves or to commit suicide by cop, i think the motive is different -- they use a gun to get as many kills and as much posthumous glory as possible because they are mentally ill and don't fully understand that after killing themselves they won't be around to enjoy their notoriety in the news -- they don't care about avoiding injury since they plan to die, they just want to rack up as many kills as they can before they check out -- when a person is suicidal and in search of attention, a bomb might work as well as a gun and if there were no guns, then they'd strap on the dynamite

[Deja Q]

16. Why do people treat other people badly?

How the hell should I know? Or anyone know? People just do things and I think more people think less often than we give them credit for.

[hfojvt]

22. "can't we stop. Hurting each other. Gotta stop. Hurting each other. Making each other cry.

Breaking each other's heart. Tearing each other apart."

Mostly I think people get driven over the edge by hearing too many Carpenters' songs.

[zanne]

23. Because it's easy. nt

[YDogg]

25. Depends on the circumstances.