Oscar Pistorius Shoots Girlfriend Dead

[johnnya24]

Initial reports suggest that he mistook her for a burglar and shot her twice, once in the head.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/feb/14/oscar-pistorius-girlfriend-shot-dead

Seems like another tragic tale involving guns in the home.

Edit: or as it turns out murder

Still another tragedy that would likely have been avoided if there were no guns in the home.

[Moonlight J]

bad ad by Nike

[revo]

whoa!

[Pogues]

If someone wants to commit murder, not having a gun isn't going to stop them. So I disagree the tragic death of this woman would have been avoided.

[Mithrandir]

If someone wants to commit murder, not having a gun isn't going to stop them. So I disagree the tragic death of this woman would have been avoided.

A gun makes it a hell of a lot easier though.

But really, who cares if some dude shot his girlfriend.. Oh wait he's a star athlete so it has to be worldwide news!!!

[johnnya24]

If someone wants to commit murder, not having a gun isn't going to stop them. So I disagree the tragic death of this woman would have been avoided.

By all accounts this was a crime of passion after a series of long loud arguments that evening. We are not talking about a premeditated murder here. If there is no gun in the home, there is very little chance this ends in murder.

Human beings are difficult to kill by hand. It takes a long time, a lot of punishment is required, which means more time for the assailant to reflect on their actions and stop before things go too far. Going from a physical hand-to-hand encounter to killing someone is a rarity. It requires a particular kind of psychosis to murder someone with a weapon like a knife, even when passions are high. Killing with a gun is simply point and press ... they are designed to cause maximum damage, and they provide no chance for reflection.

Handguns are designed and manufactured with the goal of making the killing another human being a simpler, "less skilled", more efficient and less emotional task. There's no getting away from this. They aren't designed to maim or injure. They are designed to cause the maximum damage vis a vis the size and caliber of the weapon.

IMO no gun should be permitted in any home except for hunting / land management. They are killing machines FFS. Pointless argument when it comes to the USA sadly which is well past the point of no return ... even events like Newtown can barely shift the status quo an inch after the initial reaction has died down. Publically perhaps, but as far as politicians are concerned zippo. All that BS from the politicians in the aftermath, all that public outrage, and all that will happen is token legislation on universal background checks etc (if that even happens). From all accounts they will find it very difficult to get any legislation on military assault weapons passed (even a renewal of the half-assed 1994 Assault Weapons Ban seems unlikely).

At the end of the day, when all the dust has settled, re-election and the Lobby $ are more important than the lives of children.

I no longer buy the argument that this is the first small step. This legislation will amount to a zero, and they know it. Obama just wants something to pass to save face and make it seem like they acted. All politics. Pretty disgusting really. If an event like Newtown can barely elicit token change, it's a lost cause.

[heyelander]

I'm starting to not care if people who want to have guns in their house kill each other so long as I don't have one in my house.

getting sick of fighting to help people who don't want it. Knock yourselves out.

[Cobain's Ghost]

In a fit of rage, he reaches for a hammer/knife/rock/baseball bat, swings/stabs/bludgeons four times, and she's hurt.

yep. ask nicole simpson.

=/

[Cobain's Ghost]

Ignoring the fact that Nicole Simpson was stabbed more than four times, clearly there are NO exceptions where a knife kills someone and a gun merely injures someone. A knife is clearly exactly as lethal as a gun. Exactly. In fact, so is a rock or even a deer head (http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/p...d-weapons.html.

my point - give a murderous psycho a knife instead of a gun to kill his woman in a rage, and he'll keep stabbing until she is dead. he's not gonna take four stabs and then give up and let her walk.

knife or gun, she wasn't walking out of there alive. i get that anti-gunners want to make every murder about the gun control crusade, but it's not really such an easy fit, imo.

[Cobain's Ghost]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-knifeman.html

i thought you were discussing the pistorius situation specifically with pogues. i agree with him that the presence of a gun probably had little to do with the outcome of this particular tragedy.

[BuckyBuckner]

my point - give a murderous psycho a knife instead of a gun to kill his woman in a rage, and he'll keep stabbing until she is dead. he's not gonna take four stabs and then give up and let her walk.

knife or gun, she wasn't walking out of there alive. i get that anti-gunners want to make every murder about the gun control crusade, but it's not really such an easy fit, imo.

Speaking specifically about the Pistorius situation we are not talking about a murderous psycho. That's the point, if he had a knife instead of a gun the likelihood that he kills his girlfriends drops considerably. I'm pretty sure that's the point eldiablo is making.

[The Dane]

Pointless argument when it comes to the USA sadly which is well past the point of no return ... even events like Newtown can barely shift the status quo an inch after the initial reaction has died down. Publically perhaps, but as far as politicians are concerned zippo.

Actually, once the armed mentally ill decide that shooting up public schools is passe' and they start shooting up country clubs, golf courses, affluent private schools, and all the places frequented by the young and wealthy, things will change very quickly. Trust me. As far as US law-makers are concerned, no one they care about has been killed, not in Newtown, or Columbine or anywhere. Start offing their kids and their tune will change.

I promise that if I ever decide to shoot up a room full of strangers, I'm going to the biggest collection of conservative wealthy I can find and let 'er rip.

[B-Fly]

Speaking specifically about the Pistorius situation we are not talking about a murderous psycho.

I don't think we can say just yet whether or not we're talking about a murderous psycho.

[JudeBaldo]

Actually, once the armed mentally ill decide that shooting up public schools is passe' and they start shooting up country clubs, golf courses, affluent private schools, and all the places frequented by the young and wealthy, things will change very quickly. Trust me. As far as US law-makers are concerned, no one they care about has been killed, not in Newtown, or Columbine or anywhere. Start offing their kids and their tune will change.

I promise that if I ever decide to shoot up a room full of strangers, I'm going to the biggest collection of conservative wealthy I can find and let 'er rip.

If you're convicted can I have some of your keepers?

Anyone else think roid rage? It crossed my mind.

[Cobain's Ghost]

Speaking specifically about the Pistorius situation we are not talking about a murderous psycho. That's the point, if he had a knife instead of a gun the likelihood that he kills his girlfriends drops considerably. I'm pretty sure that's the point eldiablo is making.

i'm not sure it's as cut and dried as eld and johnny think it is. i think in a "crime of passion" situation like this one (if that's what it is), once a killer has reached that state of mind, he's going to kill. i'm not sure a gun increases the likelihood of a murder much more than a knife does at that point. i get what johnny is saying about the increased difficulty of killing by hand, but i think that would come into play more in a premeditated scenario. how often is a guy in a killing rage going to stand down because he can't find a gun? how much better chance does she really have vs. a knife compared to a gun? some increased chance, maybe, but i don't think i would assert that the gun was the difference between life and death.

awful tragedy, in any case.