A suspected Islamic terrorist opened fire at a gay nightclub in Florida, killing 50 people and wounding another 53 before he was killed by police. While authorities continue to investigate to determine whether this man had ties to ISIS, the terror organization has not been quiet in praising the attack. This comes three days after ISIS announced they would attack somewhere in Florida. Today's attack marks the largest act of terrorism on US soil since 9/11.
takyon: The gunman reportedly called 911 emergency services to pledge allegiance to ISIS. The President will hold a briefing momentarily. Compare this article to the original submission.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 12 2016, @11:12PM
But still are you gong to now claim that we don't need any more gun regulations? Everything I'm reading so far about this guy screams out that he was a tragedy just waiting to happen.
(Score: 5, Touché) by frojack on Monday June 13 2016, @12:53AM
Everything I'm reading so far about this guy screams out that he was a tragedy just waiting to happen.
And all your regulations never saw it coming. And neither did all the NSA spying and trawling of social media. And neither did the phone taps, the email indexing, the FBI investigations. (Yes he was looked at twice by the FBI).
But you, YOU spotted it right away, just reading a few late breaking news reports. YOU, all alone spotted this. You're too incompetent to sign into your favorite web site, but by gawd you can spot a terrorist at a hundred yards just looking at a couple CNN pages.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @02:30AM
Problem is...
1. Nothing he had done prior was actually criminal and provable in court. The FBI would have needed to set up a sting operation, gently goad him into taking action with FBI-supplied fake weapons, and then arrest him. Getting him to take action in a controllable way, but without getting the case thrown out of court, is a delicate balancing act that takes time and doesn't always work.
2. There are probably several million other people in this country who basically desire to commit a similar act, and the FBI probably knows about a million of them. There is no way that the FBI can trail, stalk, stake out, or otherwise follow every one of those people. This is a long-tail problem, and resources are limited.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 13 2016, @03:44AM
You are partly right, AC.
But you missed the point where he passed a FBI background check while applying for a Security Clearance.
They didn't need any probable cause to deny him that clearance, because he already accepted that background check in his job application.
Anything worrisome that they found in the background check should have tripped alarms.
This guy passed all the checks, probably it will be found he bought all his guns legally.
Once again gun control does not work. And neither would banning gun altogether. Ask the Israelis. Stabbing reports are all the rage these days, and they are probably coming to a venue near you.
I doubt there are "several million" that want to do the same thing. They may number in the thousands, (with idle dreams, and secret desires). Probably no more than a couple hundred with real intent and the courage to do something, who are just waiting for an "excuse". Those are the only ones I expect the FBI to watch.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @04:53AM
Probably no more than a couple hundred with real intent and the courage to do something, who are just waiting for an "excuse". Those are the only ones I expect the FBI to watch.
If only they weren't indistinguishable from all the others who are just talking shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @07:35AM
Long tail problem?
Then chop off the head. Ban islam and kick all people who follow islam to the middle east. WIRM.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2016, @08:55AM
Head? Nuke Mecca, Jerusalem, the Vatican, Clearwater Florida, and Provo. That ought about cover it, all the centers of infection of Abrahamic Faiths, except for Pike Place Market, but one must think of the fish!
(Score: 2) by dak664 on Monday June 13 2016, @04:18PM
He was looked at twice and underwent surveillance. To me that suggests at least one attempted sting which he was too smart to fall for. And very probably those investigations and stings pissed him off.
Wonder how much credit the FBI should get for causing this one?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 13 2016, @01:17AM
You miss the most obvious fact: GUN CONTROL DOESN'T WORK!! Never did, never will.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Nollij on Tuesday June 14 2016, @12:36AM
Never? Not even once? [reuters.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 14 2016, @01:11AM
What is the overall homicide rate, overall crime rate, overall violent crime rate in Oz? For all of Europe's bragging about gun control, Europe's overall rates aren't much better than in the US. Especially since the invasion of barbarians from south of the Med has begun. Who has noticed that rape is up all over Europe? Give the women some guns, so they can blow the testicles off of their rapists, and crime will drop.
I do recall someone telling me about the "bikies" in Oz. They seem to have all the weapons they want. So, no, gun control doesn't work in Oz - guns were outlawed, so now only outlaws have guns.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Nollij on Tuesday June 14 2016, @03:51AM
Well, in the linked story, the overall homicide rate in 1996 (pre-gun control) was 311 - 98 of them by gun. In 2014, it was 238 - 35 by gun. But you aren't actually interested in statistics.
There's a far more detailed analysis over at Snopes [aic.gov.au], but the TL;DR is
Is that the support you were looking for?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 14 2016, @01:55PM
Salutes, for quoting what is probably the most important part of any analysis of "gun control".
"The main point to be learned here is that determining the effect of changes in Australia's gun ownership laws and the government's firearm buy-back program on crime rates requires a complex long-term analysis and can't be discerned from the small, mixed grab bag of short-term statistics offered here"
Feel free to browse my journal page. I have a number of articles and quotes cited - I guess it's a small number, but they are there.
There are no rules to be learned from passing gun control laws. Europe has varied results, in different countries. Australia has some encouraging results with their gun control - but it isn't all one-sided in favor of gun control.
The US? Our results are very DIScouraging. Those cities with the strictest gun control are the very cities with the highest crime rates, and the highest rates of gun crime. They are the most violent cities in America.
The cities in Texas have very lenient gun control laws. That is, in Texas, anyone can have a gun, unless he has been judged incompetent, or a felon. Open carry, concealed carry, put it in your trunk, in your glove box, in your window - any way you want to carry, you can carry. Only two people in the entire state of Texas have been killed with guns this year. Two. Chicago, with a tenth of the population of Texas, sees two killed every day.
We have witnessed cities repeal gun control, and crime initially rises for a few months - then plummets. Criminals are either killed off, or they learn that honest citizens shoot back, so they move on to greener pastures.
we have witnessed cities pass gun control laws, and crime stays stable for awhile, then slowly rises.
We have witnessed a lot of crazy stuff here in the states. Lawmen want to claim all the credit when crime rates fall - but as your own quote suggests, things aren't so simple. A city passes a gun control law, and crime falls, so they claim credit - but nationwide, crime rates have falled at similar rates.
It ain't a simple thing to figure out, but overall, history suggests that you are safest in a community where EVERYONE has access to guns.
Now, to be honest, I have looked at Australia's statistics. As I said - they are just about the most encouraging statistics in the world, for gun control.
I've also looked at the UK's statistics. You should be aware that most of their statistics are lies and damned lies. Again, if you care to look, I have a couple journal entries regarding gun crime and violent crime statistics in the UK. UK cops just don't record a lot of crimes. They are actually under pressure to MAKE the statistics support their gun control laws. Violent crime in the UK seems to be lower than in Chicago - but it much higher than gun control fanatics claim.
Once again - thank you for your honesty. There are NOT any good statistics that support either of our positions, partly because governments don't maintain the same statistics, and partly because some governments are dishonest about those statistics.
I do believe that an armed society is a polite society.
http://www.liberteesalabama.com/store/p4/%22An_armed_society_is_a_polite_society.%22_Heinlein_quote_T-shirt.html [liberteesalabama.com]
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday June 13 2016, @04:29AM
But still are you gong to now claim that we don't need any more gun regulations?
Why did you even ask? Why do we need any more gun regulations anyway? There seems to be this retarded assumption that every time something bad happens, we need more regulations, like regulation is some sort of syrup that tastes better when you pour more on.