Thoughts on Virgina Tech

[Von Mudra]

If there had ever been a shooting at my old highschool, I would just sneak to my house which was about a 2 minutes jog away, grab my rifle, drive back up and kill the guy. I'd prob manage to do all that before the cops even showed up, heh=/

[Fuzzy Bunny]

No, actually, you'd probably find a nice place to hide until it all blew over. Maybe, if you were gutsy you'd hang out and help over people to get under cover. Maybe, if you were in the middle of it, you'd be really gutsy and get injured people out or do something like this guy:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nat...orld-headlines

Even if you did happen to have a gun on you, you'd probably be too rattled to shoot straight; if you were lucky you wouldn't hurt anyone around you (note, I'm in no way condemning the idea of law-abiding citizens packing and unloading on assholes like this. I think it'd be a great way to help clean out the gene pool. But I wouldn't trust you, or me, or most of my fellow law-abiding citizens to have enough training to have much realistic chance of doing a Jack Bauer on some gun-toting wingnut bent on mayhem.)

Let's get real...

[JohnWalker]

Fuzz', belive it or not, as startling as it may be, people exist in the world who can acctually function under real pressure. Not everyone is limited to 'lie down and die' and 'fucking piss my self and cry and scream as I take aim.' Charlie Whitman is a prime example. Houston didn't lie down and take it. People went home, got their rifles, and fired back.

[Moose12]

Mudra does reanact, but I think having blanks fired at you from old time rifles, is a lot different then a 9mm with real bullets being fired pointblank at you across a hall, I doubt muddy you could properly use a rifle in a school, much less fire first, plus the dangers of you havng a gun would more then likely get your ass killed by the cops because how would they know you were a good guy. The whole scenario is unrealistic, nice thought, but you'd be better surviving and helping others get the fuck out.

[Fuzzy Bunny]

Yes, and they're not bloody likely to be lurking on a gamer board.

If you'll re-read my post, you'll realize that I don't discount individuals' ability to fight back. I think the pure thread of this is a good thing, and as a normal individual, the thought of being held terrorized by some shitbag with a gun without a way of hitting back boils my blood.

I'm just being realistic about the average guy's level of nerves, training, coordination, whatever, and the resulting unlikelihood of Joe Schmo off the street's being able to effectively fight back (although he may well; as you correctly imply, people are sometimes capable of surprising things.) Maybe Mudra, or you, or I would coolly walk up behind the guy, bean him with a chair and kick his ass with a smirk, maybe we'd piss ourselves and cower in a corner and cry for mommy, how the hell would you know unless you've been there? I've seen so much empty bravado degenerating into pathetic buckling under when confronted with real stress that I'm pretty cynical about "I'll kill him" tough guy silliness.

[Von Mudra]

Actually, thing is, its just not in my personality to calmly wait for death. I'd rather go out with a fight, heh, in all seriousness. If I know I'm going to die...I'd put up resistence. As for staying calm under fire, my highschool was open air, no indoor parts, so I could be 200 yards away calmly looking down a rifle:P

BUt in all seriousness, I would put up a fight somehow...I'm just seriously not of the personality to calmly take it. Once when we had some armed bank robbers run onto campus, but we didn't know that, the school just went into lockdown, and we all through it was a shooter. I was by the door of my classroom with a knife (it was a bio lab class) ready to stab someone.

[[8th] Wise]

It was Austin, not Houston, I'm frankly disappointed in you, comrade.

[Pornska]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy Bunny

No, actually, you'd probably find a nice place to hide until it all blew over. Maybe, if you were gutsy you'd hang out and help over people to get under cover. Maybe, if you were in the middle of it, you'd be really gutsy and get injured people out or do something like this guy.

Let's get real...

I agree with fuzzy, it's a lot easier to say that you will rather die in your heroic assault on the hitman with a broom when your in your save and comfortable home then when such a event is really occuring right outside your door.

I would personally jump/climb/lower myself out of the first room insight, and I would advice other people to do so as well. I'd go against advice and tell other people to NOT hide in the building as the chances of you getting corned by the Hitman are bigger and if the guy really wants to get inside the class room, he will ( a report said that some students blocked a door when the saw the gunman approching, the gunman tried to open up the door but couldn't and responded so by shooting trough the door ) get inside.

I'd say; get out of the building as quickly as possible, and leave the heroics up the the Swat officer with the kevlar vest and the Mp5 machinegun.

In the chance that you do get confronted with the Gunman, you could always stand up and fight, but I think this would only serve as a last-resort measure.

[Kruder]

I think %90 of people who are facing a maniac with a SMG/AR in his/her hands would simply either pass out,freeze or run like hell.The first two is more probable imo.

My personal experience:back in 2004 i had an arguement with a man in a bar, i was about to punch him in the face but he said "i have 14 more friends with me right here" and i was like "WTF?Will he show me his cellphone or something" instead he showed me something hidden inside his coat(yup just like in the movies) and i was literally paralyzed after seeing that pistol.Even it is nothing compared to what those poor ppl experienced

[Real-BadSeed]

I think large campuses like this should have atleast one, or a couple of, armed "fast response" officers, permanently stationed. Like air marshalls on airplanes. Might have saved a few lives if they had.

It hard to say how people will react in a situation like this. But the words "Lets roll" spring to mind. So anyone is as likey to be a hero, as they are to be frozen with fear.
The same person may act one way in one circumstance and another way the next. It really depends on your state of mind at the time.