Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!panix!.POSTED.panix2.panix.com!not-for-mail
From: jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: "NASA to study "city-killer" asteroid as odds of hitting Earth go up"
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2025 17:24:48 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: Public Access Networks Corp.
Message-ID: <vot710$ofs$1@reader2.panix.com>
References: <pan$18f58$fd2f9acf$9927e7c9$8db5a7ba@cpacker.org> <sfh1rj17bhcuv2epvjnu9tr6fflui7oifm@4ax.com> <14a1b8bd-e83f-663d-dd4b-89cb32d2bbf3@example.net> <k444rjt5pivda5hv2dk37r9tg23s12udvf@4ax.com>
Injection-Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2025 17:24:48 -0000 (UTC)
Injection-Info: reader2.panix.com; posting-host="panix2.panix.com:166.84.1.2";
	logging-data="25084"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@panix.com"
X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test77 (Sep 1, 2010)
Bytes: 3844
Lines: 64

In article <k444rjt5pivda5hv2dk37r9tg23s12udvf@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Sat, 15 Feb 2025 22:32:11 +0100, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>On Sat, 15 Feb 2025, Paul S Person wrote:
>>
>>>> But surely in the US you must be able to find the very best education when
>>>> it comes to how to handle a gun? It's an invaluable life skill! =)
>>>
>>> The Army taught me.
>>
>>That's fascinating! Did you ever kill anyone? How come you choose the army as
>>your employer?
>
>It is part of Basic Training. And it was in 1969. There was this Draft
>going on at the time.
>
>I managed to /not/ get sent into a combat zone. And weapon useage was
>strictly controlled in non-combat zones.
>
>>>> On a sad note, I think about how many lives could have been saved in the
>>>> recent swedish school shooting if only the students and/or teachers had
>>>> guns of their own. Then probably only 1 or 2 students would have died. =(
>>>
>>> I'm not familiar with the specific situation, but two things occur:
>>> 1) If everybody is shooting, how are the Police supposed to take out
>>> only the bad guys? It's a lot easier when there is a clear difference
>>> between shooters and victims.
>>
>>Easy! If they would shoot the shooter, the police would not even have
>to get to
>>the place, so the problem will not arise.
>
>You are missing the point: if you 30 3rd-graders all firing at random,
>they will likely /all/ be dead very quickly. That the shooter dies as
>well is no consolation, as it deprives the public of the satisfaction
>of a trial.
>
Oddly, I have work-related experience with a similar scenario that
worked out a lot better than yours because of the lack of crazy
up here. Incel angry at pronouns decided to murder a prof during 
class, two students jumped to the prof's defense while other students
attacked the incel. As this was Canada and not Heehawistan, the 
incel had a knife, the students and prof were bare-handed, and 
the other students had chairs. People were traumatized and injured
but nobody died. I am certain it would have been much worse if 
Canada was the sort of place than handed out guns like candy to 
any clearly deranged maniac.

I am very happy he didn't have a gun because mistakes were made and
I ended up two metres from him, between him and every exit from the
room he was in. With a gun, he might have shot his way or taken 
hostages. As it was, I didn't even get lightly stabbed to death. 

I wouldn't have credited the plastic chairs in UW classrooms as
being particularly efficacious weapons but they seem to have been.
By the time I ran into him, he was bleeding, bruised, and morose. 

-- 
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll