Mass shooting in our modern times began in Texas on August 1, 1966, Warning: sad and tragic. .

[Stuart G]

.......................Warning: Very Sad and Tragic..........................

...Mass shootings have been around a long time. But the modern era of shootings began on August 1, 1966. That was 51 years ago. A fellow named Charles Whitman climbed atop of a Tower in Texas after he killed his wife, and started shooting at people who passed by the tower. I was in college then, and the news coverage was horrific. Eventually, they got him and shot him dead. But the idea of killing other people in a horrific way was brought out again.
..Kennedy's assassination was a few years earlier, but this Texas Tower shooting, filled the airwaves again. And so it began again. What brought this up? Today in Thailand there was another Mass Shooting. Whose fault are these Mass Shootings?... I don't know.
.....But this happens over and over. On October 1, 2017, 58 people were killed, hundreds wounded when a fellow went to a Las Vegas hotel, got a room on a top floor with a view and started shooting and killing people. Over 51 years later the story is seen again. Why? I don't know. Guns have purpose. To Kill. I really found it hard to believe this was happening again. But it did. I remember the Texas Tower shooting, and I remember the Las Vegas shooting 2 years 4 months ago.
...If guns were not easily available, would these shootings and those in between those 51 years have happened? I don't know. But guns and rifles are easily available in the U.S.A. What is to be done?
Not many mass shootings in Europe. Why? Is it hard to get a gun there? I am guessing it is, but I don't know. And I know that there are experts who do know. But all I do know is I wish it would stop.

[Ilsa]

1. I remember when Whitman was atop the University of Texas tower,

shooting at anyone he could see move beyond their cover to seek safety or medical care or help someone who had been shot. It was terrifying.

[Stuart G]

2. Yes, terrifying is the only word for it.

...These shootings are the very worst.. They kill people who just happen to be walking by. No involvement with the shooter. Horrific is another word. Why do these events happen? I don't know. Maybe someone at DU has an idea, but I don't.

[Ilsa]

3. I was hundreds of miles away, but seeing it on tv

Made me scared to go outside.

[Journeyman]

4. I remember Whitman. And I was witness to Kennedy, too . . .

Last edited Sun Feb 9, 2020, 03:48 AM - Edit history (1)

I was but a child, 9 years old, when Kennedy was murdered, but it struck a deep, resonant chord, and left me with an empty feeling that any public figure I would ever be close to could be taken in a wild act of senseless violence.

When Whitman struck such a short time later, it left a similar mark, only then I realized I was myself a potential victim as well.

The world hasn't felt quite the same in the years since, and the disquiet grows more clamorous with each passing event.

[Chemisse]

5. I was just 11 then, back when news was the most boring thing on tv.

But this made a big impression on me at the time. It was so shocking that such a thing could ever happen.

And then, a few decades ago, a couple of mail workers "went postal" and some other shootings occurred here and there.

And then there was Columbine.

And now it is commonplace.

[MFM008]

6. When they did

The autopsy on him he had a brain tumour.
No excuse but interesting.

[lpbk2713]

7. 49 killed and 53 wounded at the Pulse in Orlando 6-12-16

To this day it is still scary to think one person can cause all that horror.