All symptoms of dementia, which may have been why his sentence was ultimately commuted. The stiff initial sentence was to placate the media. Under Volpone's Law, he'd have been allowed to have guns, though. Ah, the ever-reliable eyewitness. How many of them later filed lawsuits against the City for negligence? (As they should have, BTW, since the street was "blocked off" with nothing more than one of those wooden "Police Line Do Not Cross" barriers. Since then it's been blocked by concrete barriers and a police cruiser.) The entire event took place in a matter of seconds. Weller's car drove through a street filled with farmer's market booths and several hundred meandering pedestrians. Anyone who saw anything saw a blur of moving metal and flying bodies. Guessing "intent" out of that was simply guessing and a desire to see themselves on TV. The very fact that you're still arguing that an old man with symptoms of dementia set out that morning with the intention of stopping at the post office and then killing as many pedestrians as he could is, again, a mental health issue, and not on his part.
Mostly yea. Manslaughter is also used when gross negligence leads to a death. The manslaughter conviction was mainly based on his age and the ability of the defense lawyer to play on that. The jury agreed, but didn't want to sentence an elderly guy to death, which any imprisonment would have resulted in. There was plenty of testimony and evidence to indicate this was a willful act. His sentence was voided to probation based on his age alone. The judge said were it not for his age he would have been sent to prison. No doubt that the shooter this past week was making his intent loud and clear. Um no. As a convicted felon he would not have been allowed to own any. Among the evidence (not eye witness attacks) was his path of travel, those he hit, and interestingly those items he chose to avoid and not hit. In "just a matter of seconds" he was able to pick and chose his path quite well. The dementia is a "geesh, he was an old guy" mental game for some to make themselves feel better.
Well, that's a relief. Again, how many of those people were involved in the, to date, $21 million in lawsuits? It's amazing what you can "see" in 10 seconds when you think you can collect on it. Except that his behavior was identical to the behavior he evidenced in the 2003 incident - he was disoriented and confused. A family member should have confiscated the car keys then. They didn't. The DMV doesn't screen for dementia. As far as they were concerned, he passed the vision test, paid his renewal fee, and off he went. I know plenty of 80-somethings who can drive, and drive well. They're not suffering from dementia. The longer I listen to the Gunforge "arguments," the more I wonder how many 40-somethings might suffer from a particular, narrow type of mental dysfunction around their object of worship. Only in your bizarre little worldview could this conversation have taken place: Russell Weller: Honey, I'm going to the post office. Then I'm gonna see how many pedestrians I can kill at the farmer's market. Mrs. Weller: That's nice, dear. Can you stop at Von's on the way home? We need bread. Keep arguing that his intent was the same as Zawahri's. You're making an excellent case for the opposition.
Keep dodging and weaving. You're showing your true colors. Weller did display depraved indifference. He showed that his was a premeditated act. He did kill more people in that manner than Zawahri. There is no excuse for either. The point is, its not the method, its the individual. But like I said, keep dancing around that.
Wow. Just...wow. I'm aware that you've misspelled "ridiculous," and you're very fond of the word "hate."
In another update, a note was found on the shooter's body, in which he apologized for killing his father and brother and hoped someone would look after his mother. Not sure what type or degree of mental illness that indicates, but summing up: A juvenile record of violence and hospitalization for same which meant he could not own guns for seven years. The seven years ended in 2011. Yesterday's report indicated he'd bought the gun parts separately and assembled it himself. No indication of whether he continued to receive treatment for his mental illness or, as is usual in these cases, went through the 6-12 psychiatric sessions covered by his parents' insurance, if any, took meds for x-number of months, and then returned to his "normal" life, to the apparent indifference of the mother with whom he lived, although the fact that he waited until she was out of the country says something. Trying to protect her, or just didn't want her to try to stop him? It's fair to say he's emblematic of hundreds of thousands of individuals in the same situation. Judging from the silence, members of Gunforge are apparently individually confident that "If he came at me, I could take him out." Therefore, the details are of no significance.
I fully support full background checks and tests to exercise the right to own a firearm. As long as we can do the same to exercise any other right...like free speech for people like writers and "news people". Don't forget that test for the right to vote...with questions tougher than "What letter is after the candidates name".
I don't know, how many deaths do you blame Bush for? He didn't take over by force. How many times have words incited people into riots that caused deaths?
G is completely right that our mental health needs immediate improvement. Back in HS, when I was covered by Kaiser, I usually had to wait a month in between counseling sessions. That's a hell of a lot of time for someone that may be suicidal or homicidal to possibly act on that impulse. Plus the fact that, assuming one's provider is a bit more competent than mine was and can get weekly appointments, those 6 to 12 sessions covers maybe three months, top. For a good number of people, they've barely begun to break the surface in that amount of time.
If the method in which the killer kills is irrelevant, the method you defend yourself from the killer is irrelevant. But if the killer has an Abrams Tank, you'll find that its not irrelevant. Ultimately, this is a patent and transparent lie. Motive, means, opportunity. You need all three, and if the means is one of 270 million firearms hanging around, then its a lot easier. There were no mass killings by firearms at the time of the Constitutional convention because the means weren't sufficient.
Hmmm, let's see...what's the difference between the words spoken by the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth and, say, your words? Easy way to test it: Start a war this afternoon. And...go. Offhand I'd say "Not nearly as many times as bullets fired into a crowd have caused death," but feel free to provide stats to refute that.
Right fucking there was the chance to nip this shit in the bud. Had him locked up, let the little bastard go free. Don't wail to me about shooting sprees and dead kids if you're not willing to take advantage of exactly this sort of opportunity. You don't tailor society to these individuals. You remove them from society.
Yes, Sentinel has initiated an intelligent discussion, and I intend to follow through if he's willing. If you intend to try to divert attention to yourself, you'll have to try harder.
By all means, follow through with that intelligent discussion. Just keep in mind that I'll be watching, and will pimp-slap you each and every time you reinterpret a post the way you did there.
