More gun deaths, but I guess there's nothing whatsoever we can do about it, so we might as well give up. Fortunately, I didn't know any of the victims.

What is it about the male psyche that makes the first option to go for a gun. Look crap happens in life. It's no coincidence that most killings are done by men. Men need to figure out another solution to their issues in life than the gun option. When a gun is your first option, there's rarely an opportunity for a Plan B. The Gun Option will most certainly ruin the rest of your day and perhaps your life. I'm sure that George Zimmerman wishes that he had continued on his way to the store instead of following the black guy in the hoodie who was minding his own business.

Our society has gotten more violent and you guys are just going to have to figure out what it is that makes you react now and think later. I can tell you that some of the reactions that I have received in the past here on this message board would convince me that we have some shoot first, think later, folks within our own midst. It's not always the crazy guy down the block. We've met the enemy and it is US. (Well I'm a woman but you know what I mean).

It's not the gun's fault. It was only doing what it is designed to do.

Only the MPs are armed

I knew a fair number of guys who did only one tour in Vietnam and the negative effects that had on nearly all of them. And I've read that current active military are discouraged from seeking psychological treatment/counseling with the warning it will kill their chances for promotion. And the constant war mentality continues.

Though nothing's official yet, so take that with a grain of salt.

appears to be murder-suicide.

more details, and a link to the news briefing given a hour ago:


http://www.wtop.com/120/3259526/3-dead-at-Marine-Base-Quantico

Many studies have documented the links between Vietnam veterans, PTSDs and domestic violence. If one sees that much domestic violence after one tour of Nam, how much more severe the PTSDs must be after 2, 3 or 4 tours of Iraq/Afghanistan.

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey found:
about 1/3 of veterans with PTSDs perpetrated violence in the preceding year (Jordan et al., 1990);
PTSD veterans were 2-3 times more likely to perpetrate than those without PTSD;
more severe PTSD symptoms were associated with more severe domestic violence
(Orcutt et a., 2003)
Over 1/2 of a group of veterans being treated for PTSD reported Domestic Violence (Hiley-Young et al., 1995).
More severe PTSD is associated with more severe DV (Byrne & Riggs, 1996, Beckham et a., 1997)

www.familyofavet.com/files/CDPpresDaveDVandPTSD.ppt
There's an interesting chart, titled "Battlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but may cause you problems if not adapted when you get home."
Buddies (cohesion) vs. Withdrawal
Accountability vs. Controlling
Targeted Aggression vs. Inappropriate Aggression
Tactical Awareness vs. Hypervigilance
Lethally Armed vs. “Locked and Loaded” at Home
Emotional Control vs. Anger/Detachment
Mission OPSEC vs. Secretiveness
Individual Responsibility vs. Guilt
Non-Defensive Driving vs. Aggressive Driving
Discipline and Ordering vs. Conflict

I left my house a while ago and there was still no information on the who and why. I'm guessing it's still that way or I would have seen an update.

It is usually illegal to have a firearm on a military base unless it is for official duties or you are taking it to or from the armory. Some may allow them in housing, not sure.

Firearms are usually always illegal on school grounds as well except for law enforcement officers.

Gunmen just don't care about a law prohibiting firearms from a particular area. What it does tell them is that it's very unlikely their targets will be armed.

You just asked why they should be any safer and I was just saying they have similar prohibitions against firearms in place. But we know those laws aren't any protection against a potential shooter, they don't care about adding another misdemeanor or felony to the list when they are going to murder people and then kill themselves.

What those laws do is prevent lawful firearms carriers from carrying bin those areas which does reduce the risk of accidental discharge, leaving a weapon lying around, etc.

The ones where disagreements among "good guys" escalate into gunfire or where a few well meaning people perhaps compare they're guns, and one of them either gets shot or they shoot an innocent bystander. In other words, the more common shooting situations, not the rare homicidal, suicidal gunman.

You can't judge gun-free zones by their prevention of so called "random shootings," which are the rarer cases. It wasn't what they were designed to do.

A few other points, the military, it seems to me, will not be persuaded to allow personnel to carry arms on bases after this. They will not buy the argument that it will make the base safer. They didn't buy the argument that a better armed Iraq would have been "freer" and safer after "liberation" either. Neither did the conservative administration, nor the State Department.

BTW, the one encounter I had in my life with military police in my life didn't encourage me about their professionalism with guns.

And the Corps has responded very well to that: complete stand down of all 60mm mortars until they figure out what the hell happened.

But thanks for participating!