"Active" shooter in Columbia Md mall, just breaking.

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Sure you did

That mall is midway between Baltimore and Washington, about 50 miles south of my town. Very large and popular upscale mall. I hope this ends less badly than some other recent incidents.

One thing is for sure: With Maryland's highly restrictive carry-permit system, there is no one there to intervene until the police arrive.

I wish this wasn't national news. All it does is create copycats.

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Back to back World War Champs.

Three dead now. One of them is near a gun & ammo. Still might be an active shooter.

I wish MD only used microstamped guns. Then this would have never happened.

Three shootings at universities and now one at a mall in one week. It sure isn't making it any better for gun owners...it's really sad!

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GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!

Preliminary report now is that the incident is over, with three people shot, including the shooter. This sounds more like a targeted killing, or a murder-suicide, than a random act of violence.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, knife owners ............

https://www.google.com/search?q=stab...ficial&tbm=nws

True, but the media doesn't seem to jump all over that as much as they do when guns are involved.

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GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!

OMG, my head is about to explode! The news-babe on Fox News Channel is doing an interview, and asking what can be done to assure people they are safe when shopping at a mall...as if shopping at a mall is a normally unsafe thing to do.

This is exactly how bad gun laws get enacted, this pie-in-the-sky notion that anytime something like this happens, we-just-gotta-do-somethin' to keep it from ever happening again.

There are about 325 million people in this country, and many of them own guns. There are very few shootings in proportion to the number of guns and gun owners...but none of these news people ever sees fit to point that out.

You are correct, and it is our job to remind them it's not a gun or knife problem, it's a nutjob problem.

There is a reason I don't go anywhere unarmed, and why any place I can't be armed is on my NFE list.

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NHI, 10-8.

Given the amount of press every one of these gets, the risk self-fulfills: The media keeps the concept of mass shootings in the forefront of every lunatic's mind.

I was listening, on the radio, to a phone interview with a jewelry store manager while they were still in lockdown. The reporter asked if they were safe the guy said oh yes we had an armed guard (being a jewelry store) here so we're fine. There were about 6 people in his store.
Interesting, and logical, having a gun nearby gave them a sense of security!
Steve W

Just read one of the reports on CNN, here's a phrase that just burns me up:

"shelter in place"

I will be damned before I would cower in some corner waiting to get shot, I don't know about the rest of us here but I'm headed out of any place ASAP when the shooting starts.

I think the human instinct is "fight or flight" and not "shelter in place"

Since we can't carry in NJ, fight is kind of out so that only leaves flight.

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Back to back World War Champs.

Prayers out for the family.

A bit off topic. Lots of talking heads on TV saying some stores are hiring off duty or retired cops in their stores for protection.

Good ideal.

Being a retired cop I'm gonna call Cabalas about a security job. I'll stand by the loading ramp checking when 22 ammo comes in. Guard it all the way to the check out stand and to my truck.

The shooter in Saturday's incident is a 19 year old, with no criminal record, who used a Mossberg 12-gauge that he purchased legally last month.

He apparently did not know his victims, a 21 year old woman (who has a 2 year old child), and a 25 year old man, who both worked at the store where the shooting took place.

The authorities used a robot to approach the shooter's body and check him out before they touched him...turns out he had a large quantity of ammo on him, as well as a couple of crude IEDs.

Very strange incident: still no word on a motive, although police reported today that the shooter kept a journal in which he wrote that he was unhappy with his life.

Lots of talk on the local news about mall security and safety, as if this kind of thing happens every day.

As terrible as this was, at least he didn't use an AR; that would have just added more fuel to the anti-gun fire...

I keep hearing this dramatic "large quantity of ammo" headline but I've yet to hear that defined. Does anybody know how many shotgun shells constituted a "large quantity" in this case? Reports are that he fired about 8 rounds, which basically means the gun was loaded. He had a backpack, which supposedly contained explosives, but I haven't heard how much ammo (other than "large quantity") or how it was carried being reported.

First of all is the problem of parenting. Since "MOM" left the nest as a necessity of todays need for two income earners, it seems that there are way too many troubled kids.

Add to the mix all of the violence that they are surrounded by in movies, music, video games etc. it is no wonder that they act out in this manner.

By and large, the parents of today are afraid of guns and don't teach their kids about shooting and safe gun handling.

Add to that our instant media and any troubled kid can become a world wide celebrity in an instant.

Then we have our wonderful medical community. My youngest daughter suffered some depression after her mom and I split up. The shrink prescribed Prozac as a means of help. A couple of years later, Prozac was found to cause depression. As they say in footbal, "Come on Man"

This kid could have taken his legally purchased shotgun and merely ended his own life, but he felt the need to take 2 innocent folks along with him. It appears that he did not know these individuals so jilted boyfriend does not seem to be the cause here.

When we understand why, we will be much closer to stopping this kind of incident.

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James Redfield
LM #497

That's a good point. Given the way the press dramatizes gun-related stories, he might not have had that much ammo. Just one of the many unanswered questions about this case...

I think a large part of the problem is that kids today are not "old enough to remember when........"

Have you seen the picture of the guy? A little bit loopy? Apparently a whole lot loopy.
Laws against guns, no laws against loopyness, it's even justified, legalized and popularized. Listen to the anti gun legislators-wild eyed and spooky voiced-telling the world about how crazy "gun owners" and NRA members are.

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Halfway and one more step

Why must we follow the lead of STUPID people & their personal agenda (using mass fear to further gun bans) when trying to find a reason for an illogical & purely emotional act. The reason is "a mental health issue" as in when someone can not control their emotions whether it be anger, prejudice, hate, lust, fear, or greed motivated.

We are searching for a litmus test for diagnosis & a magic pill for a cure & THERE ARE NONE!
Putting the blame on an inanimate object is just plain STUPID & counter productive to addressing the real problem.

I can not understand the act of suicide beyond simply stating it must be complete despair & admission of failure. Add the perp's ability to blame another for their failure & you have the recipe for these disasters.

lets see. Individual enters a mall with a shotgun. Passes by hundreds of people and goes to a specific store and shoots 2 prople and then shoots self. Screams Domestic Violence incident to me.

I read somewhere that the killer used to date the girl. Don't know if that is true or not, but it would make sense. The ex girlfriend is shopping with her new boyfriend and this nutjob goes crazy. Wouldn't be the first time and certainly won't be the last.

We're preaching to the choir. This type of string needs to be on the national press or airways, and it isn't. We need to stop talking to oruselves, and talk to the rest of the country.