Mass shooting in Phoenix AZ offices

[Mitchman]

Mass Shooting in Phoenix Office Building Hours After Gabrielle Giffords Testifies at Congressional Hearing on Gun Control

Multiple people have reportedly been shot inside an office complex in Phoenix just hours after former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to deliver a statement on the need for more gun control.
According to local police, as many as four people were shot inside an office belonging to a mortgage company, and the suspect — described as a white male in his 60s — has fled the scene.
Details concerning the victims' condition has not been released.
The scene remains active, and police have shut down several streets near the area where the shooting took place.
UPDATE: According to the latest casualty report from officials in Phoenix, the number of people injured in the incident has increased to 5, three of whom sustained life-threatening gunshot wounds.
Police told Fox 10 News that the shooter entered the office "looking for individuals," and the attack itself was preceded by "some sort of altercation."
Gabrielle Giffords' husband Mark Kelly was testifying before Congress at the time of the shooting, and briefly mentioned the event, saying, in part, "while we were having this hearing, and we certainly don't know the details, but in Phoenix, Arizona, there is another what seems to be possibly a shooting with multiple victims."

I don't know what the precentile of mass shootings in the states is, but good lord has this been a rocky year. Absolutely horrendous, and I fear for the worst here on out. The situation on a nationwide level is escalating far too quickly.

 

[Caitlin]

I'm sure there isn't a spike in shootings. Maybe a rise due to sick minded individuals who want their glory, but not a spike. The only reason we're hearing a lot more about these is because the media organizations and the government are at each others throats over the debate.

That said, I doubt this will have a large effect on the debate, and it seems people are trying to push for that (take a look at the wording of the article, then Giffords' husband shoehorning it into his statement). In general, people only seem to care when there's a high body count, and seem to care considerably more when it's children who were the victims. This won't really affect the American psyche or our culture for or against guns because it's not big enough of an event.

Still, it's depressing to hear. I hope those victims make it, the shooter is apprehended and he is dealt with fairly and justly.

 

[Kelleo]

Sigh...

Won't Congress EVER figure it out? It's not GUNS that need controlled, it's the people whose hands they fall into! They need to start getting better at busting illegal gun sales, make guns harder to obtain for civilians (but not so hard that responsible people can't get them) and to carry around for military troops and cops outside of work, that kind of thing.

Guns shouldn't be feared. They can save people's lives. Why do you think the police and military use them? Why do you think RESPONSIBLE people have them for protection? If anything, things like knives, clubs, and other such objects are more dangerous. You don't need a permit to buy or carry those. I can easily grab the butcher knife from the kitchen and stab someone if I wanted to. Of course I don't and wouldn't, though, this is just an example.

 

[Garren]

If anything, things like knives, clubs, and other such objects are more dangerous. You don't need a permit to buy or carry those. I can easily grab the butcher knife from the kitchen and stab someone if I wanted to. Of course I don't and wouldn't, though, this is just an example.

No, guns are still more dangerous. You can kill more people far quicker and easier with a gun than you could with a knife or a club. The Newtown shooting killed 26 people, the knife attack in China on the same day only wounded the kids.

Not to mention those items have uses beyond killing, whereas guns were made solely to kill (whether or not it's justified, of course, is your own opinion), but either way it's really a false comparison.

 

[Dorothy LaRouge]

Let's not go into the gun control debate in this thread, please. There's a thread in Nicoleta's Campaign Bus for exactly that purpose.

 

[Dralcax]

The problem is the media. They report the shootings all across the country, and half the mentally unstable people with guns get inspired.