Aurora Colorado Violence

I was reading the reports on the news channel just now, and hadn't put your location and the news reports together Phat.It's a truly awful event - there are unconfirmed reports at the moment of a 3 month old baby being amongst the wounded.I suspect you know the cinema in question, and it must bring it home all the more strongly.The victims and their families have my deepest sympathies.

I am sure that it will have a huge impact on everyone in your community, for years to come.This tragedy will, naturally enough, raise some questions, and being the community that we are et EvC, I am sure that we will want to debate those questions.And, (also given the community that we are at EvC), I hope that we might want to postpone such debate for 24 hours, out of respect.

Well, first of all, we do need to go through the trial. I know they've caught him, I know the evidence we've seen in the media seems overwhelming, I know it's been reported that his flat was booby-trapped, etc, but it is important for due process to take place. Niceties, perhaps, but important ones.However, if we assume he is found guilty, I am personally still against the death penalty. It's hard to maintain a deterrence argument, when your future perpetrator is highly likely to be deranged - and as a society, I still like to feel that we are better than that.I do understand the desire to put people to death, if they themselves commit murder, but to preserve our own aspirations at civilization, and to prevent even one innocent person being put to death, I would still cast my vote not to have a death penalty.

I don't know whether the reports over here are accurate, but I understand that one of the weapons used was an AR-15 assault rifle.We don't get a great deal of debate in the UK over the detail of gun control, but a member of the public legally being able to buy an assault rifle does raise the eyebrow quite high.What rationale do the NRA and other opponents of gun control offer, in support of the public being able to buy assault rifles ? (As distinct from more general rationales, in relation to pistols/single shot rifles and firearms in a general sense).

Thanks - educating myself a little more now. The civilian AR-15 is apparently only capable of firing one round for each pull of the trigger.I had misunderstood "semi-automatic" - I had thought it meant firing three rounds per burst, as distinct from a continuous burst until the magazine ran out of ammunition.

Aah ! My education continues.Bump firing is distinguished technically from fully automatic fire, I take it ?