News Gunman kills several in west Cumbria(UK)

[Notebook]

We appear to have a gunman on a rampage here, reports of three fatalaties arond the county.

This is uncommon, we have the usual crime and "domestic" gun events, but not this random shootings.

Hopefully he will be caught soon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10214661.stm


N.

 

[AirSimming]

Hopefully he will be caught soon.

And hopefully dead.

 

[Urwumpe]

And hopefully dead.

No. Hopefully alive, so he can regret his actions before he dies. Evading justice by death is a gift, no punishment.

 

[Xyon]

We don't have the death penalty for murder in this country, nor have we since 1969.

 

[Notebook]

Looks academic now, police say they have (possibly)found his body.
I'm not a supporter of the death penalty though. Not for humanitarian or deterrrent reasons, just the usual miss-carriage of justice one.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

We don't have the death penalty for murder in this country, nor have we since 1969.

We still have a state that has capital punishment in its laws...the state laws are just overruled by the federal laws here, which is why the law is just idling around and can't be applied, but changing the state laws would cost serious money for some more legal security...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesse#Death_penalty

---------- Post added at 03:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

Looks academic now, police say they have (possibly)found his body.

Aw...cowards.

 

[vonneuman]

No. Hopefully alive, so he can regret his actions before he dies. Evading justice by death is a gift, no punishment.

But him being killed makes us feel better knowing that a monster like that is not in this world.
Personally I am against the death penalty only because in some cases you may never know for sure if the person was actually guilty. My state, Illinois, as put a hold on executions because of a case were a guy was executed and later found innocent after a review of the evidence. However, I still believe that there are some people who should not be in this world, like this gunman.

 

[Urwumpe]

But him being killed makes us feel better knowing that a monster like that is not in this world.

Personally I am against the death penalty only because in some cases you may never know for sure if the person was actually guilty.

Both requires you to have a reliable litmus test to say that somebody is guilty. Sometimes that is easy, often it is not. Even if you have 90% certainty that somebody was the killer, you have 10% certainty that you accuse the wrong.

Also, I personally think that being forced to be alive in a way that you don't want to be is the harder punishment. Death is only cruel for the innocent (and a gift for the guilty) and actually only gives people a legal way to be criminals themselves, without having to feel guilty for their actions. That some US Christians are among the loudest supporters is IMHO the best sign of them actually worshiping the devil.

 

[Cerebus]

We don't have the death penalty for murder in this country, nor have we since 1969.

There are actually still at least three crimes for which the death penalty is possible in the UK, Piracy on the high seas, High treason, and Blasphemous Libel, as well as a number of statues which although no longer recognised, are, as yet, not repealed.

For instance in the town statutes of some northern English towns, it is the duty of all townsmen to shoot dead any Scotsman in town after dark, with a Longbow.


However that being said, I have never agreed with the death penalty, it always seemed like judicial revenge, rather than a punishment, and there have been many cases where the conviction was unsound, leading to an innocent victim being killed for a crime they did not commit.

What baffles me most about the cumbria shootings, is that there appears no motive for them, no pattern, and no sense, this does not appear to be a case of an evil premeditated shooting spree.

What continues to bother me is, where the hell does a 52 year old taxi driver get a firearm and enough ammunition to do something like this?

 

[Notebook]

He appears to have shot three fellow taxi drivers, then driven around local villages, shooting people at random.
Twelve dead, twenty seven injured at the moment.


N.

 

[Xyon]

There are actually still at least three crimes for which the death penalty is possible in the UK

Hence why I qualified my statement with "for murder". The death penalty in the UK was completely abolished in 1998 when they dropped it for treason and piracy with treason.

That said, guys... this thread is not a death penalty debate, it's a news report. >.>

 

[AirSimming]

But him being killed makes us feel better knowing that a monster like that is not in this world.

Most spree killers luckily take the right decisions at the end anway, which is suicide.

 

[garyw]

There are actually still at least three crimes for which the death penalty is possible in the UK, Piracy on the high seas, High treason, and Blasphemous Libel, as well as a number of statues which although no longer recognised, are, as yet, not repealed.

I was under the impression that they had all been repealled during Tony Blairs regime.

For instance in the town statutes of some northern English towns, it is the duty of all townsmen to shoot dead any Scotsman in town after dark, with a Longbow.

That one has certainly been repealled!

What continues to bother me is, where the hell does a 52 year old taxi driver get a firearm and enough ammunition to do something like this?

You don't know the guys history. He may well have been legally allowed a firearm. He may have stolen it, he may have got it from a "bloke in a pub". Let the Police investigate and see what comes of it. They have a tough job to do as is.

One other thing to bear in mind, I know this guy has comitted a terrible crime but you have no idea what drove him to do it. There may well be some very serious reasons that he did - not to condone what he did but to put some context to it. This was a real person who had a life and who obviously when over the top for some reason.

That said, guys... this thread is not a death penalty debate, it's a news report. >.>

Quite right too as it'll only end in tears! I think it's safe to say that we each have own own opinions on this but I think it's best left out of this thread.

 

[T.Neo]

What continues to bother me is, where the hell does a 52 year old taxi driver get a firearm and enough ammunition to do something like this?

Or more worrying: where did he get a motive to commit such an act?

That said, guys... this thread is not a death penalty debate, it's a news report. >.>

Indeed...

That one has certainly been repealled!

Has it? Even if it has not, it would be as simple as to ignore it...

Apparently, in the same regions every man over 14 must engage in regular 2 hour longbow practice sessions... :rofl:

 

[Urwumpe]

Apparently, in the same regions every man over 14 must engage in regular 2 hour longbow practice sessions... :rofl:

This changed, because of the financial crisis of 1745, there is no longer a tax reduction if your children manage to hit a pole from 100 ft distance.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/TheLongbow.htm

 

[dgatsoulis]

Is it just me, or doesn't anyone else like to see a ":rofl:" smily on a thread about people getting killed?

I mean no disrespect (it was a quite funny comment) to the posters, but i believe the families of the victims deserve more.

 

[Urwumpe]

Sure they deserve more...but "it's a news report. >.>"

I think everybody here has its own way to deal with the bad news. Some by grief, others by distance.