welcome to New America!

[Redcoat]

@Speedy Cicada: yeah i know I just wanted to emphasize on the airsoft bit.

@NewB: Well I gather he was going to buy it, or he had already wasted a few by plinking in his 'yard. I'd say he was probably waiting for them.

[piratesover40]

I'm all for the kid. But what was his age? To legally own a long gun here in good ol' Amerika you have to be 18 to own a pistol you have to be 21 no matter if his mom did buy it he just can't go walking around with them unless he is hunting.

[mega_swordman]

I am going to have to go with the police here on this one. Yes, they did over exagerate (how one person with BB guns could take over the world is beyond me Spuddin ) And yes, they are simply "toys". However, when someone starts collecting replica firearms (they look like firearms) in such large quantities, plus has other tools for more destruction like a book on making bombs, the police are correct to worry. I'm sure the kid will be discharged soon and be sent to counseling. Plus, this isn't enough of a case to have BB guns banned, so we have no real reason to be worried about the safety of our BB guns.

[ShowNoMercy]

I just thought of something similar to this happened in my town, a couple of little kids were out playing with airsoft guns styled after AKs and a neighbor called the cops and the two kids were arrested. I don't think they were charged but the cops pulled up and had guns out on these to kids who were probably around 14 or 15.

More gun laws will mean that my house will be moved up on the family's most likely to stage a coup

[goose_man]

Police found a 9 mm assault rifle, air guns, hand grenades, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks at the boy's home Wednesday, prosecutors said. They found no ammunition for the most dangerous weapon, the assault rifle.

The boy had talked about launching a school attack, authorities said.

Well, the bomb-making book is not illegal, neither are violence filled notebooks. Even if he talked about school violence and shootings excessively, that's called freedom of speech unless, of course, he says he'll do it.
In that case, saying you will kill someone is not a crime (except for saying it about one particular person), unless you attempt to do it.

If he was under-age and had real guns (which the police allege), then he should be charged with that crime, possesing an illegal firearm; the police mentioning things that aren't actual crimes, and are just propaganda, is just an attempt to bias the potential jury if a trial was had.

-goose_man

[Spuddin]

i agree with most of u guys but let me correct myself, i was only pissed at the fact that they would take a pic of all his airsoft guns and call them a large weapon stockpile. the airsoft guns should have never been mentioned, just the real gun and nade etc. yes i would want him checked out too if he made threats about a school shooting.

[paaiyan]

I'm kind of on the fence here. The first time I heard the story, all they said was a large cache of weapons and they showed the picture, I'm thinking to myself, how did this kid amass such a large stockpile? Then I heard they were mostly airsoft. So now I know about the guns, the knives, the bomb book, the notebooks. None of the stuff is illegal as far as I can tell. I think the kid is a definite candidate for a serious psychological evaluation based on what I've heard of the notebooks, but as for arrested, not so much.

EDIT: Now I read another couple sites that say there was also a .22 handgun and .22 rifle bought by the parents, but were stored at anothe rfriends house. The kid also told investigators that he was planning an attack, though one may not have been imminent. His myspace also apparently had videos paying tribute to the Columbine shooters. Now I'm thinking the arrest was justified.

[Hubb]

I would agree with the cops here. They had every right to be suspicious of this kid. And, yes, paranoia did go up after 9 / 11, but was it not expected? As far as the airsoft guns go, I think that had more to do with the media than the cops.

Oh, and goose_man, saying you will kill someone IS a crime. It called terroristic threats.

The kid definitely has mental issues, as well. Anyone planning on doing something like this has to have some sort of mental instability.

[goose_man]

Saying you will kill someone is not a terroristic threat. The threat must relate to terrorism to be a terroristic threat. If a man says he'll kill another man who slept with his wife, that is not a terroristic threat. It is very debateable whether or not a school shooting is an act of terrorism; a lot depends on intent. If he intends to go through the school and get revenge on specific people then that's not terrorism. If he goes with the purpose to kill and cause mahem, then it might be.

-goose_man

[Hubb]

Terroristic threats is not necessarily relating to terrorism as most picture it. If someone threatens to kill another, would not the victim feel a bit of terror? Is that not the purpose of terrorism, to strike terror in others?

As far as shooting up a school, if a kid goes to school with the purpose of seeking revenge, then shoots one person, just one, is not the whole school in terror? I would be.

Take the latest shooting for example (I believe it was in Oklahoma). Two adults and two kids were shot. Maybe they were targets of this kid, maybe they weren't. I don't know. Either way, a girl was trampled and sent to the hospital. She was trampled because the WHOLE SCHOOL was in terror.

In other words, if threatening to kill someone, or shoot up a school, is not an act of terrorism, what is?

[thespeedycicada]

goose man please stop defending this physco please school shootings are no more of a joke than a guy saying he will blow up a plane and also has the resources to do so he had all those airsoft guns which is abnormal but not be worried about unless of course ohh i dunno the perfect person for a school shooting/killing and one who has the resources to do so this is not about "he's fine because the bomb book is legal " its about he is obviously a physco who was planning on KILLING someone,not offending some person because he has allot of toy guns.It is also not about if it is "terrorism" or not why do you take school shootings so lightly? do you have any idea to know how terrifing it must be to sit in school of all places then have some crazy idiot you're age start KILLING you and you're classmates just think about it.

[ShowNoMercy]

Its sad how much the world has been changed in the past few years. Fear continues to cloud peoples view points, now I am not saying that his motives may have been for the wrong reasons, but I have a lot of shotguns and rifles in my house and I admit that I get angry sometimes but that doesn't mean I will go out and shoot people. I think that the media and our government have successfully made us into paranoid citizens and the slightest mention of guns makes us jittery. I mean this whole site and its members would be labeled as dangerous and a threat to society. Anyway, sorry to ramble but I still believe in the good ole constitution which gives me the right of free speech and the right to bear arms.

[goose_man]

Actually, when I was in ninth grade our school had a scare; someone found a live cartridge in the hallway. Everyone was terrified and the school was shut down for a while. Anyway, I'm not defending him, I'm just saying that saying you'll kill someone is not a terroristic threat, sure it may invoke terror, but so does robbing someone at gunpoint- is that terrorism?

I don't take school shooting lightly, I just try not to let my emotions and fears cloud my judgement. I want him to be charged and convicted of any crime that the objective, relevent, legally gathered evidence proves his guilt beyond a resonable doubt.

Anyway, I don't condone his actions and I just think that we don't really know what's what just becasuse of police and prosecutors statements. Let's not forget that the guy who was originally publically accused of the Oklamhoma City bombings by police and prosecutors turned out to be innocent; luckily they caught the real guy soon after, but there are countless examples of innocence only being proven after 20 or so years in jail, and even after excecutions were carried out.

I think before we condeme him, or even call him names, we need to hear his side, and let things play out. I don't condone or take school schootings lightly, nor do I think that this kid is probably innocent, I think we just need to be objective and realise things such as the number of airsoft guns he owned is irrelevnt.

-goose_man

[Hubb]

This is not whether or not he is guilty or innocent. It is whether or not the Police possibly saved lives. But yeah, if he is guilty, he is guilty.

Now, as far as the airsoft guns, no where in the link did it say he had airsoft guns (maybe this was a mis - read). It says air guns. I have a pellet rifle that is capable of 1200fps (yes, it has been checked). It is definitely capable of injuring or killing someone.

Besides. What the hell is a 14 year old doing with an assault rifle? (It being 9mm, it was probably a sub-machine gun)He didn't have the ammo but, since this type of ammo is so common, it is very easy to obtain.

I'm sorry if I offend someone but I feel no sympathy for the kid. Maybe he was mentally disturbed and wanted revenge on those bullies. Wasn't homeschooling good enough to solve that problem?

Oh, yeah. I guess I missed something somewhere but where was the thought at that his mom furnished him these weapons?

[ShowNoMercy]

But he didn't do anything! Innocent until proven guilty seems to be lost these days.