Ohio High School Shooter was Bullied

[dude]

Huffington Post reports HERE that T.J. Lane was shy and targeted by bullies.

Why am I not surprised?.

[JamesSavik]

Why am I not surprised?.

Because we have been here before too often.

[Cole Parker]

The latest reports say the kid, Lang, was mentally disturbed, and that's the reason for the shootings, much more so than any vengeance. They now say he didn't even know any of the kids he shot, and didn't do it in retaliation, he was just shooting at random. That makes some sense as he didn't even attend the school where the event occurred.

This is more proof of the need to keep guns out of the hands of kids. I'd like to keep them out of the hands of adults, too.

C

[Chris James]

None of these shootings make any sense. I say the kids need comprehensive mental reconditioning and we ought to lock up the adults who own the guns. We go after the dealers when it comes to drugs, this should be no different.

[colinian]

There's a lot of conflicting information about this kid. I find it hard to believe that he didn't attend that school when so many of the students who did attend the school and were interviewed on TV knew him and referred to how he was quiet and had been continuously bullied..

Colin

[The Pecman]

The latest reports say the kid, Lang, was mentally disturbed, and that's the reason for the shootings, much more so than any vengeance. They now say he didn't even know any of the kids he shot, and didn't do it in retaliation, he was just shooting at random. That makes some sense as he didn't even attend the school where the event occurred.

But... he sat outside the school every day to pick up the bus. And he used to be friends with a girl who dated one of the (now dead) victims. I wonder if there's more to this story.

In reading the kid's web page, I have to say, he comes off as seriously, seriously disturbed. But I don't doubt he was bullied by somebody. Would we have any more compassion for him if he shot at people who did bully him, instead of just random people?

[JamesSavik]

None of these shootings make any sense. I say the kids need comprehensive mental reconditioning and we ought to lock up the adults who own the guns. We go after the dealers when it comes to drugs, this should be no different.

Then you would be locking me up.

As a member of an unpopular minority in an un-gay-friendly state, I chose to arm myself to the teeth.

[Chris James]

Then you would be locking me up.

As a member of an unpopular minority in an un-gay-friendly state, I chose to arm myself to the teeth.

Aw, James...I don't doubt you are responsible with your weapons. If you left guns and ammunition lying around unsecured then I would feel you are part of the problem. Perhaps we have just become too comfortable with loaded weapons and are losing sight of the fact that adolescents feel the gun makes the man and allows them to solve life's minor transgressions.

I could only wish we lived in a time where personal weapons were not necessary to defend our lives and property. You may have your Second Ammendment, but I think that any gun owner needs rigorous safety training to protect the rest of us. Most of the kids who commit these terrible crimes steal the guns from the adults in their lives. Shouldn't those adults be held accountable?

[E.J.]

But I don't doubt he was bullied by somebody

have a look at his father.....

[Merkin]

Guns, and weapons of any sort, are no more lethal than the person who wields them. Signed licenses and training programs notwithstanding, responsibility is not bestowed, it is learnt along with compassion and concern for humanity from early childhood on. Let us attend to rearing our children for anything can become a weapon.

[Gee Whillickers]

I'm not sure it's just the presence of guns, though that's obviously a factor. There's lots of guns up here in Canada. Lots. Yet this kind of thing is much rarer here for some reason. Now, the rules about properly storing and locking firearms are pretty clear, and this helps too. Also, the guns tend to be fewer handguns and more rifles, and are more heavily concentrated in rural rather than urban areas, so these too are factors. It's not simple, obviously.