Friday, October 01, 2010

UT Austin tragedy--Attempted suicide-by-cop?

This tragedy was all over the headlines, so no need for a blogger to comment immediately. This tragedy will obviously stimulate lots of debate over gun control. Unfortunately, for many of the authoritarians in our society, it will not trigger debate over the scope of Second Amendment rights, the lack of an empirical case for gun control, etc. Many will post how they hate guns, etc., etc., etc. and call for more laws, but never get around to mentioning the supreme law of the land, the implausibility of the arguments that more guns = more crime, and that criminals and those with violent intentions will obey gun laws, etc. Obviously, one cannot get a TX concealed carry permit for an AK-47, so whether or not the shooter had a concealed carry permit is not an issue. However, the TX legislature is starting to gear up and it will be an issue that I will be posting on in the future. Finally, FWIW, at this point, it suggest to me that this tragedy may have started out as an attempted suicide-by-cop. It seems the shooter could have shot others if he really wanted to. It does not appear that hurting others was the motive. The fact that he ultimately shot himself suggests that his own death was the ultimate goal. However, why do it in a public place where there is sure to be an armed response by police unless he has the hope the police will shoot him. Perhaps the shooter changed his plan because he feared being taken alive and or just wounded which would defeat his wish to die. We may never know what triggered this tragic incident, but at this point, this seems a plausible theory. For some recent news on this see LINK.

1 comment:

  1. I totally agree with your assessment about the shooter's possible intent. He had the time, opportunity and weapon to cause numerous injuries. The coordinated response by the university police, Austin's finest and other LE agencies is to be commended. But had the shooter decide to hurt anyone, these officers' could not have stopped the initial carnage. It's for this reason I support concealed carry on campus. An assailant's threat is just as real and demanding on campus as it is off. But yet HDL employees and students are forced to leave their defensive weapon at home. This leaves them vulnerable for the major part of their lives working and learning in the halls of academia.

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