Netherlands: Catastrophe in shopping mall

[seamusTX]

In a suburb of Amsterdam today a lunatic opened fire with what was described as an automatic weapon in a mall, killing six people and wounding eleven others before fatally shooting himself in the head.

The shooter, who was not identified so far, was described as a blond man in his 20s.

No motive is known.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42508543/ns ... ws-europe/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

While weapons are tightly controlled in the Netherlands (probably similar to the state of New York), they are readily available in the black market.

- Jim

[WildBill]

"You hear about this sort of thing happening at American schools and you think that's a long way away," said Rob Kuipers, 50, a project manager. "Now it's happened here in the Netherlands."

"... and I see him going by with a big machine gun."

I guess the mass shootings that happen in the U.S. are reported in the news all over the world.

[seamusTX]

Any time three or more people are shot in one incident in the U.S. it is on hundreds of news sites around the world within hours.

- Jim

[WildBill]

Any time three or more people are shot in one incident in the U.S. it is on hundreds of news sites around the world within hours. - Jim

I wonder if most Americans know or care how this type of news coverage adversely affects the image of the United States throughout the world.

[seamusTX]

The death toll is now seven. The shooter was "known to police," which is a typical European way of saying that he had run-ins or arrests but not convictions.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... _death.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two people were shot April 2 in the same town, which is quite a crime wave for the Netherlands.

- Jim

[ELB]

...I wonder if most Americans know or care how this type of news coverage adversely affects the image of the United States throughout the world.

Count me in the "don't much care" category. My time abroad taught me that when you are the big dog on the planet, all the little dogs living in your shadow develop feelings of inferiority, even if (or perhaps, especially if) it is the big dog who is holding the wolf -- or the bear -- at bay. They will find all kinds of secondary stuff to yip about, whether it is guns, fast food, SUVs, languages, treating military exercises as practice for war instead of camp-outs, etc. (Note -- you will also find this at the root of the Arab/Muslim hostility to the West)

Mass shootings happen abroad as well, and are not exactly rare, even in allegedly well-behaved European countries. I think it was Kopel or Lott who documented this in one of their papers on mass shooting event. Europeans like to snipe at us for individual citizens killing each other and call us violent. They tend to overlook that throughout history they have killed far more of their own citizens, they just use their own governments, police forces, and armies to do so. Much more efficient to have the state do it.

[WildBill]

...I wonder if most Americans know or care how this type of news coverage adversely affects the image of the United States throughout the world.

Count me in the "don't much care" category. My time abroad taught me that when you are the big dog on the planet, all the little dogs living in your shadow develop feelings of inferiority, even if (or perhaps, especially if) it is the big dog who is holding the wolf -- or the bear -- at bay. They will find all kinds of secondary stuff to yip about, whether it is guns, fast food, SUVs, languages, treating military exercises as practice for war instead of camp-outs, etc. (Note -- you will also find this at the root of the Arab/Muslim hostility to the West)

Mass shootings happen abroad as well, and are not exactly rare, even in allegedly well-behaved European countries. I think it was Kopel or Lott who documented this in one of their papers on mass shooting event. Europeans like to snipe at us for individual citizens killing each other and call us violent. They tend to overlook that throughout history they have killed far more of their own citizens, they just use their own governments, police forces, and armies to do so. Much more efficient to have the state do it.

I don't want to hijack SeamusTx's thread so I have started a new thread:
viewtopic.php?f=83&t=44017&p=532483#p532483" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[stroo]

Had to laugh at the description of the killer as a "blond". Being of Dutch heritage, I can tell you that half of the Dutch are blond and by Texas standards 75% of us are blond.

[seamusTX]

I suspect that "blond" was a code word for "not a Mideast or African immigrant." In fact, the shooter turned out to be a native and resident of the town.

Please excuse my bluntness.

- Jim

[stroo]

Probably right about the code word.

[WildBill]

Probably right about the code word.

I guess they have PC in the media in the Netherlands too.

[seamusTX]

A report on this incident was released today, though not yet made public in English (if it ever will be).

The shooter was mentally ill and had been involuntarily committed. Nevertheless he somehow got a license for three weapons that he used in the shooting. None was automatic.

Apparently one man who knew the shooter had information that he was legally obligated to tell the police, and did not. That man is liable for prosecution.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 0a03c89e4c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/bulletin/man-k ... oting-plan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim