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His grandmother said he was a disturbed child way back when he lived with her in the UK.
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<p>well, no wonder young ladies rebuffed him. they likely picked up on his oddness. plus, it sounds like he 'hit on girls" expecting a one-night-stand, rather than develop a relationship…which he probably was incapable of forming.</p>
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<p>If MOST guns are being used safely, as we are constantly being told, the relatively few incidences shouldn’t have much effect on insurance costs for the masses, should they?</p>
<p>I don’t really know the numbers. I’m not making a case for or against guns either way, I’m posting from the perspective that insurance, something that I agree is necessary in many circumstance, is a business in itself. In order for insurance to be able to make payouts when (unfortunately) needed, it must pass the total cost onto all the consumers. </p>
<p>I’m asking this from the perspective of who follows the rules and who doesn’t. Rule abiding people follow the law, and criminals don’t. This is the reasoning the police go after speeding motorists. Sure, it’s annoying to be a law abiding citizen and get a ticket, but they recognize that a certain percentage of people who don’t obey traffic laws also don’t obey other ones- and by picking up speeding motorists, they sometimes find people who are wanted for other things. </p>
<p>It’s true that you can’t get a driver’s license without insurance, and I asked my insurance agent how it is that there are so many uninsured drivers out there. They replied that the person will sign up for insurance on a monthly payment plan, and for a number of reasons- is not able to make the payments and continues to drive. </p>
<p>So, my assumption is that since people, like this shooter, don’t think the rules apply to them, will they do the same? Sign up for insurance, pay a month or two, and then drop the policy or go on a rampage like this? They won’t be paying regardless. I wonder if this won’t do much to deter them, but just raise the cost for people who do pay and have no intention of harming anyone. </p>
<p>Here is something I don’t understand… if he purchased the guns legally, shouldn’t it have been easy for the police to see that in his record last month when they were called to do the “welfare check” due to the disturbing videos? I keep reading in news reports about that visit, “Authorities did not find a history of guns…” </p>
<p>Doesn’t it seem to make sense that the police should have access to records like that? In this case, then, perhaps they could have put 2 and 2 together and followed up more carefully, even if he appeared calm and polite during the visit.</p>
<p>Why did they not know he’d been buying guns & ammo?</p>
<p>and I’m not discounting the reasons not to drive over the speed limit. It is dangerous and the police should monitor it. Just reporting the perspective of people who have been pulled over for a relatively minor or rare offense. </p>
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Well said. I’m sick of all of the “mentally ill” excuses too. Some people are just evil.
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<p>well, all mental illnesses are not the same, and each mental illness seems to have a spectrum. and a number of mental illnesses do have a delusional element, rage element and impulse control issues (not all, but some). </p>
<p>I would also wonder/suggest if a high level of testosterone (which would exist in that boy’s age) combines with a mental illness that has severe rage, delusions, and impulse control problems could result in violence…especially since he had easy access to firearms. can those who dismiss the mental illness theory really argue with that? i dont think so. </p>
<p>this young man was delusional, had an incorrect self-image (gentleman), and had impulse issues…likely also a sociopath.</p>
<p>i wonder if blood tests will reveal any intoxication/meds/drugs…also can be an issue. if he mixed tranquilizers with booze…big problem.</p>
<p>since there is at least one mental illness that is linked to violent crimes (sociopathy), we cannot dismiss it.</p>
<p>there is data that suggests that a high number of violent criminals are sociopaths. </p>
<p>In retrospect, that does sound easy enough. But, police investigate crimes not the possibility of future crimes. I would guess it’s very difficult to call the police and say that you think someone might do something awful and need help. Doesn’t this happen all the time with domestic violence? Until they do it, nothing has happened. I’m not really seeing how insurance would help anything. And, it sounds like he had a lifetime of treatment. That didn’t help, either. </p>
<p>I’m not qualified to diagnose anyone either, but from what I have read of sociopathy, this kid seems to fit. Apparently these people are born without the capacity for empathy. They can not connect with other humans and feel disconnected from them. Since they can’t experience the pleasure of connection, they get satisfaction from controlling them by manipulation and pain. People who do feel empathy find it hard to identify sociopaths, because we assume they are like us and can’t imagine anyone doing what they do. We don’t have the nerve to carry it out because we feel empathy, which leaves them to do what they do. If this person has empathetic parents, then I imagine it was very hard for them to not assume a connection somewhere.</p>
<p>The people I have met who have Aspergers want to connect, desperately, but they don’t have the social skills to do it well. Many do feel empathy, but have trouble expressing it. When I think of Asperger’s, I think Big Bang Theory, where the character Sheldon is connected to his friends, and does care about them, although he has an odd way of showing it. If he hurts someone’s feelings, it’s not his intention to. </p>
<p>“there is data that suggests that a high number of violent criminals are sociopaths”</p>
<p>True. But, sociopaths are not insane. If tried, they are found guilty.</p>
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<p>Well, sure. That’s how car insurance works. Safe, responsible drivers pay lower rates. Nevertheless, their rates would be even lower if everyone else were safe, responsible drivers. If citizens of a local jurisdiction want to liberalize regulations, and the effect is to increase accident rates, then ALL insured people eventually pay marginally higher rates.</p>
<p>In my opinion it should work the same way with guns. Voters should own up to the true costs of acquiescing to special interest groups who favor the most liberal gun laws. </p>
<p>The first 3 victims were slashed to death with something that they aren’t even calling a knife, now. It could have been an icepick or a chunk of a broken mirror. And, 4 people were slammed by a BMW. I don’t have the answer, but it’s not insurance.</p>
<p>It’s not that any one thing is “the answer.” And that’s the problem–because there isn’t one universally accepted solution to gun violence in this country, we throw up our hands. Yes, this kid also used his vehicle and a sharp object to round out his “retribution.” But knives and cars are primarily in use for innocent purposes. The intent of firearms is to wound or kill animals or people. For hunters and those needing self-defense, that purpose is also “innocent.” But then there is the convenience they offer those with nefarious purposes.</p>
<p>I thought this opinion piece by Mark O’Mara (of the George Zimmerman trial fame) was really well reasoned.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/opinion/omara-minnesota-guns/index.html?hpt=hp_t2”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/opinion/omara-minnesota-guns/index.html?hpt=hp_t2</a></p>
<p>Agreed. However it’s hard to ignore that virtually every one of these mass murders is committed by a 20-something young man with a troubled mental history and a lifetime of meds for some kind of disorder and an excessive interest in violent video games. There’s something psychologically very, very bad going on with these young people as they grow older and start feeling stuff. They snap. And, stronger gun laws wouldn’t have prevented this one. He had a ton of resources. I do like Mark O’Mara.</p>
<p>CA has the strictest gun laws in the country. </p>
<p>One wonders what the shooter did all day if he wasn’t enrolled in college. Did he have a job?</p>
<p>No mention of a job anywhere. What’s interesting is that this is a very small community of almost exclusively students and no-one seems to have known him. He had no friends. He had roommates. But since they haven’t been interviewed I’m guessing those may be the victims in the apartment building. A guess. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids says:</p>
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<p>From his ‘manifesto’ it seems more that he said ‘Hi’ to people a couple of times as he was walking and if they didn’t respond with a smile and immediately taking him to bed, they were being cruel to him because, after all, all these hulking ‘brutes’ were ‘getting some’ while a ‘magnificent gentleman such as himself’ was cruelly rejected, and this injustice ‘cannot be forgiven.’ He saw girls laughing with a guy at a restaurant and assumed they were all in bed together and that it was in itself a further cruel rejection of him even when he DIDN’T so much as try to say hello. He walked through Isla Vista and never got picked up, seems to be his more outgoing routine. Room mate after room mate found him creepy, clearly, reading between the lines, and he walked into a party on DP after getting himself drunk, and went up on a roof or balcony (not clear). When some girls and guys also walked up there (who actually belonged there) he was incensed that they were talking and laughing with each other and not with him, and tried to push them off the balcony/roof. He got pushed off himself and broke his leg.</p>
<p>There is another place where his strangeness is very clear. He speaks of his mother going out with a very rich man (men, by the time the entire story is over) and he is furious she won’t marry a billionaire since this would solve all his problems and save his life. He repeatedly says how selfish it is of her not to do this, even if she doesn’t want to, she should do it for him. It is really a strange experience to read what he wrote. In his mind this is not only normal but righteous.</p>
<p>@Flossy he wrote near the end that he would ‘have to kill his room mates first’ and since he by then hated them he said he would have no problem with that.</p>
<p>The parents seemed to have monitored his YouTube rantings. They saw the earlier ones which prompted the welfare visit at the end of April. Here’s my question: Did anyone see the last one; the one with the clear threats against sororities, blonde girls and his Day of Retribution? Can YouTube supply that information? Whose computer clicked through to that video? How long did they watch it? Not that they would have any criminal liability for not contacting police, but it would be interesting to know if anyone knew of these specific threats and didn’t report it.</p>
<p>So creepy. It reads as though he’s walking around in a movie and is angry at the other characters for not noticing him, enough. He was just very twisted. </p>
<p>I just wanted to clarify from yesterday, that SBCC did send out an earilier e-mail regarding the tragedy prior than the one I posted…</p>
<p>Dear Students,</p>
<p>Our hearts are aching as we learn about the tragedy that unfolded in Isla Vista last night. There are no words to express the sadness we have for the victims and their families and for all the residents of Isla Vista. We know some of you co-mingle with UCSB students and Isla Vista residents as part of our greater community and we all, as an extended family, are impacted by this unimaginable event. </p>
<p>Please also know that we are coordinating with UCSB to provide counseling and support to you. If you need to speak with a counselor immediately, please call (805)893-4411 with availability 24/7. If you would like to talk to someone in person or would like to be with others, the UCSB Student Affairs staff and counselors will be available to all (including SBCC students) beginning today (Saturday morning) at 11:00 am in the Student Resources Building on the UCSB campus. We will also provide counseling and support next week on the SBCC main campus in the Student Services Building for our students who seek such service. </p>
<p>In times of tragedy, we need to turn to each other for support, care for each other as we grieve for the victims, and pull together in compassion and strength. We are here for you. </p>
<p>Lori Gaskin</p>
<p>President, SBCC </p>
<p>Apparently, there is a whole community of aggrieved men who feel that they are entitled to sex with only the highest caliber women. Misogynistic… and yes, dangerous: <a href=“Elliot Rodger: The pick-up artist community’s predictable, horrible response to a mass murder.”>http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/05/24/elliot_rodger_the_pick_up_artist_community_s_predictable_horrible_response.html</a></p>