Masked Rifle-wielding Gunman in Germany? Impossible!

So a masked, rifle-wielding gunman took hostages today at a movie theater in Germany. I must have missed something. Doesn't Germany have very strict gun control? Or is that "common sense" gun control? Apparently another bad guy didn't get the memo.

Also find it curious CNN didn't provide any details about the gunman who was killed by police other than to parrot German authorities who say they don't believe it was terror related.
I'm sure we will find out shortly that it was another one of those right-wing, Republican American, Southern Rednecks, who cling to their Bibles and guns just like the Orlando and San Bernardino murderers, right?

What? A School Shooting in Canada? Must America's Fault

So how could this happen? A school shooting in Sasketchewan, Canada that has left four dead. What about all the strict gun laws? I guess once again the murderous "perp" didn't get the memo that guns aren't allowed especially at a school.

Well it's only about a 13 hour drive from Montana, so it is only a matter of time before the "Blame America First" crowd starts claiming this is carryover from the U.S. and America and its gun culture is somehow to blame.

Still my thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the dead and wounded.

Intellectual Inconsistency or Is It Just Me?

So there are some in this country, we all know who they are, that have no problem with violating everyone's 2nd Amendment rights when they advocate confiscating all guns but become apoplectic at the notion of "Stop and frisk" because it might violate the 4th Amendment rights of a few?

Is it me or does this seem to be intellectually inconsistent? What is especially troubling to me is mayors like Martin O'Mally and Mike DeBlazio ended the highly successful "Stop and frisk" programs in Baltimore and NewYork City which has resulted in a huge spike in homocides. It makes me wonder if stopping gun violence is actually the goal.

Underserved High Self-esteem + Reality = Elliot Roger

Once again we have had a young man who has gone on a murder spree. Unlike our dishonest media, I say murder spree instead of shooting spree because Elliot Roger killed some of his victims with handguns but he killed an equal number with a machete and attempted to kill still others with his expensive European sports sedan. The media won't tell you this because they have an agenda but that is another discussion. For now, I'd like to propose what is wrong with our society that causes young men in their teens and early twenties to go on these murderous rampages. This was nearly unheard of 40 years ago when I was a young man and guns were just as plentiful then if not more so. What has changed? I blame the shift in American parenting techniques. Over the last 40 years, prompted by PhDs in psychology, sociology, education, etc. Americans have stopped allowing their children to fail, prevented them from competing, kept them from doing anything that might end up causing them to scrapping their precious little knees, placed developing their children's self-esteem above achievement, prevented any and all playground scuffles, and stopped spanking their kids when they do something wrong. It is easy to tell your child, regardless of what they do, how wonderful and special they are but that is the lazy, easy way of being a parent. Never having to deal with a child who is disappointed because their team lost; telling your child that it is unacceptable to get poor grades instead of worrying about boosting their self-esteem; avoiding ever having to put Merthiolate and a band aid on a cut or scrape or ice on a bruise, and avoiding the guilty feeling after giving them a well-deserved swat on the butt when they misbehaved is laziness on the part of American parents. Moreover, it is neglect and it is costing us dearly. Our children are unable to deal with reality. They never learn to deal with disappointment in a responsible way. They never learn to empathize with others especially when it comes to someone else's pain because they have never experienced even the most minor of injuries or corporal punishment. Bullying is now an epidemic because those being bullied are never allowed to give their tormentors the bloody nose they deserve and as a result, bullies continue abusing others. Life doesn't give us timeouts. Conflict resolutions techniques might be fine for John Kerry but they don't work with children because they aren't intellectually or emotionally equipped to approach problems that way. Children need to learn how to vent their frustrations in a controlled manner. They need to learn the world isn't going to end because they struck out and that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow even though they got a couple less Valentine's Day cards than some of the other kids. Elliot Roger needed to be told by the other kids in grade school that he was kind of a creep and maybe by the time he got into high school, he would have started acting appropriately. Today parents treat their children like little adults - they are not! Childhood is an incremental process to prepare kids to be adults. It is when disappointments can occur; mistakes can be made, and failures can happen but without severe consequences. It is a time to learn how to deal with setbacks and persevere and build self-esteem through success as a result of hard work not from being told, regardless of our lack of achievement, how wonderful we are. With all the newfangled child-rearing techniques, our kids are reaching adulthood ill-prepared for the harsh realities of being a grown-up. When they face their first real-life, major set-back like being fired, being rejected by a member of the opposite sex, not getting all A's, their Starbucks order isn't right or whatever, they snap. Today we teach our kids that anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault and none of their own. Unearned, undeserved high self-esteem plus reality equals Elliot Roger and Adam Lanza and James Holmes and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold...It's easy for American parents to blame guns for all the violence - especially when it is the parents' fault.