16 dead after school shooting in Stuttgart, Germany

[Tender Branson]

Yeah, I just saw this. Horrific stuff.

Yes, too bad that the 15th weapon in the household wasn't locked up in the safe as well ...

It's about 50 miles away from where you live - Franzl, right ?

[Tender Branson]

The copycats are out there ... :

Police have detained at least four men in Europe over threats posted in online chatrooms following Wednesday's school shooting in Germany, reports say.

They include a 21-year-old German in Lower Saxony, and three teens in the Netherlands, France and Sweden.

Following Wednesday's school killings, Dutch authorities closed schools and child care centres in the southern city of Breda on Friday after a threat was made to carry out a shooting at an unnamed school on an internet site, Dutch media reported.

An 18-year-old man was arrested.

German police also closed a school in Ilsfed in southwestern Germany after a similar warning, and arrested a 21-year-old man in Lower Saxony over another chatroom threat.

In France, police detained an 18-year-old youth after he posted a warning of a shooting at a school in the Paris suburbs.

And Swedish police on Thursday detained a 17-year-old boy in the city of Lund who was suspected of posting a picture of himself posing with a weapon on an internet site, along with a threatening message against a high school.

The men - most of whom said the threats were meant "as a joke" - could face jail time or a fine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7942777.stm

[Tender Branson]

78% of all Germans are now in favor of a complete gun ban in households while 20% are opposed, according to a new poll by "Emnid".

42% are in favor of locking down schools during lessons.

16% support armed security personnel at schools.

[Tender Branson]

And how many people are supporting a ban on computer games?

Depends on the games I think:

Far Cry 2/Counter Strike: 70% for

Nintendogs/Spongebob: 30% for

[Tender Branson]

Merkel calls for tight gun controls

Germany's chancellor has called for greater government supervision of gun owners after a school shooting last week that killed 15 people.

The country's gun laws were already tightened after a 2002 school shooting in the eastern German city of Erfurt. But Angela Merkel said she favours further restrictions, such as unannounced visits by state authorities to ensure owners have their weapons and ammunition locked away.

"We must do everything to see to it that children do not get access to weapons," Mrs Merkel said in a radio interview.

Authorities said that Tim Kretschmer, the 17-year-old who went on a killing rampage at his former high school, used one of his father's weapons to gun down his 15 victims.

The 9mm Beretta pistol was unsecured in his father's bedroom in violation of German law.

Hundreds of people in the small German town of Winnenden, where the school shooting took place, gathered for a church service to mourn the victims.

People continued to come to the school grounds to light candles or place flowers on a makeshift memorial that has grown by the day.

Kretschmer gunned down students and teachers at his former high school before fleeing on foot and by car, killing three more people, and eventually shooting himself in the head, police said.

Police said that during their investigation of Kretschmer's computer, they found horror films, violent video games and pornography featuring bondage. Some of the images showed naked, shackled women, police said.

Four days after the blood bath, investigators are trying to determine a motive in the case.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jt_J1-0hZ8GQBu6jc2SC720sX48A

...

I strongly approve of this !