6 dead in shooting at Christian elementary school in Nashville

[John Dule]

I hang out on a few trans subreddits because trans people objectively have some of the best memes, and in recent months I noticed a distinct increase in rhetoric about how trans people should "arm themselves." Take it with a grain of salt, but it's not hard to see how people fearmongering about an impending "trans genocide" could make a mentally ill person more paranoid and violent. I think this theory is plausible but I'm obviously going to wait for more information.

[John Dule]

Obviously the shooting is reprehensible, and the shooter being trans doesn't change that. If there's a hell, they're burning there.

This is very much not obvious. You aren't the judge of people's souls with an understanding of what demons they have faced and what illness afflicts them. I'm so sick of your cringe self-appointment as arbiter of the universe.

I hope her soul finds peace in paradise just as much as the others who perished today. I'm sure she faced many difficulties that led her to this today that I can't begin to imagine.

Well personally I think that "murdered 3 adults and 3 children" is a much better reason for someone to go to Hell than simply having the audacity to be member of a different religion.

Well, personally, I don't believe that either of those is even close to a valid reason. You don't know anything but less than .01 percent of her life. Don't condemn people you don't know anything about. Weep that she felt the need to act in this manner.  Pray that her soul may be soothed through purgatory and that she - and any who may have first wronged her - can find mutual understanding and appreciation in eternity as we aim towards that same difficult project on earth.

Nah, I feel pretty comfortable condemning in this instance. Sorry, not sorry!

[John Dule]

Anyone want to start a betting pool on when this thread will be locked? I say 3 more pages.

[John Dule]

So while everyone's been arguing in this thread, has anyone posted this yet?

https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/everything-we-know-about-the-nashville-school-shooter/

Seems that the shooter (1) once attended the school in question, and (2) posted on social media about the problem of gun violence back in 2012. I'm increasingly getting the vibe that this was some kind of attempt to "strike back" against a Christian school that somehow wronged this person, or against Christians/conservatives in general.

[John Dule]

1. So what would be an effective deterrent for school shooters?

There is no "deterring" them. They're criminally insane and they intend to die while committing their killings.

[John Dule]

1. So what would be an effective deterrent for school shooters?

There is no "deterring" them. They're criminally insane and they intend to die while committing their killings.

So Fergie’s point is moot

How? If anything, Dule's argument affirms my point. I'm literally saying that the death penalty won't deter them. If there is no deterring school shooters, then implementing harsher punishment is pointless.

Just because it won’t deter them, that doesn’t change the fact that they still need to be appropriately punished for their crimes.

Why is the death penalty more appropriate than life in prison?

Because they took the lives of multiple children.

How would you construct an evidentiary standard that would allow for the execution of mass shooters but avoid wrongful executions with 100% accuracy?

[John Dule]

1. So what would be an effective deterrent for school shooters?

There is no "deterring" them. They're criminally insane and they intend to die while committing their killings.

So Fergie’s point is moot

How? If anything, Dule's argument affirms my point. I'm literally saying that the death penalty won't deter them. If there is no deterring school shooters, then implementing harsher punishment is pointless.

Just because it won’t deter them, that doesn’t change the fact that they still need to be appropriately punished for their crimes.

Why is the death penalty more appropriate than life in prison?

Because they took the lives of multiple children.

How would you construct an evidentiary standard that would allow for the execution of mass shooters but avoid wrongful executions with 100% accuracy?

Is there any case where someone was wrongly incarcerated for a school shooting?

So you would say that the death penalty should apply only to mass shootings and nothing else?

[John Dule]

1. So what would be an effective deterrent for school shooters?

There is no "deterring" them. They're criminally insane and they intend to die while committing their killings.

So Fergie’s point is moot

How? If anything, Dule's argument affirms my point. I'm literally saying that the death penalty won't deter them. If there is no deterring school shooters, then implementing harsher punishment is pointless.

Just because it won’t deter them, that doesn’t change the fact that they still need to be appropriately punished for their crimes.

Why is the death penalty more appropriate than life in prison?

Because they took the lives of multiple children.

How would you construct an evidentiary standard that would allow for the execution of mass shooters but avoid wrongful executions with 100% accuracy?

Is there any case where someone was wrongly incarcerated for a school shooting?

So you would say that the death penalty should apply only to mass shootings and nothing else?

I don't hold this position myself, but "exceptionalist" views on the death penalty (only for mass shootings/child murders/crimes committed in wartime/etc.) aren't really that unusual, especially in other countries.

Sure, but my next question was going to be how we define a "mass shooting." When we think of this term, we generally think of a psychopath stalking from room to room with an assault rifle gunning people down, caught on camera from multiple angles, and publishing a manifesto taking credit for the attack. I understand that there's really no credible question of guilt in such cases. But how do we parse out a statutory distinction between that and, say, a drive-by gang shooting with no surveillance footage, in which guilt is not as certain?

[John Dule]

It should definitely apply to mass shootings. Other crimes are up for debate.

Okay, define mass shootings. (See above.)

[John Dule]

This detail from this WP article is really vague, but potentially very disturbing:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/28/nashville-school-shooter/

Drake, the police chief, said investigators had interviewed the shooter’s parents. Hale was receiving a “doctor’s care for an emotional disorder,” Drake told reporters at a news briefing; he did not elaborate on what that disorder was or the nature of the treatment.

Did Hale’s parent believe that being trans was an “emotional disorder”? If so, how exactly were they being “treated” for it?

Right, because someone who killed six innocent people clearly didn’t have an emotional disorder…

[John Dule]

It’s well document that surges in testosterone levels cause people to become more violent. If the shooter was a biological female taking far higher than the natural levels of testosterone, it could explain their homicidal tendencies.

Good point. I hadn't even thought of that.