[FUBAR-BDHR]

Well his father is a minister but I didn't see what type.  Maybe he was really strict and wouldn't let the kid do anything at all fun his entire life.  Nothing says he was allowed to snowboard either.  Again still no excuse for killing someone. 

[Polpolion]

Well his father is a minister but I didn't see what type.  Maybe he was really strict and wouldn't let the kid do anything at all fun his entire life.  Nothing says he was allowed to snowboard either.  Again still no excuse for killing someone. 

Just for clarification, I wasn't trying to vindicate what he did in any way, I was just pointing out that it's unlikely that violent video games or an abundance of guns that caused the problem.

I'm not sure how this would have turned out if there wasn't a gun there. I'm not so naive that I think that he would've take the game and done nothing else (the article made him seem far too cynical for that to be possible, assuming that the article was accurate), but perhaps his mother wouldn't have died. In all likely-hood, if he hadn't stopped to shoot his parents, he would've been able to sneak out and run away without being found.

Let's look at it this way:

Cause: Friction between family members.
Effect: Dead parent.


Alternate reality 1
     Guns banned

Cause: Unsolved
Effect: It's very likely that the mother wouldn't have died, but given the circumstances, I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way.

Alternate reality 2
     Violent video games banned

Cause: Unsolved
Effect: It's possible that it would be solved, in the same way that preventing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand would have prevented WWI completely.

[Dilmah G]

Well his father is a minister but I didn't see what type.  Maybe he was really strict and wouldn't let the kid do anything at all fun his entire life.  Nothing says he was allowed to snowboard either.  Again still no excuse for killing someone. 

What I don't understand, is why the Father wouldn't just let the kid play the game, I'm not sure about the American Rating system, but here in Aus it's restricted for sale to people 15 years or older, unless in the company and guidance of an adult, the kid was 16. So therefore, the child should've been allowed to be playing the game anyway, and the Minister was just over exercising his authority as a parent. And the website says,

"His father forbade the games, saying that were too violent and sexually explicit."

WTF! Sexually explicit? His dad-
In short, is a narrow minded-son-of-a-*****, had he been more open minded, And aware of the law allowing his son to legally purchase and play the videogame, and understanding the importance of that medium to his child's generation and maybe understanding the interests of his son, he wouldn't have this mother****ing mess.

IMO, the Minister is the immature one here, along with his son

[Bobboau]

Disagree. Incidents like this are bound to happen in a country where there is no complete restriction on firearms possession.

yeah too bad he didn't beat his family to death with a bat or stab them. oh, some day we will have that civilized world.

[Mars]

Stabbing someone takes a bit more effort I think, beating certainly takes a lot of will.

[karajorma]

Let's face it. There is obviously a lot more going on than "Want game, shoot parents" However the media always like to try to make a story into something much more simple so that's the way they're painting this.

From the article it looks like we're dealing with someone who was basically housebound and whose only release was playing computer games. Doesn't make it right to shoot someone over a game but it does make it much more clear how a situation could easily escalate to that.

It's not firearms restriction.  Firearms restriction is bad, m'kay (look at the UK and Washington, DC)?  

Yeah. Look at the UK. Where the homicide rate from gun crime is lower than the States.

Now while the almost total ban we have in the UK might not be the solution that is needed in the States I can't see what you possibly could hope to prove by talking about the UK in that fashion. Except proving that you obviously haven't bothered to do any research.

[Kosh]

Some people are just naturally psychotic, and it doesn't take much to push them over the edge. Not that the parents did anything wrong other than putting the game next to a loaded gun (which shouldn't be loaded when it is in storage anyway, READ THE BASIC GUN SAFETY RULES!!!!!!!).

[Androgeos Exeunt]

In that case, is it safe to say that this happened because of a number of mistakes compounded together?

[Dilmah G]

In that case, is it safe to say that this happened because of a number of mistakes compounded together?

Well yeah IMO, the kid might not have been that bad, but the issue with him being bed-ridden, his dad being a narrow minded SOB, and his inability to do anything outside of watch tv and play games may have been driving him slowly over the edge, which came to a climax when his only outlet was locked in a box (for no good reason IMO).

That probably would've pushed me over the edge, however as my family doesnt own a gun (or wants to...) there's really nothign I could've done about it, especially when my bedroom is at the back of the house, so sneaking out would mean crawling in front of dozens of windows.

[Snail]

What he should have done is use the gun to kill Jack Thompson.

[redsniper]

Thompson's disbarred. He's not a threat anymore.

[Polpolion]

Some people are just naturally psychotic, and it doesn't take much to push them over the edge. Not that the parents did anything wrong other than putting the game next to a loaded gun (which shouldn't be loaded when it is in storage anyway, READ THE BASIC GUN SAFETY RULES!!!!!!!).

Somehow, I doubt that unloading the gun would've prevented this murder. It's not hard to load a gun, even for someone as crazy as Daniel P.

(look at the UK and Washington, DC)

Yeah. Look at the UK. Where the homicide rate from gun crime is lower than the States.

You really can't compare the two. Mathematically you can do it, but that doesn't take into account the fact that the UK is a fifth of the US's population, much smaller, far fewer major population centers, less diversity... The list goes on. You can't factor that in mathematically, and that does make a difference.

[karajorma]

Which is what made the comparison pointless in the first place.

But how the hell are you claiming the UK has less diversity than the states?

[StarSlayer]

What I don't understand, is why the Father wouldn't just let the kid play the game, I'm not sure about the American Rating system, but here in Aus it's restricted for sale to people 15 years or older, unless in the company and guidance of an adult, the kid was 16. So therefore, the child should've been allowed to be playing the game anyway, and the Minister was just over exercising his authority as a parent. And the website says,

"His father forbade the games, saying that were too violent and sexually explicit."

WTF! Sexually explicit? His dad-
In short, is a narrow minded-son-of-a-*****, had he been more open minded, And aware of the law allowing his son to legally purchase and play the videogame, and understanding the importance of that medium to his child's generation and maybe understanding the interests of his son, he wouldn't have this mother****ing mess.

IMO, the Minister is the immature one here, along with his son

I don't know what the whole story is with this kid, unless he is a sociopath or something then i doubt this incident was driven completely by his need for Halo.  I won't be surprised if they dig up some underling cause for this that isn't related to video games.  That said until your ass grows up and moves out of the house, your parents are your guardians.  They feed you, cloth you and provide shelter and teach you how to behave and survive.   So unless you pay rent or contribute in some meaningful manner your basically leaching of them for 18 years.  So if they decide you can't play halo guess what?  Existing doesn't give you the inalienable right to play Halo

[Polpolion]

But how the hell are you claiming the UK has less diversity than the states?

The Wikipedia said so.

UK

92.1% White
4.0% South Asian
2.0% Black
1.2% Mixed Race
0.80% East Asian and Other

US

White alone: 74% or 221.3 million
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, of any race: 14.8% or about 44.3 million
Black or African American alone: 13.4% or 40.9 million
Some other race alone: 6.5% or 19 million
Asian alone: 4.4% or 13.1 million
Two or more races: 2.0% or 6.1 million
American Indian or Alaska Native alone: 0.68% or 2.0 million
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone: 0.14% or 0.43 million

You have to some hunting to find the US figures, though.

[Daniel P]

I smell a lawsuit. And the people who made Halo 3 will get blamed.

Really, Maybe the relationship got strained and the guy just wanted to play halo 3.

Like me. I get angry, I play a game. The guy parents denied his entertainment and the guy flipped out.

I say blamed the parents for doing this.

EDIT: He can't go out because he got a infection so playing games is a option for him.

[Polpolion]

I smell a lawsuit. And the people who made Halo 3 will get blamed.

Really, Maybe the relationship got strained and the guy just wanted to play halo 3.

Like me. I get angry, I play a game. The guy parents denied his entertainment and the guy flipped out.

I say blamed the parents for doing this.

EDIT: He can't go out because he got a infection so playing games is a option for him.

Oh hi, Daniel P. 

[FUBAR-BDHR]

First he didn't just flip out this was something he planned.  The game was taken a month before.  It's not like it was taken 5 minutes ago and he flipped out.  Second if you think that is justification for murder then you need to seek some help and fast. 

[Mars]

Second if you think that there is justification for murder then you need to seek some help and fast. 

[Daniel P]

Oh hi, Daniel P. 

That is not my real name and who user his real name in any forums.

Also that is my cybernation Leader name.

People get bored when they are sick and they can't go outside and talk/play with other people. He says that the game was took away a month ago. So he got bored and got flipped over by doing nothing but stay in the house.

I wonder the loneliness made him do it. (who want to talk to your parents for a month and if his friends came over to talk to him)