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<\/a><\/p>\nI don\u2019t do breaking news, but enough details are in on the Connecticut shooting to warrant comment. As one radio commenter said, \u2018Who the hell would do this.\u201d The story changes hourly, but apparently the narrative is that Adam Lanza, a \u201cdevelopmentally challenged\u201d young man of 20 who lived with his mother in a small Connecticut town founded in colonial days. He apparently shot his mother at home, then went to the school and killed those in her class, her principal, and other adults. At least that\u2019s the story as of 1630 PST. It could change. An hour ago the story was that the mother was in her classroom, and the shooter was Ryan Lanza, Adam Lanza\u2019s older brother, and that he had previously killed his father at an apartment in New Jersey. And hour before that —<\/p>\n
But the story seems reasonably stable now: it was allegedly Adam Lanza who allegedly killed his mother at their home, then went to the school at which she had taught and shot up the place, using a .223 Bushmaster, a Sigg Sauer, and a Glotz, but there is some ambiguity about which gun was used for what. And as I listen to the reports, Nancy Lanza is not listed as a teacher at that school. Which leaves the question of what connection Adam Lanza had with this school. And the Bushmaster was found in Lanza\u2019s car, meaning that it played no part in the school massacre.<\/p>\n
No data on how he managed to kill 27 people with two pistols. Was he an expert pistol shot? Did he have a number of pre-loaded magazines? Had he been acting strange lately? Now there\u2019s a report that he had some disagreement with his mother, which, given that she is now dead of gunshot wounds to the face, seems rather likely. And a later bulletin says she was a substitute teacher at the school.<\/p>\n
A famous psychiatrist tells us solemnly that Adam Lanza had a \u2018personality disorder.\u2019 <\/p>\n
And I have done this ramble as an example of why I don\u2019t do breaking news. <\/p>\n
When I was young we had massacres in the United States, as well as well publicized violent shootouts between the G-Men and various public enemies; and of course mob violence got plenty of play on radio and in newspapers. The scale was smaller, though. The St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre in Chicago in 1929 only left 6 men dead, although another died a couple of hours later reportedly while saying \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna talk.\u201d Then came World War II, and the reports of German, Russian, and Japanese atrocities, which tended to give some perspective to stories of gang \u201cwar\u201d. <\/p>\n But graduate psychology courses in the 1950\u2019s had nothing about \u2018personality disorders\u2019, \u2018learning disabilities\u2019, and the like, and very little on autism. It\u2019s not that what we did study was particularly useful, but at least it did not tempt us to believe we understood everything because we had a label for it.<\/p>\n I do recall that while I was growing up, comic books, which were a way of discovering information about the world when there wasn\u2019t any television, often had stories about \u2018running amok\u2019, which was an Asian phenomenon. I don\u2019t recall too many stories about Westerners running amok, but there were plenty of stories of Asians doing so. Amok is a Malay term, and typically describes someone who has previously not been a criminal or particularly anti-social suddenly taking a kris or other large knife and running about striking down everyone he \u2013 it\u2019s nearly always a he \u2013 encounters. Apparently it happens in China with considerably more frequency than in the United States and Western Europe (where the weapon of choice is usually one or more firearms). I am not sure I have heard of such cases in Japan.<\/p>\n We can now expect a new surge of advocacy for \u201cgun control\u201d, using the Connecticut massacre as the example of what must be prohibited, and which presumably would be ended if we just had better gun control. <\/p>\n View 753 Friday, December 14, 2012 I don\u2019t do breaking news, but enough details are in on the Connecticut shooting to warrant comment. As one radio commenter said, \u2018Who the hell would do this.\u201d The story changes hourly, but apparently the narrative is that Adam Lanza, a \u201cdevelopmentally challenged\u201d young \u2026 Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"