Does the stabbing in the Pennsylvania school demonstrate that the type of weapon does matter?

Yes it does. As did the mass stabbing in China recently.

You’re full of life and cheer this morning.:) Of course it matters. Just like the caliber and magazine capacity matter.

Update: it is now being reported that 7 people do have life threatening injuries.

Yes of course the type of weapon matters and the type of knife matters so does knowing how to use a knife to maim or kill as demonstrated by the attackers in China who killed 29 people and injured 130.

This story can tie into the other question here about whether parents know all their kids are dealing with and I am pretty sure this is going to be one hell of a surprise to this young mans parents. It will be interesting to find out what made this kids snap like this.

What I find most disturbing in all this is that nobody points the finger at bullying. It’s always said that the shooter(or slasher in this case)is mentally ill. Bullying almost ALWAYS plays a role with these school massacres.

There needs to be very stiff punishments for bullying. It needs to be a no tolerance type of thing. Nobody deserves to be tortured and ridiculed all through school.

That being said, I don’t condone killing anyone and I’m not trying to justify this behavior.

I agree with @flip86.

The perpetrator was bullied? I didn’t hear any details on the news so it’s all news to me.

@jca I don’t know if he was bullied. I was just talking in a general sense. Usually, that is the case.

There were probably signs up stating that it was a gun free zone and a cell-phone free zone. We could put up knife free zone signs but then someone would bring a hammer.

Well, you can’t jump someone who is stabbing others while he is reloading.
@flip86 has it right. Bullying is often the real cause here. Until that is addressed, don’t expect these incidents to decrease.

The weapon does matter, I’ve never questioned that.

Apparently it does, since the stabber did not stab himself.

@flip86 It does seem that way. Bullying is never blamed—it’s just “he had emotional problems”, even though bullying is almost always involved.

To answer the question, it’s very possible that if he had had a gun, there would’ve been more victims. I don’t think of a knife-wielder as easier to stop than someone with a gun.

A crazy person who has their mind set on hurting people will always find a way. Gun or knife it doesn’t matter. It is the PERSON not the WEAPON. quite a few kids get bullied at school but only a nut does what this kid did. schools have to crack down or bullies. Parents must get involved and protect their children since teacher apparently don’t. They let the bullying go on for some reason.

I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark here, err…yeah, it does.

Reading some reports off CNN, Chicago Tribune, etc. So apparently it’s 9 in critical condition, 2 in intensive care, 1 would have probably died had not another student performed some first aid by applying pressure to his wound. And the articles that mention bullying – and I know it’s probably too early to safely come to this conclusion – seem to indicate that bullying wasn’t a factor in this case.

And yes, the weapon does matter as well as the individual using it. Always wondered why individuals lacking experience use knives. Hammers would probably much more destructive in their hands. Like that mass stabbing in Texas back in 2013. he went for the face and neck of roughly 14(?) individuals with a box cutter. Sure, frightening, but I’ve always found it a bit… stupid.

As far as I can see, the stabber was not able to KILL anyone with his knife. I doubt the result would have been the same with a gun.

@Judi The last story I read is 3 people are critical and one on life support and many of the wounds were deep and life threatening. Many of the wounds were in the lower gut so it almost sounds to me like this kid knew what he was doing with the 2 knives he used to attack with.

I don’t have TV so I’m just going by the few articles I see on the internet.

@Judi This is an update on the story so far.

Bullying.

It’s what we are taught in school,

what we carry forward into adulthood,

and what we put into practice in our foreign policy.

It’s not the type of weapon that concerns me, it’s the type of culture that generates mass murderers and other antisocial behaviors. Why are these young men losing it?

@Paradox25 And it is men isn’t it. We need to get a handle on this. Something in us let us commit evil. What is that?

@Adirondackwannabe I’ve discussed these issues in my countless other posts on here about why males commit violent acts. I was booted off of the lame ‘a voice for men’ website for bringing these issues up too (I’ve been blacklisted from making comments on there). The men’s rights people bring up good points, but they contradict themselves by not wanting to tackle the cause of their concerns, and seem to be overly obsessed with attacking feminism in all forms. I don’t think males are bad, but they’re shapeshifted by most cultures to be the way they are.