We must ban automobiles, they are weapons of terror!

[Seth]

World
Three Dead, 34 Injured After Man Plows SUV Into Crowd in Austria
Jun. 20, 2015 5:46pm Dave Urbanski
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Editor’s Note:

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

VIENNA (AP) — A man apparently distraught over personal issues drove his SUV into a crowd in Austria’s second largest city Saturday, killing a 4-year old and two adults, officials said.
Image source: Sky News

Image source: Sky News

Police in the city of Graz said 34 others were injured, with six victims, including two children, in serious condition. They said there were no indications of a terrorist attack, and the suspect was apparently distressed over personal problems when he targeted his victims.

The governor of Styria province, Hermann Schuetzenhoefer, described the suspect as a 26-year-old Austrian truck driver who was “mentally disoriented” and acting alone. He was arrested shortly after the incident.

Three dead and more than 30 injured in Austria as car ploughs through crowd in central #Graz http://t.co/rNGC6S4TkM pic.twitter.com/lc2tDaFTJO

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 20, 2015

Police commander Josef Klamminger told reporters that the man had been under a restraining order keeping him from the home of his wife and two children since a domestic violence report against him was filed last month. He was being psychologically evaluated after his arrest.

State broadcaster ORF cited unnamed witnesses as saying the man apparently drove his vehicle at high speed into the crowd at random, sending several people crashing into the windshield and flying over the vehicle.

About 60 ambulances converged on the scene and the Austrian auto club sent four helicopters to bring the victims to hospitals. Witnesses quoted by Austrian media said they saw at least two bodies covered with blankets lying on a cordoned-off section of pavement.

By early evening, dozens of floral bouquets and lit candles were placed at the site. Mayor Siegfried Nagl ordered black flags of mourning flown from all municipal buildings and cancelled all street fests and other city events.

[pErvinalia]

Their primary purpose isn't to kill. [/thread]

[Seth]

Their primary purpose isn't to kill. [/thread]

What does that have to do with anything, not that it's in the least bit true?

The primary purpose of a gun is to expel a projectile at a specified speed in a specific direction on command, and nothing else.

Anything that might be done with that projectile is decided by the human being operating the device, just as it was with the car (and the knife) in this case.

[pErvinalia]

Guns were invented and are still used widely to kill people. Cars were invented and are still widely used to transport people. [/thread]

[mistermack]

"Police in the city of Graz . . . . . said there were no indications of a terrorist attack, "
[/thread].

[laklak]

One man's terrorist is another man's Asian driver.

[Seth]

Guns were invented and are still used widely to kill people. Cars were invented and are still widely used to transport people. [/thread]

So what? Some people need to be killed. If I have legal authority to kill someone it doesn't matter if I use a car or a gun, or a baseball bat. Likewise, if I do not have legal authority to kill someone, it doesn't matter if I use a car, a gun or a baseball bat, the intended victim retains the absolute right to use any any weapon, including a car, a gun or a baseball bat to thwart my illegal attack.

Inanimate objects like guns, cars and baseball bats do not have motive or intent, nor do they inherently contain moral judgment. They are inanimate objects that can be used for good or ill depending on the person using them.

Your argument is a ridiculous attempt to demonize and vilify an object as an irrational substitute for rational thought and argumentation.

[Seth]

"Police in the city of Graz . . . . . said there were no indications of a terrorist attack, "
[/thread].

And you unquestioningly believe what both the police and the press tell you why, exactly? Besides, I'm quite sure that the victims in the area were quite terrified, and it's pretty clear that the perp intended to terrify them as well as kill them. That he may not have done so for political reasons is utterly irrelevant.

[Blind groper]

The tool used in an attack does matter. As I have quoted before, only 1 in 400 stabbings is lethal, while 1 in 7 bullets fired is lethal.

To get the best chance to survive, better to be attacked with a knife, or a car, than a gun. You are far more likely to live.

[Seth]

The tool used in an attack does matter. As I have quoted before, only 1 in 400 stabbings is lethal, while 1 in 7 bullets fired is lethal.

To get the best chance to survive, better to be attacked with a knife, or a car, than a gun. You are far more likely to live.

I dispute your factoid I'm afraid. The number of lethal hits compared to the number of rounds fired is much, much smaller than you suggest. This also discounts the degree of permanent disfigurement and injury occasioned by both knives and cars, which are of substantial interest.

Then again when attacked with any of the above your best defense is usually a gun. Which is rather the point.

[Blind groper]

The point you were making, Seth, is that a car is also a weapon. While that is true, it is nowhere nearly as lethal a weapon as a gun. It is also used as a deliberate tool for murder far less often.

[Ian]

Seth is never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to listen to reason, guys. It's a lost cause. Why bother?

[pErvinalia]

[/thread]

[JimC]

He does realise that Uber will collapse, doesn't he?

(unless it moves to tandem bikes - how's the leg fitness, Seth?)

[Seth]

The point you were making, Seth, is that a car is also a weapon. While that is true, it is nowhere nearly as lethal a weapon as a gun. It is also used as a deliberate tool for murder far less often.

It's just as lethal as any other lethal weapon when it's used lethally, or had that fact escaped you?

Not that what you say is particularly true because automobiles are in fact a larger source of homicide in the US than guns are, but what does the rate of use of the inanimate object have to do with an object's potential lethality? The individual killed by the object is just as dead either way.

Nice try with the "deliberate tool of murder" pettifoggery though...