阅读教程第四册 课件Unit+3

Virginia Tech massacre
• The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on Monday, April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. The massacre is the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, on or off a school campus.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 52,447 deliberate and 23,237 accidental non-fatal gunshot injuries in the United States during 2000.The majority of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides, with firearms used in 16,907 suicides in the United States during 2004. Legal policies at the Federal, state, and local levels have attempted to address gun violence through a variety of methods, including restricting firearms purchasing by youths and other "at-risk" populations, setting waiting periods for firearm purchases, establishing gun "buyback" programs, targeted law enforcement and policing strategies, stiff sentencing of gun law violators, education programs for parents and children, and community-outreach programs.
• Research has shown mixed results, finding some policies such as gun "buy-back" programs are ineffective, while Boston's Operation Ceasefire (a gang violence abatement strategy) has been effective as an intervention strategy. Gun policy in the United States is also highly influenced by debates over the interpretation of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court took a position for the first time on this issue in District of Columbia v. Heller, holding that the second amendment secures an individual right to own firearms. Gun rights advocates generally support unrestricted gun ownership, whereas gun control advocates advocate various restrictions on gun ownership.
• The attacks received international media coverage and drew widespread criticism of U.S. laws and culture. It sparked intense debate about gun violence, gun laws, gaps in the U.S. system for treating mental health issues, the perpetrator's state of mind, the responsibility of college administrations, privacy laws, journalism ethics, and other issues. Television news organizations that aired portions of the killer's multimedia manifesto were criticized by victims' families, Virginia law enforcement officials, and the American Psychiatric Association.
Gun Ownership and Censorship
Unit 3
Interpretation of the quotations
• • Without full gun registration, our police cannot work well. Some civilized nations have full gun registration and their streets are safer. We should follow them and help make our streets safer! Every year more than 25,000 Americans die, and many accidents, suicides and murders happen because too many people have guns. If it is easy for people to get guns, humans’ lives are put into danger as this deadly weapon becomes too convenient. Criminals don’t respect the law anyway, so gun control laws will have no effect on criminals who are determined to get guns and commit crimes. Such laws will only deter law-abiding citizens from buying guns; this will give criminals more chances to attack people without any weapons and hence encourage criminals to commit crimes.
•
Gun violence in the United States
• Gun violence in the United States is an intensely debated political issue in the United States. Gun related violence is most common in poor urban areas and in conjunction with gang violence, often involving juveniles or young adults. Gun violence is not new in the United States, with the assassinations of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, and of Presidents James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. High profile gun violence incidents, such as the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, more recently, the Columbine High School massacre, the Beltway sniper attacks, and the Virginia Tech massacre, have also fueled debate over gun policies.
• The massacre prompted the state of Virginia to close legal loopholes that had previously allowed Cho, an individual adjudicated as mentally unsound, to purchase handguns without detection by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also led to passage of the first major federal gun control measure in more than 13 years. The law strengthening the NICS was signed by President George W. Bush on January 5, 2008. • The Virginia Tech Review Panel, a state-appointed body assigned to review the incident, criticized Virginia Tech administrators for failing to take action that might have reduced the number of casualties. The panel's report also reviewed gun laws and pointed out gaps in mental health care as well as privacy laws that left Cho's deteriorating condition in college untreated.
ຫໍສະໝຸດ Baidu
• Cho, a senior English major at Virginia Tech, had previously been diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder. During much of his middle school and high school years, he received therapy and special education support. After graduating from high school, Cho enrolled at Virginia Tech. Due to federal privacy laws, Virginia Tech was not informed of Cho's previous diagnosis or the accommodations he had been granted at school. In 2005, Cho was accused of stalking two female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice declared Cho mentally ill and ordered him to attend treatment. Lucinda Roy, a professor and former chairwoman of the English department, had also asked Cho to seek counseling.