Mass shooting

In October 2002, the Washington, D.C.-area snipers who killed 10 people and wounded four brought a new kind of gun terror to the populace. Unlike earlier mass shootings that were horrific but brief in duration, in this instance the killing of people seemingly at random went on for almost a month, with law enforcement officials appearing to be baffled and the targets essentially defenseless. 

With regard to guns, the debate focuses on the easy access of guns to children, the potential for accidental or intentional shootings in the home, and the mass shooting incidents in schools and playgrounds (such as the five children killed and 30 wounded by Patrick Purdy in 1989 in Stockton, California, or the 15 killed in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999). 

Suter, Edgar A. Assault Weapons Revisited— An Analysis of the AMA Report. Joarw / of the Medical Association of Georgia, vol. 85, May 1994, n.p. Criticizes the American Medical Association report Assault Weapons as a Public Health Hazard in the United States. Suter argues that the high ammunition capacity of such weapons is usually irrelevant because only a few shots are fired in most incidents other than well-publicized mass shootings. Suter also accuses the report for relying only on unsubstantiated anecdotal data. 

Moore, Mark H., et al. Deadly Lessons Understanding Deadly School Violence. Washington, D.C. National Academies Press, 2003. Because of the importance of the mass shootings in schools to the gun control debate, this set of case studies exploring the impact of these tragedies on the community is an important resource. The contributors attempt to extract lasting lessons on how to prevent such violence and how to help heal the anguish it causes. 

Chiang, Harriet, and Kevin Fagan. Gunmakers Can Be Sued by Victims. San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 1999, p. Al, A19. Reports that a California state court of appeals has, for the first time in U.S. legal history, ruled that a gun maker can be held liable for the criminal use of its products. The case arose ftom a 1993 mass shooting in a San Francisco office building. 

Gun Law in Brazil. The Economist, vol. 351, June 19, 1999, p. 29. Reports that Brazil s government is pushing for a total ban on gun ownership but is being opposed by a newly formed gun lobby. Brazil has experienced a high rate of crime and mass shootings in recent years. Police corruption and government inefficiency may undermine the effectiveness of such laws. 

Out of Control Australia. The Economist, vol. 341, November 30, 1996, p. 36. Reports on the mass shooting in Hobart, Australia, where 35 people were killed by Martin Bryant with a semiautomatic rifle. In response, there has been a push for tighter gun control, and all Australian states have banned semiautomatic rifles and shotguns. 

Organization founded after mass shootings in a San Francisco office building in 1993. The group works to strengthen local gun control laws as well as to defend gun control at the state and federal level. The group also maintains the Firearms Law Center web site. 

Stein, T. (2002). Mass shootings. In D. Hogan J. Burstein (Eds.), Disaster medicine (pp. 376-384). Rhiladelphia Lippin-cott Williams Wilkins. 

Twemlow, S., Fonagy, R, Sacco, R, O Toole, M., Vernberg, E. (2002). Rremeditated mass shootings in schools Threat assessment. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(4), 475-477. 

In a nuclear weapon, the fissile material is initially subcritical. The challenge is to produce a supercritical mass so rapidly that the chain reaction takes place uniformly throughout the metal. Supercriticality can be achieved by shooting two subcritical blocks toward each other (as was done in the bomb that fell on Hiroshima) or by implosion of a single subcritical mass (the technique used in the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki). A strong neutron emitter, typically polonium, helps to initiate the chain reaction. 

No differences were observed in the Au concentration found in roots of plants treated with lCU40mgAuU (317-350 mg kg dry mass). However, the roots of plants exposed to 80, 160, and 320mgAuU, concentrated (average + SE) 998 + 63, 1779 161, and 5704+109, respectively [75]. On the other hand, it was observed that the translocation of Au from roots to shoots was higher in plants exposed to lOmgAuU (ratio shoot/root of 0.2) and lower in plants exposed to 320mgAuU (ratio of 0.04). 

Liebman M, Sundberg DN (2006) Seed mass affects the susceptibility of weed and crop species to phytotoxins extracted from red clover shoots. Weed Sci 54 340-345 Lin D, Sugitomo Y, Dong Y, Terao H, Matsuo M (2006) Natural herbicidal potential of sauru-raceae (Houttuynia cordata Thunb.) dried powders on paddy weeds in transplanted rice. Crop Prot 25 1126-1129... 

The orchids single benefit from supplying this rich reward is, of course, pollination. To ensure that the orchid bees perform as desired, the plants have devised incredible strategies. There are trigger mechanisms that shoot a pollen packet at the bee with considerable force, knocking him down but ensuring that the packet sticks to his body. There are flowers constructed like the western-prairie fringed orchid, so that a bee picks up a compact mass of... 

In some areas of West Africa, swollen shoot disease is under control by cutting out infected and suspected trees, the exclusion of areas of mass infection, and chemical control with systemic insecticides. In other areas of Africa, however, the disease continues to spread in spite of the control measures applied. Up to February 1954 (19) a total of 24,632,839 trees had been destroyed. The total number of trees in the Gold Coast alone is estimated at 400,000,000. 

How to Stop Mass Public Shootings. Los Angeles Times, May 25,... 

Ayoob, Massad. Arm Teachers to Stop School Shootings. The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 1999, p. A12. Suggests that having some trained and qualified teachers with weapons in school could prevent mass killings like the Littleton High School shootings. 

Slow shoot, at length, in many a brilliant mass Metallic roots across the netted glass ... 

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