Because more often than not, the shooter acts out because he's totally withdrawn and people don't known him as well as they think they do.

When I was in HS, I knew a guy who eventually ran away from home and eventually made bomb threats. People acted surprised then, too. I wasn't that surprised. I had known him well enough to know that that sort of thing was very much in line with his personality. Because I was one of the few people he called a friend. Most other people didn't know him like I did because they avoided him, and he avoided them.

I don't want to sound insensitive, but it's kind of a shame that things like the Intratec guns will always be associated with this. I suppose they are typically "gang-guns" anyway, but still.

Yeah, I think the TEC-9 was already notorious enough as a "gang-banger's gun" before Columbine. When most people think of TEC-9s, they think of Crip gang members firing TECs from the windows of a moving car while doing a drive-by (with a sideways "gangsta" grip, of course). Same way that everyone associates Tommy Guns with Prohibition Era-gangsters. Even now, the TEC still has that reputation despite the fact that it isn't produced anymore.

Plus there was the shooting in San Francisco, 6 years before Columbine.

What is so great about a Tec 9 anyway?

Basically, nothing. It was poorly made and had a reputation for jamming. Most people I know who have owned or fired TECs regard them as crap. But for gang-bangers and other criminal lowlifes, it was appealing because of its intimidating subgun-like appearance and its low price.

Also, who said anything about it being "great", anyway?

It's a pretty terrible weapon system, but it's aesthetically pleasing, so ganstaz pick 'em up tilt 'em at precisely 90 degrees, and fire at stuff cause it's cool. Firearms to those kinds of people are weapons first, and jewelry an immediate second (hence the desire for DESERT FUCKING EAGLES with Gold or Chrome plating;useless, but pretty). I went to the DEA Museum in Washington D.C. and on display they have a Chrome Plated 1911 with solid diamond grips that was taken off a drug kingpin. Twas big pimpin' if I do say so myself.

Ever read give a boy a gun? Liberal propaganda taht we needed to read back in HS, and It just had every bad stereotype. Kids talked about tec9s all day and went and bought one with ease. They bought there pistol, a brazilian 9mm for 30 dollars? And they were "nice kids bullied too much" Then the last section was a big call to ban guns. Made me sick, wheres the puke icon on the smilies?

Interestingly enough, my American Government teacher assigned the class to write about the Second Amendment and whether or not people should be able to have guns.
I wrote the longest response, and commended him for a fair and informative assignment. It was funny reading anti-gunner kids who regurgitated what they had heard from the media or their parents and responding to their silly messages with more accurate or up to date facts that were given to us by the reading (the AWB was still in place during the publication). I even referenced Columbine and how the Tec 9 was banned during the shooting and how the ban didn't stop them from getting the gun. Criminals. *shakes fist*

The fact my school made us read this pissed me off. Oh well, college now.

When I was in high school, my health class teacher made us watch an anti-gun video called "Guns R Us" or something. I believe it was made in cooperation with the VPC - which would make sense because I remember it explicitly called for banning both AWs and handguns and had interview snippets with Kristen Rand. The video also repeated the old lie about how the NRA "opposed banning cop-killer bullets". Of course, no argument from the opposing side was presented at all.

Fortunately, being that I'm from North Carolina, there were quite a few kids in the class besides myself who were upset with her for showing the video. :)