You are a Troll

I have been fascinated by the media attention surrounding the unfortunate death of an 8 year old recently while firing an Uzi machine gun. The majority of the articles are well written with several of the articles voicing some fairly strong view points in regards to gun control and parental accountability. The subsequent blogs and comments sections have been even more intriguing as people reflect and voice their opinions about the child’s death.

I am an expert with weapons and I have received some of the best quality training for handling and discharging those weapons. I am a member of the “Oldest Skeet Club in America” the Exeter Sportsman's Club and I fired an automatic machine gun (Russian made AK-47) as recently as last week. With that said, I do not believe that any “sportsman” or civilian actually needs access to automatic weapons. And they certainly do not belong in the hands of a child! I am voicing my own opinion, but it is not meant to generate controversy or be disruptive. Some of the comments and blogs I have read about the tragedy have been exactly that though; controversial and disruptive.

I was on Google Reader and I found an article How Trolls Work. The article talks about how the internet can be a double edged sword. The connection allows us to “interact with people you like and respect, but you can also meet people who take pleasure in disrupting the conversations and activities of others.” The name for this kind of person is a troll.

I am left to wonder if the people posting ludicrous comments under articles such as the “child deserves to be dead if his parents let him shoot an Uzi” are trolls or simply idiots. Murderers, child molesters and rapist are the only people who deserve to die and not an innocent child (and I’m not being a troll)! I would hope that the people posting these comments are simply making rude statements to enrage others and are not contributing to the gene pool. At any rate, I hope the child did not die in vein and that gun control is made stricter in the near future so that tragedies like this are avoided.

I continue to post my opinion and viewpoint on my blog. I fear, however, some people may feel like I am troll by my digression on capital punishment above and the like. It was not meant to enrage anyone or cause anyone to have a melt down. And no, I don’t believe that mentally retarded people or children should be subject to capital punishment. I am simply illustrating the point that I myself may be a troll. I can be “rude and aggressive” as the article describes and my viewpoints are not always mainstream.

So keep the “trolls” in mind next time you read an infuriating comment or blog on the internet. It may be someone intentionally trying to infuriate you by making a rude statement or asking an ignorant question. Or it may simply be someone expressing their opinions much like myself. At any rate, stay calm, cool and collected an express your viewpoints and opinions as Friedman would want you to do.