Gun violence again...

[Dannydet]

Every day there's a new act of gun violence across the country.
I'm sickened by it all.
Let's face it... ANYONE can get a gun these days, regardless of age, mental health, ethnic backgrounds, etc...
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time seems to be whether you're here today or not.
I see absolutely no end to this problem and I think it's just going to get worse.

That's my rant.....

 

[ocnbrze]

it is sad when people think that something like this is inevitable wherever people live. they are not surprised. we all have become numb to this kind of thing. nobody is doing anything about. the gun supporters say its all about mental health, while other people thinks that its all about the guns.

i agree that that we need to do something. yes better mental health is vital. but i also think making it harder for people to get guns is a must. i mean when we go to get a drivers license we not only have to take a driving test, but we have to also take a written test as well. we need better background checks and also limit the age to over 21. some of these young people just can't handle the pressures of being young and so they result to violence. the last 4 shootings have all been young kids......KIDS!!!!!!!!!

yes the latest bill signed, just recently will help:

• Tougher background checks for buyers younger than 21
• $15bn in federal funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades
• Funding to encourage states to implement "red flag" laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat
• Closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole" by blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners

......but more needs to be done.

 

[blackcar]

The US has a love affair with guns...we have to ask ourselves what has changed. I was raised around guns (1st gen US Citizen by Mexican parents). My children were raised around guns and 2 (girls) of them are avid hunters. Never once in life have i thought about harming a person with a weapon. What has changed that people think they need to use a gun to get attention or settle an argument. I graduated school in 1992. Now i will say i went to a small school in the country. It is now a 3A but was barely a 2A when I went. Every kid with a truck had a shotgun and some sort of deer rifle, from 30-30 to a .308. and bigger. Most cars were unlocked, windows probably down and no issue. Kids fought after school, but nobody ever thought about pulling a gun to settle their differences. I will never blame video games as I played many FPS games since Doom and still never had the urge to harm anyone. Mental Health has really made a change in people that last decade..is it the food we eat? something in the water? or the consumption of social media? who knows....I would have zero issues with getting rid of all guns if we could actually get rid of all guns. But the politicians, state and federal workers, security, police and criminals will always have access to them. So i would prefer to keep mine as well. It is heart breaking that so many crazy people are out there with weapons and harm others.

 

[The_Chief]

It's amazing how many people rush to blame the weapon, instead of the person holding it. When a drunk driver kills an innocent family, I don't hear anyone talking about banning cars or alcohol... the drunk driver gets blamed, and rightly so.

Just to throw gasoline on the fire, I submit this recent opinion page from our local newspaper. In a twist of coincidence, my op-ed was printed at the same time as a contradictory letter to the editor, making a nice point/counterpoint. Agree with whom you will... I'm just posting this for your consideration.

 

[svim]

Gun proponents tend to ignore that the U.S. is the only nation across the globe that has this problem where citizens are doing mass killings of other citizens and in such high numbers. (Note there is a distinction between a citizen and a combatant.)

When it comes to the percentage of gun ownership by the public, there is no place on earth that comes close to our numbers. Yet the prevalence of guns is apparently not the problem. (I read it on the Internet so that has to be true.)
Following that logic, unlike the rest of the world's population for whatever reasons we as Americans are just natural born murderers. It's odd but for us, it's not a learned behavior but rather an instinctive one.

 

[The_Chief]

If America was populated by 330 million murderers, we wouldn't have a population anymore. Criminals don't obey gun laws. Ban a firearm and there will be a flood of them on the black market, fresh from the wide-open southern border. Prison inmates have been interviewed and the vast majority of respondents said they feared armed, law-abiding citizens far more than law enforcement. Why? Because there are so many more armed citizens that cops; with concealed carry, it could be anyone around them (so they aren't immediately recognizable); and police have rules of engagement, giving criminals a tactical advantage that doesn't exist with citizens. This is why most mass shootings occur in places that restrict gun ownership. Lawful, responsible firearms ownership and possession is a deterrent to violent crime - it's been proven again, and again, and again.

Remember the Colorado shooter who shot people in the movie theater? He drove past five other theaters to go to the one that was marked "gun free zone". Why? Little to no chance of armed resistance. That's why in the more than one thousand school districts, in twenty states, allowing school teachers and staff to discreetly carry personal firearms during school hours, there hasn't been a single shooting - let alone a mass shooting - at any of them. In the early 1970s, Israel suffered a school shooting every week. In 1974 a law was passed allowing staff and plain-clothes officers to carry firearms in school. In the nearly 50 years since, there have been only two shooting attempts... in both cases, the shooter was killed before they could inflict mass casualties.

 

[mikedt]

As I understand things, American citizens have always had access to and often carry guns, it's in the Second Amendment. I have to ask, why is it in the last year or so, it seems some peeps have gone mad and started shooting at anyone and anything?

The nearest I've ever been to firearms was in the Scouts, when I got my marksman proficiency badge, with small-bore rifles, and air-guns.

I'm in China, and the only places really I actually see guns, is either at the airports, or the security guards doing cash-in-transits for the banks and they have pump-action shotguns. The regular police here are not armed.

 

[Dannydet]

I really think the covid pandemic has alot to do with it.
That and the fact that thugs and the mentally impaired just think it's open season...

 

[ocnbrze]

which is why we need more restriction on guns. you are right in that people kill people. guns themselves do not. like drunks who drive, you still have restrictions. you have to be a certain age to buy alcohol. you have to pass not only a written test, but also a driving test to prove your knowledge and skill to perform these tasks. its just too easy to buy a gun. the gun law we just pass will help. but we need to restrict young idiots who can't cope with life from getting their hands on a gun. the gun age should be boosted up to 21.....especially for those buying assault rifles....and yes i understand that the Highland Park shooter was 21.

right now nobody has a better solution to gun violence other than to restrict the sales of guns. yes i understand that guns are not necessarily the problem. it is more of a mental health issue. but until some one has a better solution, restricting the sales of guns, to make it harder for scum bags to get one is all we have......and yes i understand about the black market and the underground sales of guns as well as ghost guns.....so no matter how you restrict guns, they are still available.....but the idea is that it will be harder to get.

so......if you have a better solution to these mass shootings, i would love to here them. all i hear from folks are arguments on why guns should not be restricted. i do not hear solutions.

....and having more guns is not a solution. look at Uvalde. there were over 20 cops there on the scene and they waited for over 58 minutes before storming in. that was a cluster f@ck if you ask me. and they are still covering up what actually happened. and there is no way arming teachers with guns is the solution. i can't imagine my freshman Homeroom teacher in high school ever possessing a gun let alone shooting someone with it.

we need action folks. this just cant go on status quo......it can't. how many people have to die at the hands of an ar-15? how close to home will this have to be, before you change your view on guns?

 

[mikedt]

Maybe the Second Amendment needs amending, to something like "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, unless the person is mentally psychotic, or is under 21 years of age."

It's just an idea.

 

[svim]

If America was populated by 330 million murderers, we wouldn't have a population anymore. ......

Ahhh,my bad. Failed to make sarcasm more obvious to those who only accept literal statements.

 

[ocnbrze]

ok you guys can have your guns, but i want the Minority Report:

if we can prevent a mass shooting before it happens, i'm in.

 

[ozonetrooper]

Houston Tx is about an hour North of me.

Since the Uvalde school shooting there have been shootings/killings every night in that city, according to our local newscasts.

It is primarily criminals and gangbangers doing the shooting !

I understand the mentality of, "lets remove the guns from the equation and the issue is fixed", (NOT), how about removing the criminal from the equation as well ?

And how will the honest citizen protect himself when the most effective method of protection is taken away ?

It is time to quit catering to the unlawful element and clean up this mess !

 

[ocnbrze]

Again you're not talking about solutions. You are just making arguments to keep guns. I want to here what your solution would be to reduce gun violence. The only solution I see is to make it harder to get guns. Right now, you can go down to your local sporting goods store and purchase a firearm with very little hoops to jump thru. MAKE IT HARDER TO GET GUNS. And like I said I understand about the black markets and the illegal sales of guns as well as ghost guns. And again like I said earlier, the idea is to make it harder not easier.

You are going to have to do better than that with your arguments. I have already heard them before. It's the same shit over and over. Aren't you tired of saying the same thing? Are you not tired of having to argue this every time there is a mass shooting on the news?

Plus what I really want is to reduce the epidemic of mass shootings that's seems to be affecting everyone. Your local gang violence is a entirely different issue. I want to prevent the next the next Highland Park shooting.

 

[Davdi]

If the US had UK style gun laws.....

 

[ozonetrooper]

Lets see, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago are listed as cities with the most restrictive gun laws today.

They still have a problem with criminal/mental health shooters !

Seems putting more band-aids on the wound is not working anymore, not sure I will ever tire of discussing this topic, after guns are removed from the equation what is next ?

When knives are removed from the equation what next ?

When rocks are removed from the equation what next ?

I have a novel idea, lets address the real issue, criminals and mentally imbalanced humans !

Oh right, it is easier to just penalize everyone for the faults of, (at least), two segments of society the goobernment can not control ....

The goobernment knows that honest law abiding citizens will comply while the criminal/deranged will not, the lower hanging fruit is always the first pick rite ???

The people who have died for our rights must certainly be turning over in their graves.

 

[ozonetrooper]

I want to prevent the next the next Highland Park shooting.

As do we all !

What seems to be the most common denominator(s) in every school shooting ? (as well as public shootings)

From what I have read it appears to be mental health issues and designated "gun free" zones !

Please explain how more feel good useless gun laws address these two issues.

(especially the proposed/passed? ones that have come out of the latest shooting)

((age does not make a mass shooter nor does passing the buck of mental health off to the states for enforcement, I do not even care to address the other silliness offered up for another band aid))

 

[ocnbrze]

Sigh!!!!!

Again your spouting the same crap over and over again.

You are not proposing any real solutions. You are only making the same arguments because you want to keep your guns.

Is restricting guns sales a real solution, maybe. Is it a bandaid for it? Yes

But until someone has better ideas, we need stricter gun controls. Look I'm not saying ban all guns. I just want to make it harder for people to get guns.

 

[ozonetrooper]

Sigh!!!!!

Again your spouting the same crap over and over again.

You are not proposing any real solutions.

May I infer you are doing it as well ?

But until someone has better ideas, we need stricter gun controls.

Pretty sure I have suggested two avenues to address to stop this or at least slow it down.

Seems my suggestions are not easy nor popular to the current goobernment climate, lets just put another band aid on it and when it happens again lets blame the people least responsible, and punish them some more, without addressing the real issue !

And then boo hoo when it keeps happening, one can not heal a lesion by not addressing the cause of the wound ...

 

[ozonetrooper]

Look I'm not saying ban all guns

Okay, you have piqued my curiosity, which guns would you ban and why ?

I just want to make it harder for people to get guns.

And with this we have banning as one suggestion and restricting access as another, both in the same content.

Sounds like gun control to me, and the ones it will affect have prolly never even shot anyone with a gun.

 

[ocnbrze]

actually i am not talking about banning guns at all. i misspoke.....or is it misstyped? LOL

i just want it harder to get guns. i want people to bend over backwards in order for them to get a gun. its just to easy now. i would like to see high capacity guns get off of the streets, but i know that is not possible.

 

[Dannydet]

Let's face it.
Guns are easy to get.
Criminals and mentally impaired can easily get them.
If the threat is eliminated by carrying,
I say we all get concealed permits and pack a gun for our own protection.

This is the way....

 

[PitCarver]

Right now, you can go down to your local sporting goods store and purchase a firearm with very little hoops to jump Through

Seems like every time I've bought a gun, sporting goods store, gun store or at a gun show, I've had to pass the same exact background check. It's been a while since I got one but as I recall it's a federal check...
How many people lie on these?
I have absolutely no issue with a mandatory waiting period so that each applicant can be fully vetted.

 

[PitCarver]

Sorry folks, I can't get rid of the quotes on my comment.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[ozonetrooper]

Seems like every time I've bought a gun, sporting goods store, gun store or at a gun show, I've had to pass the same exact background check. It's been a while since I got one but as I recall it's a federal check...

How many people lie on these?

Well, the President of the United States son, for one ...

i want people to bend over backwards in order for them to get a gun. its just to easy now.

Lets see, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago are listed as cities with the most restrictive gun laws today.

One more time, it is only the honest people who are affected by current and proposed gun legislation.


just imagine if there were no criminals, no stealing, no rapes, no car jacking, no kidnapping, no killing .....

would be a much better place to be than where we are today, and much less need for self protection.

Keep picking the scab and it will continue to fester and spread and eventually no band-aid is going to cover it.

There appears to be no easy solution to this but why place the ineffectiveness of the lackadaisical goobernment on the back of Joe Honest Citizen ???

For the common good does not apply here, the criminal segment is running rampant in our country and our goobernment is doing nothing to curb it !