We NEED Gun Control

[BigBoxaJunk]

I don't want to lose my guns any more than I want you guys to lose yours. But surely everyone agrees that SOMETHING needs to be done, something has to change. But what is the answer? The anti-gunners want to take away our guns, that is their answer. So what is ours?

My answer: No

 

[Rockhopper]

The problem is bigger than the guns. It's a societal problem. Children are now taught its all about them. Schools get rid of red ink on tests because it makes kids feel bad. The paddles are gone. In community sports leagues, everyone gets a participation medal, and everyone is guaranteed to get in the game, no matter how hard (or not) they work to earn that starting position. Schools ban dodgeball because it makes kids feel bad. Schools ban monkey bars because a kid might break an arm. The elementary school my kid went to in California banned "picking sides" for games, because inevitably, some kid gets picked last. Everyone deserves a college education, even though we need people to work in fields and drive-through windows. Many young men are more interested in their Playstation 3's than working their tails off making something of themselves.

In my unscientific view, I think many kids are unable to handle adversity, rejection, and disappointment once they are out in the real world.

 

[bingley]

OPEN CARRY SUCKS!!!
.45 ACP IS BETTER THAN 9!

 

[tws63]

Gun control = Good grip, steady aim. Yep that's about it!

gun control is about hitting the target

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

What if one of our family members was one of the people killed? What would we suggest to be done? THIS REALLY HAS TO STOP! SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. But what?????

So you're saying that as long as people I don't care about get shot, I'm ok with it, but if someone that I care about gets shot, then I would suddenly become a rabid anti-gunner?

That's a little insulting, don't you think?

 

[cosermann]

... KILLING people. That is a REAL problem. A growing problem. ...

Dear OP,

Please provide data to support this. I disagree with your presupposition and humbly suggest that you have been misled by the popular press, and the President to believe this is a serious and growing problem, when in fact it is NOT. What you will find when you do your research is that private gun ownership in the U.S. has continued to grow, exploded actually, while gun related deaths have continued to DECLINE.

Suggest the newish book "Emily Gets Her Gun," and the lastest ed. of "More Guns, Less Crime."

It is true that there's a link between mass shootings and the break down of our mental health system. Fix the mental health system.

 

[the1kidd03]

Harsher punishments for mass murder? I don't think any mass murderers are getting out of prison on early release programs.

The only way psychological policies could do anything is if everyone was subjected to a test before they were allowed to own a gun. Is that what you are advocating? You want to leave it up to Psychologists who can and cannot own a gun?

I'm not addressing mass murders specifically. I'm addressing violent crime as a WHOLE, with a focus on mass murderers. Most of the gun community simply pass off such people as "crazy" with no legit reasoning for it (failure to abide by laws or individual morals is not reason) or psychiatric investigating to certify that as a reliable reason for their actions.

You may interpret my response however you wish, but in this case you would be wrong. My intent was to point out that so few people take psychological issues seriously that many people don't get help when they truly need it. Even when friends/family DO realize it is needed, they don't know where to go or have a place to take their loved one. If it came down to a decision regarding their defensive rights, than it should be required to obtain professional opinions of more than one psychiatrist, and they must agree independently to label them as anything which would restrict this right. TOO many people understand nothing about psychology to even consider this avenue.

 

[the1kidd03]

Psychological testing isn't an option either because your psychology isnt like a bone that is either there or it's not, and it is not something testable, like whether you know math or not. As time progresses a persons psychology can and will change to any given degree.

So let's rule that out of the "something" we need to do as well.

My .02 on that.

A person's perspective and opinion may change. That doesn't necessarily mean it has anything to do with their motivations or other symptoms which cause such a disconnect from society to begin killing people.

 

[ghuns]

the real problem lies in the belief that "something" can be done to "fix" that.

There are any number of somethings that could be done to fix our gun violence problem. The real problem is that they are completely incompatible with a "free" society and our constitution. And sadly, many people in this country still want those somethings done.

 

[netsecurity]

SOMETHING must be done!

Think of the CHILDREN!

In the name of security, we can give up SOME freedoms.

We can trust THIS government, the 2A is obsolete.

The chance you'll ever actually NEED a gun to defend yourself is minute.

^ We've heard all this crapola before. Go study the last hundred years of global human history, wars and genocide, before you go around telling people to give up their rights based on evil actions of others. I'd much rather have the occasional mass slaughter at the hands of a lone lunatic, than systematic genocide. Guns made America free, and guns are the only thing guaranteeing it stays that way.

 

[lucky4034]

Ok, who has read or seen Obamas new speech on the new shootings? I don't want to start a war, but something really does need to be done. We or someone, has to find a way to get guns out of the hands of these idiots that are not only screwing up our right to bear arms, but that are KILLING people. That is a REAL problem. A growing problem. A problem that needs to be stopped. Background checks is not the answer. So, what is the answer. What if one of our family members was one of the people killed? What would we suggest to be done? THIS REALLY HAS TO STOP! SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. But what?????

Step 1: Put the television remote down
Step 2: Repeat the phrase - "America is not Utopia and never will be no matter how much the news acts like it is"
Step 3: Stay vigilant. there are bad people everywhere... don't be a victim.
Step 4: Return to your regularly scheduled program

 

[the1kidd03]

Do you really want psychiatrists determining who can own a gun? Have they ever been anything but flaming anti-gun, anti-morality liberal progressives? They are part of the problem!

Not really. How many do you know? How many have you studied? I have a great deal because it's always interested me.

Most of their opinions on guns themselves vary as much as anyone else in America, however professionally the consensus is relatively "on our side" due to case evidence they analyze. Such as the idea of some gun owner "randomly snapping and going on a rampage." Most psychiatrists and their research suggest that this would be such a rare instance that it's somewhat "abnormal" because typically there are countless signs of someone's mental decline which have gone without attention over a great period of time before they actually "snap." Therefore, it wasn't random and gun owners are not risking anyone in terms of that argument.

As to my reasoning for their involvement, read my previous posts.

 

[printcraft]

Dear OP,

Please provide data to support this. I disagree with your presupposition and humbly suggest that you have been misled by the popular press, and the President to believe this is a serious and growing problem, when in fact it is NOT. What you will find when you do your research is that private gun ownership in the U.S. has continued to grow, exploded actually, while gun related deaths have continued to DECLINE.

Suggest the newish book "Emily Gets Her Gun," and the lastest ed. of "More Guns, Less Crime."

It is true that there's a link between mass shootings and the break down of our mental health system. Fix the mental health system.

Hey now.......... there's not room for your facts in this emotional debate. Take that somewhere else.... we must do something!
Those self important politicians told me so... and those moms wanting some action or something........

 

[ghuns]

The problem with doing "something" is that everyone is already doing "something" pretty much all the time. There just isn't room for more or new "somethings".

 

[LarryC]

Well, again the mass MEDIA has affected one of our own - USE YOUR HEAD - Sure any "murders" are tragic - so are other deaths. If the government made a law that just one day a year it would be ILLEGAL TO DRIVE ANYWHERE except for actual needs (medical, groceries, etc.), it would save more lives then all the gun mass Murders committed in the last 50 years. The death toll from these is very low compared to so many other causes it is really ridiculous to even call them news.

It is only big new since the LIBERAL MASS MEDIA SAYS IT IS NEWS. The only reason the last two incidents at military bases became "mass murders" is because the IDIOT Clinton administration decided our military personnel were not capable of carrying firearms on military bases. If the soldiers had been armed - possibly one - two or three persons would have been shot/killed -Guarantee one of the fatalities would have been the BG.

 

[shootersix]

People on Zoloft type drugs *class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)* with warning labels that warn of suicide of harm to others should not have access to guns. Period.

you sir are wrong in your opinion!, i took a ssri for 4years, i never harmed a soul, even thru a divorce, i did want my exwife to die!but i never had any desire to harm her or anyone else! she cheated on me,destroyed 16 years of marriage,and made me refinance my house(i had to pay her 1/2 the equity and now owe more on my house than i did when i bought it 10years ago!) if i used your logic, she should be dead!
along with the people i work with.


in fact i should be dead, because i work with two people(in a 5person shop) who took lexapro, and according to you they both should have killed me!, or i should have killed them!

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Not really. How many do you know? How many have you studied? I have a great deal because it's always interested me.

Most of their opinions on guns themselves vary as much as anyone else in America, however professionally the consensus is relatively "on our side" due to case evidence they analyze. Such as the idea of some gun owner "randomly snapping and going on a rampage." Most psychiatrists and their research suggest that this would be such a rare instance that it's somewhat "abnormal" because typically there are countless signs of someone's mental decline which have gone without attention over a great period of time before they actually "snap." Therefore, it wasn't random and gun owners are not risking anyone in terms of that argument.

As to my reasoning for their involvement, read my previous posts.

When there have been incidents involving mass shootings carried out by a person who it is later determined by Monday morning quarterbacks to have been obviously mentally unstable and a danger to others, I wonder if anyone could provide credible data on the number of other people in this country, at any moment, who also fit that description. Would it be thousands; tens-of-thousands; hundreds-of-thousands?

Anyone who suggests that one particular person who committed a mass shooting should have been "red-flagged", "watched", or "institutionalized", should also have some opinion on how to handle the other (insert big number here) people who could also be given the same label without the benefit of hindsight.

 

[the1kidd03]

When there have been incidents involving mass shootings carried out by a person who it is later determined by Monday morning quarterbacks to have been obviously mentally unstable and a danger to others, I wonder if anyone could provide credible data on the number of other people in this country, at any moment, who also fit that description. Would it be thousands; tens-of-thousands; hundreds-of-thousands?

Anyone who suggests that one particular person who committed a mass shooting should have been "red-flagged", "watched", or "institutionalized", should also have some opinion on how to handle the other (insert big number here) people who could also be given the same label without the benefit of hindsight.

I'm confused, not sure if I'm understanding your train of thought. Are you suggesting that EVERYONE be required to submit to psych evals or that I have somehow suggested such?

I thought I made it clear that was not the case.

As far as your question, relatively few of the mass shooters have made it to the evaluation process. Most are killed in their acts. Yet, most of their diagnosed attributes are quite similar to that of other known mass murderers or serial killers I would suspect.

 

[Rhoadmar]

Another towing the lure behind the boat thread? Restricting law abiding citizens solves nothing.

 

[jbombelli]

It always cracks me up when someone says "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE" and then they never have a real, workable solution.

I am doing something. I'm teaching my kids to shoot.