shooting at an oregon community college, at least 10 dead

[Rocketman]

It's just waaaay too easy for people to do this. We don't have to take ANY guns away from people, but we need to limit the ease the access of them to people who are mentally unstable. It's just that simple. We're not taking them away, we're regulating who gets them.

Seriously, think about your own self and how disturbingly easy it would be to do something like this today. It would take NOTHING, and you could go wherever you wanted. That's extremely odd and not okay.

 

[Destructus86]

It's just waaaay too easy for people to do this. We don't have to take ANY guns away from people, but we need to limit the ease the access of them to people who are mentally unstable. It's just that simple. We're not taking them away, we're regulating who gets them.

Seriously, think about your own self and how disturbingly easy it would be to do something like this today. It would take NOTHING, and you could go wherever you wanted. That's extremely odd and not okay.

Except gun people don't even want that.

I could go on Craigslist right now and buy a gun EASILY. That's insanity. But what can you expect from a country that leads the way in gun related deaths and still does nothing about it?

 

[ThePhantasm]

I don't see how making it less convenient for people to obtain firearms is going to prevent mass shootings. What you guys are suggesting is more of a feel-good measure ("well, at least we tried to do something about it") than a solution.

 

[samsnee]

If 20 kindergarteners shot dead in their own school didn't get lawmakers to act, nothing will.

Never read the Wikipedia entry on Sandy Hook. It's too depressing to think about those kids last moments.

 

[Shikamaru]

Australia implemented gun control back in the 90's and it worked. There hasn't been a mass shooting since then.

To be fair I don't necessarily think there would never be a mass shooting again if the US implementes it, but they would be drastically cut down for sure. The concept clearly works.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Sure. The difficulty is:

1) Hundreds of thousands of gun owners will not be willing to give up their firearms

2) The second amendment

3) Illegal guns trafficking from Mexico

Those three factors make the US situation different from that of Australia.

 

[roach]

The problem with gun control is the two sides aren't even speaking about the same thing. When people say gun control they really mean keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't get their hands on guns. Unfortunately the other side hears gun control and think "they're coming to get my guns"

 

[Sithborg]

And when the NRA throws a hissy fit over guns that are locked via fingerprints, it just starts to get insane.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

So would gun laws screening for mental illness have prevented the last 3 major mass shootings?

It seems like, once again, the mentally ill are being used as scapegoats when some "normal" people are just cruel and hateful without having any mental diagnosis.

 

[Shikamaru]

Sure. The difficulty is:

1) Hundreds of thousands of gun owners will not be willing to give up their firearms

2) The second amendment

3) Illegal guns trafficking from Mexico

Those three factors make the US situation different from that of Australia.

1) Gun regulation doesn't necessarily equate to gun banning. If countries like Norway and Canada haven't banned guns, neither will the US. The US is the gun country, and both Democrats and Republicans are in favor of guns.

2) The second amendment begins with "a well regulated militia". It also doesn't specifically state there can be no restrictions on "arms", since "arms" could mean anything from a sword to a nuke. It's only of matter of where you draw the line (and everyone draws the line somewhere, even Republicans).

3) That's why Trump's wall is the key

But in all seriousness, black markets are created whenever there is high demand in a product that's illegal. That's what you would get if you completely banned guns. With a legalized (but taxed and regulated) product, black markets are weakened. The idea is to make sure that, say, people on the terrorist watchlist can't just arm themselves willy-nilly without a background check (which they currently can do in most parts of the US).

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

The problem with gun control is the two sides aren't even speaking about the same thing. When people say gun control they really mean keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't get their hands on guns. Unfortunately the other side hears gun control and think "they're coming to get my guns"

I don't feel the usual screenings are going to cut down on gun violence.

What about angry people with no arrest record, sociopaths with no arrest record, people with family members who have serious mental problems (Sandy Hook), people charged with domestic violence, etc?

The truth is if you screen out everyone who has the slightest potential to misuse a gun, gun ownership would be severely restricted.

 

[ThePhantasm]

1) Gun regulation doesn't necessarily equate to gun banning. If countries like Norway and Canada haven't banned guns, neither will the US. The US is the gun country, and both Democrats and Republicans are in favor of guns.

Sure. But you specifically mentioned Australia, which confiscated guns.

2) The second amendment begins with "a well regulated militia". It also doesn't specifically state there can be no restrictions on "arms", since "arms" could mean anything from a sword to a nuke. It's only of matter of where you draw the line (and everyone draws the line somewhere, even Republicans).

This isn't how the Supreme Court interprets the second amendment, however.

3) But in all seriousness, black markets are created whenever there is high demand in a product that's illegal. That's what you would get if you completely banned guns. With a legalized (but taxed and regulated) product, black markets are weakened. The idea is to make sure that, say, people on the terrorist watchlist can't just arm themselves willy-nilly without a background check (which they currently can do in most parts of the US).

Many states already have universal background checks... including Oregon. The problem is that inconvenience isn't going to stop someone from mass murder.

 

[Teelie]

In the face of the tragedy at least there is some good to report from it. He didn't need to be "a good guy with a gun" to do the right thing. And he also lived, even if he was shot repeatedly.

Better to remember people like him than the shooter.

When Chris Mintz heard gunfire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, his thoughts were not of himself.

Instead, he thought first of protecting others. Then he thought of his 6-year-old son, Tyrik.

Nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the College on Thursday. Nine others were injured.

When the shooting broke out, Mintz, 30, a former high school football player in Randleman, North Carolina, tried to save the lives of others.

"Tries to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in," his aunt, Wanda Mintz, told Fox 8, a CNN affiliate in High Point, North Carolina.

"Gets shot three times," his aunt said. "Hits the floor."

"Looks up at the gunman and says, 'It's my son's birthday today,' " his aunt said.

Still, there was no mercy. The gunman shot Mintz again. It's not yet clear exactly how many more times, but both his legs are broken, said family members who talked to him by phone on his way into surgery.

"He's going to have to learn to walk again," Ariana Earnhardt, his cousin, told Fox 8. "But he walked away with his life, and that's more than so many other people did."

CNN

 

[ThePhantasm]

That guy is a hero

 

[Drz]

Better to remember people like him than the shooter.

Unfortunately we cannot keep forgetting and ignoring these shooters, we have to talk about them and figure out how to stop these.

 

[Greens]

After reading this guy and the Virginia Reporter Shooter's writings, I'm starting to think there is a correlation with recent mass shootings/incidents of violence, and the media's incessant need to show every detail and picture of these individuals. Both of these men make mention of previous well known shooters, with the Virginia shooter in particular giving praise. I feel like with our generations growing obsession with fame thanks to social media, certain people who feel like the world is out to get them, or are in not in the right frame of mind, see the notoriety and infamy previous killers get and want it.

I think if if the killers are in custody, or have been killed, media/news outlets at all levels should refrain from releasing information on these individuals.

I don't know about that. I certainly see your point on one hand, but on the other hand I don't like the idea of censoring the media and withholding this information from the public.

Besides, the cat has been out of the bag since Columbine. A policy like this would be of little use in 2015, especially with the internet being a factor.

 

[Guts]

More specifically, serial killers and mass murderers tend to have a male chromosomal abnormality.

I think that's called the XYY syndrome.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Australia has already shown what the US need to do. That we refuse to do it do to politics and lobbying is an embarrassment. Is mental illness a problem? Yes. But how readily available guns are just makes things so much worse. There is very little reason the vast majority of Americans need guns.

Will there still be murders? Yep. But the gun violence would almost all but disappear.

 

[Nemeres]

Many states already have universal background checks... including Oregon. The problem is that inconvenience isn't going to stop someone from mass murder.

It very well could diminish both the frequency of shootings and the number of victims. Many of these people aren't smart planners, they're simply weak-willed and easily impressionable, and that's all they need to make them contemplate a shooting as a feasible option. Getting a gun, shooting up a place and getting killed is very easy and uncomplicated. People like Adam Lanza, for instance, wouldn't have it in them to build an explosive or go on an effective stabbing rampage. The main thing that has made these simpletons dangerous on a wide scale is easy, unregulated access to guns, some more destructive than they need to be for defense.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Australia implemented gun control back in the 90's and it worked. There hasn't been a mass shooting since then.

To be fair I don't necessarily think there would never be a mass shooting again if the US implementes it, but they would be drastically cut down for sure. The concept clearly works.

Common sense regulation on guns faces a stiff test from too many Americans who have their sense of identity linked with their weapons. They want firearms that civilians logically shouldn't have and to take them into places where they logically shouldn't be. It's going to be a long fight to beat that kind of belligerence, but these continued slaughters are proof that gun laws absolutely must change.

 

[Teelie]

Unfortunately we cannot keep forgetting and ignoring these shooters, we have to talk about them and figure out how to stop these.

I did not suggest ignoring the incident or forgetting it but remembering the people who helped prevent more casualties and not give the shooter any kind of fame or special recognition.

Part of stopping future incidents is not giving the shooters the power of infamy to inspire others. It does not mean to ignore what they did or why they did it but to not obsess over them either.

 

[terry78]

At this point it ain't even about the guns, it's about principle with a lot of them. You're not going to tell me what to do, seems to be the credo.

 

[Unbreakable Lex]

Unfortunately we cannot keep forgetting and ignoring these shooters, we have to talk about them and figure out how to stop these.

Here's what the shooter yesterday had to say about the shooter in Virginia:

"I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight."

The post also said, "And I have to say, anyone who knew him could have seen this coming. People like him have nothing left to live for, and the only thing left to do is lash out at a society that has abandoned them."

 

[Unbreakable Lex]

At this point it ain't even about the guns, it's about principle with a lot of them. You're not going to tell me what to do, seems to be the credo.

They are freaked out that one new law about mental health means the goverment will eventually come and take everything, including the hair on their back. That is literally the source of second amendment supporters fear and logic. They know that if they give up an inch, they've lost everything.

Meanwhile, people are being killed at school once a month.

Insanity. I used to be a second amendment supporter. But after seeing these reactions after such horrid tragedies, I'm now a supporter of ending the second amendment all together.

 

[Thundercrack85]

To me the compromise seems obvious. Make it a hell lot harder to get guns. Stringent background checks. A national database, etc.