The Guns thread - Part 1

[Ouch]

They'd probably call him a terrorist as well since he'd look Middle-Eastern.

They'd probably shoot him since #secondamendmentrights.

 

[moviedoors]

I have a 6 and 2 year old and feel the same. You’re right statistically it won’t happen but that doesn’t mean I don’t wonder if some mornings, it could be the last. It’s sad that’s the world we live in.

It really truly breaks my heart. Just the idea of it levels me; I don't know how these parent's that actually have to face the reality of violently losing their children go on.

 

[squeekness]

It really truly breaks my heart. Just the idea of it levels me; I don't know how these parent's that actually have to face the reality of violently losing their children go on.

Yeah, I can't imagine anything being much worse -- Except maybe if your kid was the shooter and you never saw it coming.

 

[samsnee]

I can never comprehend how any parent, liberal, conservative, black, white, whatever, wouldn’t want to do everything possible to do more after what happened in Newton. It’s not that hard to imagine that happening to your child.

 

[moviedoors]

Yeah, I can't imagine anything being much worse -- Except maybe if your kid was the shooter and you never saw it coming.

Oh god, that hadn’t even occurred to me.

 

[samsnee]

There’s video out of students hiding in fear in one of the classrooms. You can hear the gunshots outside. It’s terrifying just to watch.

No one, let alone kids in a school, should have to live in fear of that happening in what’s supposed to be the greatest developed country in the world. My mind always goes back to Newton and what those kindergarteners had to live through.

 

[Schlosser85]

Yeah, I can't imagine anything being much worse -- Except maybe if your kid was the shooter and you never saw it coming.

There’s a movie with Maria Bello and Michael Sheen with that premise and also We Need To Talk About Kevin with Ezra Miller and Tilda Swinton.

 

[KevanG]

I'm not even shocked anymore. I honestly can't make myself care anymore than sarcastically saying "Hopes and Prayers" or "I'm sure something will change this time".

 

[Krystal]

What kind of gun control would some of you folks like to see enacted?

 

[The Overlord]

I'm not even shocked anymore. I honestly can't make myself care anymore than sarcastically saying "Hopes and Prayers" or "I'm sure something will change this time".

Yeah, you and I live in Canada and Canada has far less gun violence then the US:

https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/americas/us-gun-statistics/index.html

Most Western countries have far less gun violence then the US, I think gun culture is more destructive internal forces we see in the US.

 

[samsnee]

I’m in no way a gun expert so I can’t speak to what constitutes an assault weapon or not. But it does seem like the AR-15 seems to be the weapon of choice in these scenarios so that needs to be looked into. At the very least, before proposing any new laws that some would consider knee-jerk, Congress should allow research to be done to find correlations and trend lines between all these shootings. They won’t even approve funding for that.

Once reasonable studies and their findings have been reviewed by non-partisan groups, we can have a real discussion on what laws need to be better enforced and what new checks should be created. I personally would also love a buyback program because any new law most likely wouldn’t apply to previous purchases.

 

[TheCardPlayer]

What kind of gun control would some of you folks like to see enacted?

Make it like Canada. Like 8 mass shootings incidents in a couple decades, vs almost a thousand in 3 years in the USA. Tougher backgrounds checks, need to be in a gun club/or be a hunter (no more guns for the sake of having them), no sales without background checks, longer waiting period before getting the firearm, mandatory course and exam before license, registration of all restricted firearms.

 

[Thundercrack85]

You know, when I first saw this, I did have that instinct to just shrug. But that's what the NRA and the Republicans who support it want. They want you to become numb to this and give up on sane gun laws.

That cannot happen. This can not become the acceptable norm.

 

[Sithborg]

At this point, my only hope is for Mueller to find the NRA to be highly funded by the Russians, and absolutely destroy's their financial power.

 

[Marvolo]

I’m in no way a gun expert so I can’t speak to what constitutes an assault weapon or not. But it does seem like the AR-15 seems to be the weapon of choice in these scenarios so that needs to be looked into. At the very least, before proposing any new laws that some would consider knee-jerk, Congress should allow research to be done to find correlations and trend lines between all these shootings. They won’t even approve funding for that.

Once reasonable studies and their findings have been reviewed by non-partisan groups, we can have a real discussion on what laws need to be better enforced and what new checks should be created. I personally would also love a buyback program because any new law most likely wouldn’t apply to previous purchases.

An assault weapon is any fully automatic weapon (hold down the trigger and it fires nonstop) that has a select fire switch that allows the gun to be fired in full auto, three round burst, and single fire. No weapon used in a civilian school shooting is a true assault weapon. The media and the general public has a severely bad habit of mislabling and misunderstanding guns and the various types that are legal and illegal and it's done nothing but create more confusion.

An AR-15 is a semi auto rifle. One bullet per trigger pull. All civilian model rifles are one bullet per trigger pull. There are questionablly legal and some outright illegal aftermarket modifications that can be done to turn a semi auto into something that functions like a full auto. Bump stocks are one such modification.

And actually 80% of all gun related deaths are committed with pistols. Not rifles or AR-15s.

 

[The Overlord]

You know, when I first saw this, I did have that instinct to just shrug. But that's what the NRA and the Republicans who support it want. They want you to become numb to this and give up on sane gun laws.

That cannot happen. This can not become the acceptable norm.

The fact that nothing was done after Sandy Hook was the eye opener for me, if nothing was done then, why would anything be done now? Unless the US changes its gun culture, the cycle never ends.

 

[Krystal]

Lies, damn lies and statistics.

 

[samsnee]

Thanks for the lesson. But we are talking about mass shootings at this point, no? What’s the statistics on guns used in mass shootings?

 

[moviedoors]

Make it like Canada. Like 8 mass shootings incidents in a couple decades, vs almost a thousand in 3 years in the USA. Tougher backgrounds checks, need to be in a gun club/or be a hunter (no more guns for the sake of having them), no sales without background checks, longer waiting period before getting the firearm, mandatory course and exam before license, registration of all restricted firearms.

Especially that. I'm fine with hunters, but guns aren't ****ing toys, and I loathe the way we act like paranoid vigilante fantasies are a good reason to keep them so readily available. How many dead children is it gonna take? Let me reiterate: dead children. Little boys and little girls with shattered bones and punctured arteries crying and dying terrified and in agony.

 

[Krystal]

Sandy Hook was the end of gun control in this country.

The NRA knew if that didn't get gun control enacted nothing would. They breathed a huge sign of relief after that.

Even the media is starting to run scared. They already started blaming the school security measures Metal detectors, cops, less entries to the school, etc. is what they mention.

So scores of kids lined up at bottlenecks being scanned by cops and metal detectors? -- that's the perfect spot for a mass shooting to take place -- you just made the nuts job easier by having everyone form a line.

 

[mclay18]

At this point, my only hope is for Mueller to find the NRA to be highly funded by the Russians, and absolutely destroy's their financial power.

That would be nice, but even so, I doubt any gun control law will pass until the Democrats win back Congress and the White House.

It angers me how most Republicans just turn the other way and refuse to act, partly because the NRA has them by the short hairs. They destroyed any kind of integrity and compassion when they refused to pass any kind of law after Newton, Orlando, Las Vegas, et al.

It's a vicious cycle. The pro-gun side (like my brother) claims that "you can't prevent someone from shooting if they're determined". No duh, but you can make it difficult for them and prevent future ones from happening. We don't know if we can until we pass something. And right now, it will happen again and AGAIN.

 

[squeekness]

There’s a movie with Maria Bello and Michael Sheen with that premise and also We Need To Talk About Kevin with Ezra Miller and Tilda Swinton.

I've seen it and read the book. Heart wrenching.

 

[squeekness]

The fact that nothing was done after Sandy Hook was the eye opener for me, if nothing was done then, why would anything be done now? Unless the US changes its gun culture, the cycle never ends.

This is me. If Sandy Hook or Columbine didn't change things then nothing will except a radical change in heart by the NRA which won't happen either.

 

[moviedoors]

The NRA knew if that didn't get gun control enacted nothing would. They breathed a huge sign of relief after that.

And so did all of the pathetic gun nuts. When Sandy Hook happened, I was a manager at Walmart, and one of my departments was Sporting Goods. For weeks after that tragedy we were out ammo, especially AR-15 ammo. Why? Because all of the gun nuts came out of the wood work, terrified that Obama was gonna take their ammo and their guns. They bought so much ammo they depleted the suppliers. Not an exaggeration. This was a nation-wide phenomenon. Bullets were bought in such huge quantities that we literally couldn't keep it stocked and the manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand. People were lining up at 5am to buy all of the rounds we got shipped to us overnight. We had to start putting a cap on how much you could buy at once so that all of the people in line didn't get angry and everybody got an opportunity to buy their ammo. When I tired to explain why their was such a shortage, they just blamed Obama and rolled their eyes at me. Children were slaughtered and all these people cared about was their right to buy an arsenal of murder fodder. It was ****ing disgusting. I was on track to become a high paid manager with Walmart, but I quit before spring 2013 rolled around in utter disgust. All of the money in the world wasn't worth rotting my soul out for provincial, selfish, hateful rednecks that loved their guns. I haven't regretted my decision for a single second since.

 

[squeekness]

I'm sure the bullet makers were thrilled. Made their money.