Culture of Shootings , "Thoughts and Prayers" But No Solutions

Well, the Sandy Hook shooter was going for elementary school children, so he just used a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle - one of the many guns his mother owned and taught him to use.

It worked out pretty well for him - he bagged 20 pre-teens and 6 adults!

Within 4 months, the GOP blocked background check legislation.

 

Repeal and Replace. Was nothing more than a motto for those fooled into thinking it would be repealed.

Of course, ACA is here to stay. It would not surprise me if we get closer to offering Medicare type program for any American wanting to pay into it.

 

It was because we didn't have a standing Army. So citizens needed to be prepared to pick up their arms to protect the country/state. Hence the term 'well regulated militia'.

 

No, it was about state's rights, and trying to prevent overreach by the new centralized federal government.

 

The reasoning given is that a well regulated militia is needed for defense. There was an intention at the time to avoid having a standing army.

 

This is exactly how one works to justifiy being happy with total failure.

Like many difficult problems, it is just plain stupid to believe there exists some silver bullet - a single solution so beautiful that it can be proven to solve the problem.

Any approach to this problem is going to come in collections of small decisions that start carving off percentages of the magnitude of the slaughter.

 

That seems like a total dodge.

It seems like you are basically saying it's too complicated to discuss methodically and logically.

You can't articulate what combination of suggestions you have that would have been likely to prevent this?

Maybe you just want very severe restrictions, and that is really your ultimate solution, and you just don't want to openly admit that.

 

I don't see how you can complain about the other side not having "solutions" when you can't get into specifics about yours.

 

The GOP direction on guns has ABSOLUTELY against the rights of states - when the want to be, such as on this issue. (Other times, they LIKE states rights!!)

In other words, if anyone wants states rights on guns, they are going to have to fight for that.

And, the issue of guns absolutely DID have to do with the fact that we had no adequate standing military at the time the constitution was written.

It was expected that people would bring their own guns to whatever conflict existed - thus they had to be allowed guns. That's why the entire 2nd amendment is PREDICATED on the need for a well regulated militia.

 

It is predicated on it, but not entirely dependent on it.

The entity that needed the "well regulated militia" was the people in the form of the states. This was about the states.
The states did not want to have to be left entirely dependent on an army under the direct command of federal forces. What guarantee did they have that they would be protected?

 

Bull. There has been a lot of very serious thought on this issue.

The GOP has blocked even just background checks.

Suggesting the problem is that there aren't big fat silver bullets is just plain bull.

Not even the well known and signifiantly popular first approaches are blocked on NO grounds but partisanship.

 

You realize those already exist?

 

Please explain how your ideas would do anything significant or substantial to help minimize the chances of things like this.

 

Your fist sentence is just silly.

And, your second sentence fails to notice that the issue of gun ownership being needed for a well regulated militia is totally independent of whether the militia our founders envisoned was state or federal or both.

You keep bringing up this states rights thing. But, your GOP buddies do not even SLIGHTLY agree with you that this is a state issue. They assault any and all state legislation on firearm safety. They do NOT see states as having any rights AT ALL on this issue.

This IS a major problem.

Wyoming is NOT the same as Manhattan island.

The idea that the rules on Manhatta for guns HAVE to be IDENTICAL to those of Wyoming, REGARDLESS of what residents of Manhattan want is FAR too ridiculous for words.

 

Do you realize that ANYBODY can buy a gun without a background check?

And, that the GOP has fought LONG and HARD to keep it that way?

 

Self defense is not the only common use for firearms people wish to ban. I use firearms almost daily in my profession—firearms called “assault weapons” and “weapons of war” by many. I use them almost exclusively to prevent suffering and wanton killing of animals.

To be clear, I’m a staunch 2A supporter. But in practical terms, firearm regulation I see bandied about after mass shootings would make my job more difficult, my profit margin much smaller, and my desire to provide the best animal welfare possible for animals in my care almost impossible.

I am not alone. Most everyone in my profession would be effected similarly to varying degrees. We are a demographic that historically minds our own business of feeding everyone without a lot of fuss. But measures like are being proposed now would be real stinkers for us, even without factoring in the original purpose of the 2A.

 

Check the link in my sig.
According to Mother Jones (link below), from 1982 thru 2020, 'assault weapons' accounted for 401 mass shooting deaths; handguns accounted for 439 such deaths.
This works out to 10.28 (44.70%) and 11.26 (48.94%) deaths per year, respectively.
Across that same time, 15 AR15s were use to kill 256 people in mass shootings.

 

Perhaps, but if you got rid of them, would it really change things that much?

That's a little bit kind of like saying criminals prefer green colored knives, so if we only allowed blue colored knives to be sold it might help reduce knife crime.

 

Figure out how to deal with the mental health issues in the country?
Pills only work if one keeps taking the pills.

 

Address mental health issues.
Don't let people who have mental health issues access to firearms.

Whether that works in this case, not sure. He had some legal issues going back to HS.

 

So - still searching for an cheap excuse for failure!!

Yes, there is a long way to go on that.

The many groups that have analyzed this issue come up with several directions.

The first one out almost always seems to be background checks. Even that half assed crap job of background checks we do for over the counter sales today have stopped large numbers of guns from reaching the hands of the deranged and criminal.

But, YOU don't like that. YOU want me to PROVE how many were NOT killed!

Background checks are highly popular. The GOP opposes them purely as it is legislation about firearms.

And, they have done an outstanding job of allowing NO direction to be tried to see how effective it actually is.

One thing we CAN prove: how many people are killed by firearms?

The very FIRST question to ask about that is --- do we care? I know you care about fetuses. Do you care about school children and up? Do you care about those killed in domestic violence?

People in London get mugged just like they do in other large cities including ours. But, the big difference in the US is that those mugged have a FAR higher rate of being killed by guns. Do you care?

 

Correct. It has nothing to do with states rights.
The right to bear arms is for a well regulated militia. Because the country had no standing army.

 

Not talking a diagnostic test. Just a psycye profile.. It would be administered by a psychologist. (mental health worker) and only a recondition would go withathe application.

If firearms are part of your job.......that is a different situation. Firearms have their value and importance......... that is not the issue. the issue seems to be that there are those that do not handle them in a responsible manner or abuse them. .......as in shootings.

Realistically speaking.....is there a reasonable way to prevent these horrific shooting............or do we just live with them as a cultural reality ??

 

Psychological profiles are not very accurate, and can easily be faked.

I have a family member who has a story about that. They applied to become a police officer, but they have a very moral honest personality and refused to lie. A friend of his applied with him at the same time. He knew this guy was a total psychopath. Guess which one of them passed the test and went on to become a police officer?

 

Good!!

I haven't "complained" about any solution, so I'm glad you don't see that.