RE: It's the guns!
BTW, whoever said that our private citizens couldn't stop an invading army with our guns was either being sarcastic or is hilariously uninformed. If all five branches of our military were somehow incapacitated, an American insurgency would unleash hell on earth on any occupying force. An army ten million strong could not subdue the rural American countryside. We have millions of retired vets with advanced weapons training. It's not really worth going into though as we're far more likely to have a civil war and do this to ourselves than be taken out by physically invading outsiders.
RE: It's the guns!
))"The vast majority of deaths by guns is suicide."
Excuse my French, but I really don't give a *bleep* if someone chooses to off themselves, as long as they don't take others with them.((
Right. My point wasn't that you should care. It was just a reference to when one looks at the seemingly high number of gun deaths, the majority are self-inflicted. But even with the total higher number, the medical community still kills 4-5x more through errors. But no one's fussing about that. I guess it's not the flavor of the month.
))I wonder which society you'd rather live in.((
Wonder no more. This one, any day, any time. I can defend my castle if need be.
RE: It's the guns!
Yeah, gun violence towards others is somewhere around 20k. Traffic deaths, around 30k? Drug overdoses, over 100k. Excessive alcohol, around 180k. Gun violence and medical malpractice are actually good ones to compare because neither of them are self-inflicted.
RE: It's the guns!
Wait... did Go just admit that he owns guns?
And did this "Man" just say that his guns are so locked away that in the event they are needed; to protect his family, he couldn't get to it. And they would just die?
Did also say some insane thing about if guns were banned those caught would get lengthy sentences.
LOL. My God, are we living in the same country? Felons, minors, and gangs are already banned from owning guns. And they do not, absolutely do not get lengthy sentences if any. My God, does Go not understand the revolving door of criminals?
Hello, ever heard of how the most populus states are soft of criminals and shooters? Does he not know what California is like or New York, or Illinois, or Washington, or Wisconsin, or others?
Dude, the justice system is a joke. Remember: 911 is a joke in most towns.
LOL That's it I'm done. Let those who want to be defenseless be that way. I will protect myself and mine. And yes, I carry legally. I've known too many criminals not to.
RE: It's the guns!
So I lit a fuse and stood clear to see if the same craziness exploded and lo and behold!
I watched the same stupidity erupt on a CNN panel of supposedly wise commentators discussing this issue.
It won't be any use, but here is the only solution, borne out by the only real statistic that matters. truth is, everyone knows how to 'solve' this - or at least reduce the events dramatically. YOU ALL KNOW the answer. How do you know? because EVERY other civilised country has been through this and 'solved' it.
Here is the answer. BTW it is NOT banning guns - thanks Julie for putting that piece of BS into the conversation.
It is strong national gun legislation including but not limited to:
Tougher licensing
Banning the sale of AR15-style weapons
Registration of legal weapons
Everyone knows that those three relatively simple things would immediately bring about a reduction in needless deaths. You know that because other countries - Australia, NZ, UK, Canada and various European countries have implemented those things and seen vast improvements.
EVEN IN THE CRAZY USA you have seen how even one of those restrictions had a positive effect. For some years there were restrictions on the sale of AR15-style weapons and deaths dropped. The rstrictions ended (Why, for God's sake) and deaths rose again. QED
I probably won't participate in this thread any more - too much exposure to massive stupidity is likely to be harmful to my mental health. Y'all want to have the honour of being the country where being shot is the leading cause of death for children, carry on with the thoughts and prayers... we all know what the definition of insanity is.
RE: It's the guns!
VEN IN THE CRAZY USA you have seen how even one of those restrictions had a positive effect. For some years there were restrictions on the sale of AR15-style weapons and deaths dropped. The restrictions ended (Why, for God's sake) and deaths rose again. QED
That is a lie. Everyone here knows that ban had no discernable effect on gun death or gun crimes. That has been admitted over and over again, even by Congress.
You're right. Kiwi, stay out of what you don't know about. Stop telling us about tiny mostly homogeneous (population) countries. That is not the US.
RE: It's the guns!
I have enjoyed reading the many comments the school shootings have prompted. If you read about these tragic situations, you will have to acknowledge that the shooters were emotionally unbalanced. They had been sending red flags that they might do something horrific, like killing students and teachers. Sure, they had guns, but I've read about cases in which the parents bought their kid a gun and then didn't keep it locked up. If these kids are desperate enough, they may resort to knives, as in the case mentioned in your comments. I recall an episode o All in the family in which Archie Bunker's daughter complains about violence caused by guns, and he said, "Little girl, would you rather they was pushed out of windows?"
Even in places where there are strict gun laws, people still get access to them. I think we need to address the mental health issues. Parents and schools should see that kids who present a risk for going on a shooting spree are not allowed in the school environment. Cities should address the environment that leads to gun violence among teens. By all means, give the police every means they need to keep these thugs off the streets.
Banning guns may sound like the solution to gun violence, but we need to look to that and address the issues that are causing this problem. Deal with the kids who are showing they're volcanoes ready to erupt and make it clear to the inner city kids that gun violence will not be tolerated.
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