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Cont: Today's Mass Shooting (2)

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Thermal said:
I'd agree, except that at least for the interim, self-defense is a real thing because our genie is long out of the bottle. At some level, we have to be practical about the mess we already have in our laps, no matter how we got here.

I like my NJ USA laws, but would ramp them up even more. No carry, open or concealed. Firearm purchasing/ownership card required, revokable upon violent and/or criminal activity.

But we have a metric **** ton of weapons on the street, and a populace that has no hesitancy to use them. Gots to disarm the bad guys before paring down the good guys, and that is no trivial effort.
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Universal background checks and proper record keeping would make it easier to track down those diverting guns from the legal trade to criminals. This would raise the risks of diversion, limiting the supply and raising the price of black market guns.
 
There are a ton of things we could TRY, for zorg's sake.
If someone tells you that it's hopeless, they usually have a vested interest in not doing anything.
 
Kestrel said:
Universal background checks and proper record keeping would make it easier to track down those diverting guns from the legal trade to criminals. This would raise the risks of diversion, limiting the supply and raising the price of black market guns.
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Agreed, a responsible move. Going further, clear out the prisons of guys caught with some pot, and make room for 10 year stretches for those caught with weapons used in a crime.
 
SuburbanTurkey said:
I have it on good authority that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.
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Guns have been banned from the event.

One place you won't be able to find firearms in Texas after the Robb Elementary School massacre is, surprisingly, the National Rifle Association's upcoming forum in Houston on May 27.

According to a memo on the NRA's website, NRA members will not be able to bring their firearms to the Houston meeting.
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Mike! said:
The truck wasn't just a little crashed ether, the pictures I've seen show the wheels themselves completely knocked off of it, not an easy feat even if that is your intent. It implied to me it was put in the ditch at very high speed. Was he already being pursued after attempting to kill grandma, or simply anticipating it so he fled that scene at high speed? There's no good answers to those questions and, honestly, I'm still, for lack of a better word,numb from this horrific event.
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Just wild speculation (as if we don't get enough of that) -- I wonder if the elementary school was just a target of opportunity? Apparently the high school was nearby. But if he crashed the car and saw the other school was right there... Who knows why this nutjob did what he did.
 
shemp said:
By not having a population in which every third person is a complete ******* whackjob.
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Even recognising that that's hyperbole, I can see the truth behind it. But how on earth did it get to that? What happened? Is it the frontier spirit that has never moved on?
 
Rolfe said:
Even recognising that that's hyperbole, I can see the truth behind it. But how on earth did it get to that? What happened? Is it the frontier spirit that has never moved on?
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I've seen surveys that suggest that about 40% of U.S. households own at least one gun. Allowing that some percentage of them are not kooks, I'm willing to say that the number of U.S. citizens who are kooks is at least 1 in 4. I refuse to go any lower.

As far as why, my take, in short, is that it's a combination of "frontier spirit," racism, old-time religion, and fear stoked by entities that have political and economic reasons. I'm sure other reasons could be added. A fuller discussion would require its own thread.
 
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Rolfe said:
Even recognising that that's hyperbole, I can see the truth behind it. But how on earth did it get to that? What happened? Is it the frontier spirit that has never moved on?
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I ask myself a lot these days, because, hyperbolic or not, America really does seem to have lost its collective mind.

There is a large faction that is solidly supporting a would-be dictator in the hopes of securing their rights. I can't explain it. It's madness.

I think the core of it is related to our lack of non-partisan news sources.






On another note, as it turns out, I'm on my way to a gun shop now. Seriously. I have a couple of old rifles I inherited and I want to see if they are safe to fire, so I planned on going in today, before I saw yesterday's news.

I'll let everyone know if it's crowded, and pass on anything I hear that's extra stupid.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
There are a ton of things we could TRY, for zorg's sake.
If someone tells you that it's hopeless, they usually have a vested interest in not doing anything.
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And what exactly could you try? As long as there is no strong will to change things in the majority of the population, that's pointless.

People will pray, mourn, and tweet; that's it. They won't do anything, because the majority of them is not ready to sacrifice their private entertainment for the life of others.
 
Thermal said:
Agreed, a responsible move. Going further, clear out the prisons of guys caught with some pot, and make room for 10 year stretches for those caught with weapons used in a crime.
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If the costs of black market guns spirals up, you won't need to imprison them. Using guns for petty crimes will result in the remains of the perpetrator needing to be identified by various complex processes. The same for twitchy, angsty potential purchasers with chips on their shoulders.

Constraining supply has the added benefit of making criminal suppliers who don't want blowback into unwitting enforcers of policy.
 
shemp said:
Which is why it's so important for the Democrats to gain several Senate seats so they can afford to tell this piece of **** to take a hike.
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This assumes that a majority held Dem Senate would even pass such laws and not be stymied by conservatives within their own party, which is a recurring problem.

Dems could absolutely make an issue of this. Try to pass a bill and do a roll call vote and get people (Republican and Democrats) on the record. Make a pledge to do something should they ever hit some majority threshold.

The party always makes vague statements about what could happen if only the people voted a bit harder, but the lack of specifics and accountability is pretty glaring.
 
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