The Topic of Gun Control and How it Relates to Recent Mass Shootings

Joe Scarborough... who I never watch, but came across this, has changed his stance wrt gun control. Interesting at the least ...

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/12/17/joe-scarborough-gun-control/

For the sake of my children and children's children, I hope this tragedy, perhaps the most heart-renching of this type I've seen in American history in my life time, is the one that finally brings change.... in gun laws, in mental health, in taking a strong look at culture (movies, music videos, video games, etc.)

 

Exactly.

 

I'd just add that, of course, gun control legislation isn't enough. We also need major reform of mental health services in the U.S. Including making long term in patient care much more accessible.

 

Already started

 

How long did it take for people to say Bush orchestrated 9/11 and that he blew up the buildings? Was that a full week? I'd be surprised if your theory wasn't already posted somewhere to be honest.

 

What a stupid comment.

If someone thinks they need a gun to protect themselves or their family from an intruder or attacker, that person's advise to them is "there are ways to be a hero by stepping up everyday?"

What does that do for the family during a home invasion? "Excuse me mr. rapist, please leave my child alone. I volunteered at a homeless shelter today."

We can argue over whether guns are really beneficial to home defense, but the idea that people who want to defend their homes with guns could find other ways to be a hero is just dumb.

 

I read that as being addressed to the folks who want to carry guns everywhere they go.

 

That is a ridiculous position IMO. There shall be no laws in your world because majority of us have good moral compass to guide ourselves. Metal detectors in the airport, speed limits, drug control, on and on are in place precisely because of what you said. Are you proposing to rid of those controls, regulations as well?

 

If that was the target audience I can see how you can make it work, but even then, do people carry guns with them because they want to be a hero or because they want to be able to protect themselves and their property?

 

I will also add one's constitutional right is not absolute especially when other people's life and liberty is threatened by your consitutional right. For example, there is a consitutional right to freedom of speech, but there is not such a right to treason that breaches national security that puts everybody in danger.
The facts, stats are clear enough that this right to bear arm should be serevely restricted to allow others to enjoy their life and liberty.

 

Because they think its awesome. True story.

 

There are also other rights that are in conflict with an armed populace. Ask Gabrielle Gifords if she was allowed to "peaceably assemble." Or if the kids at Sandy Hook were insured their domestic tranquility. I had a talk with my 5th grade daughter last night about whether her school was safe and what she should do in case something happened. The conversation (d)evolved to where I had to tell her in the worst case scenario, her best option might be to play dead. Does she not have a right to feel safe without carrying a gun?

 

People will feel safe in a lot of other ways, for example, if no one is allowed to own a gun, period.

Your problem is easy to be taken care of bying banning gun ownership for safey and an orderly society. Because of the state of 200 million guns out there (or however many), we may not get there in one night, but we ought to start, we ought to start some measures towards a gun free society.

 

Giffords wasn't allowed to peaceably assemble because someone committed a crime and attacked her. That's illegal. Some people go to parties where people are peaceably assembling and rape women. Perhaps we should ban penises? I bet more crimes are committed using penises than guns.

 

Reposting because this video cannot be reposted enough. Any reasonable person will fundamentally re-evaluate the value of allowing semi-automatic weapons as a tool of self-defense after watching this.

There need to be strong regulations on firearm ownership. You can't just allow people to buy guns and clips and keep them stored away for whenever. For all the stupid analogies about cars, here is one that should at least make sense: everybody has the right to purchase a car. What you don't have the right to do is drive one on a public road without proper training and licensing first, lest you become a danger to others. And among other things, there are two things that set cars apart from guns: one, you'll forget how to use a gun if you don't practice frequently; and two, cars aren't used as a form of conflict resolution.

 

This not a good analogy. Why does one need a gun if everyone else isn't allowed to have it?

On the consitution ground, I can see an argument centering on the prospective danager of owning a gun and owning a gun is one's constitutional right. Restricting someone's fundamental right based on the potential danger of his or her right is hard to argue. It's like censoring one's speech content before the speech is made or restricting some from speaking because of the prospective danage of this speech. In a siutation like this, democracy may not be the best way to achieve a solution, I want to see a leadership, a strong leadership, like that showed in abolishing slavery and seregation.

 

Presently there is no long term in-patient care that is not dungeonlike. We don't need more holes to throw crazy people into; we need actual mental hospitals. Believe me when I tell you I have, on various occasions, absolutely needed hospitalization. I was unable to find even one hospital that was more than a holding pen. I know a lot of mental health professionals and not a one disagrees with my findings. We don't need more--we need ANY.

 

The Onion, of all things, puts it in the proper perspective. Incredible as it seems, not one bit of this article seems fabricated.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/right-to-own-handheld-device-that-shoots-deadly-me,30742/

 

Agreed.

 

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