[ Closed ] The Elephant in the room (Page 3 of 5)

I lived in Florida for 5 years and due to the cash value of the goods I was carring around. I was strongly advised to get a concealed firearm. A situation arose that kind of forced me into it. The process was painfully easy and buying a gun from walmart even easier. It took me a further 2 years  to qualify for a credit card.
The background check is a joke as there is something on my record that really I should have atleast been quizzed about. Now if it is that easy for a non resident (or resident alien) to get a firearm, then something is very very wrong. The problem is the belief that everyone has the right to arms. My status did not give me voting rights, yet I could buy a hand gun?
I had a nieghbour and local security guard who scarded me to death with his collection of firepower. He was actually a brit with dual nationality and was trying to get in the police. He was moron and should not be let anywhere near a firearm. My concerns fell on deaf ears. I keep hearing the argument that this school shooting nutter obtained his weapons due to them not being locked away by the legal owner. I lost the key to my (rather expensive) gun locker, took  5 seconds to bust it open with a metal bar.......
There is no valid reason for joe public to own a firearm, reality is that they always will. Steps should be made to limit the damage they can do. Locked user systems, slow reloading actions, ban semi and fully automatic weapons etc etc. Anything that gives a moment if time for someone to act when a gun is in the wrong hands.

This is a very complex issue. I have so many thoughts, so I hope I can make sense.

I'll begin with Mental Health Care. As budgets are cut, this is the first area to be slashed. MANY people do not want the Government in their "business" nor do they want to spend tax dollars for these services. After every slaughter we find glaring signs of illness and hints that something bad was going to happen. So, I maintain that money spent for early intervention can be considered money spent for Public Safety.

I saw the perp's aunt interviewed. She said her sister had these guns because she was preparing for the collapse of the economy. This ideology reflects a paranoia that permeates the 2nd amendment screamers. "They're coming for our guns". I have to ask who are "they"? Sadly this woman became the victim of her own "defenses". Now, I do not have a problem with guns in general. We will always have guns in this country. I have hunters on my property to control the deer population. They drop the deer with 1 shot, they eat the meat, and they are responsible gun owners. But, I don't know anybody who needs an assault weapon, armor-piercing bullets, or a mega ammo clip. We will always need armed police, but we need to do everything we can to keep them better armed than the criminals. I also believe legit owners have no problems with going thru the channels needed to obtain a gun. Time to close the gun show gap, for starters. I understand criminals will find a gun some how, some way, but that doesn't mean we can't try to make it harder. Who among us didn't have the inital gut reaction that had we been there with a gun we could have stopped this. But I can not agree with the idea that adding more guns would help. All I can imagine is more innocent victims. Yes, the NRA is a powerful lobby who spent $$$ to get the President defeated. That failed and they can bve beaten. I was reminded this morning that our strict DWI laws came into being because of organized citizens forming Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). I feel this will lead to the same kind of uprising amongst citizens.

I also feel there is a culture of violence in this country. Video games have made it so easy to kill. Movies glamorize violence. This is an individual choice, but I hope parents rethink what their children are exposed to during their formative years.

There is always the "Now is not the time for these discussions" chant after these tragic events. Then time passes and the conversation is usurped by something else. I believe, and hope, this time it's different. Right or wrong, 20 dead babies at Christmas, seems to be the breaking point.       

                                                                                                  Cathy

gobsmaked by that... What about the civil liberties of:

• Charlotte Bacon, 6
• Daniel Barden, 7
• Rachel Davino, 29
• Olivia Engel, 6
• Josephine Gay, 7
• Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
• Dylan Hockley, 6
• Dawn Hocksprung, 47
• Madeline Hsu, 6
• Catherine Hubbard, 6
• Chase Kowalski, 7
• Jesse Lewis, 6
• James Mattioli, 6
• Grace McDonnell, 7
• Anne Marie Murphy, 52
• Emilie Parker, 6
• Jack Pinto, 6
• Noah Pozner, 6
• Caroline Previdi, 6
• Jessica Rekos, 6
• Avielle Richman, 6
• Lauren Russeau, 30
• Mary Sherlach, 56
• Victoria Soto, 27
• Benjamin Wheeler, 6
• Allison Wyatt, 6

should they not have come first?

That will be my last post on this subject.

I am not saying if it is right or wrong to be judged but America you will be I fear by your actions post this tragedy. Just being involved in this debate on here as led me to believe that the divide is way too great to ever be bridged. These acts are not just "occasionally" as stated above that word is just so wrong in this situation.

Oh dear.

My brother never owned a gun and never wanted one. Till one night a criminal fleeing the police decided to seek refuge in his home. My brother grabbed a fireplace poker and chased him out. I won't have to use a poker especially if the invader has more than a crow bar in his hands. My brother and sister-in-law now both own guns and know how to use them.

Agreed. Madness. Such a young country...seems like a first draft.

Ian, I'm very sorry you feel that I was callous in my statement.  I am as appalled as any at this heinous act. It was put forth as a question of how far we wish to go pursuing gun control in our society, and not in any way to diminish the horror of this senseless crime, or the terrible loss to the families and friends of the victims.

Our laws protect everyone's civil rights. Unfortunately, sometimes the civil rights of the perpetrator are more valued than the victim under the law after the fact. If you lived here you'd know that and experience the same disgust I do as criminals walk and the survivor's family weeps. I thank God the perpetrator killed himself and we were spared the drama and media frenzy of his trial. A probable finding of innocent by reason of insanity, a sentence of treatment and subsequent release to do it all over again was the likely result.

Many things in our society are broken, and yes Ian, it is really getting that bad, especially in dense urban areas and along our southern borders where the drug lord wars are spilling across. My home city happens to be both of those and I see local reports daily of mayhem and death.

Excellent points and insight Cathy and Natasha. Perhaps this tragedy will bring this important subject to the fore in a national debate and we all can address the causes and not the results with a common goal untempered by emotion. I encourage all to contact their representative and present these thoughts.

This elephant is huge.
Rick
edit to add this must read from huffpost. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/1 … 11009.html This problem must be addressed. How many more of these ticking bombs live among us?

Gun ownership is one thing, but what civilian needs an automatic assult weapon?

Yes....this is one big elephant