General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAt a fucking GARLIC festival. With inflatable bounce houses. Kid games. Fun. A LEGALLY purchased gun
L E G A L L Y
Tell how any tightening of gun laws would have prevented another angry man from getting a gun. Like the Las Vegas gun guy. Like the Charleston gun guy. Like so many other gun guys.
A CHILD in that bounce house is DEAD. DEAD CHILDF GUNSHOT. FATAL GUNSHOT.
And yet, they get their guns legally. By going to a gun store, doing what they need to do, and buying it.
LEGALLY.
This madness needs to stop and stop NOW.
New Zealand did it.
Australia did it.
We can do it, too.
BAN GUNS.
Tell me what other way there is.
Sure, there are millions of guns out there. Legally. But if we have the will, we can do it. We can find a solution to out of control legal gun ownership. I don't give a fuck how responsible you think you are, if you own a gun,
YOU
ARE
PART
OF
THE
PROBLEM.
Full Stop
Eliot Rosewater
(31,121 posts)And in the land of more guns than people, well I dont need to finish the story, we know it all too well.
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)it was illegally transferred to California. We need some solid Federal gun laws!
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)and see how that goes.
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)gulliver
(13,193 posts)Some will point out that the California laws didn't stop this kid. But Federal laws would. Simply ban "movie merchandise" guns like AR-15s and AK-47s at the federal level. The lost souls, radicals, and monsters would no longer be able to get them.
hack89
(39,171 posts)mass killers would simply use handguns. Virginia Tech would be their model. Handguns are the real killers - any solution that ignores handguns will not change things.
gulliver
(13,193 posts)In addition to reducing the raw firepower available to murder-suicide killers, banning "assault weapons" at the federal level would improve the country in other ways. The gun industry would suddenly get the message that they can't just dump any lethal object they want to into our lives at will. Money talks. They'd listen.
Make gun violence cost the gun industry by banning their movie merchandise flagship rifles and maybe also lift any laws protecting them from product liability and wrongful death lawsuits. The gun industry would be begging the government to help them do background checks.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Are you suggesting giving gun manufacturers unfettered access to state and federal databases?
The arms industry is liable for defective products.
womanofthehills
(8,761 posts)Ugg! Psychopaths can be charming.
Mars and Minerva
(369 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)Effin' madness
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)this sucker bought this Gun from a Home based Dealer. I know I know,the Gunner Crowd will flame me,but,there are hundreds of these Sellers working out of their Homes and use the local Sportsman News Hand outs and Gun Shows to Advertise their Business Sites.. Controlling the points of sale is only half the issue,it is the wholesale end and Gun Shows that need to be addressed.
Hekate
(90,793 posts)...is sighting down the barrel at us and our children. On the whole planet, the only places with equal or more gun violence to ours are active war zones.
The common denominator in all of America's penchant for violence is access to firearms.
Arkansas Granny
(31,529 posts)You know, it's because of video games or because we kicked Jesus out of the classroom or because not enough people carry guns or, or, or. . . .
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)You can have all the single shot hunting rifles you want. Go hunting. Use a single shot rifle.
But ban semiautomatic weapons. Ban them. Like Australia and Canada (which has a ban on having them in public and extremely stringent licensing.)
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)Hand guns kill more people than nuts with assault weapons. Just that they tend to be used against more brown people than white so they garner less sympathy. Yes, there a racial element to this, too.
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Most handguns are semiautomatic (except for revolvers). And thus, they should be banned too. I agree that any gun ban needs to ban the handguns that do most killing in the US.
Canadas laws are a bit different but achieve the same purpose. Canada has a de facto ban on all handguns (defined by length of barrel) and on many semi auto rifles, but allows a few semiautomatic long barreled hunting rifles. That would be a fine law here too.
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Polybius
(15,476 posts)This is not a semi-automatic handgun:
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Polybius
(15,476 posts)Because it would end the most dangerous kind.
hack89
(39,171 posts)serious question. Exactly how do you think this is possible? A handgun ban would be particularly problematic given Heller.
hunter
(38,326 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)hunter
(38,326 posts)We aim to kill gun culture the same way smoking culture was killed and drunk driving culture was killed.
Gun cultists are very similar to creepy old sexual predators who prey on teenagers.
Tobacco, guns, and sexual predators destroy lives.
The second amendment is bullshit and everyone knows it, just as the Constitutionality of slavery was bullshit.
hack89
(39,171 posts)good luck.
hunter
(38,326 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)hunter
(38,326 posts)When I was a kid I remember people smoking in grocery stores. They'd finish their cigarette and smash the butt out on the floor, leaving it there for the clerks to sweep up.
Gross.
I feel the same sort disgust when I see some wanker with a gun fetish.
I don't need a gun because I don't let anyone I'd care to shoot live in my head.
The gun culture is dying and I'm happy to help it on it's way.
The majority of people in the U.S.A. can't be bothered to own a gun, and that percentage is growing.
Newly manufactured guns are mostly sold to wankers who already have several.
Or to sad little Nazis who murder people at food festivals.
hack89
(39,171 posts)you have a lot a ground to make up before you can claim that gun control on on the ascendancy.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,482 posts)Over the last 25 years, how many states (in addition to Vermont which saw the light in the 18th century) have eliminated permit requirements for CCW? How many states have moved from 'may issue' to 'shall issue'?
I know Massachusetts ironically accomplished banning more rifles in a year that saw no murders with a rifle for like maybe the previous 2 or 3 years.
I guess that will suffice as progress for some folks.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,482 posts)sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Also
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/nra-guns-second-amendment-106856
HISTORY DEPT.
How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment
The Founders never intended to create an unregulated individual right to a gun. Today, millions believe they did. Heres how it happened.
By MICHAEL WALDMAN May 19, 2014
hack89
(39,171 posts)And will not be changing soon.
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Until Republicans made it so.
We can do the same.
If you want Heller to change, go send those articles for everyone you know.
And anyone who preaches despair about waah we cant change anything is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Lets all be part of the solution.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Any gun control law has to comply with Heller. It doesn't matter if you disagree. And how exactly do you change it? No one is considering a legal challenge.
Nearly every law you want Heller allows. AWBs, registration, magazine size limits are all perfectly constitutional. Why not try to pass those laws first before worrying about Heller?
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)Accepting Republican outrages without outrage is how to lose.
hack89
(39,171 posts)iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)WASR 10. It is a semiautomatic rifle built in Romania that looks like a military style AK-47. The weapon, with its standard clip and stocks, is considered an assault rifle that is banned under California law.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-07-29/what-we-know-about-gilroy-garlic-festival-shooting-suspect-santino-william-legan
-----
Only military and law enforcement personnel should have assault weapons - no one else should have them, no one. And I'm with you, if I were king/queen of the US, I'd ban all guns except for the military.
TomSlick
(11,109 posts)After nearly thirty years of Army training on automatic and semi-automatic weapons of war, I agree that there is no legitimate reason for a civilian to posses such a weapon. I agree that there is no legitimate reason for any civilian to own any firearm or magazine that holds more than a very few rounds. If a hunter can't hit the target with one shot, s/he ought not pull the trigger.
You didn't reference it, but I think that all firearms should be licensed. Cars are licensed, firearms should be too. No one - no one - should be allowed to purchase (or otherwise obtain) a firearm without a rigorous background check, with anyone with a violent history or mental health issues unable to get a firearm. People who already possess a firearm who commit an act of violence or develop mental health issues, should have their weapons confiscated.
The countries you reference do not outlaw all possession of firearms because to do so would have prevented the regulations in those countries from being enacted. Advocacy for the complete abolition of civilian ownership of all firearms is not only unrealistic, it is counter-production. There is zero chance the Second Amendment will be repealed in any of our lifetimes. Advocacy for extreme and unrealistic positions is too easy ignored. If this country is to address the problems of gun violence in this country, it must be done by advocating for common sense regulation.
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
sharedvalues
(6,916 posts)I agree that we shouldnt let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
But I also think we should reframe the debate to achieve the ends we want consistent with our values.
We want hunters to continue to be able to hunt.
We want people to be able to shoot at gun ranges.
And we want to stop Americans getting killed by guns; under the two principal scenarios: Daily handgun shootings (often in cities) and mass murders.
Canadas laws would be fine. Those are: heavy restrictions amounting to a de facto ban on all handguns and many semi-automatic rifles. Hunting rifles are allowed; firing at shooting ranges is allowed.
Or, we could merely ban all semiauto weapons except at ranges. Allow all the hunting rifles you want; shoot all you want at ranges. But otherwise restrict semiautos. Thats not far from Australias laws, and its a simple rule.
TomSlick
(11,109 posts)While we're at it, we can adopt Canada's health care program.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,414 posts)I have a single shot .22 rifle and a 20 gauge shotgun that holds 1 in the chamber and 2 in the magazine. They're suitable for varmints but not for mass killing. Banning guns such as these will result in resentment rather than any noticeable change in our abysmal gun violence statistics.
TomSlick
(11,109 posts)I have breech loading, single shot 16 gauge shotgun I use for squirrel hunting and a single shot .22 rifle I use when I want to say I'm squirrel hunting.
Vdizzle
(383 posts)I grew up a short drive away from Gilroy. Bought my first rifle in California when I was 18 and had a waiting period to actually take ownership. I now live a few states away and bought a shotgun and a few handguns by walking into a shop and walking out with the guns. They are kept in a safe. Unloaded. I havent shot any of them in over 8 years since my first born came into this world. They just sit there. I dont want to sell them because I dont know how theyd be used. But if the state government had a buy back program, or heck, a guaranteed destruction program, I would gladly hand them over and watch them be smelted. I dont need them. I bought them when I was young. I bought them because I could when I hit a certain age on the calendar. I bought them because my friends bought theirs and we went to the range or the mountains to fire off some lead. But now... I dont need them. I keep them in a safe because I know where they are at all times. I even had my concealed pistol license which is now expired. I didnt renew after I had my first kid. I didnt see the point. No way I was going to get into a gunfight...ever. I cant think of a reasonable scenario where I needed to carry that hunk of metal around. If something was happening where I thought I needed a gun, it would be more use for me to pick up the kids and run like Forrest Gump.
But yeah. I have guns. But Im not getting rid of them by selling them off. I would however get rid of them if I could witness their destruction.
VOX
(22,976 posts)They gave me a detailed receipt with all the serial numbers, proof that I no longer owned those guns. I walked out of that place relieved. While I didnt beat them into plowshares, at least I rejected the crazy idea of necessary ownership.
zackymilly
(2,375 posts)Gun ownership
American civilians own at least 265m firearms, which gives Americans the highest rate of per capita firearm ownership in the world, with about one gun for every American.
Yemen comes in a distant second, with about 55 guns for every 100 people, according to data from the 2007 Small Arms Survey.
But surveys show that gun ownership in America is actually highly concentrated. Only 22 to 31% of Americans adults say they personally own a gun.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/15/the-gun-numbers-just-3-of-american-adults-own-a-collective-133m-firearms
former9thward
(32,077 posts)You saw a stupid made up statistic without any evidence behind it at all. No one tracks those numbers. No one.
wryter2000
(46,081 posts)It's just fun. This breaks my heart. Especially for that little boy and his family.
Initech
(100,102 posts)Getting rid of them will be like stealing from a vending machine. You won't get it the first try. You have to rock it back and forth a few times, then it falls over.
no_hypocrisy
(46,185 posts)What happens when a bunch of them get together with legally purchased guns?
A race riot?
A putsch?