stopped him, if they'd been there and been armed.

Um...

I doubt the shooter could have gotten though the front door with all that arsenal.

All news is good news for some products and services.

floor accidently shooting 3 people

when I mentioned how this horror was great for the NRA and how the NRA would sell more weapons, are you going to apologize now? Gun makers love shootings. They sell more guns for free than their millions of dollars worth of advertising does.

It works both ways for the NRA and the gun makers etc behind the NRA

Fear of getting killed. And fear od new gun laws.

Both drive sales.


FEAR. FEAR. FEAR...

for fundraising. Maybe they didn't have to send out a fundraiing letter. All these new gun owners are now potential NRA members.

And what is driving the sales is either a buy-now-before-the-Left-bans-them mentality, or an "oh shit, it might happen to me" mentality.

And considering all the calls to ban "assault weapons" and such now, it might be a good investment!

It's an entirely different thing altogether..

There is the "enemy of my enemy" mentality.

probably a combination of all 3 reasons you mentioned, but I'd say the fear of guns being outlawed or restricted accounts for the majority of this increase. Remember the NRA has been telling gun owners for the last 30 years that the "evil liburals" are coming for their guns. It never fails to pull in the $$. They would keep going to the well if it were dry

Penis size increases exponentially in Colorado (or 43%).

n/t

I personally don't see that as a sickness - I like being safe.

A crack house next door?

Hordes of rabid coyotes or rabbits?

We live in the big city and I feel pretty safe - well, except when I hear that about 25% of my neighbors have CC permits. Then I don't feel safe.

An armed society is not a polite society - it's paranoid.

my family and I enjoy competitive target shooting.

However your response does not answer my question re hordes of zombies, marauding rabbits, lack of police: Why does being armed make you feel safe? And perhaps makes those around you, who know you are armed, feel less safe(not part of my original question, I know, but I thought I'd throw that in as a bonus).

I have several friends who have CC permits. When they come to dinner at my house they leave their guns at home, at my request.

I have guns because I enjoy shooting them.

That would imply that you are prepared to shoot to maim or kill someone.

but no matter. I understand now.

those countries don't have large urban areas with high rates of poverty and crime. Look no further than the gang violence in Chicago, DC, LA or Philly. There are some neighborhoods that are like war zones. But that is not the majority of America - most of us live in areas where gun violence is rare.

There has not been a shooting in my community of 50,000 in 10 years. That's as safe as any country in the world.

n/t

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 08:55 PM - Edit history (1)

1. Decriminalize drugs and treat it as a public health problem. It will remove the financial incentive that drives so much crime.

2. Empty the prisons of non-violent drug offenders. It will save billions that can be spent on education, health care and social services.

3. Focus the justice system on like a laser on violent crime. Use a gun in committing a crime and go to prison for a very long time.

4. Single payer health care with mental health coverage.

My plan would actually address roots causes.

Well done.

Just missing that "restrict weapons of war designed solely to kill and maim other humans" part!

But a great start!

and of course handguns kill more people then rifles by a factor of 20.

So why will an assault weapon ban all of a sudden make us safe?

I think assault rifles should be banned, and of course the way pistols and rifles are sold (and allowed to be horded) need to be re-examined.

But I disagree with you that because there will still be gun deaths, we should refuse to deal with the problem at all.

Last edited Thu Jul 26, 2012, 10:56 AM - Edit history (1)

assault weapons kill so few people that banning them is nothing more than a feel good measure. It certainly will have no impact on mass killings - Va Tech made that very clear.

The only way to make a meaningful dent in gun violence is to concentrate on handguns - why aren't you calling for a ban on them?

Gun deaths in this country are headed towards an historic low even as the number of guns in the country continues to grow. How do you get from that fact to your statement that "gun proliferation" is a problem?

It's the denial that the particular tool enables a particular type of crime -- and the insistence on that denial -- that cause the pro-gunners to lose any credibility they may have once had.

even as gun ownership has skyrocketed?

You cannot show that more guns = more violence. You cannot even show that more guns = same level of violence.

the NRA and gun makrers are the winners this time.

they could have seen him in the theater through that smoke?

Otherwise, why all the eyewitness accounts?

Even if they hit him it wouldn't do much.

And even Kevlar is not magic. Had someone been able to effectively return fire, it certainly would have slowed him down at the least.

That said, until some decent recreations and analysis is done, I doubt most LEOs (civilians could not be armed in the theater) could have done anything unless they were former SOF or SWAT. Mixed lighting, gas/smoke, people running and screaming...its not exactly like punching paper on the range.

Just a MOLLE vest.

and very, very SAD. The NRA must be DROOLING.

the nra has won the debate for now.

there are already so many guns out there, what's a few more million anyway.

n/t

Scared people go buy guns, and those fearing new gun regulations go buy guns.

Win Win for the NRA.

perhaps it's not that irrational of an assumption.

I think it's driven more by paranoid fear of 'inevitable' reactionary restrictions than by fear of being caught up in similar carnage.

As in, Americans are insane.

Remind me never to go to a public place in Colorado. Because the next time this happens, and there will be a next time, the crossfire and ensuing bloodbath will make the prior shootings look like a poor warmup to a nightmare.

I s'pose the old Madison Avenue truism is correct-- any advertising is good advertising.

it's the media, bloggers and social commentators...

this is why they never need a sale.

Misguided fear pumped up by a healthy dose of propaganda is their best advertising.

Why just buy one? when 5 will satisfy your mania?

When everyone is armed at all times, we will finally achieve a safe and peaceful society.

But neither have anything to do with the Co shooting.

a gunman wearing body armor shooting into the crowd, would have saved the day.

I'm not anti gun, but these idiots talking about how "If there'd been one concealed carry weapon permit holder there, things would have been different" piss me off.

If there were any such people there, they did the right thing by NOT firing back. They would have made it worse.

Fucking idiots.