Thursday, December 03, 2015

33,000

33,000 people killed annually in this country by gun violence.  If more specific gun control is not the solution, what is?  We own two guns, so don't assume I am against owning a gun for hunting or even  self-defense.  If you do not have an idea for a solution you are  accepting the status that we live in a very violent country and it cannot be changed. Yes, people will be killed  by knives,  etc. but I do not accept that the long slog toward greater gun control is bad.

17 comments:

  1. America is a puzzle to civilized countries.

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  2. America, home of the free, land of the guns. I can't see it getting better, especially when you have candidates for President telling people they should all be armed. The rhetoric is going in the wrong direction and there seems no way to stop it. It used to be "A chicken in every pot", now it is an AK 47 in every hand. This is not the country that I grew up in, and not even the country my children grew up in, and it is all so very sad and frightening.

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  3. The number of guns - legal or otherwise - in this country are ridiculous, but I've begun noticing the number of altercations that now involve knives. It seems we're getting more violent and use whatever is at hand.
    Soon we'll probably be beaning each other over the head with staplers or flowerpots.

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  4. I think the problem is more the culture than the weapons, but making guns less available especially to people with crazy eyes and the unstable can not hurt.

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  5. I'm in agreement. There is no reason to own an AK-47 or an AR-15 or any other 'war' weapon. You cant justify it for anything logical. I'd outlaw them all and make them illegal for anyone except law enforcement or the military to own. We could do more about background checks too. It wouldn't probably though have stopped this guy who seemed just a fundamentalist but no trouble in the past that I read about. As it stands, the right even vote against blocking those on terrorist watch lists from buying guns. All they can think about are those NRA voters. The rest of us should make clear by our votes that this is not okay.

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  6. We didn't have a gun and violence problem until SCOTUS completely mis-interpreted the 2nd amendment and Bush made it legal to own military style weapons. add to that the Right's continued incitement to hate, fear, and violence and this is the result. I'm completely against military style weapons and, with some exceptions, handguns. Handguns are too easy to access in a fit of anger and statistically, anyone who owns a handgun or has one in the house, that gun is far more likely to be used to kill in anger or fear (and by that I don't mean actually being threatened) than to be used in self defense. people with guns live in some form of fear, otherwise they wouldn't have a gun. people who live in fear don't think, they shoot. good guys with guns? only until the moment they aren't. we need extensive background checks, waiting periods, licensing, mandatory training to be renewed every year, required insurance. people should not be able to buy a gun on a whim.

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  7. It's a thorny dillema because there seem to be some who just don't want a solution.

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  8. The best idea I've heard is that all Americans should be able to have as many guns as they want, as long as they can pass a proficiency test to get a license, and then register and insure the guns so owners can be held responsible for any damage . . . just like we do with automobiles.

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  9. Apparently they were illegally obtained assault rifles!

    Crazy crap we deal with these days- can't even go to a banquet- We just never know when people will snap- n they MUST be insane to do those things!
    Makes me want a better defense weapon, to stop whoever tries that around me!

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  10. Ever notice that none of these assholes are doing mass murder with a six shooter revolver? It's time to start classifying "sport" guns from
    "assault" guns. It time to regulate assault weapons.

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  11. Gun control is excellent.
    How long had those three been planning.

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  12. In my opinion, the Second Amendment does not give anyone the right to an assault weapon designed to kill large numbers of people in a matter of minutes.

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  13. What Stephen Hayes said.

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  14. I don't have an answer, but I can see that something is terribly awry.

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  15. The ban on assault weapons should be restored. Guns should be registered. Potential gun owners should be screened. But all of that won't stop the killing. The killing, aside from terrorism and the occasional mentally ill person going berserk, will continue as it does daily on our streets until there is equal opportunity and justice for all. Will that ever be? Probably not.

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  16. Anonymous12:49 AM

    It's a twisted problem... there definitely needs to be more screening, but I don't see that as a solution. Most guns used in the horrific violent acts are obtained illegally. We are unlike other countries - more diversified and more free. There is going to be friction between the cultures. It's up to each one of us to become the change we need, in our attitudes and our words and our actions, to stop jumping to extremes, to think before we speak, to maintain our sense of humor. Is that the answer? Probably not, unfortunately. I hope someone has it.

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  17. Getting rid of assault weapons would cut the carnage way back.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.