Gun control discussion

[lizbud]

Fear Retribution? Because those that think they have been wronged do stupid stuff! Revengeful stuff! Being right doesn't mean much if you are injured or dead.

Yes a few always slip through the cracks, but before someone carries a gun in my classroom or home I would like to know that they are well trained. 2nd amendment rights? I have the right to determine what someone brings on my property, something the NRA disagrees with, at least as far as guns are concerned.

Disappointing coming from you, Richard. Being an idiot has nothing to do with being sane or stable. Of course this might have to do with the personal definition of idiot. This has much less to do with common sense and intelligence and much more to do with values and social connections with people.

I'm through trading barbs. I forgot these threads are about insulting others and not having meaningful discussions about a topic of concern.

It would be a pity if this were your last post on this subject. Clarity of thought and expression is always a good thing.

[lizbud]

Interesting article on successful marketing of lethal weapons.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/20/opinio...html?hpt=hp_c2

[Karen]

Interesting article on successful marketing of lethal weapons.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/20/opinio...html?hpt=hp_c2

I have two responses to that, Liz -

1. What weapons are NOT lethal? Isn't that sentence redundant?

2. It is an article on an ad campaign - who is to say whether it worked at all, or had any impact whatsoever?

[RICHARD]

If we outlaw guns, how will we defend ourselves from pirates?

[cassiesmom]

"The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." -- National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre
You're missing the point. The goal is to keep the gun away from the bad guy in the first place!! Hello?!!? And what if you put someone in a school who claims to be a good guy but is actually bad? Then you have an adult with a gun in close proximity to children on a daily basis. Wasn't that the whole problem to begin with?

[Lady's Human]

"The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." -- National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre
You're missing the point. The goal is to keep the gun away from the bad guy in the first place!! Hello?!!? And what if you put someone in a school who claims to be a good guy but is actually bad? Then you have an adult with a gun in close proximity to children on a daily basis. Wasn't that the whole problem to begin with?

So cops shouldn't have weapons either? After all, one of them could (and has, on occasion) turned into a bad guy with a gun.

[pomtzu]

My grandson's high school went on lockdown today. A nice quiet school in a suburban/rural setting - much like in Sandy Hook. However, this school does have a city cop stationed inside the school at all times when there are students present. This didn't deter one student tho - who pulled a gun in class today in the classroom next to where my grandson was at the time. Another student screamed "he's got a gun" - everyone hit the floor and the cop came running at full speed. The student with the gun got tazered and "escorted" to the police station. Every school district with about a 25 mile radius was notified and they all went into lockdown mode. Don't know if the kid with the gun had ill intentions, or he was just being a smart-ass. Either way - too scary to suit me!

All of this insanity needs to end!!!!

[cassiesmom]

So cops shouldn't have weapons either? After all, one of them could (and has, on occasion) turned into a bad guy with a gun.

LH, that was also one of the points the NRA vice-president made in his talk. But police officers generally aren't in elementary schools for 6 to 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. The NRA vice-president talked about Secret Service agents, the military and gave the example of a police officer responding to your 911 call.

I understand his point, but I'm not sure that's the answer. For example. The school nearest to me is a single story building. It takes up almost the whole block. Classrooms and offices on the long sides, one short side is the gymnasium and the other short side is the multi-purpose room, which is where the kids have lunch, some assemblies, PTO and school board meetings, band and choir concerts and other school programs. There are entrances on all four sides of the building and the multi-purpose room has two entrances of its own. Would they put an officer at every entrance? They lock them all from the outside after school starts, and you have to ring the bell at the one nearest to the school offices if you need to get in during the day. What if the officer was at the front door and someone bashed their way in through a side door? Or through a window -- ??? Bullet proof glass? Alarms and cameras at all the entrances? What if two bad guys with guns and there is only one officer? Where does it end?

[Miss Z]

I'm not sure why it was only this evening whilst watching the news that I was reminded of the 1996 shooting in Dunblane, Scotland. I apologise if this has been mentioned before since I've skipped a fair few pages on this thread. The Dunblane shootings were similar in many respects to the recent shootings in Connecticut - a quiet, unassuming town, and many young children (and I believe teachers too) were shot dead before the gunman turned the gun on himself. The British tennis player, Andy Murray, was a survivor of the shooting.

I was very young at the time of the incident, about the age of the primary school children killed. I can't really recall the impact it had on my school life, but my parents can. Security at the school gates became paramount, with secretary-operated buzzer systems installed pretty much everywhere and alarm systems upgraded to the latest technology. Furthermore, following the incident almost all handguns were banned from private ownership without a licence. I cannot comment on what happened to those guns already in private ownership. Yet since then, we have had no massacres at any educational institution. In my 20 years, I can recall one other mass shooting in the UK. I can recall many more for the USA.

So no, banning something will never entirely eliminate the problem. Unless we could ban nut-jobs, perhaps. Indeed, mental health checks can only be helpful before a gun is sold to a member of the public, but how well would they be followed up? I can be sane today, but bonkers tomorrow. No-one necessarily need know I'm bonkers until I, say, pick up my gun and go on a shooting spree...

[lizbud]

I have two responses to that, Liz -

1. What weapons are NOT lethal? Isn't that sentence redundant?

2. It is an article on an ad campaign - who is to say whether it worked at all, or had any impact whatsoever?

The article was talking about the marketing of the weapon used in the Newtown shooting. (A ultra lethal weapon)

Probably was redundant.

The ad also was very successful. That particular weapon was flying off the shelves in every gunstore in the country.
Now that the "pro gun" folks are convinced that all weapons will be banned by the ( Goverment) AKA. (the bogeyman)

http://www.bushmaster.com/index.asp

[Lady's Human]

Interesting article on successful marketing of lethal weapons.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/20/opinio...html?hpt=hp_c2

I read that piece this morning and rolled my eyes.

Bushmaster (who didn't really need much marketing or a competent marketing department, as they make one of the best rifles of that type on the market) took a common comment (Dude, really? You'll lose your man card for that!) and turned it into a weak marketing campaign aimed at......people who were already going to purchase a weapon anyway.

This isn't Joe Camel, the Marlboro man, or the mass media campaigns trying to get you to drink brand X beer.....it's an ad aimed at people who were already going to make a purchase.You're not going to see ads for S+W during the evening news, though I'd welcome those in place of the endless stream of ads for Viagra, Cialis, or any of the other products in that vein that are slathered everywhere.

[RICHARD]

You're not going to see ads for S+W during the evening news, though I'd welcome those in place of the endless stream of ads for Viagra, Cialis, or any of the other products in that vein that are slathered everywhere.

And, what vein may that be?

[mrspunkysmom]

It would be a pity if this were your last post on this subject. Clarity of thought and expression is always a good thing.

Thanks Liz