Gun control discussion

[caseysmom]

Me too pom i feel sick

[Randi]

How terrible and tragic. So many people lost their lives today, most of them children, because of a lunatic with two guns. When will things change? How can so many Americans be in favor of gun ownership! I just don't get it - it has happened several times before.

My sympathy goes to the many families and friends of all these dead people. What a Christmas they will have.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

great, another nutcase making gun owners look bad. You do realize that for every wacko out there that shoots people there are literally thousands of perfectly responible gun owners? From what I understand the guy had the gun illegally anyway, so he already broke the gun laws before he even pulled the trigger.

Two police officers were shot and one of them was killed by a 15 year old in Memphis today. No way in hell was it legal for a minor to have. Granted, if he was a responsible law-abiding model citizen, they probably wouldn't have raided his house to begin with.

And, I'm not a gun nut, believe me! There are several in the house and my boyfriend has a carry permit. I don't like them at all but I know that if they were harder to own, then people would just become more desperate to get them. Think about it... many drugs are illegal to make, distribute, or abuse too and yet there are tons of desperate people out there who would do even more desperate and despicable things to get them.

gun laws are a tricky issue for sure. But every time there are rumors of tightening the reigns on gun owners, they just go out and buy more while they still can, trust me.

[Alysser]

For the record, NJ has some of the strictest gun laws out there. He is from Hoboken, NJ.

NO ONE wanted anything like this to happen. This is sick, twisted and disgusting. I've cried over it today twice. I am assuming he had something against his family, and he apparently killed most of them too. Unfortunately he had to kill 27 others with them...repulsive. I am disgusted that he comes from the same state as me and that I could have walked right past him at any time.

[Karen]

Please keep all the victims in your prayers, and all the families affected. My church organist for the past two years, who recenty stepped down, is from that town, her cousin and godson attend that school. They are both safe, as is her mother, who works in another school there, which was on lockdown all day, of course.

Please do not try to find sense in all this, although endless talking heads will speculate. It was the shooter's mother, and her classroom and students that were the target, but beyond that, we do not know, and there may be no "why" involved.

[RICHARD]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/...ack/index.html

China was hit by a spate of knife and cleaver attacks that targeted school children in 2010.

A number of measures were introduced at the time, including increased security at schools across the country and a regulation requiring people to register with their national ID cards when buying large knives.

[sasvermont]

Not all the information is in quite yet. I can't imagine mowing down kindergarten children and first graders. What a sick person he must have been. Mental health can be a fragile thing. I understand the killer had his brother's ID on him. Gosh, such damage to hundreds of people. Their lives will be a mess for years to come.

I hate guns. I would never own one. I see no reason why anyone needs an automatic "anything" gun-wise. Let's get the Glocks (?) off the street. I understand the killer went through hundreds of bullets ... many, many rounds.

This story makes me sick and angry.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Ah yes. Here we go again. Excuses, excuses, excuses. If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns! The Second Amendment! I need my gun to protect my family! They got the guns illegally so laws would do no good.

And..."in China they had a spat of knife killings." Oh please - I have no idea what that has to do with anything but I would take my chances with a knife nut over a gun nut any day.

This is two of these public shootings in a week. In what is supposedly the season of peace and goodwill!!

In a week or two, when all the children are buried we will forget about it...until the next one. And there will be a next one.

Then once again we will hear... If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns! The Second Amendment! I need my gun to protect my family! They got the guns illegally so laws would do no good.

I guess we will continue to curse the darkness instead of lighting a candle.

[Lady's Human]

I guess we will continue to curse the darkness instead of lighting a candle.

Absolutely. After all, Hippa rights disallow mental health record checks with NICS. It's more important to sequester those records than to allow them in background checks.

[lizbud]

gun laws are a tricky issue for sure. But every time there are rumors of tightening the reigns on gun owners, they just go out and buy more while they still can, trust me.

You can't tighten the reigns on the owners, but we can & should ban the sale of "assault " type weapons with the potencial to kill a whole bunch
of people with little effort by the shooter. Tell me what good use you know of for a weapon that shoots so many rounds of ammo in just minutes?

[Lady's Human]

Assault weapons are a scam foisted on the public to scare people.

I can think of a number of formerly legal yet now banned (they AWB killed the companies that made the weapons) semi-auto .22s that were banned because of cosmetics under the unlamented AWB. They were no more dangerous than a squirrel hunting rifle, but they looked scary!

The action of the weapon means absolutely nothing, unless you're going to restrict people to single shot weapons. and even then it's a specious argument.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Excuses, excuses, excuses. Don't change anything...don't fix anything because in 1776 ...blah...blah...blah.

It is so sad.....

[Lady's Human]

Excuses, excuses, excuses. Don't change anything...don't fix anything because in 1776 ...blah...blah...blah.

It is so sad.....

Who has said don't change or fix anything?

I mentioned repairing a very large and real loophole in current law. The gun show loophole account for a miniscule number of transactions. Just like the Assault Weapons ban, it's pointless window dressing with no real impact for anyone other than lawful gun owners.

Adding mental health records checks to the NICS system would close a huge loophole which allows many to acquire firearms who shouldn't have them.

[Lady's Human]

Excuses, excuses, excuses. Don't change anything...don't fix anything because in 1776 ...blah...blah...blah.

It is so sad.....

While we're picking nits, the US Constitution was debated and passed in 1787, became the law of the land in 1789, and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. without the accompanying bill of rights, the Constitution would not have passed, as the states felt that the unmodified document gave the Federal Government too much power.

[cassiesmom]

Two police officers were shot and one of them was killed by a 15 year old in Memphis today.

That's awful. Police officers, my goodness. Gun laws are a very tricky issue indeed.

Adding mental health records checks to the NICS system would close a huge loophole which allows many to acquire firearms who shouldn't have them.

LH, a comment, though- mental health advocates aren't going to like this one; they are going to argue for the person's right to privacy. But I think my right to be safe from a person with a history of mental illness purchasing a gun trumps that person's right to privacy. If you step up to a counter and say you want to buy a gun, you should be prepared for your background to be checked. You don't like that, don't buy a gun. Or they will just get around it by acquiring a gun illegally.