Gun control discussion

[RICHARD]

Emeril Legasse is selling knives on a TV shopping network.

Anyone with a credit card can buy these.

We need laws to protect people.

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The 'assault rifle' didn't come into play in this incident.

It was in the car - the damage was done with two easily concealable guns.

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The media covering this are a bunch of effing morons - I am watching Nancy Grace, waiting for the mention of her twins ........I especially find the interviews of the kids, "WHAT DID YOU SEE???????" to be so cruel and irresponsible - The lyrics of the song Dirty Laundry come to mind....

This is a brutal and senseless act by some idiot with guns he took from his mother.

The reporters use terms like "lethal weapon" - If you take the bullets out of a gun does it make it non-lethal?

Two pistols used, and now every gun on the planet is suspect?

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I can see some yoyo being told he cannot buy a gun, walking out of the shop and running over 10 people because he's ticked off.

I am more afraid of some doofus with an ICBM or a handle on some material to make a dirty bomb.

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I make my living off the Evening News
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down


We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
It's interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough love
Eat your dirty laundry

Kick 'em when they're up

Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff
Kick 'em all around

Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry

We can do "The Innuendo"
We can dance and sing
When it's said and done we haven't told you a thing
We all know that Crap is King
Give us dirty laundry!

- D Henley

[Edwina's Secretary]

[RICHARD]

Nancy Grace hammers home the news that the kid's bodies are still lying where they fell and what about the poor parents.

Nothing like an effing ghoul making sure we hear every gory detail.

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Actually?

Our media is pretty tame compared to the media in Mexico.

There is a mexican 'rag' called ALARMA. (I wondered if it was still being published all these years later, and yep it's still going strong........)

We called it the "crash book" because of the pictures in it.

They had no problem publishing photos of people that had died grisly deaths - Nothing like seeing a person all tangled up in a death pose after an auto accident.

The Media down Mexico Way is nothing like the morons we have here in the US.

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Cue the intro of the "School Shooting Massacre" with the eerie music in the background.

[RICHARD]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...gun-shame.html

...... and that ain't Bull Stuff, people!

Well, at least we don't shame people into suicide for passing on a prank phone call?

It's always a huge story when it happens here in the States, yet we kinda pass off the story about kids and other innocents getting slaughtered in places we can't find on a map?

The Brits are an amusing bunch, they have the answers but refuse to share them with us.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yes...let's not look at the results of gun violence! It might offend the sensibilities of the much-cossetted gun lovers!

We prefer death and carnage pretty? Come back tomorrow night and the person who was shot will be perfectly healed.

Oh please.

[Alysser]

The guns were legally registered in his mother's name:
-In CT, you can't possess a handgun under the age of 21.
He was 20.
-You must complete a handgun safety course, give fingerprints and have your background to obtain a firearm in your name.
He didn't. He stole them all from his mom.

His mom, a responsible gun owner, had her guns stolen by a psycho who clearly didn't give a rats a$$ about laws of any kind, let alone small petty ones like that.

I don't understand what you anti-gun people think stricter gun laws or bans are going to do, I really don't. They are called criminals for a reason, I don't get what you think a few laws are going to do. That really makes no sense to me, whatsoever.

[Edwina's Secretary]

What makes you think his mother was a "responsible gun owner?" She had a son with mental illness and three accessible instruments of death ...aka guns. If THAT is responsible gun ownership...god help us all.

[chocolatepuppy]

I don't understand what you anti-gun people think stricter gun laws or bans are going to do, I really don't. They are called criminals for a reason, I don't get what you think a few laws are going to do. That really makes no sense to me, whatsoever.

Agree 100%. My gun is still sitting on the dresser.

[RICHARD]

"Richard" is brimming with specious reasoning.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Those dang motes.

[Lady's Human]

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Agreed, especially when filled with bias which precludes them from seeing the other side of the discussion.

Gun control is impractical, especially in the US. Guns don't bother me, they are inanimate objects with no will or motivation of their own. It bothers me far more that mental illness is brushed under the rug and ignored. Easier to go after the low hanging fruit than have a serious discussion about solving the real problem. The FBI can set up sting operations which "catch" people in the act of plotting possible terrorist acts, (when in many cases it's questionable whether the person would have gone down that particular road without "help" from the sting op), yet we do nothing about ensuring those who are mentally ill are taken care of. Easier to clean up the mess and ignore it until next time.

We trample all over some people's rights under the aegis of stopping terrorism, but ignore societal issues like mental illness treatment because fixing that particular issue would be too messy. Much like the current budget issues, we prefer to just stick a bandaid on the problem and let someone else come up with a solution at a later date.

I'm willing to bet that someone failed to follow school security protocols, but the AAR won't come for some time. By that time the Media will have moved off the story and gone back to whatever the Kardashians are doing.

[cassiesmom]

School security protocols- my mom told me that the school principal and psychologist tried to head off the shooter and he just shot them and kept going. I know at the schools where my family members teach, there is one entrance to the building that isn't locked after school begins. If anyone needs to get into school during the day you have to go through the front door and be checked in.

A question for those of you who understand this better than I do. What was the intent of the writers of the Bill of Rights when they included the Second Amendment? Was it to allow people to have guns in case they were needed for military service? Was it to allow an individual citizen, not necessarily a militia member, to have a gun? Now we have modern police forces and extremely efficient guns and rifles. They couldn't have seen either of those coming.

And another question. All the news reports have said this is an idyllic suburban community. Why, then, did the shooter's mother have guns in her possession?

I read a column by Mel Robbins in which she argues that taking a look at mental illness needs to be a part of ending these types of shootings. I think she's on to something.

[pomtzu]

If this guy's mother was the gun(s) owner, and was a "responsible" gun owner, I can't help but wonder if this responsible person had the guns under lock and key. If she did, she might still be alive - along with the 20 children and 6 adults that are dead because of her guns!

[Alysser]

I'm sorry, I misworded that. I should have added presumably in front of it to prove my point. They never said if the guns were locked up or not. He killed her at home, I think he would have stopped at nothing to get these guns, and I'm sure she could not have prevented that after he showed up at her house.

You honestly think if they were this wouldn't have happened? I am sure this would have happened either way, unfortunately.

[Bonny]

School security protocols- my mom told me that the school principal and psychologist tried to head off the shooter and he just shot them and kept going. I know at the schools where my family members teach, there is one entrance to the building that isn't locked after school begins. If anyone needs to get into school during the day you have to go through the front door and be checked in.

A question for those of you who understand this better than I do. What was the intent of the writers of the Bill of Rights when they included the Second Amendment? Was it to allow people to have guns in case they were needed for military service? Was it to allow an individual citizen, not necessarily a militia member, to have a gun? Now we have modern police forces and extremely efficient guns and rifles. They couldn't have seen either of those coming.

And another question. All the news reports have said this is an idyllic suburban community. Why, then, did the shooter's mother have guns in her possession?

I read a column by Mel Robbins in which she argues that taking a look at mental illness needs to be a part of ending these types of shootings. I think she's on to something.

If the guns were owned by the mom then you wonder how mentally stable she was? Did she drive her son to do this horrific crime? You just don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

[RICHARD]

I once sat on a jury for a case involving a mentally unstable man and a gun.

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The parents of this kid called the cops when their son got the gun out of the car trunk and threatened them with it.

The story was that the father took the gun from the son, to keep it out of his hands, put it into the car and left the keys on a hook in the kitchen.

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So, if we convicted the son (the charge was minor one) he would get help for his short-circuit.t

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My problem was the fact that the parents didn't take the proper steps to assure their kid DIDN'T have access to the gun. Had they taken the steps to get the gun out of their household/easy reach, they would not have to have gone thru the incident.

Are we going to dog-pile on the mom for not securing the weapons? And if she did take the steps to secure them how did the shooter get past them?

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The mental illness issue is an important one.

People are willing to overlook the 'kooky uncle', 'different son', 'crazy brother' as someone who is a PITA and pretty harmless until they fall off their swing.

After that, you can go in front of the camera and say "he did seem to be a little odd....." or " I was waiting for him to snap....", "I USED TO KNOW HIM, HE SEEMED LIKE A REGULAR GUY."

Or the standard, "I am not surprised this guy snapped."

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I go nuts when the media begins to compare it, rate it?, on the Top Ten List of nutbags with guns.

"This is the second highest, third highest, Number One!!!!!!! body count on record!"

My other peeve is with the 'reporting' - it's a bunch of AHs reading tweets and regurgitating it as truth. In El Lay you are more likely to see a reporter with a mike in one hand and reading off a cellphone they have in the other hand.

The media, in their haste to bring you the 'inside scoop', will broadcast any tidbit, then correct it as time goes on.

The horror is two people getting shot in a school, the unreal nightmare is the changing numbers as the facts come out.

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I just saw a murder suicide story that happened at the Excalibur Hotel/Casino.

We can't go shopping, to school or gambling w/o being subjected to possibly being killed?

I am going to stay at home, with my guns.

I feel much safer there.