I say those that don't want guns around should get to have their own states and let the idiots that have guns live in states where they can eventually kill themselves off. It's worked for smoking.
God yes. If you think the gun industry doesn't fully control all of our policies on availability and ownership of guns, then you haven't read this: http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=00554
They are basically scared of data. Data that would explain why so many Americans die or are injured by guns everyday.
Yes. And IF kids get ahold of a gun that is registered to the parent--- the parent is responsible somehow
Wasn't there an accidental shooting by a 9 y o boy somewhere in Washington state recently?
I remember being VERY afraid to go near my fathers "gun drawer". He made us very very very very very clear that we were NOT allowed to step near it. It worked.
Bill Maher gave a good opinion on Piers last night. You can't just change the regulations. You have to change the thinking. Guns are a religion to people. All they know is the second ammendment and then blah blah blah.
Enforce CURRENT laws and regulations. Also, if there's no law already on the books, require all first time gun purchasers to take safety classes. And, yes, punish the parents if the kid gets to the gun and shoots someone. Happens a lot in Chicago (where I live) which also happens to have a law forbidding the ownership of handguns. Go figure...
Yes, there should be tighter gun laws. I'm in Canada where we have stricter gun laws and school shootings are rare. I also think something should be done about bullying(they said the Ohio shooter was a bullied outcast) people don't realize how serious and harmful it really is and how it affects people; they have to release their anger, hurt, and pain, they either internalize it and kill themselves or externalize it and are violent towards others.
@ Pogue - so many kids have been bullied over the decades. Why is it now that they are shooting as a result? Honestly, I wonder how much time he spent in front of violent video games. That combo (violent games, access to guns, victimized, and crazy hormones) is a recipe for disaster for male teens.
Regulations won't help, if you want to do something, there is always a way around the regulations. I don't really understand why people want guns in the first place, but that's just me.
Something is wrong in our society. Kids grow up doing nothing but playing video games, where "death" means you just hit the reset button and start over. We need to educate them, teach them that death is final, and that they should not be the cause of that for any reason. We need to teach them to love. And we need to monitor them more closely.
In the US, you're never going to be able to get rid of guns. It's so ingrained in our culture, that it is enshrined in the constitution. I lived in the UK, where guns are basically illegal, and I felt MUCH safer. Crime was petty stuff, not as much murder by shooting. HOWEVER, you can't go back. Here in the US, you're never going to change the culture unless it's over generations. So for now, I'd rather see a) gun ownership requires an annual safety class and license, b) tax gun ownership - hey, if we can tax property, we can tax guns, c) heavy penalties *that are enforced* against illegal gun ownership, d) penalize gun manufacturers for high rates of illegally sold guns and/or # of guns that harm humans (it'll force them to implement stronger safety features), and e) enforcement of border laws to prevent illegal guns from flowing into the US.
Gun control seems to be working quite well for Canada, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, France, England, Scotland. Why do people in the US need so many guns?
More gun regulations will not solve the problem, the problem is our violent society, parents allow their children to play very violent video games and watch violent movies, that in our culture is acceptable but god forbid we let kids see any kind of nudity, our views in America are screwed up. The owners need to be held responsible for any crime commited using their firearms. I'm a gun owner but I'm responsible and keep my stuff in a bolted down safe, no person should own a gun unless they are willing to be responsible gun owners, sadly we don't have to many of those.
Breeding regulations. Did you read about the kids father? Don't women know not to breed with men like this?!!?!?! With a guy who is famous for brutally beating women! Guys like this don't change and guys like this don't produce decent humans. It's just that simple.
I agree, no more regulations, it would be pointless if we don't enforce the laws we have on the books now. I grew up with guns in the house, they were locked in a gun safe. My brother and I had to take gun safety classes every year anyway.
Parents need to educate their children and watch over them.
I think we've learned that words can be as damaging as guns to a young person who has been bullied.
The bad guys will always have guns. The good guys that own guns must be responsible to that ownership.
Regulations do not work. Especially in this case. It was bad parenting. Bad judgement by teachers and counselors for not doing something earlier. I know lots of kids that shoot, and they are even more horrified than most people when something like this happens. Again, it is parenting. And probably some anti-depressants. Every mass shooter seems to be on medication. Guns are not the issue here. It is parenting, the education and mental health systems.
Nope. Instead, how about needing a license in order to have children, so we can weed out the so-called "parents" who are stupid, disinterested in their children and lazy.
It might be bad parenting, it might not. As the mother of two depressed teenagers on medication, it's easy to blame parenting and it's easy to blame medication.
As for the FB posting triggering alarms--was his account locked down? Was that posting public? Is every time a kid posts to FB some school official is supposed to read it?
I honestly don't know how to stop school shootings. There's a lot of guns out there and a lot of angry teens.
I believe in gun control and I admire those nations where there is significant gun control. Though here in the US, the problem isn't just gun control, it's the desire to commit violence.
I was discussing this incident with my high school daughter and she says even though a lot of times you know who the 'troubled' kids are, you can't just round them up when they haven't done anything or single them out when they're already feeling alienated. It's a difficult situation.
We have metal detectors at some of the high schools here and they seem to work. There hasn't been any shootings at the schools -- and these schools are in the gang/drug infested areas where shootings occur on a daily basis. Just not at the school.
I don't think tighter regulations are going to help the U.S. at this point. There is this mentality about "the right to bear arms" that goes far beyond the idea that you can have a weapon, in case you need to defend yourself. It's turned into this circus of paranoia where people feel they need to have a gun (or several), because someone is always getting ready to attack them. What an exhausting way to live!
Having said that, I wouldn't mind having a gun. Just, you know, in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
No to more gun regulations. Banning guns or ratcheting up the regs is just a simple minded knee-jerk feel-good reaction. Guns do not kill people; murderous, stupid, ill-raised, careless people kill people. If this fool hadn't had a gun, he would have f*cked things up some other way, guaranteed. The real question is how did this kid get so out of control? Why didn't school administrators note a problem? Why didn't someone say something? Where were the parents?
There are average 40,000 motor vehicle deaths per year in the US. Anyone want to ban cars? (Er, maybe I shouldn't ask! It's a rhetorical question and the answer is no.) And there's not even a "right to drive a vehicle" amendment in the US constitution.
In theory I'm in favor of more regulation. But realistically, what would those regulations need to be like to be effective? Probably nothing short of an outright ban on guns. And you know how far that's going to fly, right? People may be fanatics about the Second Amendment, but the fact remains that it's there. So unless there's a truly radical change in the way people think about guns it's not going to go away. Good luck with that.
I think the government should make it more difficult to get a license and to buy a gun. Make the person get a psych evaluation before they can buy a gun. And if anyone's kids fire the gun, the parents go direct to jail.
Every so often in L.A. they have a program to turn in guns, for which you get Laker tickets or a pre-paid debit card or something. But the problem is, they just take those guns, melt them, and make more guns! Stop making guns, and that solves a large portion of the problem.
There is a lot that needs to be done in this society to try & prevent things like this from occurring. But I think that if a person is troubled enough in the head to shoot another person, even if you take away the gun they will just find another weapon to use. A knife, an explosive...where there's a will, there's a way.
That being said, a co-worker had two kids in that school yesterday. From what I know, the students, school & law enforcement did an amazing job getting the situation under control, protecting the students & reuniting them with their families. There will always be people out to harm others, but seeing how this community pulled together gives a lot of hope in humanity.
No more regulations. It only affects the law-abiding citizens who do not have any plans to perform a crime or commit violence. Anyone who wants to do ill to another will find a way. Sad as that is, it is true.
third rail, I'll pass. But those who think the problem arises from guns illegally being imported into our country, or those who think we are not harming anyone other than ourselves, may want to read the recent plea by the mexican government for the U.S. to stop the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico (http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-17/politics/31070422_1_ciudad-juarez-mexico-mexico). Follow the money.
This definitely seems like an education issue, maybe they should introduce gun education like sex ed
Here in Sydney, Aus the mos common shootings are gang related. And that's pretty much all we hear about guns. It's really uncommon to own a gun and I can't speak for the nation but there's definitely a greater respect for what damage a gun can cause.
There should be but there won't. It's a political issue now. One party LOVES guns and one is ambivalent towards them. One party had a spokesperson who shot deer on her short-lived reality show. They argue that by taking away their guns you're taking away their freedom and therefore your trampling on the constitution. More regulations would mean huge losses for politicians and less donations and votes. It's just about money and power now.
The second amendment to the Constitution was written in an era when people were carrying front-loading muskets, not automatic assault rifles. The only people who obey new laws are people who already obey existing laws. Although the reason for this situation developing over the past few decades are too numerous to mention, an analogy for American culture today can be found in "Lord of the Flies."
Jax: it's not an entitlement, it's a constitutional right. Big difference. Jason BE: it's a "political" issue because one party made the issue political by constantly finding ways to impede the right. This story is about a completely out-of-control teenager but notice how the immediate knee-jerk reaction is let's tighten up gun laws. Again. Like that's going to help. And no one stops to think about the fact that guns laws have been tightened and tightened and somehow we still have high school students who find ways to kill their schoolmates. So maybe consider the possibility that blaming the gun is not the answer.
I'd like to take this opportunity to move all my chips in on the fact that psychotropic drugs are involved. In all or nearly all of these school shooting-violence incidents one or more of the perps have been taking mind altering prescribed drugs. When it gets to court, drug companies settle and get confidentiality agreements. They make $6M a day peddling the pills. They don't much care about collateral damage. Schools love it because it quiets "problem" kids. (normal boys, mostly).
The right to own firearms is written into the constitution so that the populace will be able to defend itself against an aggressive government that knows no bounds. The left pushes gun control because they would like to be aggressive governors. No thanks. The first thing dictators go after are the guns in the populace.
There needs to be a fundamental change of attitude. Americans are fucking nuts about their guns, it's sickening. I sure as hell wouldn't trust myself with a gun, and I sure don't trust anyone else with a gun either. Anyone carrying anything that can kill another being from afar I side-eye, hard.
NO new gin laws will stop anything. This was the fault of BAD parenting, kids being on some meds that the docs have no real clue how they will effect the patient and a school system that does not care.
Every single one of these school shooters, all follow a profile. They are from dysfunction homes, with abusive or just absent parents. On meds for some disorder and are bullied.
I live in Arizona, just 12 miles from Mexico and if the Federal Government is walking guns into Mexico to trace them back. They traced them back to a shooting of an ICE officer and a Border Patrol Agent. We need tougher laws against our incompetent Government not against law abiding citizens.
The citizens of Arizona cannot safely enjoy their own state because of the lack of enforcement of the drug runners, coyotes and illegal aliens hiding in the mountains and deserts.
I feel for the parents of the kids who died but don't take away guns from citizens who need to legitimately protect themselves.
I just want to add one thing because this topic is so depressing to me, but to the people who keep saying that if it's not guns, the disturbed person will find another way... That might be true, but it is very unlikely that the end result would be the same. Knives or other tools like that aren't as fast and the attacker can quickly be overcome. A bomb requires the would-be assailant to research the ingredients, buy them, assemble them, plant the bomb and then detonate it, all without being noticed. A gun simply involves taking off the safety and shooting. So yeah, if someone is dead set on attacking others, they can totally find another way if they don't have access to guns. But it is unlikely that the end result will be the same.
Feel so badly for the families. This kid just randomly targeted them. And everyone being interviewed acts like this came out of nowhere, as per usual. How did people not see the warning signs?
More regulation worked really well during prohibition and the war on drugs.
ReplyDeleteNo more regulations.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHAhahaha@.robert.
ReplyDeleteI think it's too late for the USA and gun regulations. It's too ingrained in American society.
Better luck next time.
I say those that don't want guns around should get to have their own states and let the idiots that have guns live in states where they can eventually kill themselves off. It's worked for smoking.
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of a student I say no to more regulation.
ReplyDeleteHow that boy could make those threats on FB without triggering any red flags is confusing. Was anyone paying attention??
God yes.
ReplyDeleteIf you think the gun industry doesn't fully control all of our policies on availability and ownership of guns, then you haven't read this:
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=00554
They are basically scared of data. Data that would explain why so many Americans die or are injured by guns everyday.
Yes. And IF kids get ahold of a gun that is registered to the parent--- the parent is responsible somehow
ReplyDeleteWasn't there an accidental shooting by a 9 y o boy somewhere in Washington state recently?
I remember being VERY afraid to go near my fathers "gun drawer". He made us very very very very very clear that we were NOT allowed to step near it. It worked.
Even with more regulations, if someone wants a gun, they will find a way to get a gun. So no on more regulations.
ReplyDeleteThis is so disturbing to me. I just don't understand the state of mind that would lead someone to take the lives of others this way.
Bill Maher gave a good opinion on Piers last night. You can't just change the regulations. You have to change the thinking. Guns are a religion to people. All they know is the second ammendment and then blah blah blah.
ReplyDeleteEnforce CURRENT laws and regulations. Also, if there's no law already on the books, require all first time gun purchasers to take safety classes. And, yes, punish the parents if the kid gets to the gun and shoots someone. Happens a lot in Chicago (where I live) which also happens to have a law forbidding the ownership of handguns. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteYes, there should be tighter gun laws. I'm in Canada where we have stricter gun laws and school shootings are rare. I also think something should be done about bullying(they said the Ohio shooter was a bullied outcast) people don't realize how serious and harmful it really is and how it affects people; they have to release their anger, hurt, and pain, they either internalize it and kill themselves or externalize it and are violent towards others.
ReplyDelete@ Pogue - so many kids have been bullied over the decades. Why is it now that they are shooting as a result? Honestly, I wonder how much time he spent in front of violent video games. That combo (violent games, access to guns, victimized, and crazy hormones) is a recipe for disaster for male teens.
ReplyDeleteRegulations won't help, if you want to do something, there is always a way around the regulations. I don't really understand why people want guns in the first place, but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteSomething is wrong in our society. Kids grow up doing nothing but playing video games, where "death" means you just hit the reset button and start over. We need to educate them, teach them that death is final, and that they should not be the cause of that for any reason. We need to teach them to love. And we need to monitor them more closely.
In the US, you're never going to be able to get rid of guns. It's so ingrained in our culture, that it is enshrined in the constitution. I lived in the UK, where guns are basically illegal, and I felt MUCH safer. Crime was petty stuff, not as much murder by shooting. HOWEVER, you can't go back. Here in the US, you're never going to change the culture unless it's over generations. So for now, I'd rather see a) gun ownership requires an annual safety class and license, b) tax gun ownership - hey, if we can tax property, we can tax guns, c) heavy penalties *that are enforced* against illegal gun ownership, d) penalize gun manufacturers for high rates of illegally sold guns and/or # of guns that harm humans (it'll force them to implement stronger safety features), and e) enforcement of border laws to prevent illegal guns from flowing into the US.
ReplyDeleteThe shooting here last week really freaked me out. The kids were in 3rd grade. A THIRD GRADER BRINGING A GUN TO SCHOOL.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answer but we definitely have a problem, and I wish it could be fixed.
Gun control seems to be working quite well for Canada, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, France, England, Scotland. Why do people in the US need so many guns?
ReplyDeleteMore gun regulations will not solve the problem, the problem is our violent society, parents allow their children to play very violent video games and watch violent movies, that in our culture is acceptable but god forbid we let kids see any kind of nudity, our views in America are screwed up.
ReplyDeleteThe owners need to be held responsible for any crime commited using their firearms.
I'm a gun owner but I'm responsible and keep my stuff in a bolted down safe, no person should own a gun unless they are willing to be responsible gun owners, sadly we don't have to many of those.
@SueRH
ReplyDeleteOut of all the countries you mentioned above, how many have "the right to bear arms" in their Constitution?
One?
Breeding regulations. Did you read about the kids father? Don't women know not to breed with men like this?!!?!?! With a guy who is famous for brutally beating women! Guys like this don't change and guys like this don't produce decent humans. It's just that simple.
ReplyDeleteI agree, no more regulations, it would be pointless if we don't enforce the laws we have on the books now.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with guns in the house, they were locked in a gun safe. My brother and I had to take gun safety classes every year anyway.
Parents need to educate their children and watch over them.
I think we've learned that words can be as damaging as guns to a young person who has been bullied.
The bad guys will always have guns. The good guys that own guns must be responsible to that ownership.
No, I do not.
ReplyDeleteIt's never going to happen. Regulate all you want, but kids will still get a hold of guns.
ReplyDeleteRegulations do not work. Especially in this case. It was bad parenting. Bad judgement by teachers and counselors for not doing something earlier. I know lots of kids that shoot, and they are even more horrified than most people when something like this happens. Again, it is parenting. And probably some anti-depressants. Every mass shooter seems to be on medication. Guns are not the issue here. It is parenting, the education and mental health systems.
ReplyDeleteThe gun lobby will never allow it...
ReplyDeleteNope. Instead, how about needing a license in order to have children, so we can weed out the so-called "parents" who are stupid, disinterested in their children and lazy.
ReplyDeleteIt might be bad parenting, it might not. As the mother of two depressed teenagers on medication, it's easy to blame parenting and it's easy to blame medication.
ReplyDeleteAs for the FB posting triggering alarms--was his account locked down? Was that posting public? Is every time a kid posts to FB some school official is supposed to read it?
I honestly don't know how to stop school shootings. There's a lot of guns out there and a lot of angry teens.
+1 SusanB
ReplyDeleteI believe in gun control and I admire those nations where there is significant gun control. Though here in the US, the problem isn't just gun control, it's the desire to commit violence.
ReplyDeleteI was discussing this incident with my high school daughter and she says even though a lot of times you know who the 'troubled' kids are, you can't just round them up when they haven't done anything or single them out when they're already feeling alienated. It's a difficult situation.
I’m with Chris Rock on this... Make bullets REALLY expensive. No one will waste bullets if they are..
ReplyDeleteWe have metal detectors at some of the high schools here and they seem to work. There hasn't been any shootings at the schools -- and these schools are in the gang/drug infested areas where shootings occur on a daily basis. Just not at the school.
ReplyDeleteI don't think tighter regulations are going to help the U.S. at this point. There is this mentality about "the right to bear arms" that goes far beyond the idea that you can have a weapon, in case you need to defend yourself. It's turned into this circus of paranoia where people feel they need to have a gun (or several), because someone is always getting ready to attack them. What an exhausting way to live!
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I wouldn't mind having a gun. Just, you know, in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
No to more gun regulations. Banning guns or ratcheting up the regs is just a simple minded knee-jerk feel-good reaction. Guns do not kill people; murderous, stupid, ill-raised, careless people kill people. If this fool hadn't had a gun, he would have f*cked things up some other way, guaranteed. The real question is how did this kid get so out of control? Why didn't school administrators note a problem? Why didn't someone say something? Where were the parents?
ReplyDeleteThere are average 40,000 motor vehicle deaths per year in the US. Anyone want to ban cars? (Er, maybe I shouldn't ask! It's a rhetorical question and the answer is no.) And there's not even a "right to drive a vehicle" amendment in the US constitution.
In theory I'm in favor of more regulation. But realistically, what would those regulations need to be like to be effective? Probably nothing short of an outright ban on guns. And you know how far that's going to fly, right? People may be fanatics about the Second Amendment, but the fact remains that it's there. So unless there's a truly radical change in the way people think about guns it's not going to go away. Good luck with that.
ReplyDeleteI think the government should make it more difficult to get a license and to buy a gun. Make the person get a psych evaluation before they can buy a gun. And if anyone's kids fire the gun, the parents go direct to jail.
ReplyDeleteEvery so often in L.A. they have a program to turn in guns, for which you get Laker tickets or a pre-paid debit card or something. But the problem is, they just take those guns, melt them, and make more guns! Stop making guns, and that solves a large portion of the problem.
absolutely!
ReplyDeletewhat maja and timebob said.
ReplyDeleteenough with the entitlement over guns already.
There is a lot that needs to be done in this society to try & prevent things like this from occurring. But I think that if a person is troubled enough in the head to shoot another person, even if you take away the gun they will just find another weapon to use. A knife, an explosive...where there's a will, there's a way.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, a co-worker had two kids in that school yesterday. From what I know, the students, school & law enforcement did an amazing job getting the situation under control, protecting the students & reuniting them with their families. There will always be people out to harm others, but seeing how this community pulled together gives a lot of hope in humanity.
No more regulations. It only affects the law-abiding citizens who do not have any plans to perform a crime or commit violence. Anyone who wants to do ill to another will find a way. Sad as that is, it is true.
ReplyDeletethird rail, I'll pass. But those who think the problem arises from guns illegally being imported into our country, or those who think we are not harming anyone other than ourselves, may want to read the recent plea by the mexican government for the U.S. to stop the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico (http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-17/politics/31070422_1_ciudad-juarez-mexico-mexico). Follow the money.
ReplyDeleteThis definitely seems like an education issue, maybe they should introduce gun education like sex ed
ReplyDeleteHere in Sydney, Aus the mos common shootings are gang related. And that's pretty much all we hear about guns. It's really uncommon to own a gun and I can't speak for the nation but there's definitely a greater respect for what damage a gun can cause.
There should be but there won't. It's a political issue now. One party LOVES guns and one is ambivalent towards them. One party had a spokesperson who shot deer on her short-lived reality show. They argue that by taking away their guns you're taking away their freedom and therefore your trampling on the constitution. More regulations would mean huge losses for politicians and less donations and votes. It's just about money and power now.
ReplyDeleteThe second amendment to the Constitution was written in an era when people were carrying front-loading muskets, not automatic assault rifles.
ReplyDeleteThe only people who obey new laws are people who already obey existing laws.
Although the reason for this situation developing over the past few decades are too numerous to mention, an analogy for American culture today can be found in "Lord of the Flies."
Jax: it's not an entitlement, it's a constitutional right. Big difference.
ReplyDeleteJason BE: it's a "political" issue because one party made the issue political by constantly finding ways to impede the right.
This story is about a completely out-of-control teenager but notice how the immediate knee-jerk reaction is let's tighten up gun laws. Again. Like that's going to help. And no one stops to think about the fact that guns laws have been tightened and tightened and somehow we still have high school students who find ways to kill their schoolmates.
So maybe consider the possibility that blaming the gun is not the answer.
I'd like to take this opportunity to move all my chips in on the fact that psychotropic drugs are involved. In all or nearly all of these school shooting-violence incidents one or more of the perps have been taking mind altering prescribed drugs. When it gets to court, drug companies settle and get confidentiality agreements. They make $6M a day peddling the pills. They don't much care about collateral damage. Schools love it because it quiets "problem" kids. (normal boys, mostly).
ReplyDeleteThe right to own firearms is written into the constitution so that the populace will be able to defend itself against an aggressive
government that knows no bounds. The left pushes gun control because they would like to be aggressive governors. No thanks. The first thing dictators go after are the guns in the populace.
All gun regulations do is keep innocent, trained people from arming themselves (and yes, the 2nd Amendment is a big freaking deal in this country).
ReplyDelete2 cities in the US have the toughest gun laws - Washington DC and Chicago. They are also two of the most violent cities when it comes to gun violence.
There needs to be a fundamental change of attitude. Americans are fucking nuts about their guns, it's sickening. I sure as hell wouldn't trust myself with a gun, and I sure don't trust anyone else with a gun either. Anyone carrying anything that can kill another being from afar I side-eye, hard.
ReplyDeleteI was raped at gunpoint and beaten unconscious by the butt of said gun. Would more regulations have prevented that? No. Do I now own a gun? Yes.
ReplyDeleteNO new gin laws will stop anything. This was the fault of BAD parenting, kids being on some meds that the docs have no real clue how they will effect the patient and a school system that does not care.
ReplyDeleteEvery single one of these school shooters, all follow a profile.
They are from dysfunction homes, with abusive or just absent parents. On meds for some disorder and are bullied.
I live in Arizona, just 12 miles from Mexico and if the Federal Government is walking guns into Mexico to trace them back. They traced them back to a shooting of an ICE officer and a Border Patrol Agent. We need tougher laws against our incompetent Government not against law abiding citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe citizens of Arizona cannot safely enjoy their own state because of the lack of enforcement of the drug runners, coyotes and illegal aliens hiding in the mountains and deserts.
I feel for the parents of the kids who died but don't take away guns from citizens who need to legitimately protect themselves.
I just want to add one thing because this topic is so depressing to me, but to the people who keep saying that if it's not guns, the disturbed person will find another way... That might be true, but it is very unlikely that the end result would be the same. Knives or other tools like that aren't as fast and the attacker can quickly be overcome. A bomb requires the would-be assailant to research the ingredients, buy them, assemble them, plant the bomb and then detonate it, all without being noticed. A gun simply involves taking off the safety and shooting. So yeah, if someone is dead set on attacking others, they can totally find another way if they don't have access to guns. But it is unlikely that the end result will be the same.
ReplyDeleteIn Spain you need a psych eval to own a gun (or drive a car for whatever reason). Pretty reasonable if you ask me...
ReplyDeleteI'm with SusanB.
ReplyDeleteAgree that tighter laws won't stop this.
Feel so badly for the families. This kid just randomly targeted them. And everyone being interviewed acts like this came out of nowhere, as per usual. How did people not see the warning signs?