American Gun Laws,i just don't get it (Aurora Cinema shootings)

[Sir Doom]

Then i would ask why he told the Police that his Apartment was rigged,why warn them,would Al Qaeda,i doubt that very much.

It was used as a distraction. He used the bomb to call attention of law enforcement elsewhere. I still don't see how that has any bearing on what he WOULD have done had there been no guns to use. He would have been forced to choose a different weapon. I can't imagine he'd settle for a kitchen knife knowing exactly how to make homemade bombs.

 

[England my lionheart]

It was used as a distraction. He used the bomb to call attention of law enforcement elsewhere. I still don't see how that has any bearing on what he WOULD have done had there been no guns to use. He would have been forced to choose a different weapon. I can't imagine he'd settle for a kitchen knife knowing exactly how to make homemade bombs.

Thats the whole point,he didn't have to choose a different weapon,he could legally buy some weapons and ammo that were readily at hand,easy really.

 

[Copernicus]

It was used as a distraction. He used the bomb to call attention of law enforcement elsewhere. I still don't see how that has any bearing on what he WOULD have done had there been no guns to use. He would have been forced to choose a different weapon. I can't imagine he'd settle for a kitchen knife knowing exactly how to make homemade bombs.

If we are going to get into hypothetical situations, we can just as easily speculate that Holmes might have been arrested for illegal weapons purchases, if his purchases had been illegal. As things stood, the only illegal thing he did before the mass murder incident was possess bombs. The argument here is not whether any particular set of laws would have stopped this particular incident. It is that incidents like this one would be less likely to happen with stricter gun control laws in place.

After all, laws against possession of explosive devices didn't stop Holmes from possessing them. Should we therefore strike such laws from the books?

 

[Revoltingest]

A challenge:
What laws should be enacted which actually have a chance of passing.
Gotta please the NRA, Pubs, Dems, & then National Bacon Council.
OK...the last one doesn't matter cuz it's in Canuckistan.

 

[Copernicus]

That's not much of a challenge. Gun control is becoming more and more popular as fewer households come to possess guns. About half of US households used to have them. Now, only about a third do. It's past time to reopen the discussion on gun control.

 

[Revoltingest]

That's not much of a challenge. Gun control is becoming more and more popular as fewer households come to possess guns. About half of US households used to have them. Now, only about a third do. It's past time to reopen the discussion on gun control.

Hah! That is to dismiss the challenge without rising to it.
I'm looking for interesting, realistic & productive suggestions to make things better.
Example:
Require that all modern firearms be locked in a safe or similar secure location.
(Perhaps I should by stock in Amsec's owner, Huntington Ingalls Industries, eh?)

 

[Dingbat]

Hah! That is to dismiss the challenge without rising to it.
I'm looking for interesting, realistic & productive suggestions to make things better.
Example:
Require that all modern firearms be locked in a safe or similar secure location.
(Perhaps I should by stock in Amsec's owner, Huntington Ingalls Industries, eh?)

Indeed, the biggest thing would be uniformity with firearm laws and purchases. It is a complete mess as is with different state regulations and certain firearms being legal in certain states and illegal in others.

 

[Revoltingest]

Indeed, the biggest thing would be uniformity with firearm laws and purchases. It is a complete mess as is with different state regulations and certain firearms being legal in certain states and illegal in others.

There's some movement in that direction, with reciprocity of concealed carry laws among states.
Things get nasty on the upper east coast though.

 

[Sir Doom]

I'm going to go back to my original position of not being involved in this thread or any like it. I don't think anyone is changing anyone's mind on this issue and I can't seem to type anything without insults and condescension. So, I'll see you all in less polarized topics. This one only seems to make me angry.

 

[Dingbat]

I'm going to go back to my original position of not being involved in this thread or any like it. I don't think anyone is changing anyone's mind on this issue and I can't seem to type anything without insults and condescension. So, I'll see you all in less polarized topics. This one only seems to make me angry.

I hear you on that but I kind of enjoy the strawman arguments of hoarding ammo and having a deadly arsenal with the ability to go insane at any second and start slaying people at the drop of a hat. Then again I am only slightly following this thread between shows I am watching on Netflix.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

That's not much of a challenge. Gun control is becoming more and more popular as fewer households come to possess guns. About half of US households used to have them. Now, only about a third do. It's past time to reopen the discussion on gun control.

If i may speculate then ask a question.

If your statistic is true. (I really don't know but I do know the the numbers of people hunting has decreased dramatically. So your percentages make sense to me)
It seems to me those who do use Guns live in low population states, our system of governance power seems to be skewed to these states. It will be very hard to pass anything in the name of Gun conrtol. Vermont is the bluest of blue states yet since it is Rural has laws that allows anyone to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

How will you pass these laws with many states refusing to get on board ?

 

[Revoltingest]

....I am only slightly following this thread between shows I am watching on Netflix.

Smart!

 

[Copernicus]

If i may speculate then ask a question.

If your statistic is true. (I really don't know but I do know the the numbers of people hunting has decreased dramatically. So your percentages make sense to me)
It seems to me those who do use Guns live in low population states, our system of governance power seems to be skewed to these states. It will be very hard to pass anything in the name of Gun conrtol. Vermont is the bluest of blue states yet since it is Rural has laws that allows anyone to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

How will you pass these laws with many states refusing to get on board ?

That's a fair question, and I do not think it will be easy. Our current political system makes it difficult to get any progressive laws passed, one of the chief reasons being that the government is skewed to favor less populated, i.e. rural, districts. It doesn't help to give wealthy corporations and individuals even greater ability to buy elections and politicians through secret, unlimited campaign contributions. The electoral college system and Senate make it practically impossible nowadays for progressives and liberals that do get elected to move legislation forward. Nevertheless, we have made progress over the long term, and I think we can do it again. More massacres of this sort are almost inevitable, so the problem won't go away when all the hubbub dies down. Younger people are getting less and less infatuated with gun ownership, and that is a good trend.

Look at it this way. Not so long ago, it seemed impossible that our country would elect an African American to the presidency, and same sex marriage seemed out of the question in politics. Things change, but we have to work to make them change.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

That's a fair question, and I do not think it will be easy. Our current political system makes it difficult to get any progressive laws passed, one of the chief reasons being that the government is skewed to favor less populated, i.e. rural, districts. It doesn't help to give wealthy corporations and individuals even greater ability to buy elections and politicians through secret, unlimited campaign contributions. The electoral college system and Senate make it practically impossible nowadays for progressives and liberals that do get elected to move legislation forward. Nevertheless, we have made progress over the long term, and I think we can do it again. More massacres of this sort are almost inevitable, so the problem won't go away when all the hubbub dies down. Younger people are getting less and less infatuated with gun ownership, and that is a good trend.

Look at it this way. Not so long ago, it seemed impossible that our country would elect an African American to the presidency, and same sex marriage seemed out of the question in politics. Things change, but we have to work to make them change.

I would like to see it happen.

 

[Father Heathen]

I guess the reason i don't get is i don't feel the need to carry a Gun

People don't wear seat belts because they expect an accident, or keep fire extinguishers on hand because they expect a fire.

 

[InsurgoInsurgiInsurrect]

Please tell me that that was not your "A" game....

It is not unrealistic. The idea that you have the right to bear arms in order to overthrow a government armed with aircraft carriers, nukes and apaches seems a bit contrived unless you are saying everyone has a right to own their own nuke...

The right to bear arms justified by being able to overthrow the us government is not an argument worth consideration.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I question how he even had enough money for all that in the first place

 

[Reverend Rick]

I question how he even had enough money for all that in the first place

I'm betting he had a credit card.

 

[Sunstone]

Seriously, any decent shot that had a concealed weapons liscence could of gotten him down.

It is the sacred duty of every red-blooded American to firmly believe that his or her 100 hours a month put in shooting paper targets that don't fire back has turned him or her into a veritable Dirty Harry.

 

[Revoltingest]

It is the sacred duty of every red-blooded American to firmly believe that his or her 100 hours a month put in shooting paper targets that don't fire back has turned him or her into a veritable Dirty Harry.

Targets can be dangerous.
This guy shoots back...