Snoopy

Dear Jay-are

I agree with everything you say on gun control.

Lately politicians, with very little knowledge, are going too far with control.

If the government had not ignored the mental illness crisis for years the situation would be much better.

As I have said before most of the mass murders have been committed by people affected by mental illness. I am NOT talking about gangbangers and the like.

Snoopy

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Ricko Loc: Florida

Mr. Brown-interesting , sensible analysis. I believe we sometimes get caught up in part ideology rather than what might be good for the country as a whole. For example: The TEA party is demonized by some and all those folks really want is smaller government, less taxes, and adherence to the constitution. I would think that as Americans we would all want these same things. Who wants more taxes, more intrusive government, and a lawless government ? You are correct that we should place more emphasis on what is right with our country and offer solutions for fixing what we perceive as being wrong, and at least debate the points of disagreement. We do not now have that on this forum and it has degenerated into a platform for accusing or denigrating one another without achieving any positive results that would benefit the country. We all know that congress (Senate/House) is staffed with people who have been there for so long that they think they are self employed and therefore work to benefit themselves. I think we can all agree that term and age limits would benefit the country. The problem is that nobody wants to get rid of their guy/gal . As a result we have 80 year old people many of whom should be retired still casting votes on items they have not read and do not understand. Why is this allowed to happen? We can do better. Good Luck America!!!

Ricko Loc: Florida

Jayare/snoopy-you are both correct. Guns do not kill anybody. People kill People and if a criminal is intent on committing murder he will do it with a knife,hammer, or whatever he can use. Gun control merely assures that the criminals are the only ones left with guns. If confronted by a criminal with a gun I would prefer a 12 gauge shot gun to a baseball bat any day and so would the gun control advocate if he/she is honest. Lets keep guns out of the hands of children, the mentally ill, and criminals if at all possible but do not disarm the law abiding citizen. Good Luck America !!!

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

The first thing we need to show those in power is that we on sites like this can get along with each other. We need not agree on every thing but we do need to come to agreement on some issues that will get them to listen to what we have to say.

straightUp Loc: California

I don't hear anyone saying that. What I see (actually written in the laws they've passed) is reasonable restrictions.


Oh, you think I don't already know that? Yeah, uh... guns don't possess psychotic personalities... ok - got it.
c'mon man... I'm 52 not 6.
OK - now that we have that established - PEOPLE... with personalities such as being careless, irresponsible, stupid or psychotic and guns with high kill capacities easy enough for a dumbass to get. Easy enough for a wasted asshole to grab in a fit of anger... Do the math.

back to your thing...

Well, if that's the only reason, then I think we're OK 'cause even though you're right about the constitutional stance on not allowing anyone but authorities to have guns, the laws so far passed and proposed do not result in nor do they suggest that ALL guns be banned. This is probably why you had to say... "what the Democrats *really* want". In other words, your are imagining what they might be thinking. That's called paranoia - another personality I don't like to see near a HIGH KILL CAPACITY WEAPON!

;)



You have the constitutional right to own a weapon... a law that takes away your 200rps but leaves you with your other guns is not violating the 2nd Amendment, but it *is* reducing the risk of high casualty incidents. Currently, that risk is infinity higher than the risk of foreign invasion and I've already covered the reason why 200rps isn't going to be of any use against the military.


There are 9 other amendments in the Bill of Rights bro ;)

Again, you're right about the difference between committing crimes with guns and owning guns... Again, this is not about YOU and whether or not YOU hold up gas stations or just shoot targets at the range. It's about the number of innocent people that die every year from unintended or criminal usage.

31,000 people were killed by gunshot in 2010 ... 500 of them were accidents. There were 0 foreign invaders. There has been 0 foreign invaders for the last 200 years. There is currently no advantage to invading this country when everything an invader would want is available in our free markets and yet... we sacrifice innocent lives every year so that when/if a foreign invasion ever does happen AND actually gets past our military we will have better guns to shoot them with.

I dunno - just sounds stupid to me.

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

Well, I will interject here. I own multiple weapons, all for the protection of my llamas and other animals here on the farm. I'm really not wanting to see the resident mountain lion on my front porch thinking I might work for the buffet part of the menu. However, since my father threatened to take people out BEFORE he committed suicide, I think my vantage point, because of how it all went down, allows me to say that "until" or "when" society has fixed its problems, particularly those that pertain to mental health, why allow bigger, more efficient killing machines with larger capacity magazines for unbalanced folks to maximize their aimed for goals -- take out innocents in their unreasoned anger? The laws in place NOW aren't being utilized. If they were, my opinion, a great number of these tragedies would not be happening on an ever increasing basis. I don't think anyone is looking to take away gun rights in wholesale fashion. SOMETHING needs to happen. I sat with a group of people this past fall, an aunt to one of the little ones who didn't make it in Newtown, a woman whose daughter survived being shot at Virginia Tech, a VT survivor. The list went on and on. Seriously, how "long" does this pattern have to continue before "something" gives?

Snoopy

Dear Searching

As I have said before: if mental health issues in the United States were addressed via a government influx of money the situation would be very different.

The money we spent on playing the policeman of the world, chasing oil and trying to instill democracy to parts of the world was wasted.

Snoopy

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

I certainly agree with you about the mental health side of the equation. Have to candidly say I have a "bit" of mixed emotions about the other. I will have to agree with you that forever, it seems, we will be "the Ugly American" with the best of intentions and the worst results. Oil, we have it. However, from my viewpoint, I think it not wise to play at "isolationism" if that's what you were getting at because if I look back at history correctly, that rather got us in huge trouble way back, and continued to do so. I don't know what to say to the "Syria" issues of the world. If we hang back, we are considered unsympathetic and it is "our" fault; if we, however, jump right in, with no real thought but gut reaction concerning what seems to be a total injustice to the Syrian people, then we are Ugly Americans. Your thoughts?

just_sayin' Loc: Former United States of America

If we would all, without agenda, seek the truth boldly, hold to it, no matter if we liked it or not, then and only then would we have a chance to make things better.

straightUp Loc: California

I hear ya... unfortunately, mental health is a long way from even being understood much less solved. I am not suggesting that banning high kill capacity weapons will prevent people from going nuts but it CAN reduce the number of victims per incident. It CAN give a teacher or a bystander with a gun a chance to intervene before the 4th, 5th and 6th victim falls.

Sorry about your dad... I can't imagine.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

That's the kind of "my way is the ONLY way" thinking that's the problem. I agree that ACA has flaws, so, fix it. All or nothing actions can be expected of toddlers, not grown people. Your politicians have gotten you used to letting them do your thinking for you.

straightUp Loc: California

I won't disagree but what if one man's better is another man's worse? Unfortunately, I think this is one of those truths... one that makes the answer relative... better for who?

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

A recent study showed that people who are around firearms are twice as likely to die from them. So? People who fly are more likely to die from a plane crash than someone who doesn't. Studies are relative. The BIGGER picture shows an increasingly violent society, both children and adults. Why? I think it's because of "stuff". Not enough stuff and needing to protect one's stuff. Some of the stuff is emotional but still stuff.
School shootings because of emotional stuff as well as domestic shootings. Other shootings are either to get more stuff and/or to protect some stuff. We are obsessed with stuff. Guns are a convenient tool, BUT, if there were no guns, killing over stuff would still occur.
Gun control issues now look like 4 year olds are arguing. "we want no guns" - " we want everyone to have a gun". "we want a limit of 5 rounds per magazine" - "we want 30 round magazines", etc. This has turned into another political tool against Americans, just like abortion. While the politicians get you cranked up about THIS, they're screwing you over THERE. I no longer pay any attention to the "issue of the campaign cycle" because it's BS. They're cahooting on something else that will have a REAL impact on us and THAT'S what I want to look at.

jay-are

So you prefer to give a dumbass, or a wasted asshole the power to change the Constitution, rather than have the law abiding American people have the power to defend their rights and enshrine those rights in the nation's founding document.

I personally am tired of the criminals setting the rules that limit all the rest of us. What is needed is to punish the criminals when they commit crimes, and to empower and protect the law abiding citizens. To pass laws that make criminals out of law abiding citizens is not the answer.