Gun violence epidemic

[onejayhawk]

I am glad this was all more interesting that President Trump outlawing bump stocks that President Obama authorized, and punitively. Owning one is now a felony.

J

[baldgriff]

So a California police officer gets killed by a felon that had a gun. Seems there is an outcry that the guy shouldn't legally have a gun because he was/is a felon.

Hmmm, seems that the law didnt stop this guy from getting a gun.


At some point we have to come to the understanding that laws only define what is not allowable. However, people get to make decisions to not obey the law - and this is why we have criminal behavior...

But back to my test studies --- got a test next Monday. Just thought I would drop in and say "HI Jesse!"

"Hi Jesse"

[Sour Masher]

So a California police officer gets killed by a felon that had a gun. Seems there is an outcry that the guy shouldn't legally have a gun because he was/is a felon.

Hmmm, seems that the law didnt stop this guy from getting a gun.


At some point we have to come to the understanding that laws only define what is not allowable. However, people get to make decisions to not obey the law - and this is why we have criminal behavior...

But back to my test studies --- got a test next Monday. Just thought I would drop in and say "HI Jesse!"

"Hi Jesse"

Same old debate that goes nowhere. Folks could point out how gun control has worked elsewhere and how if we make certain guns or ammo or clips illegal to certain people, it does make it harder for some folks to get and it does allow some of those people to be caught and prosecuted for that lesser crime before they go commit murder. Then we will try to quantify how many lives such measures will save and you will retort that the personal freedom of many millions to shoot deer at a 10 bullet per second rate outweighs a few hundred lives saved by such measures.

ETA: And you will also make the slippery slope fallacy by focusing on how arbitrary terms like :assault weapon" and "high capacity" are, and generally be in favor of no more restrictions or background checks, because in your mind, all that does in inconvenience the law abiding not deter criminals. Someone will point out, then why do we have laws for anything, and down the rabbit hole again.

[B-Fly]

Tougher gun laws absolutely make it harder to obtain guns illegally and easier to police and prosecute illegal gun sales. It's shocking to me that you wouldn't see the truth in that, even if you believe the cons of such laws outweigh the pros. Laws do more than just establish the rules for law-abiding citizens. They also act as a deterrent for many would-be law breakers and facilitate the policing and prosecution of law breakers.

[DMT]

Tougher gun laws absolutely make it harder to obtain guns illegally and easier to police and prosecute illegal gun sales. It's shocking to me that you wouldn't see the truth in that, even if you believe the cons of such laws outweigh the pros. Laws do more than just establish the rules for law-abiding citizens. They also act as a deterrent for many would-be law breakers and facilitate the policing and prosecution of law breakers.

If laws are supposedly deterrents, why do we have jails?!? Duh

[madducks]

Another shooting at a high school football game in Mobile, Alabama Friday night. Ten people between the ages of 15-18 wounded. Five of those in critical but non-life threatening condition. Two suspects in custody.

[madducks]

And another in Midland, Texas on Saturday afternoon:
The shooter was pulled over by Texas troopers for not using his signal. He had been fired from his job at a trucking company that morning. He began shooting at officers with what police described as an assault-type weapon and sped away. He continued firing randomly at residents and motorists, police said. He then hijacked a postal truck and made his way to Odessa, about 20 miles away. That's where police confronted him in a parking lot and killed him. He killed 7 people and wounded 22 others. Among the wounded were a 17 month old girl and 3 law enforcement officers.

[madducks]

Beto O'Rourke: "A hundred killed daily in the United States of America. We're averaging about 300 mass shootings a year. No other country comes close. So yes, this is fucked up."

[DMT]

https://twitter.com/Strandjunker/status/1168175435966013440?s=19

Aurora: AR-15
Odessa: AR-15
Orlando: AR-15
Parkland: AR-15
Las Vegas: AR-15
Sandy Hook: AR-15
Waffle House: AR-15
San Bernardino: AR-15
Sutherland Springs: AR-15
Pittsburgh Synagogue: AR-15

The only ones who don't see where the problem is are Republicans.

[madducks]

From that twitter link:

[Sour Masher]

You are all spitting in the ocean. Too many in this country don't care if innocent people die senselessly. It is a small price to pay for the freedom to shoot rapid fire weapons that serve no real purpose in modern society aside from killing other people en masse.

[Sour Masher]

What if we had a specific group of people that committed 90% of all homicides and over 95% of all mass shootings? What if that same group was also overwhelmingly responsible for fighting sensible gun policies, and also happened to have the most political and economic power in the world? Do you think things would change, when that group has convinced itself that any and all regulations on fire arms are akin to personal castration of their most sacred rights? When these people, committing the crimes and holding the power to make or thwart reform, are convinced any laws that make any kind of sense are really a plot to make them impotent in the face of hypothetical dangers that are in reality dwarfed by the actual dangers represented by ownership of said fire arms, is change possible? History tells us it is not.

As far as the reason for the increase in mass shootings, I am continually surprised by the fact that it isn't obvious to all that the group committing almost all of these acts is the same group that feels most threatened by recent social changes in our society. Is it a coincidence that mass shootings have risen at the same time that our society has decided that men, and especially white men, should not have more power, money, and rights than anyone else? Is it a coincidence that white male suicides have risen at the same time as gun ownership rates have risen along with their anxieties about societal changes shifting them from their historic perches atop the social hierarchy?

[fuhrdog]

Damn video games.

[DMT]

And teaching science to our children.

[revo]

I did an informal, unscientific study of "mass shootings" using the Gun Violence Archive's definition that a "mass shooting" is defined as "4 or more people shot in one incident", and Wikipedia's list of these shootings.

During the 10-year period when the Assault Rifle Ban was in place (Sept 13, 1994-Sept 13, 2004), there were 27 mass shootings in the US. In the 10-year period immediately afterwards, there were 61 mass shootings, a 226% increase. (By means of comparison, there were 29 mass shootings in the 10-year period from 1984-Sept 12, 1994, remarkably similar to the 10-year ban period).

In 2018-2019, there have been 31 mass shootings so far, or 4 more than there were over the entire 10-year period of the ban.

Now I have no idea in how many of these attacks assault rifles were involved, but the evidence seems remarkably clear that since the ban ended, these types of incidents have markedly increased. As far as I know, mental illness and violent video games existed prior to Sept. 13, 2004.