32 Killed in Virginia Tech Shooting

[NCC10281982B]

It was a way of life. We didn't have mass murders back then when it was commonplace for men to walk around with their pistol strapped proudly to their hip.

I don't see the problem with doing that.

[94Camaro]

Those are the reasons why I highly dislike the idea of even more guns! Up to know I liked visiting the states (like 5 times?), but with even more guns, it would just scare the . out of me!

But why are you afraid of guns? Are you afraid of cars? How many people die in car accidents? How many cars are used as getaway vehicles each year? Are you afraid of matches? How many arsons are there each year that are started with matches? You know that explosives can be made from fertilizers right? Maybe we should ban fertilizers even if it means our food production drops dramatically?

You're afraid of guns because you've been indoctrinated by the society you live in to believe they're bad and should be feared. They're a machine, a machine that should be respected, just as you respect your car. But not feared.

As others have pointed out, it all comes down to the decay of society, not the guns themselves.

 

@Camaro: I do agree that a lot of self-proclaimed "heroes" would never actually make a move. That's very true. I also like the point about dictators and anti-gun laws. Kind of a scary point, but it does make a lot of sense.

It is scary to think about, but it is exactly the reason the founding fathers wrote that little clause. It's to protect the people from the government. Hitler had full registration and licensing of firearms by what, 1935? Four years later, he had the people of Germany doing whatever-the-hell he wanted them to do.

 

"Amongst the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms it blackest." ~ Ghandi

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." ~ George Washington

 

 

@Lo, open carry is legal with no licensing here in Kansas as far as I'm aware. In fact, it was long before we had CC.

But of course, no one does it because people freak out if they see someone with a gun. Which of course leads to the premise of CCW. Lets the citizens who whish to carry do so, and keeps the sensitive people at ease.

[hockeyrcks9901]

When I lived in the States last year, one of our teachers took us trap shooting on the range once, and they didn't even check how old we were! I was 15, had never shot a shotgun before and they just give it to me telling me "go shoot!" There is another point, in the USA you can buy a gun at Wal Mart, here you have to buy it at an authorized gun dealer, who wants to see your hunting/weapon license and straight up records your data so he can give it to the authorities. The gun then has to be stored in special bigass metal locker (like 10cm thick metal), which is also regulated. Is there anything like that in the States?

 

Even the Walmarts that sell guns here have to have proper documentation and they have to follow all the same rules that every other gun dealer does in the US. And about the trap shooting. You were in a controlled environment shooting at clay pigeons on a range where I'm sure that they had security making sure you didn't take the gun and run out with it.

[SMeeD]

Not to veer off of this discussion but the Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest at some of the funerals for the VA Tech victims. That group never ceases to disgust me. Sometimes I wish the funeral goers were armed....

Edited April 19, 2007 by SMeeD

[hockeyrcks9901]

If I were ever around that group when they are protesting at a funeral...they better ******* hope I don't have a concealed weapons permit because there would be news about another mass murder. I can't stand those types of people and I'm acually sick to my stomach right now thinking about them. They give a bad name to many good religious people.

[Bosco]

What do they wanting to protest about the victims dying? <_>

[Guest christopher3393]

A couple of responses to the question at hand that struck me as fairly balanced: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features...icle2459096.ece

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9642202

 

My own personal response to the discussion has several facets: one, surprise that more thread participants seem to be against stronger forms of gun control than are in for them. Some of the evidence presented here against gun control is highly selective and may represent strong biases. There is a body of serious research on this issue that has been done independently of pro and anti-gun control lobbies. I don't mean to suggest by this, however that I think the issue is simple and clear-cut. Cultural,political, economic and historical differences suggest a variety of possible solutions that could be viable in different contexts. Texas isn't Somalia. Somalia isn't Japan.

 

Secondly, I feel a deep sorrow for the shooter. This may not sit well with some and I apologize for that seeming insensitivity. The victims of this violence merit our attention, support, compassion. Justice should be served. Precautions should be taken to prevent repetition of events like these. But when I look into face of the shooter as presented in some of the pictures, I see a person who is living in hell, and whose actions are very likely to lead him into an experience of almost unimaginable terror and suffering that may very well endure. As an ex-college professor, I wonder if it could have made a difference if someone had helped him out of his torturous isolation. Perhaps he was beyond that. But what creates a life that results in this catastrophic failure?

 

Finally, I want to thank you all for your comments because it has made me think about this more seriously than I had yet. And if I've offended anyone please don't take it personally and write it off as my lack of skill in one form or another.

[hockeyrcks9901]

Strong gun control: I'm all for it. I definitely think it should be harder to get a gun than to just wait three days while getting a background check. But I don't think we should ban them which is what most of us were talking about.

[Agallion]

Austin isnt a texas city, its a city from new england placed in texas.

 

And Japan is an island so illegal weaponry is slightly harder to smuggle =D

[94Camaro]

Strong gun control: I'm all for it. I definitely think it should be harder to get a gun than to just wait three days while getting a background check.

But what's the point? People with criminal backgrounds are going to find guns someplace else. You know, that whole black market thing. Cocaine is illegal, but somehow people still find it. The only people it's harder for to get a gun is the honest ones.

 

I don't mind a background check, but the three day or 10 day waiting period some states have is ridiculous. The background check takes a matter of hours tops. And the gov't doesn't need to have a record of every firearm I own. I'm ok with licensing of CCW firearms, but not for anything else. Otherwise, all registration does is tell a roque gov't who they need to "take care of" first.

[road-runner]

I have several rifles, shotguns, a couple of handguns, had three handguns the cops took my desert eagle .44 mag auto they picked that one out of all of them to take and let my dad take the rest to his house because they found out I was a felon. I can no longer buy a gun because of a felony Dui conviction but those are all still in my name. If I wanted to get a gun believe me its easy.

[Andrewr05]

If I wanted to get a gun believe me its easy.

TRUE

and we're (or at least I'm not) not talking Blackmarket here, if you know the right people you can buy and have the right attitude you can pick up a gun any day of the week...