Tl;dr worthy , but worth the read. TUMBLR CEO: This one was sent in a few days ago: "Mr. President, my name is Nick Dineen, and I attend school at the University of California-Santa Barbara. I was the RA for the floor that George Chen lived on last year as a first-year college student. I knew him. Elliot Rodger killed him and five more of my fellow students. Today, another man has shot and killed at least one person and injured three others at a private Christian school in Seattle. What are you going to do? What can we all do?" And of course, another mass shooting this morning. PRESIDENT OBAMA: I have to say that people often ask me how has it been being president, and what am I proudest of and what are my biggest disappointments. And I've got two and a half years left. My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage. "The fact that 20 six-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible and this town couldn't do anything about it was stunning to me." We're the only developed country on Earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week. And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this. A couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting similar to Columbine or Newtown. And Australia just said, well, that's it-we're not seeing that again. And basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws. And they haven't had a mass shooting since. Our levels of gun violence are off the charts. There's no advanced, developed country on Earth that would put up with this. Now, we have a different tradition. We have a Second Amendment. We have historically respected gun rights. I respect gun rights. But the idea that, for example, we couldn't even get a background check bill in to make sure that if you're going to buy a weapon you have to actually go through a fairly rigorous process so that we know who you are, so you can't just walk up to a store and buy a semi-automatic weapon-it makes no sense. And I don't know if anybody saw the brief press conference from the father of the young man who had been killed at Santa Barbara. And as a father myself, I just could not understand the pain he must be going through and just the primal scream that he gave out-why aren't we doing something about this? And I will tell you, I have been in Washington for a while now and most things don't surprise me. The fact that 20 six-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible and this town couldn't do anything about it was stunning to me. And so the question then becomes what can we do about it. The only thing that is going to change is public opinion. If public opinion does not demand change in Congress, it will not change. I've initiated over 20 executive actions to try to tighten up some of the rules in the laws, but the bottom line is, is that we don't have enough tools right now to really make as big of a dent as we need to. "Most members of Congress-and I have to say, to some degree, this is bipartisan-are terrified of the NRA." And most members of Congress-and I have to say, to some degree, this is bipartisan-are terrified of the NRA. The combination of the NRA and gun manufacturers are very well financed and have the capacity to move votes in local elections and congressional elections. And so if you're running for office right now, that's where you feel the heat. And people on the other side may be generally favorable towards things like background checks and other commonsense rules but they're not as motivated. So that's not-that doesn't end up being the issue that a lot of you vote on. And until that changes, until there is a fundamental shift in public opinion in which people say, enough, this is not acceptable, this is not normal, this isn't sort of the price we should be paying for our freedom, that we can have respect for the Second Amendment and responsible gun owners and sportsmen and hunters can have the ability to possess weapons but that we are going to put some commonsense rules in place that make a dent, at least, in what's happening-until that is not just the majority of you-because that's already the majority of you, even the majority of gun owners believe that. But until that's a view that people feel passionately about and are willing to go after folks who don't vote reflecting those values, until that happens, sadly, not that much is going to change. "The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. And yet, we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than anyplace else." The last thing I'll say: A lot of people will say that, well, this is a mental-health problem, it's not a gun problem. The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. [Laughter.] It's not the only country that has psychosis. And yet, we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than anyplace else. Well, what's the difference? The difference is, is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses and that's sort of par for the course. So the country has to do some soul searching about this. This is becoming the norm, and we take it for granted in ways that, as a parent, are terrifying to me. And I am prepared to work with anybody, including responsible sportsmen and gun owners, to craft some solutions. But right now, it's not even possible to get even the mildest restrictions through Congress, and we should be ashamed of that.
Whatever this so called president has to say about these shootings is void because all these shootings are ENGINEERED for the purpose of mass mind control. Scoff and brush that statement off if you will but once they propose to take away the 2nd amendment and enforce it , many people will bemd over and take it because the minds of the american populace is like WAX. Easily shaped and WEAK.
.-. We aren't disarming anyone , this is what's holding us back. Or would we rather have no gun laws at all because you all are afraid of having them taken away... In the meantime , people are dying.
I'm not going to touch this one lol. Read it all, still not touching it. But I totally agree we need stricter laws, cause people don't break laws. And we need the people to demand change, or else congress won't change it? What about marijuana? Where's the change with that? And feeling the heat of the NRA in elections? What about the heat from pharmaceutical companies, big banks, or big corporate sponsorships? someone else can take an actual whack at this. Edit: and this is America, we can't get rid of all the guns or ammos, criminals will get their hands on illegal guns and ammo, no matter the punishment.
How abouttttt Offer buybacks for the guns that are out there. Nobody's confiscating your guns, but if you'd like to make some cash discarding some of the extras you've got, it's your choice. Restrict new gun purchases to defensive and sporting weapons only. You don't need weapons of war (offensive weapons) unless you want to join the "well-regulated militia". We already don't generally let civilians buy M-60 machine guns, all we're doing is moving that dividing line further down the scale. Even Justice Scalia said the 2nd Amendment isn't absolute. Lifetime ownership. You buy a gun, its serial number and ballistic prints are registered to you for life. Your only transfer options are the buyback program or passing it down to family who then get the lifetime ownership. If your gun is used to harm another, you get 50% of whatever punishment the shooter gets. Theft of your gun is no defense - gee, didn't you have a gun to deter theives? (Wanna bet folks will be extra careful to lock up their guns?) Bullet control. The 2nd Amendment protects the right to bear arms. It doesn't say a thing about ammo. Regulate the hell out of ammo purchases. Background check for every purchase. Quantity limits. You name it. When I hear "guns don't kill people, people kill people" I think I agree, and it seems that the people in the United States like to kill people quite often with guns. When I hear "it's mental health, it's culture" I think I agree, and it seems we have a crazy killing culture. If we're such a crazy killing nation, perhaps we should have fewer guns to crazily kill each other with.
Gun control won't change the killings unfortunately. Firstly, it won't stop the black market of guns already in place. And anyone who want's to mass murder will find other means of doing so, whether it be by the 2 ton machines going 50+ mph that we know as automobiles, or by hardware tools
You seem to be very anti-gun and act like your opinion is going to change the opinion of others, it won't. Switzerland has no army, every citizen is armed, no one invades, and there aren't any mass shootings. The government is extremely corrupt, do you think that the united states is going to be forever untouched by invasion? Do you really think corruption could never take over the country and turn on it's citizens? It IS a mental health issue. Americans are stupid, and crazy. We grow up to believe "America is the greatest country in the world" Then we grow up again and realize we aren't. We don't need to take away the guns of our citizens, we need to evolve as a civilization. When war, religion, and corruption no longer exist and we focus on evolving, expanding and growing as humans, not races, territories or prophet propaganda, then no one will have need for weapons. Until then, no one is touching mine.
It does, though. Slowing and making more difficult the legal purchase of guns makes the illegal market that much harder to feed. Yes, old guns might be circulating around for criminal use, but they also get confiscated. That supply will get harder to come by. The instances of civilians using guns to protect themselves against criminals are far fewer than the instances of civilians hurting themselves with or others with guns. If your main issue is self-defense, why have anything beyond a six-bullet revolver? If you can't defend yourself in six shots, sixteen or sixty aren't going to do the job. If you want to have high capacity guns available for sport shooting, fine. Sell the guns, make it illegal to sell or use the ammo outside of ranges.
Mm no I'm not anti gun , I just think we need stricter laws. I understand the amount of corruption , but while we sit around and twiddle our thumbs people are dying. I think it's somewhat preventable , we aren't the only developed nation around , and all the other ones have better gun laws then we do , and then we wonder why our mass shootings homicides and suicides are higher than these other developed nations. I'm not looking for people to change their opinion either , just discussion.
You're right, stricter laws will help a little but I am mostly against taking them away completely. After all, the sole purpose of the 2nd Amendment was to protect us from our own government. And gun buybacks have already been happening on from what I've seen on YouTube. Not a bad deal. Only being able to have a handgun wouldn't be too bad either I suppose.
1. We do need weapons of war, nothing is prohibiting america from being invaded by anyone (Especially home-grown). 2. If I go to work and someone breaks in my house and takes my AK, I'm liable for what someone does with it? come on now.. 3. Bullet control is just as bad as gun control, the citizens need guns and we need ammo for them. If you make guns illegal, and I feel like I want to go on a mass shooting spree, you really don't think I could find one in less than 24 hours? Serial # scratched off, fully automatic, with 100's of rounds of ammo? We are in multiple wars and flying airplanes with no pilots dropping bombs on civilians around the world because they were a part of a small gang of 19 people, this isn't the time to talk about gun control, we need to fix our government first. There is no trust.
Strict laws won't help, they have pretty strict laws for murder, in some states the penalty could be death, but that doesn't stop people.
"Laws are just laws. Criminals get guns and kill people regardless of laws." Can I ask, do any laws have value in society? People go faster than the speed limit commonly. Should we remove those limits?How about theft? People steal things regardless of the laws against theft, so should we take that restriction off? All laws CAN and ARE broken, but I have never seen another law argued against for that reason. Only gun control. Someone will always break laws, so apparently we shouldn't have any.
You stupid liberals think that "attempting" to take guns away will do good. All these gang members are just gonna turn their guns in? Uh no! They're gonna rob and shoot people more than ever. I have my ccw and carry a gun on me everyday for my personal protection as well of the protection of those around me. Nuff said, my guns stay with me. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
The black market isn't made up of american made guns, they are brought in from overseas, and nothing is stopping that, it's a game of cat and mouse, and the fully automatic weapons on the streets next to the white house won't go away. The main issue is self defence of many things, if 1 man tries to rob my house, yes my .38 revolver will work fine. If some insane shit happens tomorrow where riots are happening and gangs are running around (Which isn't crazy, it's a valid theory.. look at chicago, detroit, D.C.,) I want my 30 clip assault rifle with me. If the police get more corrupt, if the government get more corrupt, it's only a matter of time before a revolution, and it will be that much harder when our citizens aren't armed. I'm all for background checks, and registration, that's fine. But our citizens have to be armed. If we spent the billions of dollars we spend on war on our own citizens, instead of making new enemies, we would factually have less school shootings. The guy in California who posted all those twisted videos, was so far in psychosis and so easily could have been prevented, but it wasn't. It's a mental health issue that we have to solve. Because 1 crazy fuck is going to run around once a week and shoot people, doesn't mean you should take away guns from citizens and let the black market rule. Elliot rodger actually stabbed and killed 3 people in his apartment first, before shooting and killing 4 more, then injuring 7. (If I remember correctly). If you take away the guns, or make them impossible to attain, bombs and chemicals are next for the mass-murder frenzy.
But we arent trying to take away your guns , you all keep agreeing your ok with somewhat stricter laws and background checks, even registration that's really all I want Personally I don't like Semi autos out there but if we can just go ahead with background checks and registration I'd be happy.