sarisataka
sarisataka's JournalShootings, Guns and Public Opinion
reality check
Last week the country was shocked by the on-air shooting of a reporter and cameraman - shocked, but perhaps not surprised. Gun violence has become an all-too-common part of the news, and after each incident, a debate erupts over gun control. Public opinion data over more than fifty years reveals a country ever less willing to restrict gun ownership, even as mass shootings and other high-profile shooting incidents continue to make news. From the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research archives:
Tragedy in the news. Again.
Gun-related homicide deaths have been decreasing in number since the 1990s. But the number of active shooter events and mass shootings have increased in recent years.
Such terrible events make headlines. Pollsters have asked the public about their attention to news stories about these tragedies since 1998. While many stories of national-reported shootings are followed very or fairly closely by half or less of the public, some such incidents gain the attention of eight in ten or more.
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Those who hope that changing gun laws can help to prevent shootings incidents like last week's on-air homicide or the murder of nine people in the church in Charleston in June have to overcome significant barriers in American attitudes. Those who argue that gun laws are ineffective, that these events are isolated incidents, and that guns bring more safety than danger appear to be winning the public debate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-weldon/shootings-guns-and-public_b_8065682.html
Many more charts and analysis at link
Is Gun Violence Due To Dangerous People Or Dangerous Guns?
The killings of two journalists in Virginia last week have reignited a national conversation on mass shootings and gun control.
No one wants dangerous people with dangerous guns, but different parties point in different directions when it comes to laying the blame for gun violence or proposing appropriate policies moving forward.
Some point to dangerous people. In an interview with CNN, the father of one of the journalists who was murdered last week called for "sensible laws so that crazy people can't get guns." In a radio interview after the shooting, Sen. John McCain argued that the government needs to identify people who are mentally ill and more effectively keep them from obtaining guns.
Others point to dangerous guns. In an interview in the wake of last week's shootings, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre highlighted America's unusually easy access to hazardous firearms: "We don't have a monopoly on people disgruntled at work or people suffering from mental illness. What we do have is unique accessibility to dangerous firearms that we allow in this country to exist."
Worth a read
Image test
Based only on the photo, select who is a good person
A 
B 
C 
-Only A is a good person
-Only B is a good person
-Only C is a good person
-Only A & B are good people
-Only A & C are good people
-Only B & C are good people
-All of them are good people
-None of them are good
Taylor Swift and Phoebe Buffay
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-taylor-swift-sing-smelly-cat-with-lisa-kudrow-at-l-a-show-20150827
So once the Second Amendment is repealed (x-post)
from GD http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027115121
and gun ownership prohibited, who will be entrusted to enforce this?
I am curious how much power we will allow police to have for enforcement. Will police arrest anyone in possession of a gun as they encounter them, will we allow the police to go house to house and confiscate guns or will it be like illegal immigration and left up to Federal enforcement?
Will any additional weaponry be authorized for use in enforcing the new paradigm?
So once the Second Amendment is repealed
and gun ownership prohibited, who will be entrusted to enforce this?
I am curious how much power we will allow police to have for enforcement. Will police arrest anyone in possession of a gun as they encounter them, will we allow the police to go house to house and confiscate guns or will it be like illegal immigration and left up to Federal enforcement?
Will any additional weaponry be authorized for use in enforcing the new paradigm?
Gun control proponent: Women too weak to carry guns for self-defense
Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, stated on al-Jazeera's The Third Rail that
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/third-rail/2015/8/would-guns-make-college-campuses-safer.html
Moments later when the host of the show asked if there is a right to self defense with a weapon she admitted that there is such a right in the home {only} because the Supreme Court has ruled so.
I guess women are simply SOL- even if you have a right to self defense, you are so weak it will be turned against you.
#onlygunvictimsmatter
Teenager protects twin brothers with father's rifle after break-in attempt
NORTH LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) – It's a parent's nightmare – the children are home alone when robbers break in.
Two young men are caught on surveillance video breaking in to Kieawa Mason's home.
His 14-year-old son, Andrew, and his younger twins were the only ones home. Andrew and his siblings were trained not to answer when anyone knocked.
"Eventually I hear a thud on the door so I assume, he's breaking in," Andrew said.
http://www.news3lv.com/mostpopular/story/north-las-vegas-kieawa-mason-andrew-rifle-break-in/KcRf0Pi7l0aWPgBLjnYSaA.cspx
Video at link
Small game hunting
My eldest wants to go squirrel/ small game hunting. Rather than using a .22 I am considering an air rifle in the 1000+ fps range.
Does anyone have experience with these and how easy are they for a 12 yro to use?
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Gender: MaleHometown: St Paul MN
Home country: USA
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Member since: Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:41 PM
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