Does everyone feel safe now?

[Pryderi]

sorry if it's already been posted.

[a geek named Bob]

1. instead of blaming the instrument

how about looking at the cause?

[rbixby]

4. Its not about the instrument

Its about the people who use them like idiots.

[a geek named Bob]

5. but therein lies the problem...

Which people are idiots?

Look, Lanza was mentally ill, as were the Columbine duo. Why were they walking around in public?

There was ample evidence that they had problems...

A violent-prone mentally ill person can skip guns, and go for poisons, bombs, or the ever popular knife/axe/sword...

[rbixby]

6. So then we're completely helpless, eh?

Lots of undiagnosed mental illness out there, and there probably always will be.

[a geek named Bob]

8. THis is why I'm for a large scale mental health program...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. Umm, people weren't killed because Lanza was walking around in public.

They were killed because he had easy access to guns in his house.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. The cause of 28 deaths one week ago today was multiple gunshot wounds.

Inflicted by a mentally ill individual with easy access to lethal weapons and large ammunition clips.

There. I talked about the cause for you.

[a geek named Bob]

10. The CAUSE was the mentally ill person. the INSTRUMENT was the access to firearms...

WHY wasn't this kid committed?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. I don't know. Ask his mother. Oh wait....

....she's dead. Because of all the guns she had legally bought and stored in her house.

When it comes to mass shootings by mentally ill people, you can't just convieniently leave guns and access to them out of the conversation. I'm sorry, you can't just control the conversation like that. There's a freakin' 10,000 pound elephant in the room.

[a geek named Bob]

12. I haven't been tryng to control the conversation...

On the other hand, I detest the "You have to drink milk, because the baby can't eat steak" mentality.

What comes to mind, in re this topic, is the theme from Harrison Bergeron.

Guns are merely a sharply defined tool. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm for biometric locks. How about you?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. Who are you, Dennis Miller?

"You have to drink milk because the baby can't eat steak?"

Quoting a lesser known Vonnegut sci-fi work about self-handicapping?

Attempting to try to get the point you are making, you are saying why should you be forced to give up your AR-15 with 30 round clips that you love so much because someone else used their AR-15 with 30 round clips to shoot up a bunch of innocents in cold blood? Is that what you're saying?

A gun is not a hammer. A gun is not a screwdriver. A gun is an instrument designed for the specific purpose of killing, injuring or simulating killing/injuring. Guns may have their place, but they are hardly an ordinary tool and because of their intended deadly design, they must be subject to higher scrutiny and regulation than your ordinary tools. And the people who want access to them need to be subject to higher regulation and scrutiny because of what guns are specifically designed to do.

Here's the harsh reality. You are capable of becoming mentally ill, or snapping in anger. I am capable of the same. We all are. Stop trying to claim that mental illess is a finite condition that only affects certain people out there in the ether.

Personally, I'm all for mental evaluations if one wishes to use and purchase a gun, and continued periodic evaluations if one wishes to continue to use and purchase a gun. If that's not politically feasible, at least do something as they do in Canada and require rigourous safety courses before being able to possess a gun.

And get rid of the damn maximum capacity clips. There's no reason any civilian needs them. None.

[a geek named Bob]

14. As I said... A firearm is a sharply defined tool...

It was designed to kill something. That's why I have a shotgun, as a last resort. (Seriously... Think for a moment... If a tweaker gets past my door, and the cops need 5 minutes to arrive, am I supposed to fend off said tweaker with a sharply worded message?)

Here's the harsh reality. You are capable of becoming mentally ill, or snapping in anger. I am capable of the same. We all are. Stop trying to claim that mental illess is a finite condition that only affects certain people out there in the ether.

Snapping in anger? That shows YOUR training and lifestyle, not mine. I'm beginning to think the folks on DU are more dangerous than the "gunhadists" (great turn of phrase by another poster.)

Personally, I'm all for mental evaluations if one wishes to use and purchase a gun, and continued periodic evaluations if one wishes to continue to use and purchase a gun. If that's not politically feasible, at least do something as they do in Canada and require rigourous safety courses before being able to possess a gun.

And get rid of the damn maximum capacity clips. There's no reason any civilian needs them. None.

sounds good to me!

As for the rest of your message... Too many people here seem to rely on rhetoric and bombast.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

15. So you are saying you are immune from mental illness?

Listen, if you have a reasonable weapon in your house for self-defense AND you safely secure it from other people (and sadly, we have learned all too well that includes members of your own family), I've got no beef with that. (Me, I'm fine with the 34 inch Easton bat underneath my bed though....)

But don't try to conflate that scenario with legislative pushes to get rid of weapons and clips that no private citizen has a rational reason to possess. And don't act so sanctimonious if that is what is done, as if doing that somehow infringes on your right to possess a single pistol in your home or a gauge shotgun for hunting.

[a geek named Bob]

16. some of the folks here (jpak) would prefer single revolvers...

The FAA and the ATFE seem to think I'm stable, so I'll go with that.

People don't just "snap" and start killing. There's a progression of traits that build up.

A baseball bat only works if you are able bodied, and have a good shot at the bad guy.

Too many people here seem to be willing to play bandwagon and witch hunt.

[closeupready]

2. If this is about guns, I'm trashing this along with

all 3,408 other gun threads that have been posted in the last week.

[Remmah2]

3. How many serial killers have been stopped by firearms?

If a serial murderer kills 47 people is that different than a mass murder?

How many mass murders have been comitted in gun free zones?