Hey Tim! I agree...we should be able to have an open and honest dialogue on guns. Here are some points first: according to the CDC fatal crashes cause approximately 3,700 deaths per day. Every day, more than 110 Americans are killed with guns. So we license drivers and still they get behind the wheel and do stupid shit and people die, including children. I'm not against back ground checks or restrictions on who can own a gun. The fact remains, a gun cannot kill anyone unless someone pulls the trigger. Our problem is not the guns. We have a mental health crisis in our country. People will find a way to do evil because there are evil people and mentally immoral people. Again, I'm not saying we cannot have some restrictions, but the root of the problem is people, evil people and people with serious mental issues. Bad people will find a way to get guns and to harm others. We have plenty of guns in our house and none of them have killed a single human. The National Rifle Association began to promote gun safety. Responsible gun owners learn about gun safety, teach their children gun safety and their guns are used properly. I know you're angry and sad about what happened - about any shooting - good people are. I would just like you to think on this a bit more. The media hypes it up. If bad people continue to find ways to get their hands on weapons (and they always will), I want to have a way to protect myself.
I clicked the link, it allowed me to read a paragraph and then I would have to pay to read more…more opinion based on statistics, and I’ve learned statistics can easily be manipulated- college statistics class…this is not dialogue. Whatever. You don’t want to have open dialogue. You want more gun control…period.
And so you know, I do believe we should have more restrictions in place for gun safety - back ground checks, responsible sales, but it is the only piece that gets talked about. Mentally ill people go into schools and shoot kids. Our government has guards, apparently our children need them in schools also - armed resource officers, and single entry locations so school access is extremely restricted. This is a complex problem that needs to be addressed from many angles.
I'm grateful to have a convo about it and I do really appreciate that you read my stuff and always try to articulate counter arguments. I mean that. So respectfully, here is my response.
Armed guards at elementary schools is the most nauseating and absolutely crude solution I can imagine. Why in the world does anyone think turning schools into military compounds is the best way to educate our children and set them up for success in the world?
Not to mention, what's an armed guard really gonna do against an assault rifle? And then what? Someone sneaks up on an armed guard with a high powered rifle, kills him/her, and then the conversation escalates again?
"We need military grade soldiers to protect schools?" It's round and round. "blah blah blah" like I said. I would never send my kid to a school with a military grade guard protecting it. That's not a school, that's a compound.
And in regards to the drivers license argument, one of the things I find frustrating is the "what about-ism" in these talks that seems to be a common deflection tactic. Because I can present a problem with a solution, and all that needs to happen is someone says "well what about ... such and such."
For instance, I can say " we need a licensing program for firearms", and then someone else can say "well what about cars who also kill people?"
It's like ... I didn't realize we were talking about the death rates of cars because I'm talking about creating a license program that would most likely curb mass shootings of 10 year old's.
Now of course, mental health is a problem. But is mental health isolated in America? Do we somehow have sicker people than the rest of the world? It's not likely, considering most of the Western world is already influenced by the same western culture that we live in. No one, ever, has presented any data that says otherwise, yet that's the assumption we make. Yet, there is crystal clear data about other western countries and stricter gun laws. It's making up scenarios that can't be proven to argue for a counter point that is already proven with data.
Like I said, it's hard to see this as anything other than people care more about keeping their guns than they do about little kids getting pumped with 45mm caliper bullets.
So what's the actual problem?
The problem, is that an 18 year old bought an AR-15 military grade assault rifle and then casually crossed state lines to shoot up a school.
I agree. That should never happen and I agree in stricter gun laws, within reason. You make broad sweeping assumptions when you say "it's hard to see this as anything other than people care more about keeping their guns than they do about little kids getting pumped with 45mm caliper bullets." - It is just simply NOT true. My heart aches for the life lost and the families left behind to deal with it. I just think the discussion needs have more substance.
I'm not sure where you live, but I can tell you that in certain parts of this country -- where I live, in particular -- I can own a gun without a license, without a class, and without a background check because I inherited it. I can then *legally* gift that gun to someone else, without a license, without a class, and without a background check -- and they can legally own it.
The vast majority of mass shootings in this country involved *legally obtained guns.* While we certainly have a mental health crisis in this country, we also make it insanely and stupidly easy for people to access guns.
Do you see the problem here? LEGALLY OBTAINED GUNS just killed 19 kids. And you're worried about regulations? Why? Seriously. I want to know why stronger regulation bothers you. You'd still have your way to protect yourself, so what's the big deal?
If you're a responsible gun owner, you should want everyone who owns a gun to have to take the safety classes, be licensed, and have their weapons registered.
Hey Sady. I'm not certain you read all of my comments. I do believe we need some stronger restrictions on gun ownership. My real issue is that's what the media and therefore people who consume that media always start screaming after a shooting. Mass shootings have started fairly recently (in the past 30 years or less), but gun ownership has always been fairly easy. We can tighten regulations, but my belief is that the bigger issue is on mental health. Why are these people doing it? That's the important question. It's easy to blame guns. I just don't believe guns are the real issue. It is the person who goes and shoots up a school or a mall or even another individual that I believe is the bigger issue. Gun restrictions are like putting a band-aid on a gushing wound.
Hey Tim! I agree...we should be able to have an open and honest dialogue on guns. Here are some points first: according to the CDC fatal crashes cause approximately 3,700 deaths per day. Every day, more than 110 Americans are killed with guns. So we license drivers and still they get behind the wheel and do stupid shit and people die, including children. I'm not against back ground checks or restrictions on who can own a gun. The fact remains, a gun cannot kill anyone unless someone pulls the trigger. Our problem is not the guns. We have a mental health crisis in our country. People will find a way to do evil because there are evil people and mentally immoral people. Again, I'm not saying we cannot have some restrictions, but the root of the problem is people, evil people and people with serious mental issues. Bad people will find a way to get guns and to harm others. We have plenty of guns in our house and none of them have killed a single human. The National Rifle Association began to promote gun safety. Responsible gun owners learn about gun safety, teach their children gun safety and their guns are used properly. I know you're angry and sad about what happened - about any shooting - good people are. I would just like you to think on this a bit more. The media hypes it up. If bad people continue to find ways to get their hands on weapons (and they always will), I want to have a way to protect myself.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/05/25/guns-are-the-things-most-likely-to-kill-young-people-in-america?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content
I clicked the link, it allowed me to read a paragraph and then I would have to pay to read more…more opinion based on statistics, and I’ve learned statistics can easily be manipulated- college statistics class…this is not dialogue. Whatever. You don’t want to have open dialogue. You want more gun control…period.
And so you know, I do believe we should have more restrictions in place for gun safety - back ground checks, responsible sales, but it is the only piece that gets talked about. Mentally ill people go into schools and shoot kids. Our government has guards, apparently our children need them in schools also - armed resource officers, and single entry locations so school access is extremely restricted. This is a complex problem that needs to be addressed from many angles.
I'm grateful to have a convo about it and I do really appreciate that you read my stuff and always try to articulate counter arguments. I mean that. So respectfully, here is my response.
Armed guards at elementary schools is the most nauseating and absolutely crude solution I can imagine. Why in the world does anyone think turning schools into military compounds is the best way to educate our children and set them up for success in the world?
Not to mention, what's an armed guard really gonna do against an assault rifle? And then what? Someone sneaks up on an armed guard with a high powered rifle, kills him/her, and then the conversation escalates again?
"We need military grade soldiers to protect schools?" It's round and round. "blah blah blah" like I said. I would never send my kid to a school with a military grade guard protecting it. That's not a school, that's a compound.
And in regards to the drivers license argument, one of the things I find frustrating is the "what about-ism" in these talks that seems to be a common deflection tactic. Because I can present a problem with a solution, and all that needs to happen is someone says "well what about ... such and such."
For instance, I can say " we need a licensing program for firearms", and then someone else can say "well what about cars who also kill people?"
It's like ... I didn't realize we were talking about the death rates of cars because I'm talking about creating a license program that would most likely curb mass shootings of 10 year old's.
Now of course, mental health is a problem. But is mental health isolated in America? Do we somehow have sicker people than the rest of the world? It's not likely, considering most of the Western world is already influenced by the same western culture that we live in. No one, ever, has presented any data that says otherwise, yet that's the assumption we make. Yet, there is crystal clear data about other western countries and stricter gun laws. It's making up scenarios that can't be proven to argue for a counter point that is already proven with data.
Like I said, it's hard to see this as anything other than people care more about keeping their guns than they do about little kids getting pumped with 45mm caliper bullets.
So what's the actual problem?
The problem, is that an 18 year old bought an AR-15 military grade assault rifle and then casually crossed state lines to shoot up a school.
That should never happen.
I agree. That should never happen and I agree in stricter gun laws, within reason. You make broad sweeping assumptions when you say "it's hard to see this as anything other than people care more about keeping their guns than they do about little kids getting pumped with 45mm caliper bullets." - It is just simply NOT true. My heart aches for the life lost and the families left behind to deal with it. I just think the discussion needs have more substance.
I'm not sure where you live, but I can tell you that in certain parts of this country -- where I live, in particular -- I can own a gun without a license, without a class, and without a background check because I inherited it. I can then *legally* gift that gun to someone else, without a license, without a class, and without a background check -- and they can legally own it.
The vast majority of mass shootings in this country involved *legally obtained guns.* While we certainly have a mental health crisis in this country, we also make it insanely and stupidly easy for people to access guns.
Do you see the problem here? LEGALLY OBTAINED GUNS just killed 19 kids. And you're worried about regulations? Why? Seriously. I want to know why stronger regulation bothers you. You'd still have your way to protect yourself, so what's the big deal?
If you're a responsible gun owner, you should want everyone who owns a gun to have to take the safety classes, be licensed, and have their weapons registered.
Hey Sady. I'm not certain you read all of my comments. I do believe we need some stronger restrictions on gun ownership. My real issue is that's what the media and therefore people who consume that media always start screaming after a shooting. Mass shootings have started fairly recently (in the past 30 years or less), but gun ownership has always been fairly easy. We can tighten regulations, but my belief is that the bigger issue is on mental health. Why are these people doing it? That's the important question. It's easy to blame guns. I just don't believe guns are the real issue. It is the person who goes and shoots up a school or a mall or even another individual that I believe is the bigger issue. Gun restrictions are like putting a band-aid on a gushing wound.