What Are People's Motivation To Outlaw Guns In The US?

blackredyellow

More Americans die in gun homicides and suicides in six months than have died in the last 25 years in every terrorist attack and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

Yeah, read that again...


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opini ... share&_r=0

gimmesometruth27

i heard this earlier.

and i am paraphrasing here...one guy tries to use a shoe bomb to down a plane and now all americans have to take their shoes off at the airport.

many people have committed mass murders with guns and the problem has never even been addressed or allowed to be debated.

how is one situation different from the other?

blackredyellow

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i heard this earlier.

and i am paraphrasing here...one guy tries to use a shoe bomb to down a plane and now all americans have to take their shoes off at the airport.

many people have committed mass murders with guns and the problem has never even been addressed or allowed to be debated.

how is one situation different from the other?

Yeah... about 3,000 people died in 9/11 and we fundamentally changed how air travel is operated.

About that many die every 5 weeks as a result of guns in the US, and we've done nothing, except relax laws.

We're never going to eliminate gun deaths, but the fact that we've really done nothing to even try, is mind boggling.

pureoc

blackredyellow wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i heard this earlier.

and i am paraphrasing here...one guy tries to use a shoe bomb to down a plane and now all americans have to take their shoes off at the airport.

many people have committed mass murders with guns and the problem has never even been addressed or allowed to be debated.

how is one situation different from the other?

Yeah... about 3,000 people died in 9/11 and we fundamentally changed how air travel is operated.

About that many die every 5 weeks as a result of guns in the US, and we've done nothing, except relax laws.

We're never going to eliminate gun deaths, but the fact that we've really done nothing to even try, is mind boggling.

It's down right disgusting and inhumane.

g under p

I would never want to ban guns or outlaw guns at all. However, there's a few things I would like to see done here in America.

Across the the country a mandatory background check and a waiting period of two weeks for every gun bought.
Mandatory course testing on how to handle a gun and pass a shooting range test. Done so every 2 years with a fee of 50-100 dollars.
A tax of $50 for every gun owned every year.
Reinstitute the ban on assault weapons and extended magazines.

These rules and regulations won't stop mass shootings or accicental or even suicides but it may limit them and the many deaths they can cause.

Peace

unsung

$10 that this guy is just like the rest of these cowards and went off his anti-depressents.

Maybe the problem lies with the over medication of young adults.

catefrances

i wanna know why this guy did what he did. why didnt he just kill himself? it breaks my heart when people get to a point that suicide seems like the only solution to them.. but to kill your father.... then go and hunt down your mother and kill her.. and THEN shoot babies.. im sorry but you lose me. you lose my empathy... you lose my sympathy... you lose every single ounce of feeling i couldve had for you. and i DO NOT understand. help me understand... someone help me understand.

unsung

see my thoughts directly above.

I believe it is the over medication of youth today. Got a kid that is always excited and full of energy? Must have ADD. Got a child that is shy? Must be depressed. Let's pump them full of chemicals and not worry about what happens when they come off.

Want to talk about gun control? Let's talk about pharmaceutical control.

dasvidana

unsung wrote:

see my thoughts directly above.

I believe it is the over medication of youth today. Got a kid that is always excited and full of energy? Must have ADD. Got a child that is shy? Must be depressed. Let's pump them full of chemicals and not worry about what happens when they come off.

Want to talk about gun control? Let's talk about pharmaceutical control.

My first reaction to hearing the news was that here we have, yet again, one more person who has been insufficiently treated for a mental health disorder. Too many GPs are putting kids on drugs without really assessing what is going on with the kids first. Part of the problem is the lack of mental health parity in the US. If you need a pill, our insurance programs cover that. But if you need counseling, tough shit. We really have to rethink how we do mental health care in the US.

unsung

I have found it is easier to feel better about something that is bothering me by talking to someone about it over going out and getting drunk to ignore the issue.

stardust1976

Wilds wrote:

They don't understand the importance guns play in keeping people free, and only see the cost of that freedom on display when people do bad things with guns.

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

blueandwhite

stardust1976 wrote:

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

I don't think this is a dialogue you can really have with most Americans. The gun culture in the US is so distinct and so utterly foreign that many Americans legitimately believe that freedom only comes at the end of the barrel of a gun (preferably a semi-automatic assault rifle). It's a waste of breath.

dignin

blueandwhite wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

I don't think this is a dialogue you can really have with most Americans. The gun culture in the US is so distinct and so utterly foreign that many Americans legitimately believe that freedom only comes at the end of the barrel of a gun (preferably a semi-automatic assault rifle). It's a waste of breath.

It seems that way.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

blueandwhite wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

I don't think this is a dialogue you can really have with most Americans. The gun culture in the US is so distinct and so utterly foreign that many Americans legitimately believe that freedom only comes at the end of the barrel of a gun (preferably a semi-automatic assault rifle). It's a waste of breath.

I'm not sure it is 'most Americans'. I think most Americans recognize the time and need for change, but are held hostage by that well-entrenched 'gun culture' you speak of.

Think of the logistical task of 'unarming' citizens who don't want to be disarmed. There have been seemingly reasonable people on this very forum essentially threatening anyone daring to seize their guns.

pureoc

blueandwhite wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

I don't think this is a dialogue you can really have with most Americans. The gun culture in the US is so distinct and so utterly foreign that many Americans legitimately believe that freedom only comes at the end of the barrel of a gun (preferably a semi-automatic assault rifle). It's a waste of breath.

As an American I'd hope it is a small amount of LUNATICS that have that view, cause that's what they are, lunatics, and America would be better off without those people, as would the world.

pureoc

http://news.yahoo.com/2-topeka-officers ... 18901.html


Is this why you idiots need guns, to protect yourself from police? This shit just doesn't stop. I really hope Obama meant what he said tonight and gets some laws into action quickly to try and stop this nonsense best we can. Will we ever eliminate all of them, no, but we should do everything to stop them.

dunkman

i dont want to outlaw guns... i'm happy for the continued loss of life as I personally feel there are far too many idiots in the world as it is... people in the US seem intent on killing its own citizens then maybe thats where all the idiots go to live?

its their freedoms to have big gun to kill each other.... they cant burn a piece of material... which we can do... but they are allowed big guns... this makes them free apparently.

catefrances

stardust1976 wrote:

Wilds wrote:

They don't understand the importance guns play in keeping people free, and only see the cost of that freedom on display when people do bad things with guns.

How on earth do guns play a role in keeping people free? Honestly, I'd really like to be enlightened because I'd consider Australia to be a far free-er country than America and we don't have the right to bear arms. Our government has never gone rogue and killed mass amounts of people, we don't have our rights and freedoms limited. Hell...we are even allowed to burn our flag if we want. You guys can't.

So please tell me how guns keep people free. Because the only way I see that is when a criminal shoots a police officer in order to avoid going to jail - then his gun is keeping him free. Otherwise, i just don't get it.

well thats cause we dont have a bill of rights stardust...and thats cause we didnt have to fight for our freedom and independence. what rights we australians have arent god given and theyre not enshrined on a piece of paper that we can hide behind. and yes i too consider australia to be freer society than the US. but something you should never forget is australia has been beside the US step by step in every major confrontation theyve been involved with since WW2... before that we were lockstep with britain... we may not start the bullshit but we sure do support it... and in that i consider our government to be weak.

know1

I can (kind of) understand guns for hunting and target practice/competitions, but when people buy a gun for "protection" they are basically buying a gun with the intention of possibly killing someone. I don't understand that. I don't know why people would buy a weapon to murder someone else.

I almost have pity on people who feel so overpowered by fear that they have to purchase protection in the form of a murder weapon.