The right to own slaves was also deeply engrained in the American psyche. When you stop believing change is possible you stop being human.[/quote]
Ridding America of private gun ownership would take decades. Not impossible, but impractical. There are more guns than people. And they are so easy to manufacture that it would be almost impossible to remove them as fast as they could be produced in a thousand machine shops anywhere. So unfortunately, trying to remove guns from America would only result in taking guns away from honest people, leaving the criminals with the guns. It’s a difficult problem to solve for sure.
The right to own slaves was also deeply engrained in the American psyche. When you stop believing change is possible you stop being human.[/quote]
Ridding America of private gun ownership would take decades. Not impossible, but impractical. There are more guns than people. And they are so easy to manufacture that it would be almost impossible to remove them as fast as they could be produced in a thousand machine shops anywhere. So unfortunately, trying to remove guns from America would only result in taking guns away from honest people, leaving the criminals with the guns. It’s a difficult problem to solve for sure.[/quote]
Difficult yes, but a worthwhile thing to try I think. I think a three part plan could go a long way.
Make it more difficult to obtain new guns through stricter background checks, a required written and proficiency exam, and a mandatory 90 day wait period, and make it all apply to private gun sales as well.
A government crackdown on the weapon type, caliber, and magazine capacity the manufacturers can sell. It’s still arms if it’s a 6 shot revolver, and does not in any way violate the constitutional right to bear arms. It’s up to society to define “arms” because it’s not defined in the constitution. We could be idiots and define it as anything short of a patriot missile, or we could be smart and define it as nothing more than a 6 shot revolver, or even a stun gun if America was ever willing to go that far. It’s still “arms.”
A government sponsored program where they reimburse citizens to turn in their guns. Money talks, so at some point the government is going to have to dish out some money to get people to comply.
I agree it will take a while but perhaps if started now, each successive generation will be reducing the gun culture in America, not adding to it.
A gun buyback program. These have proven effective before. But it only works properly if the guns are destroyed after they are bought back. There have been cases where the guns were then sold and re-entered the populace.
Kicking the thread up, here’s another one: Umpqua Community College. 13 dead or so? RIP all.
News reports talk of an ‘active shooter’ and an ‘active shooter protocol’. I like the way these phrases have been developed by the media to help normalise such events into American daily life. Pretty soon such shootings will barely raise a ripple in the pond unless there’s a high double-digit death toll.
Some confusion there then. Folks report that concealed carry is legal on the UCC campus, although guns were banned from some buildings/faculties.
I don’t think UCC is as ‘gun-free’ a zone as you’d like it to be here.
According to some people, if everyone in that college had a gun, this would not have happened.
I guess that in order to have an accurate statistic for the average I.Q., the lower end of the spectrum is needed as well.
Yeah, but terrorists kill people. Guns don’t kill people, people kill … ah, er, hold on … that’s starting to seem unreasonable.
So did the Right get all that wrong too?
Can’t seem to keep crazies with guns from shooting up schools. The crazies with guns shoot up schools because schools are seen as gun free zones. So they know they will have 10 to 15 minutes or more before the police arrive to “make a name for themselves”. That is a major reason they do this at schools.
In the supermarket, or malls the security can be there quicker, also there is more of a chance other people are armed themselves.
Since we can’t keep guns out of the hands of criminals in the USA, i vote that the general public should have more gun access. Able bodies people over 21 should be able to have a background check done and be allowed to be armed with a single handgun.
This way the next time a shooter shoots up a school he will be shot down by armed students.
Its the way America was back in the day. The wild wild west. Everyone was armed. And this keeps everyone in check.
Or you must be like Malaysia where if you are caught with a gun you are executed. Automatic death penalty.
I work in Oakland and the other day 2 people were shot dead in broad daylight for unknown reasons. One was a guy working on a Mural on the side of the street. Nobody knows why he was gunned down so far.
I would frankly feel better if I had a snub nose 38 hidden in my jacket.
At least I can shoot back.
One of my coworkers claims he carries a weapon at times in Oakland. Illegally. But better to be tried by 12 then carried by 6 they say.
[quote=“tommy525”]Can’t seem to keep crazies with guns from shooting up schools. The crazies with guns shoot up schools because schools are seen as gun free zones. So they know they will have 10 to 15 minutes or more before the police arrive to “make a name for themselves”. That is a major reason they do this at schools.
In the supermarket, or malls the security can be there quicker, also there is more of a chance other people are armed themselves.
Since we can’t keep guns out of the hands of criminals in the USA, i vote that the general public should have more gun access. Able bodies people over 21 should be able to have a background check done and be allowed to be armed with a single handgun.
This way the next time a shooter shoots up a school he will be shot down by armed students.
Its the way America was back in the day. The wild wild west. Everyone was armed. And this keeps everyone in check.
Or you must be like Malaysia where if you are caught with a gun you are executed. Automatic death penalty.
I work in Oakland and the other day 2 people were shot dead in broad daylight for unknown reasons. One was a guy working on a Mural on the side of the street. Nobody knows why he was gunned down so far.
I would frankly feel better if I had a snub nose 38 hidden in my jacket.
At least I can shoot back.
One of my coworkers claims he carries a weapon at times in Oakland. Illegally. But better to be tried by 12 then carried by 6 they say.[/quote]
tommy is this your position or were you just engaging in gun-wacko stream of consciousness?
