We could easily start to cool the mass shooting fever that has gripped America. It isn’t rocket science. We could, for instance:
- Ban assault weapons and define the term broadly. The assault weapon ban that Congress let lapse in 2004 is a good start but doesn’t go nearly far enough.
- Require assault weapons to be turned in.
- Ban high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to hurt and kill so many people in so short a time.
Require thorough and lengthy background checks and spend the money to hire the people necessary to do the job right.- Strictly limit the number of guns people can buy, as well as the amount and types of ammunition.
- Ban body armor.
- Close the gun show loophole.
- Allow class action suits lawsuits against gun manufacturers and hold them accountable for the damage they’ve done to society in the name of profit.
If we did all of these things by tomorrow, the problem still won’t go away any time soon. Everyone wants a miracle fix but one doesn’t exist in a nation with only 4.4 percent of the world’s people but 42 percent of its guns. (What are we so afraid of that the rest of the world clearly isn’t? We’ve become the land of the free and the home of the paranoid.)
Two things would speed up the process, though.
First, we need to stop pretending that we don’t know what’s causing the problem. We do know: It’s guns. Not the mental health system. Not racism. Not video games, for crying out loud. It’s the guns themselves. As the Times analysis put it: “An ever-growing body of research consistently reaches the same conclusion. The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns.”
We are addicted to them. And like any addiction, we need to wean ourselves off of them, if not cold turkey then over time, incrementally.
Second, we need to stop pretending we don’t know who’s to blame. We do know: It’s the Republicans. A May 2019 Quinnipiac poll showed 91 percent support for stricter gun control among Democrats and 59 percent among independents but only 32 percent among Republicans.
That’s about as clear as you can get, and tells you why, for decades, the Republican Party has obeyed its base and stood in the way of sane gun laws.
We need to get over the fantasy that reasonable people exist in Republican ranks. They don’t, not enough of them anyway. If the execution of grade schoolers at Sandy Hook Elementary didn’t move these people to action, nothing will. In their mind, there is no such thing as a reasonable compromise on guns. They believe (or purport to believe, anyway) in the slippery slope argument that one gun control law means all guns will eventually be banned. Show them polls that say no such desire exists among Americans, not even among Democrats, and they simply won’t believe them.
Why, I can’t say. What I do know is that the only way to truly turn the tide on the scourge of guns is to vote these people out of office and keep them out.
They may think it’s their right to own any gun want. But those of us who don’t want to be shot have rights, too.
It’s time to exercise one of them.
I’ll see you at the polls.
Yes-100% this. Thank you for speaking out and for your rational voice regarding this atrocity in our country.
“It’s the guns themselves”
I have said that for years, only to be shouted down by gun fanatics.
The GOP will hear none of it.
The 2nd amendment protects the right to bear arms.
Muskets were the arms, not weapons of mass destruction as we have today.
Thoughts and prayers are not enough.
We must come to our senses as a country.
Before I finish reading this, I want to be the first to point out that the right-wingers among us are simply going to deflect from the main points to focusing on the terminology and how it was used incorrectly as if that matters. Am I right? You won’t prove me wrong will you?
The government should issue instant death ray guns to all registered voters, but only if they can prove they’re alive.
It’s a shame there weren’t more good guys with AR-15s in Dayton and Ak-47s in El Paso so they could return an equal amount of fire and save lives. Right, right-wingers? Isn’t that how your logic goes? More citizens should be walking around with semi-auto rifles and extra hi-cap mags incase this happens?
I suspect that the GOP’s refusal to address this domestic terrorism problem isn’t merely tied to the money they get from the NRA. They are also counting on America’s gun fanatics to keep them in power.
I am still waiting for the update, but I will bet that all of the most recent shooters purchased their weapons legally and they didn’t have a criminal or mental health record to raise any red flags. They were technically considered good guys with guns until they weren’t.
America has serious problem. We are being attacked by terrorists all the time and we aren’t doing a damn thing about it. That is how stupid we are. These terrorist attacks are getting very close to home. Eventually it’s going to be in Kalamazoo or Ann Arbor or Grand Rapids and the victims are going to be one of us or someone we know.
If the Republicans in the U.S. Senate and White House are not going to budge on this, then we had better vote them out. But, that opportunity is not for another year. How many more terrorist attacks do we have to endure until then?
In the meantime, we should be demanding that our state legislature acts on it now, before it happens here. Not after.
We have a real opportunity to make a difference in Michigan right now. Why aren’t we taking that opportunity?
Shocking that they didn’t save us … again. Wait, could it be that they’re … lying?
Not just right wingers that worship their guns. I know many many democrats who do also. So to be fair it is a national problem not just republican problem. Righties are by far worse but the problem needs to be addressed by both parties in a civil way. I know I’m dreaming.
I agree with most of your seven points. With the millions of assault weapons already produced, how many will be turned in, irregardless how illegal we make the law, maybe 10. Just try and get them away from their owners, it could start an all out war. I heard a while back that most of the handgun crimes are committed with a stolen gun, so how responsible are these gun owners, if they haven’t secured their weapons, they get stolen. We may have crossed the point of no return.
I also think folks who are licensed to carry should have to buy liability insurance in case they fuck up and kill the wrong people when they are doing their good guy with a gun thing.
Sort of a side issue: I believe Americans may start to avoid mass gatherings and large venues. It will be better not to be in public, in a group. Just in case somebody with an assault rifle might show up. Just do not be there as a target.
The conflict within my heart and soul rages. I own multiple long guns (hunting type only) and am a concealed pistol permit person. I have stood by the principle that the American people had a right to own whichever firearm they desired. ANY firearm. But the repeated misuse of firearms, has now got me leaning towards stiff and swift action to eliminate the long guns unfavorably deemed weapons of mass destruction. I shudder to think of the repercussions this IS going to cause. But the necessary evil exists.
Do you notice that most of these murders buy new firearms? The best we can hope for would be to regulate gun sales. So:
1. Background checks for all, for all firearms sales,
2. Required firearms safety and competency certification for any buyer. The NRA could handle most of this. The NRA has a large long-established educational program.
We can set up buy-back or trade-in programs, but I agree with others that confiscation will not work in the USA.
This is the best we can hope for now. I have written this here, before.
Except almost none of these terrorists had a background to check and why do we assume that they didn’t know how to operate a gun safely? Gun safety teaches you to not accidentally shoot yourself or someone else. There was nothing accidental about these acts of terrorism. Background checks and safety courses will resolve absolutely nothing.
You are absolutely 100% correct, Andrew!! And, I’m sick and tired of peeps pushing back by writing lame excuses for not banning assault weapons, when we all know that when ANY governmental jurisdiction limits the supply of guns – deaths go way way down. Stop making excuses and get the he’ll out of the way of the vast majority of Americans who are crying out for gun safety laws. BTW, this is a democracy where the majority is supposed to rule,
The majority only rules if they vote!! So be sure to mark those days on your calendar – it is just as or more important as going to the gym, getting your hair done, getting an oil change – put it on the calendar!!!!!!!
I agree with Andrew that video games probably are not a cause of these murders. I would cite my own kid-hood, back long before video games:
When I was an American boy, all American boys’ fathers (and some mothers) had served in World War Two. World War Two was our favorite topic, on TV, in the movies, in books, comics, and in our play. We all wanted to be American soldiers or Marines. We spent most afternoons “playing army.”
That means we ran and sneaked around our neighborhoods, carrying realistic toy rifles, shooting each other down. DOW-DOW-DOW! Then the kids we “shot” had to, “take their deads.” They had to lie on the ground, and count to 50. No American kid could do this today. Today, the neighbors would call the cops. And, today’s cops might shoot the kids with real guns.
Playing army was at least as intense as a video game, but we did not turn into mass-shooters.
Repeal the Second Amendment! Tough row to hoe. This either would take two thirds of both houses of Congress, or repeal by three quarters of the state legislatures, maybe both things. And, what would we replace it with? Ask me, if you want my ideas.
Repeal the right to bear arms, and replace it with a better rule. The Second Amendment is only a couple sentences. Easy to repeal, maybe.
The divider in chief condemned himself in his speech to the nation this morning.
He was totally oblivious to the fact as he read from his teleprompter.
The fibber grimaced as he read the script prepared for him by his staff.
It was a valiant effort put forth as they tried to diffuse what America and the rest of the world already knew.
Only in the mind of a liberal/socialist/communist that exists in American society today will try to blame an inert, inanimate object that cannot think or act on its own.
They refuse to acknowledge that it is the human element that causes the gun to be used for an unlawful, illegal activity.
The gun did not tell the shooter to do the evil, sick deed. The individual who planned the attack, researched the gun free zone and who went and committed the actual deed dreamed it up in his mind.
I want Andrew and the other gun haters to cite an example where a gun got up, loaded itself and went to any event and murdered a bunch of innocent people. The situation that you need to cite
must be carried out by the gun itself. No human can touch the gun and make it fire.
Chicago had 7 people murdered this past weekend alone, along with about 60 others wounded.
The rat infested city of Baltimore had at least 5 murdered this weekend. I did not see the number those murdered in L.A., Detroit and some other democrat/socialist/liberal controlled cites.
Almost all those cities, except Detroit, have fairly strict gun control laws. Not certain what gun control laws Detroit has on its books. If it has any.
It is getting late, but here are a couple of talking points to think over.
Comments about some Baltimore inner city neighborhood: “Anyone who took the walk we took around this Baltimore neighborhood with hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable would think that they are in a third world country.” This was stated by the racist Bernie Sanders.
Another quote: ” I left my community of Baltimore, a drug infested area…. the same children that I watched 14 or 15 years ago as they grew up are now walking zombies.” Rep Elijah Cummings in a session of congress in 1999.
Jimiii. What wold happen if that type of gun wasn’t available? Why do we need an AK47,AR15 or any other gun that holds that many rounds that are unnecessary for anything? I own several guns. I see no point of those type of guns Do you hunt with them? No. What is the purpose? I don’t know of a range in my area where they even allow you to shoot one. Not good for deer hunting or varmint hunting. So many other weapons out there to kill each other I know. Why do we need that type? It’s just a start to ban them. It’s not the answer to the problem for sure but it might at least help. Can you tell me why we need those types of weapons?
The New York Times changed its headline yesterday after complaints from several DemocRAT presidential candidates and Rep. Sandy Cortez. In light of POTUS address to the nation yesterday, the Times original headline was “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism”. This didn’t sit well with the socialists, who took to Twitter and scolded the grey lady( NYT). Magically, the revamped headline read “Assailing Hate But Not Guns”. Nothing says ‘integrity’ like changing a headline to a socialist talking point. Evidently, someone at this newspaper went to print before getting approval by the Politburo ( DNC). If you still doubt the majority of media is not an extension of the DemocRAT party, here is your proof. Fortunately, these liberal cheerleader rags are folding like umbrellas in a hurricane. The NYT has devolved from grey lady to cheap socialist whore.
The headline was misleading, Brad. First he didn’t actually say that. Second he can’t ask for unity until he stops spewing his own divisive and racist rhetoric.
Keep blindly defending your cult leader, Brad. Maybe someday he’ll let you “lick his boots”. You know you want to.
Brad do you really support a dumbass that can’t even get the city right where one of the massacres occurred? Toledo. What an asshole.
There are violent Democrats in front of Mitch McConnell’s house. One of them threatened to kill the Senator by stabbing him through the heart if he does not pass gun control legislation in the Senate.
These are Democrats. They are violent, hate filled bastards who will kill if they don’t get their way. They are complete psychopaths and the liberal media love them.
Left wing terrorist shooters.
Right wing terrorist shooters.
Middle of the road terrorist shooters.
Democrat or Republican or Independent.
All terrorists, no matter what their ideology are evil.
All of these share a fascination with firearms.
Not just any firearm, firearms of mass destruction.
Put an end to nonsense.
Since we can not flush out these vile fanatics before the wreak havoc of the public, take away their toys.
We need to ban assault type weapons.
We need to rid society of weapons of war readily available for purchase.
Enough is enough.
There is no need for these weapons, they serve no purpose but to kill in mass quantities.
Nice try, Abner/Working D@d. But, statistics show that those who actually carryout these acts of terrorism, rather than make threats, are largely hateful racist right-wing nut-jobs like you. I am convinced that you sit at home seething about liberals, Muslims and dark skinned immigrants and you would gladly kill them for sport if you thought you could get away with it. Now tell me I am wrong.
Spot on Jims!!!! Today I was in a discussion with pro-guns folks. They always tried to change the subject to things like morals , mental illness, and founding fathers. But not one of them responded to what I kept repeating was the key question: “WHY do we citizens NEED military-style assault weapons whose only purpose is to kill as many humans as possible as quickly as possible?” . . . Not one reply to that question.
Mike they don’t have an answer. You proved my point. Thank you.
Like this right-wing nut job, Abner/Working D@d. Is he a friend of yours? And here you are getting all upset about angry threats to the biggest obstructionist the Senate has ever had. What a little insecure snowflake you are.
“Cesar Sayoc, who plead guilty to sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/us/cesar-sayoc-sentencing-monday/index.html
All you anti-2nd amendment haters. hose who refuse to learn from history, or turn a blind eye to what has happened in the past.
The 2nd Amendment is not and was never to mean guns for hunting.
It was put in place to keep the government honest.
“When the government fears the citizens there is freedom. When the citizens fear the government there is tyranny.” I do not remember who stated the original quote. It might have been one of the writers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Mao Te Tung said that “power comes from the barrel of a gun”. He and his communist party murdered over 40 million or so citizens of China after he seized power.
Adolf Hitler and his socialists followers caused the deaths of at least 15 million or so with there ideas.
In all under the socialist/liberal/communist rulers of the past century have caused at somewhere around 100 million deaths. That is a close guesstimate.
In all the situations above one thing stands out. All those dictators had first seized all the guns of the peaceful law abiding citizens of those nations. They instituted strict gun control laws.
I am positive that Andrew Heller and the rest of his followers will go into complete denial of the facts and try to change them to fit their thoughts.
I will be someplace for a few days where I will not have access to a computer.
Jimiii STOP that tiresome false argument that equates outlawing military-style semi-automatic weapons of mass destruction with violating the 2nd amendment! That’s disingenuous subterfuge. FACT is: the vast majority of Americans support the 2nd amend and our right to have a hunting rifle or hand gun to defend our homes, BUT insist on gun safety laws including the banning of semi-automatic military-style weapons of mass instruction. SCOTUS says such laws ARE constitutional!
I totally agree with your assessment on gun control! Very well said! I will do my part at the polls.
Hey racist Freddie, if he didn’t actually SAY that, but the NY Times put it in its initial headline, would that qualify as fake news from the leftists’ bible? You’re just way too easy racist Freddie.
Hey Brad. What day is Trump going to Toledo? Only a fool would support this dumbass or his party of fools!
What’s the matter, Brad? You seem agitated. If you don’t like being called a racist, stop being one.
Very good, Brad. The New York Times’ headline was misleading because it directly contradicted Trump’s usual racist message that you happen to agree with. Hence the backlash.
We expect better. We would go to Fox News if we wanted misleading information.
I can see that you had trouble grasping that. I was happy to spell it out for you. You are welcome, Brad.
Hey racist Freddie, I just read where your hero Michael Moore has cancelled his membership to the gym SoulCycle since it’s owner is hosting a fundraiser for President Trump. Do we really believe Pizza the Hutt( Moore) spends time at a gym? I suppose if it had an all you can eat buffet, but otherwise I can’t see it. Those stationary bikes are only rated to 350 lbs. Lard ass Moore and the word GYM? Nah. Slim Jims ? Absolutely. This reminds me of Heller’s boycott of Home Depot, a bold proclamation of defiance followed by decisive action and steel will. I wonder if the bean counters at HD are feeling Andy’s bottom line pinch? I doubt it. Like everybody else, they’ve never seen a Prius in a Home Depot parking lot. Racist Freddie, if you’re going to be a rat, find some new pied pipers FFS.
Brad, when you make an effort to communicate at an adult level instead of the level of a middle-schooler, I might respond in more depth. However, I can hardly hold you to a higher standard than that of your cult leader. You are merely taking cues from him and mirroring his behavior.
Some take aways for you to ponder: Your cult leader is a racist. SoulCycle is supporting racism by supporting your cult leader. You support both and that makes you a big racist. I suspect you are perfectly content with that and playing your white victim card. The stupidity of your comments confirms that. That is not something to be proud of, Brad.
Our Usual Right-Wingers emerged quite late in this discussion. Mostly saying nasty stuff, mostly seeming to side with the mass murderers.
Wow, winter came early this year. Look at the racist snowflake, followed by the indignant snowflake. Damn, summer always trumps winter.
Is saying silly juvenile, nonsensical things – and name-calling – like you’ve done here Brad, a cover for your not being able to mount a rational argument for your wanting to put semi-automatic military-style weapons of mass destruction into the hands of anyone and everyone who wants them, including would-be domestic terrorists?
He is just being a troll. His self worth is measured by how many appalled reactions his stupid comments garner.
Did you see that Trump is endorsing the idea that Bill Clinton might have had the pervert Epstein murdered in jail?!!! How could Clinton have done it, in a federal jail in New York???
Trump is jumping more and more onto cuckoo bandwagons. He will jump too far, soon. (Already has.) Let’s send Trump to the nuthouse, where he belongs.