Absolute rubbish. Many firearms are designed specifically for target shooting and are hopeless as weapons.
Well in the UK at least, it's becoming increasingly common and 99 times out of a hundred there's an angry Muslim behind the wheel and innocent Christians in his sights.
Well certainly banning guns isn't going to help, either. In a country that's already awash with guns, as America is, the *dumbest* thing you could *possibly* do would be to criminalise gun ownership, even if that were possible under the Constitution.
--
This message may be freely reproduced without limit or charge only via
the Usenet protocol. Reproduction in whole or part through other
protocols, whether for profit or not, is conditional upon a charge of
GBP10.00 per reproduction. Publication in this manner via non-Usenet
protocols constitutes acceptance of this condition.
The Right is so self-absorbed and paranoid that they think it's always about them, all the time. That nobody could possibly want anything for any reason other than to "punish"/victimize them. A bew hew hew, why u always pickin' on me.
I know it may come as a surprise. But in the grand scheme of things "red America" or its goofy ideas about things are not actually that important. It's only when they affect other people to the tune of bignum dead kids a year that they become so.
A target rifle might be an awkward killing machine, but it would work. Inco nvenient perhaps, but a long way better than hopeless.
Have there been one hundred incidents in the UK where a car has been used t o kill somebody?
formatting link
does suggest that Christians get murderously psychotic too.
After the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, Australia bought up 650,000 guns fo r $350 million, and destroyed the lot. This improved gun death statistics q uite bit - fewer gun murders and gun suicides. There are still lots of guns in private hands in Australia (but you do need to keep them locked up and registered with the police). Criminals are still able to get hold of them, but it's lot more difficult and expensive than it used to be, and even crim inal are using guns less often.
I wonder what krw means by "the science isn't with you"? Krw's grasp of sci ence is going to be a inadequate as his grasp of anything that involves rat ional thought.
Science says that gun control works - not perfectly, but you end up with fe wer people dead if you've got it. The NRA's religion says that the USA will degenerate into chaos if guns are controlled - as if it wasn't a total mes s already - despite the fact that there's no evidence of it happening anywh ere else.
Thought and prayers are totally inoffensive, and totally ineffective.
Sandy Hook wound up Obama enough that he made another try at gun control.
Trump clearly couldn't care less, so his staff comes up with an utterly anodyne press-release which would be inoffensive if it didn't reveal that he couldn't care less.
1) Following every mass shooting, gun sales skyrocket. This is especially true when the party in power is viewed as "anti-gun" (wh ich is not presently the case). A competent engineer would view this as a positive reinforcement feedback loop.
I don't know the numbers, but many of these "post-shooting gun sales" are t o first time gun owners. (Clear evidence that people can and do learn when new information is presented to them: A school once thought to be safe (a nd isn't) is not that far removed from a home thought to be safe (and isn't ).
2) The fact is, the right to gun ownership and self-defense are CONSTITUTI ONAL RIGHTS. It will take 3/4th of the States (i.e., 38 states) to ratify any Amendment to overturn the 2nd Amendment. Good luck with that. It will never happen. And even if it did, it will not solve the problem because g uns are not the root cause in the first place - "pure evil" and mental heal th issues are. (That seems clear enough to me, but I'm also not going to t ry to argue the point with someone who has lost loved ones. What would be the point of that?)
3) It may not seem so, but statistically "gun violence" (which I don't con sider to include suicides, but it really makes little difference) is way do wn over the decades -- and gun ownership is up. Make of that what you will .
4) The Genie is out of the bottle. Way out. 400+ million guns in America . Probably a lot more (as I never trust government estimates).
No doubt, some people just should not have guns (or other sharp objects!). We can argue about the mechanics of a selection process to identify and wee d them out. But taking guns from law-abiding citizens makes zero sense to me. If I had witnessed this asshole shooting up a bunch of school kids, I would have taken him out, given the opportunity. And I have really good aim.
The running joke on gun forums is: So, why do you carry a gun? Answer: Because a policeman is too heavy!
Or, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." Or, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a g un." Unless of course the shooter runs out of bullets before the police sh ow up.
Yep. I have an Obama inauguration edition Beretta 92FS. ;-)
Lefties don't care one shit about the Constitution. Give them any more power, it won't have any.
And lower where guns are more available.
I trust government numbers to be spun the direction the bureaucrats want it to be spun to prove whatever it is they want to prove. It's their job to maintain their job.
Anything short of the courts declaring someone incompetent to exercise their constitutional right is in itself unconstitutional.
which is not presently the case). A competent engineer would view this as a positive reinforcement feedback loop.
People have this unrealistic idea - fueled by lots of Hollywood movies - th at a good guy with a gun is an effective antidote against mass shootings.
Even the most vigorous cherry-picking by the NRA hasn't managed to find one yet.
to first time gun owners. (Clear evidence that people can and do learn wh en new information is presented to them: A school once thought to be safe (and isn't) is not that far removed from a home thought to be safe (and isn 't).
If you don't know the numbers, what you guess isn't clear evidence of anyth ing except your enthusiasm for wishful thinking.
TIONAL RIGHTS. It will take 3/4th of the States (i.e., 38 states) to ratif y any Amendment to overturn the 2nd Amendment. Good luck with that. It wi ll never happen.
The 2nd Amendment isn't the only thing wrong with the US constitution - it' s an interesting question whether it's numerous defects will dismantle the country before the population wakes up to the fact antique political docume nts are rather more dangerous than antique furniture, or antique firearms.
e root cause in the first place - "pure evil" and mental health issues are.
If there are fewer guns around, the problems that get people killed won't g o away, but fewer people will end up dead. Guns are specialised tools for k illing people, and it's harder and more time-consuming to kill people with more widely useful alternatives, and you can't kill nearly as many before y ou get taken down.
e point with someone who has lost loved ones. What would be the point of t hat?)
It's clear, but wrong-headed.
onsider to include suicides, but it really makes little difference) is way down over the decades -- and gun ownership is up. Make of that what you wi ll.
Gun violence seems to have peaked in 1993, and it's now about half what it was then. One explanation is that taking tetraethyl lead out of gasoline pr evented a kind of brain damage that creates an enthusiasm for killing other people.
ca. Probably a lot more (as I never trust government estimates).
After the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, Australia bought back 660,959 guns fo r about $A350 million.
Most of them were replaced by single shot equivalents, and the gun inventor y now stands at about 5 million. Australia has about 0.24 guns per head, an d the US about 1.01 - one may not trust the official statistics, but they b eat guess-work.
The US wouldn't have to buy back 300 million guns to follow Australia's exa mple, but closer to 30 million, and get more enthusiastic about getting gun owners to store their guns where the kids, and burglars, can't get at them easily
.
eed them out. But taking guns from law-abiding citizens makes zero sense t o me.
That not what the gun buy-back program did. It bought rapid-fire semi-autom atic weapons back from people who were no longer allowed to own them, and a lot of them got replaced by single-shot equivalents.
ld have taken him out, given the opportunity. And I have really good aim.
Dream on.
gun." Unless of course the shooter runs out of bullets before the police show up.
Of course, there's never a good guy with a gun when you need him, even in t he US. Except in the movies ...
rn in junk (useless) weapons. They then take the money to upgrade to somet hing better.
culation anyway. I don't view them as effective, in any way, to solving "g un violence".
'something'.
I somehow doubt the no-questions-asked bit of the story. These sorts of sch emes do record the identities of the people who get the money, and the seri al numbers on the weapons they hand in - the opportunities for fraud if you don't are obvious (at least to anybody brighter than krw).
chemes do record the identities of the people who get the money, and the se rial numbers on the weapons they hand in - the opportunities for fraud if y ou don't are obvious (at least to anybody brighter than krw).
So do some searches and provide a cite for your position. There is no one here that is going to just accept your thoughts as fact.
schemes do record the identities of the people who get the money, and the serial numbers on the weapons they hand in - the opportunities for fraud if you don't are obvious (at least to anybody brighter than krw).
e here that is going to just accept your thoughts as fact.
Or yours for that matter. Mpm did manage to find a Los Angles gun buy back program that was constructed to accept gun from people who were promised an onymity. My guess would that they photographed number plates and faces and got as many identifications as they could. Public perceptions need to be cu ltivated, but not to the extent of letting potential criminals get away wit h anything.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.