I can't believe that the only thing that came out of Sandy Hook were the terms "false flag" and "crisis actors". This country is a fucking joke.
In my browsing of instagram, I stumbled upon a conspiracy theory account (flat earth and the like), so now I get those types of accounts in my “explore” page. Did you know that every single event on the news is staged, and that it’s all actors? JFK Jr. and George Clooney are the same person, I learned. The actor who played John Lennon didn’t really die, he just got a new role as Steve Jobs. Wake up, sheeple. Sorry to derail. Back to depressing reality.
Actually, the theory also says Alex Jones is Bill Hicks. I was posting this because it’s fucking stupid, not because I believe it. Just that there’s people out there who think it’s very important and crucial to world events that we know that Ben Shapiro and Jeff Gordon are the same actor.
I understood that you didn't believe it. Alex Jones is one of those idiots that says everything is a false flag. He got sued when he did that shit with the Sandy Hook shooting.
I could type for hours the reasons I think so, but this country has been rotting from the inside out for the longest time, and as I think ‘Nerds said, these mass casualty events are just a symptom. But it gives the professional politicians something to act outraged at, is great for ratings on 24 hour news channels. Meanwhile you have severely mentally ill people walking the streets that should be in a more supervised environment both for their own safety as well as the safety of others. But we won’t address that, because it’s not sexy enough to sell soap or get re-elected. But hey, by all means, keep making impotent laws. It’s working so well.
There’s a lot of disaffected young men that have no economic prospects, are social outcasts, have zero romantic interaction and spend all of their time online. Throw some mental illness into the mix and you have a large swathe of people who could potentially go off at anytime. When they do, they go for maximum damage against the society they hate, which is against children. Guns are the easiest way to carry out that plan. Any changes to addressing mental illness needs to walk a very delicate line, because you are effectively violating someone’s rights in order to deal with it. It needs to be done, though, along with curtailing some of the too easy access methods to obtain guns. Universal background checks are not going to stop everything, but a restriction-in-depth approach would at least help mitigate it. I support gun rights, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my children in support of the unfettered access to them.
I’ve been saying for years that if you’re gonna require teachers, doctors, lawyers, and assorted other professions to maintain yearly training hours, you should at minimum require yearly training hours to own firearms. The thing people will point to, is that it is a right in the constitution, not a privilege, which I do agree with to an extent. But we can also change that with amendments. (Spoiler alert: won’t happen under current S.Ct.) I’m all for mandatory: minimum yearly training hours, yearly psych and physical evaluations (NOT red flag laws, which effectively deputize karens), as well as yearly background checks in order to purchase firearms. Also, remove gun free zones as I explained above. the counter argument is that only law abiding citizens will follow these and criminals will not. And to that I say, all these mass shooters were law abiding citizens until they pulled that trigger on an innocent civilian. They also, in many cases, received that firearm from a law abiding citizen. It won’t prevent every mass shooting, but it might prevent some. follow that up with my pie in the sky hopes of equitable and easy access to mental healthcare, and you’re headed in the right direction toward a solution.
I kind of disagree here. I don't think legislation is the answer. I think community is. We've let our sense of community rot, (for the millionth time, "Bowling Alone" by Robert Putnam outlined this damned near 20 years ago), and the sense of community that persists tends to be NIMBY-ism or twat wafflery. We used to have the village that it takes to raise kids successfully, and now, we just have these massive chambers of sadness, angst and rage: cable news, the internet, etc. I dunno what the answer is, and largely, I don't think there is one for mass, non-descript violence committed by isolated, radicalized men without realizing they need to be treated, valued and integrated into our society differently. I won't hold my breath, but I will start shopping for a vest.
I don't think you're describing the thoughts and practices of the average gun owner. Most people that are carrying a gun every day, they don't do it to be cool, they don't even want others to know they have it until absolutely necessary. Let's ask @Revengeofthenerds , is it common for people you encounter to know you have a gun in a holster tucked in you waistband? Someone might glimpse an imprint on or shirt or pants every now and then, but we try to prevent that. And that's the problem, why gun control meets resistance. They aren't coming up with solutions that stop these people, they're just affecting the average person that would never do this. Looks like, for the past three years, only five mass shooters have been older than 24, well over half 21 or younger. This was a kid, a highschool student. He may have been 18, but he was no adult. The parents should be in court along with him. I'd be for all kinds of legislation that might actually help... - Raise the age limit. Or at least require character references for anyone under 21. Kids have to get a cosigner for loans, make an adult cosign on guns, make an adult put their ass on the line if they want their kid to have guns. - Ban all private sales, make everything go through an FFL. This wouldn't affect me, I don't sell privately. I'm not handing a gun over to someone I don't know in exchange for money. Seems like a good way to get robbed or shot with your own gun. - Safe storage laws. I can promise my kid will never handle a gun without supervision while he lives in my house, seems like an easy promise to me. He'll need a torch and a lot time alone with the safe. You want guns in the home but don't want to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars for a safe, you take all the risk. - Punitive laws for parents who's kid does this. A kid is never on a path of their own choosing, how can you send them in front of a jury, alone, as an adult? Parents need to be in their kids lives, not ignoring signs, enabling access to guns. Kids can't handle this world without help, and they're not getting it.
We agree more than you think, actually. You are completely correct, the real solution will come from us, each and every one of us, as a member of a, hopefully, civil society. Unfortunately, our society's view of what is or isn't civil has been eroding along with so much else. I've said for a long time, the problem began when we phased out the traditional, extended family for the "nuclear" family. Which led to "latch-key" kids, and as that became more normalized, kids being left to their own devices ( pun completely intended ) and letting the wolf in the door. And in other related news, my social media feed is a complete dumpster fire with people on either "side" spewing their worldview, as if anyone but them cared: "...started the morning arguing with a gun nut." "Fuck these 'ammosexuals' and..." "Come and take it." Yeah... that's fucking helpful.
Does anyone have the argument against this? @Jimmy James posted a link that says 18 y/o's can private party purchase a gun in Texas. While Jimmy and I don't agree on much, I think we both agree that it's fucking asinine that an 18 y/o can't walk into a gun store and legally purchase a gun but can buy one off their neighbor.
So turns out the neighbor of one my sister’s good friends was the border patrol agent who engaged the shooter at the school. His head was grazed by a gunshot. Just saw a picture of the hat he was wearing. Holy fuck.
Nope. I was allowed to carry concealed at my last job. ( Long story, but it was due to an issue brought to our attention by law enforcement. ) No one ever knew, other than me, my co-worker, and our boss. And that's the way it should be. Furthermore, when that gun is on my hip, it's the heaviest weight a person can carry, at least in my mind. I work for a school district now so I can't. In fact, I don't carry very often at all because I don't feel the need to and it's not uncommon for me to stop somewhere and have a beer. Alcohol and guns never co-exist in my world, so it's safer kept in the safe at home. And as @Fiveslide said, I'm open to meaningful reforms and laws. Shit, here in NY I'm used to them. But too often they only affect law-abiding people while the criminals carry on as always.
That happened to a friend of mine in the Winston Salem PD. Took the top part of his ear off. Can't imagine how luck he felt.
I would support all of these, and I support doing better at enforcing the gun laws we have, and making violators face stiffer punishments. There are literally 10s of millions of gun owners in the U.S. who have never shot at a person, or even considered a school shooting like this. There isn't any realistic gun law that will prevent a mass school tragedy like this.