Bryn Mawr Shooting (Minneapolis, Woodbury, Virginia: high school, to live in, law)

[Mason3000]

"Canada and Switzerland don't have a gun violence probem, while the United States does and thus, they have nothing to address. We have a serious problem that needs to be addressed. I don't care if people have weapons for hunting. What I have a problem with is handguns and assault weapons...there is just no need for them in our society. The statistics and countless tragedies in the last few decades speak for themselves."

I respect you & think you're a solid poster. As a born & bred Liberal I always viewed the gun control issue through your same lens. I say this with all due respect. Please exhale & try to see the big picture, not just formulate a reply. Swiss people have assault weapons, lot's of them. In fact after doing compulsory military training all men 21-32 are issued assault weapons by the military & required to keep them in their homes. The Government actually sells surplus weaponry & ammo to the people. Their politicians travel mostly without security & their public buildings are mostly uncontrolled. There are no mass shootings, no gang wars, no gun violence problem at all. Now, instead of saying "we're not Switzerland" or "good for them", try to answer the question. Not for me. Answer it for yourself. .Why don't they have the problems we do? What's different? It's a logical, intellectual question to ask. The linked article suggests that the answer lies not in access to weapons, but in their country being mostly isolated & void of poverty/drugs.

BBC News | EUROPE | Switzerland and the gun

[tijlover]

Alright, we've banned guns finally, and now let's see the headlines in the paper:

"Disgruntled employee sets fire in workplace, 7 people die of smoke inhalation!"

"Disgruntled employee goes on a massive Chinese-style knifing spree in a crowded break-room!"

"Disgruntled employee, kamikaze style, races his car into the lobby of workplace, bodies scattered everywhere!"

And let's not forget the man who flew a plane into the IRS building in Austin, TX! No gun!

Pick your poison!

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by knke0204

No need to get all political.

Guns, legal, or not... This type of thing was going to happen.

Good grief, how ignorant. This is a political issue! Have you forgotten that the NRA is pretty much the most successful lobbying institution of all time?

And to just accept this tragedy as normal -- "this type of thing was going to happen" -- is unspeakably ignorant. If we've truly reached the point where mass shootings are simply accepted as a part of life, then we've totally lost. We are utterly screwed beyond all hope.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Alright, we've banned guns finally, and now let's see the headlines in the paper:

"Disgruntled employee sets fire in workplace, 7 people die of smoke inhalation!"

"Disgruntled employee goes on a massive Chinese-style knifing spree in a crowded break-room!"

"Disgruntled employee, kamikaze style, races his car into the lobby of workplace, bodies scattered everywhere!"

And let's not forget the man who flew a plane into the IRS building in Austin, TX! No gun!

Pick your poison!

Or even better, how about these events:

Milwaukee riot, 1967
Minneapolis North Side riots, 1967
San Diego riot, 1969
Seattle Mardi Gras riots, 2001

Next we'll have to ban glass pop bottles, lighters, matches, bricks, and even our own fists.

[snofarmer]

You can legislate all the laws you wish, you can have all the morel conversations you wish and it will not change the fact humans will kill other humans.
And I agree it is part of life.
You see we are not as evolved as we seam to think we are.
We are humans, a animal.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

My point is that making guns more difficult to obtain in one city doesn't do anything since you can obtain guns anywhere outside of the school or through the internet just as easily. If we want to see results we need cooperation nationwide to that accessibility is restricted.

Because restricted accessibility currently works so well for things like Marijuana?

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by moving123456

Because restricted accessibility currently works so well for things like Marijuana?

One thing I've learned is this. If people want things like guns and maryjane, they'll go to many lengths to get them.

The USA is a nation of individualists. Tell a gun owner he can't own a gun? He or she will just covertly defy the law. People who want marijuana will find ways to get it.

My opinion is this. If my neighbor has a firearm, okay. If he or she has a military grade firearm, like and SR-25 or an M1 Garand, I'm okay with that. If they can get it, I can get it too. If someone wants to kill you and they don't have a gun, they'll find a way. Ban guns? Look at Chicago. Handguns are banned in Chicago, and yet more Chicago PD officers get shot and killed than from any other police department in the USA. And the irony is that the police have guns.

[green_mariner]

I don't think nobody is arguing that it made sense to offer this freedom back in the 1700's. That was back when people had crappy muskets that helped them hunt for food to survive. It's 2012 now, where anybody can obtain an AK-47 or Tek-9 and take out a crowd of people in a matter of seconds if they suddenly get angry and irrational (like getting fired from a job or a sudden difficult breakup from their significant other, etc.)

Those same individuals could go and stab people if they wanted to. The problem is the PERSON.

Canada and Switzerland don't have a gun violence probem, while the United States does and thus, they have nothing to address. We have a serious problem that needs to be addressed. I don't care if people have weapons for hunting. What I have a problem with is handguns and assault weapons...there is just no need for them in our society. The statistics and countless tragedies in the last few decades speak for themselves.

Have you asked yourself why Canada and Switzerland don't have as many problems as the USA regarding violence? Switzerland, where most men have military grade firearms, has one of the world's lowest murder rates, 0.7 murders per 100,000. Uganda, on the other hand, people are not allowed to have guns and the murder rate there is over 36 murders per 100,000, almost 9 times higher than the USA.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Those same individuals could go and stab people if they wanted to. The problem is the PERSON.



Have you asked yourself why Canada and Switzerland don't have as many problems as the USA regarding violence? Switzerland, where most men have military grade firearms, has one of the world's lowest murder rates, 0.7 murders per 100,000. Uganda, on the other hand, people are not allowed to have guns and the murder rate there is over 36 murders per 100,000, almost 9 times higher than the USA.

Check the poverty and educational statistics for Switzerland....and then Uganda....then check the poverty and educational data for cities with higher crime in the US....crime, poverty and lack of education go hand in hand....

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

This is half of our problem here. Until you stop accepting these tragedies and recognize that they are intolerable than we all might as well give up on society right now.

Speak for yourself, it's not my problem. The problem isn't the fact that people can legally own and carry guns

All I'm saying is that this gentleman, the weirdo in Colorado, Arizona and Virginia Tech were going to harm innocent people NOT simply because they had access to a gun...

400,000,000 live here (USA). I'm surprised this type of thing doesn't happen more often. Think about it.