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When you convince me that criminals, by the very name mean they break the law, will abide by whatever new laws you want passed and the mentally deranged won't break any laws, then we can discuss other options.
If the mother were still alive, she likely would have faced criminal prosecution. I am not suggesting that all persons be screened for mental health. However, as has been seen time and again, mass shooters have ALREADY been identified as mentally ill and violent at that.
Yes, they've been "identified" (informally, as by parents or teachers who refer to the person using such benign adjectives as "quiet" or "distant") but only after they've killed a bunch of people. Think about how many people probably fit that description. Now, how many of them are going to commit a massacre? More importantly, which ones?
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If you do not support institutionalization, which I think is the best for these types of people, then at the very least they should be flagged as mentally ill and not eligible for gun ownership.
But that would not have prevented Sandy Hook. He lived in a house where there was easy (legal or not) access to weaponry because someone else bought them too easily. Who decides where you draw the line on institutionalization and freedom?
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Much like people with seizures get reported to the DMV so they can't drive. Why? They have been deemed medically unsafe to drive. Why can't we do the same for the mentally ill?
OK, fine. But we screen before you can purchase a gun. And you pay for the screening. Dig?
In CT, it was illegal. Have to be 21 to possess a handgun. He had two that day. Seems I grasp the law just fine.
What does that have to do with his mother having to go throught a back ground check and pay for a tax stamp? Or requiring her to have them locked in a safe? And no one said gun regulation alone is the only answer. How about we just ban semi auto guns? If he stole the guns from his mother, held her at knife point and made her open the safe, and all he could get was a revolver or lever action, it would be much less likely he could have pulled off this kind of shooting. So you make a good point. lets just ban semi autos and large mags.
Buying a gun should come with a few new rules. Here are some suggestions:
- 90-day waiting period
- criminal background check, mental health evaluation, DNA sample (paid for by applicant)
- limit of ONE weapon purchased every two years
- two people to vouch for you at application AND at time of purchase (Canada does this), background checks on both of them
- written report of what the gun will be used for
- no more semi-automatic weapons
- ALL weapons will have ballistic fingerprints taken
- magazines can hold a maximum of five rounds
- 300% tax on all weapon sales
- 500% tax on all ammunition
- limit on purchase of 10 rounds of ammunition per 30 days
- mandatory five-day weapons safety training
- gun shows outlawed
- private gun sales outlawed
- guns can only be sold back to an authorized dealer
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The tax can go towards a massive gun buyback program and to pay for the other things on the list. All guns returned will be recycled and destroyed. The price to be paid for returned guns would be connected to the weapon's firepower (more deadly guns, bigger payout). And yes, these rules would apply to hunting firearms.
When you convince me that criminals, by the very name mean they break the law, will abide by whatever new laws you want passed and the mentally deranged won't break any laws, then we can discuss other options.
Until then you are wasting our time.
You are making a false argument. No one says [well some neocons do] that stricter laws will stop criminals, but if you make it so its hard to get ahold of things they do use, they can not use them. Or use them much less frequently. So lets say Semi autos are classed along with full autos, now most people will not go through the trouble of buying one, waiting for the 6 month BGC and pay 200 for a tax stamp. So you make my point.
You are making a false argument. No one says [well some neocons do] that stricter laws will stop criminals, but if you make it so its hard to get ahold of things they do use, they can not use them. Or use them much less frequently. So lets say Semi autos are classed along with full autos, now most people will not go through the trouble of buying one, waiting for the 6 month BGC and pay 200 for a tax stamp. So you make my point.
I predict that nothing will change. ANY restriction, however small, will be perceived as ceding political ground on the issue. That is unacceptable to the NRA and their bobblehead membership.
Yes, they've been "identified" (informally, as by parents or teachers who refer to the person using such benign adjectives as "quiet" or "distant") but only after they've killed a bunch of people. Think about how many people probably fit that description. Now, how many of them are going to commit a massacre?
But that would not have prevented Sandy Hook. He lived in a house where there was easy (legal or not) access to weaponry because someone else bought them too easily. Who decides where you draw the line on institutionalization and freedom?
OK, fine. But we screen before you can purchase a gun. And you pay for the screening. Dig?
Accused Colorado gunman James Holmes, charged with killing 12 people in a movie theater rampage last month, saw at least three mental health professionals at the University of Colorado before the shooting, a CBS News affiliate reported on Tuesday.
"You don't have to be a psychiatrist to know that the boy is disturbed," Fuller said.
Prosecutors had requested the mental exam, citing a YouTube video in which they believe a hooded Loughner wore garbage bags and burned an American flag.
The judge gave the two experts access to Loughner's health records from his pediatrician, a behavioral health hospital that treated him for extreme intoxication in May 2006 and an urgent care center where he was treated in 2004 for unknown reasons.
So you make my point for me, make screening and BGCs mandatory for semi auto hand guns and rifles. I know some red necks will not pass the ink blot test but so what, a few less idiots with semi autos makes for a safer society. LOL. Now couple this with laws that say how to keep and store your guns and maybe we can put a dent in things like this. Also who knows if the mother would have passed a check or if she would have bought the guns if she had to go through this process.
I predict that nothing will change. ANY restriction, however small, will be perceived as ceding political ground on the issue. That is unacceptable to the NRA and their bobblehead membership.
I don't know, sometimes things change when you least expect it. I heard a good point today, that when someone sees a shooting of people at a theater it strikes them as horrible, now pass the coffee cream, but everyone or 90 percent of the population has a photo or several of a child, grandchild ect in their wallet. Many can have empathy of what if that were the kid in my pocket that had 7 223 holes in them.It Will make many people recoil in horror. I have watched several right wing people come out and say, we have to do something. Its a bit different. Maybe. I hope at the very min. a federal law is passed that says, all guns have to be transfered by the same process as buying a new gun from a dealer. Its just common sense. If the NRA fight that they will look very stupid.
But please think about it in practical terms. Someone, presumably a doctor, makes a determination that a patient could go violent. OK, you must *immediately* ship that person off to a padded cell. No second opinions, nothing. Then what happens? Life term? Maybe the family hires a lawyer and sues the imprisoning body, and that patient is released. Who can guarantee he won't flip out and kill someone? None of this makes any damn sense!
It comes back to an actual solution: gun control.
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