by nicolaou 73 Replies latest social current
Cappy:
Any mil-spec semi auto rifle. Semi auto hunting rifles should not have more than a 3 round capicity unless you've been given the nod as a ranch owner. In that case, if you hunt his ranch/private reservation, you use HIS weapon as per gun range laws.
The notion that you need guns in civilian population to have an effective army is funny. Maybe if your army is a bunch of amateur militia types then yes, but we expect professional soldiers to be trained and again, the professional military equipment has no place on the streets in the hands of civilians which renders the argument void.
It's strange that holding people accountable isn't more popular. Isn't the US supposed to be all for personal responsibility?
People seem 'happy' with the idea that if you get sick then you lose your house.
Why not lose your house if you let a kid pick a gun up and shoot someone? It seems to be a far more serious action than simply getting seriously ill.
I agree with SecretSlaveClass - one of the big problems is paranoia. We see it on the US news channels we watch. People are always talking about "the bad guys coming to get them". It's not just paranoia but also comic book caricatures and black-and-white thinking.
anything that requires a constitutional amendment to own and use should be questioned to some degree.
As to realistic solutions, I would start with intense training, in schools, in the safe use of firearms. We're teaching kids to put condoms on bananas, they should also learn how to check the action on a gun. Requiring safe storage is not unreasonable. In the case in the OP, the parents should be charged with negligent homicide.
Notice I said questioned to some degree, not abolished.
There are practical limits that can be applied to gun ownership/use that would still fall within the constitutional allowance. The problem is, the second amendment is treated as an absolute. Even the first amendment does not quite have the reach the second amendment is allowed, let alone have an organization to make sure it is upheld on those absolute terms. The NRA does their damnest to make sure NO gun control is passed. Any sane person can see something is wrong with that.
d4g
The constitution is no problem, it's clearly talking about a WELL REGULATED militia which would be a state-guard type affair, not individual people imagining they are John Wayne.
US politics is simply dysfunctional - everyone knows what needs to be done, the majority support it ... but the laws still cannot be passed.
The tail wags the dog (and maybe the dog needs putting down).
This is really no surprise.. Americans have been fed on a diet of shows and movies daily for almost the last 100 years in which every single cop, detective, gangster, vigilante, sheriff, bounty hunter, pioneer, prospector, rapper, pimp, banker, assassin, mafia, thug, soldier, superhero, good guy, bad guy, villain, angry dad, angry mum, and angry kid and cartoon character has and uses guns to solve just about every single issue, dispute and problem that comes their way. Look up the poster for virtually any action blockbuster and you'll spot at least one firearm.
This is a list of weapons that were used just in Season 2 of the television series NCIS: Los Angeles:
1 Pistols
1.1 SIG-Sauer P228
1.2 SIG-Sauer P226
1.3 SIG-Sauer P239
1.4 Beretta 92FS
1.5 Beretta 950 Jetfire
1.6 Browning Buckmark Camper
1.7 Colt XSE 1911
1.8 Colt M1911A1 (Nickel)
1.9 Glock 17
1.10 Glock 17 (Full Auto Conversion)
1.11 Glock 19
1.12 Glock 26
1.13 Heckler & Koch USP
1.14 Heckler & Koch P2000
1.15 Heckler & Koch P9S
1.16 Makarov PM
1.17 Rohrbaugh R9
1.18 Smith & Wesson Chief's Special CS40
1.19 Smith & Wesson 5946
1.20 Walther PPK
2 Revolvers
2.1 Charter Arms Bulldog Pug
2.2 Smith & Wesson Model 36
3 Submachine Guns
3.1 Brügger & Thomet MP-9
3.2 Heckler & Koch MP5A2
3.3 Heckler & Koch MP5K
3.4 Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW
3.5 Sa. Vz.61 Skorpion
3.6 Intratec TEC-9
4 Assault & Battle Rifles
4.1 AK Variant
4.2 AKM
4.3 AKMS
4.4 AKMSU
4.5 FAMAS
4.6 M4A1 Carbine
4.7 SIG SG 551
5 Sniper Rifles
5.1 Accuracy International AWM (Airsoft - Modified)
5.2 Remington 700P
5.3 SVD Dragunov
6 Shotguns
6.1 Maverick Model 88
7 Heavy Weapons
7.1 Custom Launcher (Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle)
7.2 M79 grenade launcher
When a society is fed a diet of weaponry every single day in almost every single movie for almost a century you can expect the use of such toys to become almost second nature..
From childhood onwards..
Gun suicides in Cartoons..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nQSaCXIvRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJT_cpD8nmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxelcjkm3zE
Simon - US politics is simply dysfunctional - everyone knows what needs to be done, the majority support it ... but the laws still cannot be passed
There is something fundamentally wrong with our congressional makeup. It mostly has to do with House districting.
House districts are geographically significant, not populationally significant. There are more districts that represent rural areas in Washington, than those that represent well populated areas, hence more votes representing those interests. Rural areas are generally very conservative in the US, as opposed to well populated areas that are generally much more liberal, and therefore these rural areas are over-represented in Washington. This accounts for the deadlock we see in our system. A Parliamentary type system, such as like that of Canada or the UK is far more efficient when stark differences of political ideals exist from one geographic area to another.
This was not always a problem, however with societal change taking place at the pace it currently is happening, conservative types tend to dig their heels in deep, resisting change. This takes place in fiscal, as well as social matters. Gun control is just one of many things that are affected by this. This is also why the Supreme Court is being called on to play such a significant role in affecting legislation.
d4g
The obvious fact most Americans disregard is that emotionally dysfunctional people who are self assumed as being unappreciated, unloved, unpopular or disrespected in society, can kill people with guns which were easy obtainable in the market place of where they live.
These same distinctively unique people can not go out and kill people out of personal retribution, where there is not easily obtainable guns of where they live.
There is no denying this fact.
The statistics of gun violence within populations correlates to the open sales and distribution of guns within those populations. More guns owned within populations makes that population less safe from gun violence not safer, as told from the gun industry.
Simon - "...everyone knows what needs to be done, the majority support it... but the laws still cannot be passed..."
Sometimes I think that might be because some Americans in favor of gun control are actually a little bit scared that if they push the issue too hard (i.e. politically), the really crazy-ass gun nuts, paranoid of losing all their guns, are gonna start shooting up the country even more.
x
There's something fundamentally bizarre about a population arming itself to the teeth because it's afraid that its government wants to take away its right to arm itself to the teeth...
...not to mention that the irony is completely lost on them that the desire to arm themselves to the teeth is what makes the government worry about whether or not they should be allowed to arm themselves to the teeth...
The notion that you need guns in civilian population to have an effective army is funny. Maybe if your army is a bunch of amateur militia types then yes, but we expect professional soldiers to be trained and again, the professional military equipment has no place on the streets in the hands of civilians which renders the argument void.
I don't think the argument is as simple as needing guns in the civilian population in order to have an effective army.
Insofar as it's been presented to me the argument is more along the lines of a US population that has established a culture of standing up against governmental thuggery to a point that its citizenry is willing to put itself at risk in order to further what is in their mind a better way of governing. This willingness includes a willingness to fight and die for other peoples under threat. It happens to be the case that gun ownership has played a role in the construction of this culture. As the argument goes, without personal gun ownership its uncertain that the citizenry of the USA would have evolved the culture that led to this willingness, which in turn led the US citizenry to help defeat horrendous governmental aggression of the 20th Century.
