4 year old shoots pregnant mother in head.

Darkhorse · Feb 14, 2019

Par5 said:
I think you do have a problem. Why do you feel the necessity to have something that is designed to kill? What kind of society do you live in where so many people feel the need to keep guns in their homes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, America had almost 40,000 gun deaths in 2017. There must be a lot of people on psychiatric drugs!

This "designed to kill" argument is pulled out and waved around frequently. It presumes that killing is never justified, but that is not true. Sometimes, killing is the only solution to a problem.

A person breaks into your house and comes after you, or your wife, or your kid, with harmful, possibly murderous, intent. What is an effective response? Talk them out of it? Sing peace songs?
Sure, you should call the police; they'll be there in 3 minutes if they're really fast. Meanwhile, whatever intentions the criminal has are acted out by then.

We have crimes like this all the time, even in the best areas. More so in the bad areas.

Also, 2/3 of the 40,000 "gun deaths" are suicides, and this is consistent every year.

super animator · Feb 14, 2019

ThatRobGuy said:
"Any old idiot gets to have a gun" is the idea that needs to go away. That can be handled via screening, testing, and universal background checks.

If you know a way of detecting irresponsible parents via background checks, then you solve way more then preventing gun related accidents.

ThatRobGuy · Feb 14, 2019

super animator said:
If you know a way of detecting irresponsible parents via background checks, then you solve way more then preventing gun related accidents.

I think the screening and testing aspect...

There are countries like the Czech Republic that have access to the same types of weapons, concealed permits, and "self-defense" being the number one reason for obtaining a gun license...yet, they don't seem to have nearly as many of these sorts of issues.

dgiharris · Feb 14, 2019

ThatRobGuy said:
I think the screening and testing aspect...

There are countries like the Czech Republic that have access to the same types of weapons, concealed permits, and "self-defense" being the number one reason for obtaining a gun license...yet, they don't seem to have nearly as many of these sorts of issues.

Having taught gun safety, I can tell you the #1 problem is ego mixed with ignorance.

THere is a subset of people who believe that they are the exception, that their love of guns and knowledge of guns gives them super powers, that the normal rules of gun safety do not apply to them.

I knew of one person who loved getting a rise out of me whenever the subject of guns would come up. He proclaimed proudly that he keeps his gun underneath his mattress locked and loaded. This person had kids, but he again proclaimed proudly, "They know better than to ever go in to my room." I would argue with him all the time that his kids (aged 8 to 18) knew exactly where his gun is and have probably played with it and he would just brush me off as if I'm an idiot.

I know of another person who took his 11 yr old to the range and let him shoot an Uzi and "almost" had an incident similar to that 9yr old girl who accidentally killed the shooting instructor when she lost control of the Uzi (yeah, go figure who would have thought right??? :doh:

)

Guns, ego, and ignorance are a dangerous mix and time and time again we see the results

super animator · Feb 14, 2019

dgiharris said:
Having taught gun safety, I can tell you the #1 problem is ego mixed with ignorance.

THere is a subset of people who believe that they are the exception, that their love of guns and knowledge of guns gives them super powers, that the normal rules of gun safety do not apply to them.

I knew of one person who loved getting a rise out of me whenever the subject of guns would come up. He proclaimed proudly that he keeps his gun underneath his mattress locked and loaded. This person had kids, but he again proclaimed proudly, "They know better than to ever go in to my room." I would argue with him all the time that his kids (aged 8 to 18) knew exactly where his gun is and have probably played with it and he would just brush me off as if I'm an idiot.

I know of another person who took his 11 yr old to the range and let him shoot an Uzi and "almost" had an incident similar to that 9yr old girl who accidentally killed the shooting instructor when she lost control of the Uzi (yeah, go figure who would have thought right??? )

Guns, ego, and ignorance are a dangerous mix and time and time again we see the results

There are no age restrictions!?

RestoreTheJoy · Feb 14, 2019

Par5 said:
I think you do have a problem. Why do you feel the necessity to have something that is designed to kill? What kind of society do you live in where so many people feel the need to keep guns in their homes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, America had almost 40,000 gun deaths in 2017. There must be a lot of people on psychiatric drugs!
I live in Northern Ireland and experienced 30 years of civil unrest. In those 30 years almost 4000 people were killed due to that civil unrest. That number consisted of civilians, security forces and terrorists. In one year in America, four times that number were killed.
America has a gun problem and whether you believe it or not, you are part of that problem.

You are wrong on every point. No problem. No gun.

But I do know our Constitution prohibits barring access to weapons, for very good historical reasons. Your situation is unlike this one.

You are correct that there are far too many people on pharmaceuticals though.

dgiharris · Feb 14, 2019

super animator said:
There are no age restrictions!?

Crazy i know, but there are plenty of gun ranges where minors can shoot provided they have parental supervision.

To be fair, in a lot of rural parts of America, there are still people who acquire 40% of their food from hunting.

My Dad grew up in rural Oklahoma and easily 50% of the meat they ate came from hunting: Possum, squirrels, rabbit, deer...

All my uncles hunted starting as early as 9 years old. It is not uncommon in rural parts of the country for kids to be proficient with a 22 or other bolt action rifles.

so yeah, plenty of ranges allow you to bring a minor provided they are supervised 100% by an adult at all times.

Par5 · Feb 15, 2019

Darkhorse said:
This "designed to kill" argument is pulled out and waved around frequently. It presumes that killing is never justified, but that is not true. Sometimes, killing is the only solution to a problem.

A person breaks into your house and comes after you, or your wife, or your kid, with harmful, possibly murderous, intent. What is an effective response? Talk them out of it? Sing peace songs?
Sure, you should call the police; they'll be there in 3 minutes if they're really fast. Meanwhile, whatever intentions the criminal has are acted out by then.

We have crimes like this all the time, even in the best areas. More so in the bad areas.

Also, 2/3 of the 40,000 "gun deaths" are suicides, and this is consistent every year.

Saying that a gun is designed to kill assumes nothing other than that is what its purpose is. Millions of Americans obviously live in fear of being murdered if the need to have a gun to defend themselves is anything to go by. It is a sad indication of the kind of society you live in.
I don't own a gun. I don't know anyone who does, other than law enforcement officers. Most people in European countries do not own a weapon. I don't know the figures, but I doubt if the combined gun deaths in all the European Union countries comes anywhere near that of America's yearly total.
The fact, as you said, that so many people use a gun to kill themselves only shows the easy availability of weapons to those who may not be of sound mind. Another fact is that America has a very strong gun culture, some might say an addiction, and it is costing them the lives of tens of thousands of their fellow Americans each and every year. I find that to be very sad.

SarahsKnight · Feb 15, 2019

dgiharris said:
Having taught gun safety, I can tell you the #1 problem is ego mixed with ignorance.

I think you just summed it up perfectly.

Par5 · Feb 16, 2019

Sadly there has been another mass shooting, this time in Aurora. Yet another tragic example of the problem America has with guns, a problem that so many Americans refuse to recognize no matter how many lives are needlessly lost!

super animator · Feb 16, 2019

Par5 said:
Sadly there has been another mass shooting, this time in Aurora. Yet another tragic example of the problem America has with guns, a problem that so many Americans refuse to recognize no matter how many lives are needlessly lost!

Last time I check czech republic have a gun culture similar to the U.S. Do they have a "problem with guns"?

Goonie · Feb 16, 2019

super animator said:
Last time I check czech republic have a gun culture similar to the U.S. Do they have a "problem with guns"?

Czech Republic has gun ownership, but clearly a very different ‘Culture’.

super animator · Feb 16, 2019

Goonie said:
Czech Republic has gun ownership, but clearly a very different ‘Culture’.

I specifically said "Gun culture" rather then "culture" for a very good reason.

Goonie · Feb 16, 2019

super animator said:
I specifically said "Gun culture" rather then "culture" for a very good reason.

Last time I checked the Czech Republic does not share the US gun culture. Having similar gun laws does not equate to similar gun culture. ThatRobGuy is the poster to ask about this.

super animator · Feb 16, 2019

Goonie said:
Last time I checked the Czech Republic does not share the US gun culture. Having similar gun laws does not equate to similar gun culture. ThatRobGuy is the poster to ask about this.

Yes, I know him, he is the one who had originally state this, not I.

Goonie · Feb 16, 2019

super animator said:
Yes, I know him, he is the one who had originally state this, not I.

Ah, I think your confusing gun ownership and gun culture. The Czech Republic has a very different gun culture, no cowboys and indians, bonny and Clyde, exaggerated individualism.

4 year old shoots pregnant mother in head.

just horsing around

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Jesus Christ is this Knight's truth.

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