Guns, the NRA, the constitution and senseless shootings

You're absolutely right, on both points.

Sorry I mistook the Japan take.

 

Anyway, these founding groups were far more comfortable with violence than sex, for example, as the adjective "Puritanical" tends to suggest.

Violence is just a part of their background, a part which to this day hasn't met with a 'rebuke' the likes of which Japan or Europe has suffered (or at least that's what you will hear, re: Vietnam, etc.)

This history, IMO, is a lot of the reason we are where we're at now, as a nation, in terms of our acceptance of violence, as jgmac said - this is who we are, and who we have always been, the 'we' meaning the majority WASP culture.

 

And we're still like this. See: Our support of the Contras and other Latin American death squads, the Project for a New American Century crew, etc.

We just don't talk about it as openly as we once did. Not 'tactful,' wouldn't be prudent.

 

Some very interesting points on this thread from both sides of the debate.....I don't own a gun, never will and see no reason why anyone would need a handgun.

I haven't read this entire thread, and not sure if this has been mentioned....

do you think how we raise our children is a factor in the increase of violence in our society? Half of all marriages end in divorce, does the absence of a strong male influence contribute to how casually some people look at killing? How about the somewhat recent way some parents ingrain into their children how special they are, and how the world revolves around them? In our society everyone gets a trophy, we don't keep score because losing may hurt someones feelings.....this overprotection can be setting children up for problems later in life when they have to deal with losing, struggles, etc. and they haven't developed the coping mechanisms to deal with it, because as children, when these skills sets should have been developed, we've purposely interfered. Also...I think if people are overally told how special they are, it can lead one to think everyone else isn't so special.....

Of course this isn't across the board, and I believe parents have the best intentions, but I'm not sure it will be best in the long run.

I'm not a writer (shocking....I know ), but I hope my point is understandable.

 

That's two do-gooder patches in as many days.

Wow. I'm impressed.

Of course you won't be hannitized anytime soon, eh?

 

You know, I'm beginning to feel a bit sorry for these cops. This is, note, a college police force. I don't know the first thing about training levels, I mean, is this force trained on the level of a 30,000 population city? Somehow on the basis of college cop forces I've seen, I doubt it.

We're talking people about the LARGEST mass murder of this kind in U.S. history. It's not something you train for every day. I would think you train for the regular routines you would face. We're human. Cops are human and in this case, I'm sure, a bit overwhelmed. Just look at the chief who faced the media - big difference between a force like this and a force with a media spokesperson. I have had an experience with a double murder in a town of 25,000 and a news conference where the chief investigator met the media and just about peed in his pants. The next day, they had a neighboring town's media relations officer.

This college may never face this again. UT-Austin hasn't. The town where Luby's was blasted 16 years ago hasn't. They need a bit of a break before it is shown that they totally screwed up. Then TPTB will need, obviously, to pay.

 

You're right. At this time, I don't use a gun for home defense. But years ago, I did.

And Ashy, I think you might be on to something. A psychologist on CNN said something about how this has only been happening in the past 20 years, even though guns were easier to get before then.

 

Interesting comment from a CNN psychologist.

And the laws, except in certain states (Bush's Texas as an example), have been liberalized. Early releases are accelerated, and of course, we're all better off. :0

 

Inky.....I didn't hear the Pscyhologist on CNN, but there could be some corrolation. Obviously there was always guns and murderers, but the total disregard for anothers life is scary, and IMO, much more likely the result of their childhood, than music.

I took a couple psych classes in college...so I know how the mind works.

 

How does a guy fresh of the boat - STUDENT VISA IN AUGUST - get two 9 mm guns?

VT is going to catch major heat for this, and lawsuits, too. You have two people shot in a dorm and you don't react at all? Hello, lawsuit.

Also ... im a dem, and i would like a gun for safety purposes in 2008.

 

Yawn, we don't normally agree on things, but we do here.

As for guns, I don't like them, don't intend to own one, don't intend to so much as hold one. Once, at a friend's grillout two or three years ago, a member of his extended family dropped by. He's a cop. He wasn't working at the time but he had the gun there. My best friend ask to see it. Cop gave it to him to inspect. Now, I don't know if it was simply that gun or that my best friend had a few drinks in him already, but I went back inside. I was nervous, though I would never say it.

Others might be just fine with guns, but they're not for me.

 

I just hope something good can come of this.

We have to fix this problem. I still think we have to make owning a gun something that's really hard to do. You shouldn't be able to legally buy a gun without several (SEVERAL) hours of training and psychological exams. You shouldn't be able to legally buy a gun if you've been convicted of a violent crime. And if you have one without a permit? How about mandatory 5-year prison sentences? 10 years? Make people pay for it. Make it a risk not worth taking. And destroy that gun ASAP.

I don't like guns. I hate them, actually. I don't think anyone other than military and law enforcement officials should have one. I don't know that this will ever happen, though. I don't know if that's possible. I know we can do a hell of a lot more than we're doing, though.

This pisses me off so much. How many fucking people have to die before we do something? What we're doing isn't fucking working. It's not.