15 victims shot in 5 differnt areas in St. Louis

[Karee 4,190]

Could be possible all were legally owned. My dad still lives there and he owns a gun, saw the papers myself. I almost borrowed it when I went to that soccer game.

I guess anything is possible. It's possible I could be an Astronaut in 5 years. Highly unlikely though.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Why, I guess you're right. Let's flood DC, Chicago and other places with guns. Then I want Gary to go there and see the fruits of his labor, up close and personal.

That sounds like an excellent plan.

[Karee 4,190]

Pretty sure they are already flooded...

He makes a valid point though.. Why can states like Vermont and mine be "flooded" with guns and we have have murder rates in line with Canada and western Europe while these locations are doing their own version of the purge on a nightly basis?

Poverty? Heavy population density of a diverse population? I really don't know, but its not just the guns.

Guns are an easy scapegoat. It's easier to focus peoples attention on the weapon, not the person using using it. Also easier to outlaw the weapon that way. See "war on drugs"

All these gun control measures aren't going to do a damn thing until you change the mentality of the person using the gun to kill people. I'll say it again. 300+ million guns in this country and growing. They aren't going to just disappear.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Guns are an easy scapegoat. It's easier to focus peoples attention on the weapon, not the person using using it. Also easier to outlaw the weapon that way. See "war on drugs"

All these gun control measures aren't going to do a damn thing until you change the mentality of the person using the gun to kill people. I'll say it again. 300+ million guns in this country and growing. They aren't going to just disappear.

Excellent post.

[GandD 5,966]

Guns are an easy scapegoat. It's easier to focus peoples attention on the weapon, not the person using using it. Also easier to outlaw the weapon that way. See "war on drugs"

All these gun control measures aren't going to do a damn thing until you change the mentality of the person using the gun to kill people. I'll say it again. 300+ million guns in this country and growing. They aren't going to just disappear.

I think everyone here knows a gun can't kill unless someone pulls the trigger. But, you can't fix mental illness/violence/kids with absent parents through law. At least, not with the understanding of mental illnesses we currently have. Now you have people that are only buying weapons because there are so many weapons on the street. Isn't there something wrong with that?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Guns are an easy scapegoat. It's easier to focus peoples attention on the weapon, not the person using using it. Also easier to outlaw the weapon that way. See "war on drugs"

All these gun control measures aren't going to do a damn thing until you change the mentality of the person using the gun to kill people. I'll say it again. 300+ million guns in this country and growing. They aren't going to just disappear.

Yeah, we must just throw up our hands and say that we can't do anything about it. Take the defeatist position. It's what we've been doing for decades now which is why we have those 300+ million guns out there in the first place. And all those firearms have most certainly made our country one of the safest places to live. Oh, wait...

[GandD 5,966]

Yeah, we must just throw up our hands and say that we can't do anything about it. Take the defeatist position. It's what we've been doing for decades now which is why we have those 300+ million guns out there in the first place. And all those firearms have most certainly made our country one of the safest places to live. Oh, wait...

Exactly. Its this mentality that I can't agree with.

[Karee 4,190]

I think everyone here knows a gun can't kill unless someone pulls the trigger. But, you can't fix mental illness/violence/kids with absent parents through law. At least, not with the understanding of mental illnesses we currently have. Now you have people that are only buying weapons because there are so many weapons on the street. Isn't there something wrong with that?

Yeah there's alot wrong with it. Simply passing laws isn't going to change it though. 300+ million guns. Think about that number.

[GandD 5,966]

Yeah there's alot wrong with it. Simply passing laws isn't going to change it though. 300+ million guns. Think about that number.

Doing nothing means that number grows at its current rate. I have a problem with that.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Yeah there's alot wrong with it. Simply passing laws isn't going to change it though. 300+ million guns. Think about that number.

No, simply passing a law won't change anything - not overnight and probably not over the next decade. But that can't be translated into 'let's just do nothing at all about this utter insanity'.

[Karee 4,190]

Yeah, we must just throw up our hands and say that we can't do anything about it. Take the defeatist position. It's what we've been doing for decades now which is why we have those 300+ million guns out there in the first place. And all those firearms have most certainly made our country one of the safest places to live. Oh, wait...

There are things that can be done. Unfortunately, they are not as simple as passing laws. That ship has sailed. Is it a defeatist position to claim that the war on drugs is un-winable? How about withdrawing from Vietnam? Outlawing an object where there are more than one for every man, women, and child in this country is just plain silly and not possible. We can keep spending billions of dollars on it though. Seems to be SOP for this country.

ETA: Don't forget about all the constitutional issues as well.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Karee

[duraaraa 203]

If everyone in Japan had a gun on them at all times, I would feel completely safe walking the streets at night.

I can't say the same thing about South Central LA, though...

I don't mean to be stealing Darnell's phrases, but moral decay isn't a bad way to explain the culture we have where being violent and committing crimes is cool and wins you acceptance into a gang. It is so dumb. It is really dumb. Fo real.

[Karee 4,190]

If everyone in Japan had a gun on them at all times, I would feel completely safe walking the streets at night.

I can't say the same thing about South Central LA, though...

I don't mean to be stealing Darnell's phrases, but moral decay isn't a bad way to explain the culture we have where being violent and committing crimes is cool and wins you acceptance into a gang. It is so dumb. It is really dumb. Fo real.

Bingo! It aint the guns.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

There are things that can be done. Unfortunately, they are not as simple as passing laws. That ship has sailed.

It's not as simple as passing laws but that is the starting point. If we can't do that then the difficult part of the path back to sanity is impossible. Every journey no matter how long or difficult must start with the first step. If you don't take that first step, you'll never move from where you are.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If everyone in Japan had a gun on them at all times, I would feel completely safe walking the streets at night.

Bad example. Japan happens to have banned just about all firearm ownership. Japan also has close to no gun violence. When they counted 22 gun deaths in 2007 (yes, that was the annual number across all of Japan), there was national outrage. When we have 26 gun deaths in a single shooting - 20 of those little children to boot - we do absolutely nothing. That is how sick a society we are.