darkSpyro

What disturbs me is that I feel like they don't even make a big deal about it anymore. Like, Sandy Hook was a huge deal when it happened, but now I feel like I don't even hear about it. I mean, we're talking about children dying here. Goddamn children. Something has to be done and fast.

What disturbs me is that I feel like they don't even make a big deal about it anymore. Like, Sandy Hook was a huge deal when it happened, but now I feel like I don't even hear about it. I mean, we're talking about children dying here. Goddamn children. Something has to be done and fast.

Well, it is, once you take into account how it affects people. An adult dying in a violent way, as horrible as is, isn't news to anyone. Not only it shouldn't be this common for kids, you also have a bonus of traumatizing other nearby kids and their entire families.

in the 20th century we had serial killers, but now in the new millennium spree killers have become the default. i'm curious about what societal shift has caused this.

Quote: Carmelita Fox

in the 20th century we had serial killers, but now in the new millennium spree killers have become the default. i'm curious about what societal shift has caused this.

Getting gunned down quickly is a lot less scarier than being singled out, tortured and who-knows-what, until my inevitable demise.

I'd say it's an improvement.

Quote: Carmelita Fox

in the 20th century we had serial killers, but now in the new millennium spree killers have become the default. i'm curious about what societal shift has caused this.

Getting gunned down quickly is a lot less scarier than being singled out, tortured and who-knows-what, until my inevitable demise.

I'd say it's an improvement.

Quote: StormDragon21

Quote: Carmelita Fox

in the 20th century we had serial killers, but now in the new millennium spree killers have become the default. i'm curious about what societal shift has caused this.

Getting gunned down quickly is a lot less scarier than being singled out, tortured and who-knows-what, until my inevitable demise.

I'd say it's an improvement.

What if I'm a masochist?

Quote: AmbushFan

Quote: StormDragon21

Getting gunned down quickly is a lot less scarier than being singled out, tortured and who-knows-what, until my inevitable demise.

I'd say it's an improvement.

What if I'm a masochist?

Some concern, but you do you.

Quote: StormDragon21

Quote: AmbushFan

What if I'm a masochist?

Some concern, but you do you.

Or what if you're also a sadist as well as a masochist, and all the "serial killings" were just you killing yourself over and over, because you and your victims were all the same person and also immortal for some reason.

damn, 11 already? this stuff's just becoming a part of everyday life. and no one's gonna do anything about it. both sides are just gonna be at each other's throats for a week or two and then just act as though the shooting never took place. ****'s depressing.

Third, firearms are not the source of the problem. This really isn't rocket science. Weapons are not the cause of murders. The main cause is social, and the weapon (gun, knife, etc.) is just a tool. So we shouldn't even be talking about "gun violence" specifically, but violence in general.
America's mental healthcare isn't on a great level and you have a lot of societal problems like poverty, ethnic and racial tension, political tension, drugs, crime and bullying*. Most of these problems also overlap to a large extent. This is what you need to get sorted out in order to actually lessen violence.

Well, there's a harsh reality that people have to accept for anything to ever happen about this so-called "gun problem".

First off, it's not a simple as taking away people's firearms. There's an estimated number of 101 firearms per 100 people in America. That's well over 300 million guns, and a significant portion of them are probably unregistered. Somehow removing them all is an absolute pipe dream.

Second, limiting the lawful sales of firearms wouldn't be as effective as some people seem to think. Not only because you already have a massive amount of them in America, but they can also be acquired by unlawful means. For as long as law enforcement can't effectively quell the illegal sales of guns, then regulations are also useless.
Similarly, while having "gun free zones" is a comforting idea, it wouldn't really work in practice because people who are intent on shooting other people generally don't concern themselves with regulations like that.

Third, firearms are not the source of the problem. This really isn't rocket science. Weapons are not the cause of murders. The main cause is social, and the weapon (gun, knife, etc.) is just a tool. So we shouldn't even be talking about "gun violence" specifically, but violence in general.
America's mental healthcare isn't on a great level and you have a lot of societal problems like poverty, ethnic and racial tension, political tension, drugs, crime and bullying*. Most of these problems also overlap to a large extent. This is what you need to get sorted out in order to actually lessen violence.

To add to that, from what I've learned a large portion of Americans are largely ignorant of the laws surrounding the use of firearms. I'm not saying this somehow increases their use against other people, but it lends to the idea that guns in and of themselves are a danger to society. Again, the real danger is in the people and their behavior.

I could pull out a few examples and mention countries that also have a lot of firearms but have low murder rates (my own home country is one of those**), but instead I'll do the opposite and mention a few like Brazil, El Salvador and Jamaica, who have the exact opposite situation. Countries in the Caribbean, Central American and northern South American regions generally don't have a lot of guns, but most of them are piss poor and have murder rates that are off the damn charts. It just goes to show that the cause of violence is found somewhere else.

Sure, one could argue that gun violence is worse than "normal" violence because it's more lethal, but they're a part of the same problem because they have the same roots. Shootings and beatings walk hand in hand like that; if the means to do both are there then one really can't exist without the other.

(* I hesitate to add bullying to the list because while it's technically a widespread problem that has large-scale consequences, the causes of bullying can't really be linked together in a way that would allow the problem to be removed. It occurs everywhere constantly on a local level, and it needs to be dealt with on a local level as well.)

(** Interestingly enough, the amount of gun-related deaths per gun per year is actually higher in Finland than it is in the states, but that's mostly because here the gun-related suicide rate is ten times higher than the rate of gun-related homicides. Comparably, in the USA people kill themselves with guns only twice as often as they kill each other with guns.)

Yeah, maybe we could use some better gun control than what we have, but I'm not sure that's fully the problem here. Many of these problems are the cause of illegal firearms. Kids this age shouldn't have their hands on guns at all anyway. If kids are this frequently getting their hands on guns, the question becomes how are they doing so? Are their parents not keeping a close enough eye on their guns? If not there, then how?

Not only that, but taking away the guns doesn't solve the root of the problem here, as Samius addressed. What we really should be doing is spending more time with the kids as parents, as teachers, as classmates, and looking after these kids to try to help them with their inner personal problems. I'm not saying I'm specifically blaming the parents here, situations vary. But if a child has this kid of issue going on to want to shoot up their school, there's clearly a cry for help somewhere that's going ignored.

Quote: Samius

Third, firearms are not the source of the problem. This really isn't rocket science. Weapons are not the cause of murders. The main cause is social, and the weapon (gun, knife, etc.) is just a tool. So we shouldn't even be talking about "gun violence" specifically, but violence in general.
America's mental healthcare isn't on a great level and you have a lot of societal problems like poverty, ethnic and racial tension, political tension, drugs, crime and bullying*. Most of these problems also overlap to a large extent. This is what you need to get sorted out in order to actually lessen violence.

This, among the other reasons listed in the post, are why I can't bring myself to argue for the complete prohibition of firearms like I used to. It's just not plausible and a country as vast as the US isn't going to be able to pull off the same **** as a country several times smaller like the UK.

My argument now is in favor of thorough background checks and mental testing to ensure that the applicant is of sound mind and is fully aware of how to use a gun and understand the weight of what they're holding in their hand and what they're capable of. Some nations such as Japan supposedly have such strict checks and tests, and as such gun violence is very low (and Japan's population isn't that far off from the US; it's certainly more dense).

This leaves the complication of unregistered guns and getting them through illegal means, but that would hopefully be solved alongside issues of poverty, gang violence, and so forth. That said, many of the major mass shootings tend to come from those who are mentally unhinged, not poor kids from the inner city. I'm going to prioritize ensuring the mentally unstable can't get their guns legally.

Quote: Samius

Third, firearms are not the source of the problem. This really isn't rocket science. Weapons are not the cause of murders. The main cause is social, and the weapon (gun, knife, etc.) is just a tool. So we shouldn't even be talking about "gun violence" specifically, but violence in general.
America's mental healthcare isn't on a great level and you have a lot of societal problems like poverty, ethnic and racial tension, political tension, drugs, crime and bullying*. Most of these problems also overlap to a large extent. This is what you need to get sorted out in order to actually lessen violence.

This, among the other reasons listed in the post, are why I can't bring myself to argue for the complete prohibition of firearms like I used to. It's just not plausible and a country as vast as the US isn't going to be able to pull off the same **** as a country several times smaller like the UK.

My argument now is in favor of thorough background checks and mental testing to ensure that the applicant is of sound mind and is fully aware of how to use a gun and understand the weight of what they're holding in their hand and what they're capable of. Some nations such as Japan supposedly have such strict checks and tests, and as such gun violence is very low (and Japan's population isn't that far off from the US; it's certainly more dense).

This leaves the complication of unregistered guns and getting them through illegal means, but that would hopefully be solved alongside issues of poverty, gang violence, and so forth. That said, many of the major mass shootings tend to come from those who are mentally unhinged, not poor kids from the inner city. I'm going to prioritize ensuring the mentally unstable can't get their guns legally.

Now let's add 2 others!

I'm starting to get convinced that these are all connected

13 shootings don't just happen this close together on coincidence

At the very least, they should do something about the Dickey Amendment. Because of everything in this ridiculous gun debate, that is the one that makes absolutely no sense. Hell, the Congressman who spearheaded it said it should be gotten rid of. >.>

guns need to be banned. before you american idiots come at me with your "we need guns they r a part of our frEeEdom" read this topic. the only people who should have guns are soldiers. **** outta here.

Quote: Jaggedstar

guns need to be banned. before you american idiots come at me with your "we need guns they r a part of our frEeEdom" read this topic. the only people who should have guns are soldiers. **** outta here.

Honestly, I feel like there should be a law about kids having guns, that's it

It won't fix all the problems, but it will fix a few.

wooooooooooooooow...

this is just in this last week...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/u...custody-n839866

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/u...eported-n840171

and this one was just this morning...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/u...student-n843726

https://virginia.ourcommunityn..._medium=website
but yes there are too many school shootings

^exactly. they're more concerned about gossip *ahem* politics.

Quote: BlackNight12

^exactly. they're more concerned about gossip *ahem* politics.

As my math teacher says

You can't be rational and irrational unless you're a politician