27 dead at Connecticut school, including 14 kids

[Tyrannical]

It was lack of guns that caused a massacre. If some the teachers were armed, the shooter could have been killed earlier.
So I would suggest "affirmative action" for retired police and combat arms military to become teachers, who could then carry a concealed weapon. I'm sure they'd make fine teachers too, and good for discipline. Maybe a taser too for the unruly students

[amused]

Trafficking in hate and fear has always been profitable. The gun nuts, racists and religious fundamentalists just go where the money is.

[Rum]

It was lack of guns that caused a massacre. If some the teachers were armed, the shooter could have been killed earlier.
So I would suggest "affirmative action" for retired police and combat arms military to become teachers, who could then carry a concealed weapon. I'm sure they'd make fine teachers too, and good for discipline. Maybe a taser too for the unruly students

Obvious answer here. Everyone carries a gun. Also keep it in your hand and pointing at the nearest potential threat at all times.

Also make it compulsory.

Also make sure you never visit there Rum.

[Ian]

Comical as it is, it's not hard to step back and do some sociological analysis here. This is more proof that ideologies like his are fading away from the world. Forty years ago, we laughed at Archie Bunker for stuff like this. Nowadays Archie isn't even a character getting laughed at on TV; he and those like him are just old grumps yelling at people on the internet.

Oh I don't know about that. I'm at least 20 years younger than Seth, I have a university degree and am a software engineer. Most of my colleagues are also firearms enthusiasts, many of us have licenses to carry said firearms, and none of us think that passing more laws to restrict the behavior of the law abiding is a necessary and positive thing. These are educated people who range in age from 22 to 60, and they enjoy firearms and shooting. We often arrange after work trips to the firing range, and have had more than a few first time shooters who then decided to purchase their own firearms.

I don't think the firearm enthusiast is going extinct as you claim.

Not going extinct, but being increasingly marginalized and thus less influential.

EDIT: Besides, it's a mistake to equate enjoying firearms and shooting with having a belief that no further restrictions are needed (or worse, that laws are too tough already); I have a handgun, I'm a qualified expert pistol shot (got a medal when I was active duty), and I always enjoyed shooting at the firing range... and I think there ought to be far more restrictions on which types of guns are available and on who is able to gain access to firearms.

[cronus]

It took the English civil War for pikes to be banned over here. I fear the well educated young in America who are often part time addicts of violent computer games and a media culture saturated in blood letting are going to require a unpleasant reality check on a far larger scale than the Sandy Nook massacre to put their guns in the ground.

[mozg]

Not going extinct, but being increasingly marginalized and thus less influential.

EDIT: Besides, it's a mistake to equate enjoying firearms and shooting with having a belief that no further restrictions are needed (or worse, that laws are too tough already); I have a handgun, I'm a qualified expert pistol shot (got a medal when I was active duty), and I always enjoyed shooting at the firing range... and I think there ought to be far more restrictions on which types of guns are available and on who is able to gain access to firearms.

If you're right, why did the so-called 'Assault Weapons Ban' sunset? Why over the last 26 years have carry laws in virtually every state become more permissive? Why Heller and MacDonald? Why did 58 Senators and 251 Representatives (a majority in both houses) sign an Amici curiae brief asking the SCOTUS to rule that the Second Amendment is incorporated against the states?

If the pro-firearm-rights position is 'marginalized and less influential', why is it that politicians no longer run on a gun control platform as they did prior to 1996?

And while we're at it, why don't you get specific about the restrictions you 'think there ought to be far more' of?

What restrictions do you want in place?

[Tero]

For the Republicans NRA is free money.

For democrats, you can't run an anti gun campaign. They will lose the small chunk of working class white males they have.

[mozg]

For the Republicans NRA is free money.

For democrats, you can't run an anti gun campaign. They will lose the small chunk of working class white males they have.

If running an anti-gun campaign platform results in losing elections, how is the pro-firearm-rights position 'marginalized'?

[FBM]

aspire1670, this post contains a personal attack on another member. This is a reminder that personal attacks are against forum rules. Repeated rule violations will result in a warning and, if continued, possible temporary suspension(s). Please refrain from addressing fellow forum members in personally derogatory terms, and focus on the ideas instead. Thank you.


Gallstones, this post contains a personal attack on another member. This is a reminder that personal attacks are against forum rules. Repeated rule violations will result in a warning and, if continued, possible temporary suspension(s). Please refrain from addressing fellow forum members in personally derogatory terms, and focus on the ideas instead. Thank you.

[aspire1670]

It was lack of guns that caused a massacre. If some the teachers were armed, the shooter could have been killed earlier.
So I would suggest "affirmative action" for retired police and combat arms military to become teachers, who could then carry a concealed weapon. I'm sure they'd make fine teachers too, and good for discipline. Maybe a taser too for the unruly students

I would suggest you up your trolling game, you are presently only a pale imitation of Seth. No internets for you.

[Ian]

Not going extinct, but being increasingly marginalized and thus less influential.

EDIT: Besides, it's a mistake to equate enjoying firearms and shooting with having a belief that no further restrictions are needed (or worse, that laws are too tough already); I have a handgun, I'm a qualified expert pistol shot (got a medal when I was active duty), and I always enjoyed shooting at the firing range... and I think there ought to be far more restrictions on which types of guns are available and on who is able to gain access to firearms.

If you're right, why did the so-called 'Assault Weapons Ban' sunset? Why over the last 26 years have carry laws in virtually every state become more permissive? Why Heller and MacDonald? Why did 58 Senators and 251 Representatives (a majority in both houses) sign an Amici curiae brief asking the SCOTUS to rule that the Second Amendment is incorporated against the states?

If the pro-firearm-rights position is 'marginalized and less influential', why is it that politicians no longer run on a gun control platform as they did prior to 1996?

And while we're at it, why don't you get specific about the restrictions you 'think there ought to be far more' of?

What restrictions do you want in place?

Um, politicians aren't running on gun control platforms quite so much because crime plummeted over the last twenty years. I think that should be obvious enough. In 1988 and 1992, crime was the #1 issue in those Presidential elections. In 2012 it was way down the list. Crime statistics are by far the primary driving force behind any support or opposition to gun control laws; incidents like Sandy Hook are just blips on a much longer-running meter.

As for gun culture, American guns are increaingly held by smaller percentages of people who own multiple items. Again, that does not necessarily translate into support for weaker regulations; as I said, I own a gun.

If you want specifics...
*How about 100% background checks on every single firearm sold in the United States, with penalties on dealers who violate that law? We're not anywhere close to that now. No auto dealer will sell you a car if you can't produce a license, no airline will allow you to fly overseas if you can't produce a passport at the gate, but well over a third of firearms in the US are sold to people who are not ID'd at all.
*How about making tougher laws on which types of firearms may legally be sold? 50-cal rifles, assault weapons which may converted to automatic, high-capacity magazines, etc... there is no reason for these things to be on the market except that some people think they're really cool. Well, I think grenade launchers, flamethrowers and cruise missiles are really cool, but surely nobody is saying they ought to be easily available outside the military. It's all a matter of where you draw the line.
*How about registration and licensing fees which need to be renewed and paid for every year, like the DMV does with cars?
*How about liability insurance? It would differ from gun type to gun type, and from owner to owner, not unlike car insurance for different cars and drivers.
*How about guaranteed safety inspections, such as requirements that firearms cannot be easily accessed by children? Social workers frequently inspect homes of foster children or other potential abusive/dangerous situations, but there is no oversight if you want to leave a handgun laying on your nightstand. Yesterday a toddler was shot dead by his 4-yr old brother.

If you're in favor of no changes from what exists right now, then fine. More incidents like this are going to happen, but guys like you are the ones holding this status quo in place, so it's on your head and guys like me can only vote our conscience. But for those (like Seth) who think gun laws are too restrictive and need to be loosened in America, I think it's takes a certain level of sociopathic lunacy to look at what happened Friday and reach that conclusion.

[aspire1670]

aspire1670, this post contains a personal attack on another member. This is a reminder that personal attacks are against forum rules. Repeated rule violations will result in a warning and, if continued, possible temporary suspension(s). Please refrain from addressing fellow forum members in personally derogatory terms, and focus on the ideas instead. Thank you.


Gallstones, this post contains a personal attack on another member. This is a reminder that personal attacks are against forum rules. Repeated rule violations will result in a warning and, if continued, possible temporary suspension(s). Please refrain from addressing fellow forum members in personally derogatory terms, and focus on the ideas instead. Thank you.

You are quite correct and I apologise to J of N. I should of course have described J of N's post as a clear example of dumb fuckery.

[Tero]

For the Republicans NRA is free money.

For democrats, you can't run an anti gun campaign. They will lose the small chunk of working class white males they have.

If running an anti-gun campaign platform results in losing elections, how is the pro-firearm-rights position 'marginalized'?

They are not. Outside of urban democratic areas they have wide support. Half my neighbors have guns.

They can easily avoid areas where they are not liked. Besides, they have guns. I'll have to check the guns atbthe door when they come to my pool party.

(i dont have a pool)

[macdoc]

just a reminder of how out of step the US is with the planet on armed to the teeth..



note multiple weapons and handguns in particular....

what's 5,000 kids a year killed with guns - collateral damage??

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

This is brilliant. Let's turn the whole fucking planet into North Korea!

No, just Israel, where law-abiding citizens walk around every day in public armed with handguns, rifles, shotguns and fully-automatic genuine "assault rifles" for defense against terrorist attack, and they haven't had an attack like this on one of their schools since the early 1980s. And yet you don't see the gutters running with blood from law-abiding citizens suddenly and inexplicably going insane merely because they possess a firearm and shooting everyone in sight. That's left to the Palestinian and other Islamic terrorists.

Go figure, more guns, less crime.

When will you idiots learn.

There was an attack on a school in 2008, apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ra ... _massacres

March 6 2008 Jerusalem Israel
Perpetrator - Ala Hisham Abu Dheim, 26
(علاء هاشم أبو دهيم)
8 Dead
9-11 Injured
Assailant was shot by an armed student.