Sad news
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@HighEliteMajor Why does a law abiding fellow need an AK-47?
You’re an intelligent person, you know that it’s not the style/brand of weapon that’s the problem. Pick whichever weapon suits you best. It’s how the idea of social killing is becoming the norm instead of the exception. Is there a week that goes by any more that an armed person isn’t wandering around a college campus or a church, randomly blowing holes in people?
Maybe I’m the only one bothered by it, I don’t know…
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BASKETBALL!!! We all know everyone’s politics on this site. Crimsonorblue had no intention of this turning into a diatribe on Guns. Please end this aspect of the thread. OSU lost a great basketball alum that used to be on a pretty great Okie team. He will missed by his family and friends. RIP.
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@nuleafjhawk They need the AK because of all the individuals that shouldnt have a gun but do, as Jayhawk Fan mentioned.
Its the non law abiding ones that scare me.
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@wrwlumpy Good point. Wait - just curious, how did he die?
Sticking one’s head in the sand doesn’t make the problem go away.
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@nuleafjhawk That’s the problem with our gun analysis. Worry about those that break the laws. Don’t worry about those that don’t.
Personally, if I lived in the country (vs., suburbia), I’d have a full fledged assault rifle for protection, as well as my shotgun and handgun.
I don’t shoot, but I know some folks enjoy shooting them. I don’t hunt either, for whatever that’s worth. Not into killing things.
In a society based on liberty and freedom, don’t worry about the law abiding citizens. Focus you disdain on the thugs and violent criminals.
You have hit on the “missing the ball” issue with guns. Liberals, TV, etc., make big deals out of the school shootings, etc.
Look at your news. Look at the carnage every night in the urban centers of our nation. Look at the little kid that gets shot going into the convenience store, or the girl shot on her porch, or the grandma hit by cross fire getting in her car, or the 20 bullets sprayed near birthday party.
Politically, it’s easier to focus on the big events – but much more difficult to examine the realities of the murder and mayhem perpetrated by a certain segment of our society every night in the inner cities.
It’s odd how the country folks in this nation all have guns, and somehow, someway, they don’t shoot each other but on a very rare, rare occasion.
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I am abstaining from the gun issue on grounds of specialized mental incompetence.
I swear I am against guns and I am against hunting.
But at the same time I am for guns and for hunting.
I am rationally decided about every other subject I can think of and about a lot of subjects most persons never think of.
But this issue of guns I have given up trying to resolve in my mind and am willing to entrust the issue to my fellow citizens.
So shoot me.
Or don’t.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I dont remember him playing for Okie state. But, then, I didnt pay close attention to teams beside KU. That is terrible news. The media hypes the situation between police and black people, which is bad, to be sure. But, civilians killing each other happens way more often. I dont know the stats but its tragic and senseless all around. smh
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Meth is illegal in every state in the US and do or do we not have a problem with that?
Pot is illegal in most states and do a crap load of people smoke it?
I would have to think drinking and driving probably kills more people than guns in the US? People still do it and since its against the law why doesn’t the government shut all of the drinking establishments around the country down? How many of us have driven home from a bar? I have pulled a Frankamp a million times but didn’t get caught! The point is the government is ineffective enforcing any and all laws currently in place. Making a law to make guns illegal would serve as much purpose as when we made drinking and driving illegal.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2013, 33,804 people died from motor vehicle traffic accidents — and 33,636 died from firearms.
Maybe the government should make cars illegal while their at it?
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@Statmachine I totally get your point. 100% But, I dont think anyone has ever died from smoking pot too much. Guns, Meth, Heroin, cars, bet all that together nears 6 figures dead each year.
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@Lulufulu surely it has killed someone? Peanuts, and shellfish kill people so someone has to have been deadly allergic to it once before?
LOL just using it as a reference on how effective this country has been enforcing smoking pot?
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All the gun violence in this country worries me. But is it the gun or the people pulling the trigger? In Canada I believe they have more guns per person, but very little violent crime.
We have a problem with troubled people that turn to violence for whatever reason. We can end gun ownership and put life sentences on those who later possess one illegally. It wouldn’t take long before guns would be a part of our past. But will that resolve the violence? I’m sure there will be less murders, especially from guns… but how much less? Won’t the violence still find an avenue to happen?
Why do some other countries have high gun ownership but don’t kill like we do? That seems to be the magic question.
I’ve always owned firearms and have enjoyed hunting and target shooting. I can live without them… but in our current state of affairs, I sure enjoy having the added protection for me and my family.
This country does everything in drastic fashion. I’ve always thought that we’ll flood America with guns, then later make them illegal. Why? Because this country seems to not like gray decisions. Everything needs to be black and/or white. And that is a pity. There is no need for military style weapons available to any adult without a felony record. That is insane. I don’t own one or need one. If some nutjob comes at me with one of those he’ll be through his clip while I bead in on his forehead and get the job done with one shot. Assault weapons are for amateurs. These are great weapons for committing acts of terror and that is about it. So why are they legal? Nothing in the Second Amendment about that.
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@drgnslayr said:
All the gun violence in this country worries me. But is it the gun or the people pulling the trigger? In Canada I believe they have more guns per person, but very little violent crime.
Wrong0 on the “more guns in Canada” thing. Lived in Alberta for a couple years. Been 15 years, but the gun laws (they have them, LOL) were a lot different.
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Of course lots of people die as a result of pot. Many people die every day from the effect of driving under the influence of pot; the deaths are classified as DUI and thus pot does not get named directly but it is the primary cause. A friend of mine died when his car was t-boned by a jerk driving high on pot, so yes, pot does contribute to many deaths.
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smh All I have to say on the subject is Canada sucks, so it’s not a fair comparison, eh?
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@dylans reason?
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@Crimsonorblue22 No flavor.
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@dylans sorry, not getting it!
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@crimsonorblue22 I’ve never heard good things about Canadain barbecue. I’m sleep deprived and hungry. Mexican sounds good, but there’s lotsa gun violence. Hmm maybe there’s a corrolation between good food and gun violence. How’s the food in the middle east?
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Sad news indeed. I must say I hate guns as much as I love KU basketball.
I’ve lost students to gun violence. That hurts a lot.
I’ve lost students because they were the trigger pullers. That hurts a lot.
I’ve had students who have had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, etc killed by guns. That hurts to see them come back to school.
I’ve had at least two students who witnessed their fathers shoot their mothers. That hurts a lot.
I want my friends who use them to continue their hunting, but I’ve had enough of them otherwise.
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@dylans you better go to sleep! New baby keeping you up? Don’t forget I’m taking u to Roy’s. Great BBQ!
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@Statmachine I don’t think even I am stupid enough to think that banning guns would help. I guess it just really bothers me that, in this society, people have such a grand desire to kill each other, no matter what the weapon.
What is wrong with us?
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@nuleafjhawk “What is wrong with us?”
Have you watched TV, movies or played some of the latest video games? Violence is glorified by the same people in Follywood who want to ban guns. Liam Neeson is a prime example.
I am a gun owner. I am also a NRA certified Range Safety Officer and volunteer my time to one of the nicest ranges in the state of Louisiana. We have entire families who come out and shoot. Anything you can carry out there you can shoot. But you will do it safely and in a responsible manner or leave. Personally I don’t hunt anymore, but I still enjoy shooting. My favorite is my Marlin Model 60 22lr w/scope. I also have an AR. Why? Cause I thought it was a neat firearm the first time I fired it in basic, and it’s still just as much fun to shoot today.
We don’t need more gun laws. We need judges who will properly punish those who use a firearm while committing a crime. One Asian country, any crime committed with a firearm is automatic death sentence whether it is fired or not. Don’t ruin a fun hobby for millions because of the actions of less than 1% of the poplulation. Properly deal with that 1%.
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"Wrong0 on the “more guns in Canada” thing. "
I heard that somewhere and regurgitated it.
After your comment, I did the research… and you are right!
Number of guns per capita by country
Though I’m not sure if this one statistic is the right way to measure it. I know we have so many people that collect firearms, owning several hundred firearms. Perhaps that distorts this statistic. I’m not trying to say we don’t have high ownership per household, just questioning this stat to tell us what we want to know.
Like I said, I enjoy my gun ownership, but I don’t clutch firearms in my hands and hold them over my head screaming “over my dead body” like Charles Heston did. I clutch onto mine for family protection and will do so unless we have a massive gun sweep.
I’ve always got my poison darts backup…
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@brooksmd said:
We don’t need more gun laws. We need judges who will properly punish those who use a firearm while committing a crime
Thank you! That’s what I’ve been trying to say, but I let the words get in my way.
Obviously, it’s not guns that’s our problem. I used to love hunting and target shooting. I got away from it, but just because it didn’t fit into my lifestyle any more, not because of any moral or religious drawbacks.
I get that there are crazy people out there - there always have been, always will be. What bothers me the most is “our” complacency. People that I go to church with, or work with lose their minds when there’s a shooting at a school/movie theater/church/theme park/whatever and I ask them WHY? Why are you getting so worked up over something that’s going to keep happening over and over and over because nobody gives a crap?
I wish I had an answer.
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Something to consider
About 35% of firearm deaths are classified as a homicide. That means a little more than a third of gun deaths each year are potentially the result of a violent criminal act. So what’s going on with the other 65%?
Well, about 62% of gun deaths each year are suicides. Think about that. Almost twice as many people die from firearms of their own hand than die from violent crime. In 2010, over half of all suicides in the US involved a firearm. That’s incredibly sad on so many different levels.
The remainder of the deaths are the result of accidental shootings. That’s only about 3%, but that’s the most unnecessary of all. And to top it off, gun control laws directly influence this category the most. States with looser laws have more guns, and those states have accidental shooting rates about 9 times higher than the strictest states. That’s sad. 8% of unintentional shootings feature a “shooter” under the age of 6. The other thing that has to be considered is that some shootings that many of us would call accidental are, for record keeping purposes, classified as homicides. This is because if, for instance, a child points a gun at another child and jokingly pulls the trigger, the intent to pull the trigger exists, making it a negligent homicide case rather than accidental (something more like if a person drops a gun onto the floor and it fires).
The other issue is how we perceive homicide in our minds as a society. When most people think homicide, they imagine an unknown gunman sticking somebody up in a dark alley. The reality is that many of these homicides are the result of domestic violence (the stats on that are especially troubling), “accidental” (negligent) shootings.
I’m not going to rant about what should be done because the divide on this issue is too wide to bridge in a simple online post. But I will say this - we need to get rational about what to do, because the majority of deaths by guns each year are not random gunman in the alley or guy breaking into your house. It’s domestic violence, or a kid accidentally shooting their sibling, or suicide. When you see that side of gun deaths, it makes you think differently.
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@JReyn Your are correct, sir. I believe that it is almost as easy to get a rifle or shotgun in Canada as it is in the US. But…handguns are much more difficult. You need to prove why you want / need one. My understanding is that handguns are difficult to legally obtain.
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@Hawk8086 I was staying in a little town north of Calgary & everyone had a hunting rifle or shotgun… It could very well be that a bigger percentage of people actually owned A GUN than in the US, but not as many guns per person in the US. Hell, my brother in law has about 40, a nd he’s sure not the biggest gun nut in Tennessee.
Funny about handguns being hard to get in canada. My roommate had a Glock that he claimed he could sell in canada for $2500 or something rediculous. Late 1990s. Probably full of sh*t, but I always wondered if the black market prices really were that much higher.
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Outstanding post!
I think part of the problem is that we consider it a “right” here. It is addressed in the Constitution, no doubt about it. But, mentally, we think it is a right, just like we think driving a car is a right. If we thought of it more like a privilege (that could be taken away) perhaps we would respect our ownership more and enough to realize that we need proper safety courses and actions in order to safely own a firearm.
Too many people own guns that can’t be responsible with anything in their lives, let alone a weapon that can easily kill. They will end up ruining it for people like me that has always been responsible with the privilege of owning firearms.
I just don’t see a way we can move forward constructively to reduce gun violence. Both political sides are wedged in tight. No one wants to give an inch.
I see this thing as something that will continue until one day we have a violent situation so so bad, that it turns the public towards a ban. Evidently, Sandy Hook didn’t quite have enough impact to make that happen. I have to admit I was surprised. That tragedy really made a huge impact on me!
I wonder what it will take? No need to guess… just wait.
