What can we do about the shootings?

[farronwolf]

The hypocrisy of believing that a bunch of innocent victims being mowed down is irrelevant compared to his right to have guns of any kind, any caliber and any destructive power just so he can use it in a nonexistent self-defense scenario against the evil, liberal government.

Having a one-shot rifle or shotgun would be legitimate for hunting. The same kind of weapon for target practice as well. But that is not their desire. To have automatic or semi automatic weapons (which can be converted to fully automatic by a bump-stock) because the “evil, liberal” government is about to bang on their door and tries to take away their varmint guns. To have 10-15 guns? What nonsense.

I suppose having 50 guns is beyond nonsense. I disagree.

If you can find anything in the 2nd Amendment about hunting please reference it. I will save you some time because it isn’t there.

The 2nd Amendment is about protecting your freedom, which I assume you enjoy. So if you do enjoy your freedom, thank a current military member or a veteran for their willingness and ability to use tools which you find offensive in order to protect your freedom. If not admit the hypocrisy of your thought process.

People using guns to take innocent lives or their own is a tragedy. Most homicides by gun are actually suicides. Most are done with handguns, not what some refer to as “assault weapons” which is really a term based on ignorance. Automobiles kill more people each year than guns do by the way. Should we ban automobiles?

 

[LilyM]

None of what you describe is a constitutional right.

Abortion is a constitutional right. Yet the states have put various restrictions on that right, such as banning late abortions, requiring transvaginal ultrasounds and the like.

Free speech is a constitutional right, yet there are age limits on buying adult magazines or seeing certain categories of movie, and certain kinds of material cannot be broadcast on public television (or at least not before a certain time of day).

You want more?

 

[CatholicELATeacher]

About as crazy as penalizing those who do not commit crime because of those who do.

Like preventing drunk driving fatalities by taking cars away from all the sober drivers.

 

[LilyM]

po18guy:

About as crazy as penalizing those who do not commit crime because of those who do.

Like preventing drunk driving fatalities by taking cars away from all the sober drivers.

Or like preventing road accidents by making EVERYONE wait until they are x years old before they can have a drivers’ licence - because of the undeniable fact that some younger people don’t have the reflexes, common sense or maturity to handle a vehicle?

 

[CatholicELATeacher]

I’m all for raising the age of gun ownership.

 

[farronwolf]

Abortion is not a Constitutional right. The right to privacy is a Constitutional right granted in the 14th amendment under which some abortions may fall under.

Freedom of speech is granted in the 1st amendment, and yes, there are instances in which it can be limited.

There are thousands of laws regarding firearms from federal, state and local governments.

So your point is?

 

[po18guy]

Apples and oranges.

Vehicles are NOT a right. Never were and never will be. They were not fundamental to estanblishing this nation or defending it. We can save many more lives by centralizing the population and banning cars.

…98…99…100…101…102…103 killed each day, 24/7/365.

Where’s the hue and cry? Where’s the anguished families with lenses stuffed in their faces? Interesting, ain’t it, that the drivers are at fault and NOT the cars. Why is it so easy for a killer to find a car? To buy a car? To steal a car? Sooooo easy.

It seems that vehicular deaths are…

…acceptable deaths.

Tick tick tick tick tick…

 

[quies]

A Franciscan response:

Words of comfort

 

[YourNameHere]

But tools like assault weapons make it easier to do horrible things. So they, too, must be blamed. They were invented for the sake of maximizing kills over a short period of time.

 

[vz71]

Abortion is a constitutional right.

No, they cloak that under a right to privacy.

 

[vz71]

Free speech is a constitutional right, yet there are age limits on buying adult magazines or seeing certain categories of movie, and certain kinds of material cannot be broadcast on public television (or at least not before a certain time of day).

The restrictions there are upon the perspective audience. Restrictions have not been placed on the speaker.

 

[TrueRomanCatholic]

What can be done to stop the shooting of people around the country?
The recent shootings in El Paso and Dayton were horrendous.
The El Paso shooter seemed to leave a manifesto of hate for Hispanics.
Why do some people seem to feel the need to resort to violence?
Hate seems to be rampant all over this country.
Are there any answers to be had, or do we just pray for the victims and wait for the next shooting to occur?

Pray that Mother Church can deliver them from their sins!

 

[Londoner]

be told he’s evil by teachers his whole life, end up over his head in college debt and unable to find a decent job because he’s not a sodomite or a certain skin tone, then hope to marry a woman who may or may not toss him aside like the week’s trash as soon as she’s “not happy.”

Did you tell your friend that this makes him sound like a homophobic bigot, a racist, a misogynist, and, because I very much doubt that teachers tell their students that they are “evil”, frankly quite delusional? Did he actually use the word “sodomite” or is that your choice of wording? It sounds like your friend is probably spending too much time hanging out on men’s rights forums, watching Jordan Peterson videos, and reading conspiracy theories disseminated by white supremacists.

the decline of Western civilization.

Really? Do you have any evidence for the decline of western civilization? I live in western civilization and it seems to be going strong. Okay, we in the UK have a no-deal Brexit looming and our two main political parties are led by Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, but in the big scheme of things these are small details.

I think the El Paso shooter’s manifesto shows evidence that he wasn’t so much mentally ill as he was full of despair. He did have some understanding of the problems plaguing our society, but seemed to feel so hopeless that he could not live for his cause, but only die for it.

Huh? Have you actually read it in full? It’s just filled with hatred and racism and murderous intentions. You are right that he doesn’t sound mentally ill at all. He sounds like a cold-blooded murderer motivated by hatred. He does end up sounding a bit unhinged when starts talking about Europe and how we Europeans can’t defend our “country” (sic) because we don’t have guns.

I think the next step will be the deterioration of the US and the rest of the western world into more primitive city-states and counties coalescing along lines of language, race, religion, values, etc. Less commerce, less speed, less duplicity.

But there is no evidence for that at all. I see nothing at all happening in the US today to suggest that “the next step” will be some kind of regression to something resembling medieval Europe.

I believe we’re seeing the final gasps of a civilization

But we’re clearly not.

 

[Inquisitor85]

Huh? Have you actually read it in full? It’s just filled with hatred and racism and murderous intentions. You are right that he doesn’t sound mentally ill at all. He sounds like a cold-blooded murderer motivated by hatred. He does end up sounding a bit unhinged when starts talking about Europe and how we Europeans can’t defend our “country” (sic) because we don’t have guns.

I’ve read it as well, it was chillingly similar to Breivik’s manifesto. That was no mentally I’ll person, he was nothing more than a terrorist. Why are Americans so scared of calling things by there proper names?

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

It has been awhile since the shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
Though much has been said, little, if anything, has been done.
So, I guess we can expect more shootings in the future.

 

[MiserereMeiDei]

I’m sure if they do the proverbial “something” you can expect shootings to continue as well.

 

[davleemye]

Get rid of high repetition military capable guns. period. Go to a gun show and see the type of dark people who buy these guns there. You can’t hunt with them, expensive, not for target shooting and designed from the ground up to kill lots of people. Too much crazy TV and video games.
I do not think people need to feel they have all this crazy power over other people. Get a legal pistol permit with a safety class and background check if a person needs protection.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

There is much that can be done.
But the politicians have no will to get it done.
In 2020, every person running for the House, the Senate or the White House should be asked to sign a pledge to outlaw assault weapons, to establish background checks for those buying guns, close the gun show loophole, and reduce the magazines that hold bullets to 10 or less, etc.
There should be a buy-back fund established to get guns off the street.
And how about a $100 tax on every gun sold and $50 tax on every box of ammunition sold. Let that tax money to be used to help those families who have been hurt by gun violence.

 

[MiserereMeiDei]

outlaw assault weapons

Cool. What are assault weapons? Are they weapons used in a crime or scary looking weapons?

to establish background checks for those buying guns

They already have that. Is there a reason to duplicate laws?

close the gun show loophole

Can’t speak to that other than recalling information pointing out its bogus.

reduce the magazines that hold bullets to 10 or less

They did that in California. Mass shootings still happen there.

There should be a buy-back fund established to get guns off the street

I don’t really want to spend my tax dollars buying guns from people who aren’t using them to kill people. Seems like a huge waste of money. Maybe get a private anti-gun organization to do it with donations from true believers?

And how about a $100 tax on every gun sold

Guns are already expensive. The people who buy them will pay it. I thought you wanted to stop people from getting guns.

$50 tax on every box of ammunition sold.

See above. Or they’ll just make it or buy it black market. It won’t be hard to get. It’ll be like buying loose cigarettes in New York or whiskey at a speak easy.

Let that tax money to be used to help those families who have been hurt by gun violence.

Ah, punish the innocent to heal the innocent.

 

[Cruciferi]

Get rid of high repetition military capable guns. period

That’s not vague at all.

Go to a gun show and see the type of dark people who buy these guns there.

I’ll bet you that 99% are law abiding citizens.

You can’t hunt with them,

Yes you can hunt with an AR-15. Maybe not everywhere but it is possible.

expensive

Pistols aren’t cheap either.

not for target shooting

Plenty of people target practice with semi-automatic rifles.