I once had a debate with a gun supporter and brought up the issue that when the 'right to bear arms' law was written, it didn't take into account the evolution of weapons. At the time of writing the only firearms one could get were single shot pistols, rifles and cannons. I don't believe for a second that the founding fathers ever envisioned people walking the streets with weapons that can fire over 100 rounds per minute.

The law was meant to ensure that citizens have weapons to overthrow a corrupt government so that opression like from the British would never happen again.

Instead weapons are used for just about everything today, except what they were originally meant for. One could wonder how much use that law is today since any sort of rebellion would probably be seen as an act of terrorism or something.

Relevant.

Still one of the highest murder rates in the world, though. And I read somewhere that they've been restricting gun ownership significantly in the last few years.


I thought that this was a good point. It's something my brother in law wrote on Facebook, linking to an article written by Australia's (Conservative) former prime minister.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politi...#ixzz2F3n19OQL


And then there's this:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...28753370_n.jpg

I just hope that this will open congress' eyes and make them realize that guns and the control of such should not be taken lightly.

It won't. It least not for hardcore conservatives.

Which is quite shameful, really. I don't know an awful lot about American politics, but I do know the Conservatives are the ones who are more pro-gun control (at least, from what I've heard), and they aren't in power at the moment.

That said, most of the members of the congress may be conservatives, and I can't see good ol' MURICA giving up its guns anytime soon. Saddening, really.

You've got it backwards. Conservatives are about as pro-gun control as they are pro-choice.

They are loyal to the second amendment, which is a flaccid front at best, as they have no problem sidestepping the constitution on other issues.

Thing is, you can't take away people's guns without practically burning the constitution on live TV. That piece of paper is a promise of American rights that would never ever be taken away. Removing rights from a document like that makes the entire document useless.

Allow me to pose the question, does the publicity of incidents like these make others more or less likely to commit the same crime? I mean these kind of events are seeming to happen on a quarterly basis, wouldn't hearing about an event where so many children were killed deter someone else from doing the same? (maybe I'm reading into this too much)

I don't know, maybe the kind of people that carry out these incidents aren't phased by what happened, or maybe they just get into a state of mind where nothing matters. How someone can take so many lives, let alone the lives of children is beyond what I can understand. This whole event just leaves me shocked.

More likely. Much more likely. Insofar as I've observed, they seem to come in waves. There will be an extended lull between massacres (for instance, there was a several year lull after 9/11), then after one happens a whole bunch follow in close succession.

As far as I heard, there were two other shootings on the same day as this one. One in a Las Vegas hotel where a guy shot his wife or something. And another guy opening fire in a hospital.

It's bad, sure. It's horrible, but millions of kids die everyday, and nobody bats an eyelid. Only when something like this happens people give a shit, it's really strange and I can't fully explain what I'm trying to say. It's not because of slack gun-control, because even if you make firearms illegal that won't stop people, it's not like they go "Oh, guns are illegal here" "Aw, man, let's go...".

It isn't hard to get your hands on this stuff nowadays.

To be honest, I wouldn't know where to start if I were to need a handgun right now. People always make it sound easy, but when it's actually illegal to sell guns without a license, let alone own them, it becomes pretty hard to find a weapons dealer who isn't an undercover cop.

Not when you know where to look.

Well I dunno what it's like in the UK but we don't have weapons dealers on every street corner. I would have no idea where to find one in this country, or how to get in touch with one. You can't exactly go on the internet and post a request for illegal firearms. Of course there is TOR, but that's no more reliable than a random guy in street claiming he can get you weapons if you just pay him 1000 bucks up front.

Said with all the life experience and criminal savvy of a fourteen year old.

You can get anything you want these days, if you're willing to give out blowjobs. That, I don't have experience with. But you get my point.

I agree in that the sort of person to solicit a fourteen year old for blowjobs may not be the most law-abiding of citizens.

Joking aside, I get your point and it is horrifying, the worst thing is that there isn't all that much anyone can do about it.

Well seeing as gun crime in the UK is pretty much nonexistent I personally don't see his point and think that everything that could be done about it is being done.

I thought he was talking hypothetically about America rather than the UK.

Yeah, I was.

You're more likely to see handguns in MI6 films, detective shows and gangster films than in general day-to-day life in the UK. Hunting rifles of course are an exception, but you need a license for those. There was a shooting incident that happened in the UK a while back which was done using a shotgun with a large amount of shells.

These kind of incidents also happen in other countries around the world though, not just america, like the Norway incident where 85+ people were killed.

You don't really have to give BJ's to get guns in the US. It's much, much easier than that.

It's a handjob at most.

Or, you know, just buy a gun in a weapon store, no questions asked.

I'm pretty sure there's not no questions asked.

Depends on the state you're in.

You don't have to use your own gun. You can borrow/steal one off of someone more trustworthy.

This could have been avoided if only those six-year-olds were exercising their right to bear arms.

Yeah, but a guy shooting his wife is not remarkable in the US. I hadn't heard about the hospital.

Did you hear that two weeks ago, NYC managed to have an entire calendar day without any murders? Not a single one! They said that that hadn't happened in decades.

It's worth noting the gun used in this case was a semi-automatic rifle.

Lanza, 20, carried "many high-capacity clips" for the lightweight military-style rifle, Lt. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, told The Huffington Post in an email. Two handguns and a shotgun were also recovered at the scene.

“What’s happened is the gun makers figured out how to take their existing assault weapon models, modify them just a bit and bam, they can sell,” Everitt said. "If it has a grenade launcher and barrel shroud, you take the grenade launcher off and then you can sell it. If it has a pistol grip and some other banned feature, you drop one of them.”

What may be needed is a longer list of banned or forbidden gun models and single gun features that would render more assault weapons illegal to sell, Everitt said.

There is absolutely no reason outside of science fiction that a civilian would need an assault weapon. The clue is in the name.

Yeah, but nobody would fuck with you.

They'd just get a bigger gun. And that aids the problem so well.

And armour-piercing rounds. Police wear armour. It's basically that option for shooting down police helicopters. What possible use do they have outside of evil?

Shooting cans on a sunny Saturday with your father.

Just use a bb gun or something. Not like they can really hurt anyone.

My friend nearly died from a BB gun. JUST SAIYIN'.

They had to take his eye out and put it on his cheek. Eww.

Did they put it back?

They gave him a mister that he has to spray it with every five minutes to keep it moist.