Although I agree that people should be free to own guns, I find it ridiculous people want to mandate people to own guns. This is especially hypocritical when it comes from people who criticized Obamacare's mandate.
How exactly would our country be safer, if everyone is armed? There would be no law except vigilante justice. How does that do ANYTHING, but make it more dangerous? How many drunken fist-fights would end in shootings? How many domestic disputes would end in shootings? How many disputes at a ballgame would end in shootings?
Doing this would instantly put guns in the hands of paroled violent criminals. How would that make us safer?
First off ... paroled violent criminals would STILL not be allowed to carry a gun legally.
Secondly if everyone was armed (being of age, and passing a gun safety test as a given) how likely would it be that someone would come bursting into a public place guns blazing if they knew people would be shooting back? Just because people are armed does not take away the consequences of committing murder.
First off...um...no...that's not what the question said. What it DID say was "...a government mandate that required all americans to own a gun..." So sorry, incorrect.
Secondly, you may be right about much of that, but the homicidal tendancy of some people would still win out. The problem is that some would turn to vigilante justice, and just shoot the bad-guy, for fear that a trial will set him free. This will lead to ethical questions like "how far does this go? Do we kill people we suspect WILL commit a crime? What about people who do things we THINK should be criminal..." and so on. It's a very slippery slope.
Sorry no ... if you want to take it to the illogical conclusion then you would put a gun in the hands of anyone. Arming violent criminals will NEVER pass the smell test.
The homicidal tendency of some ALREADY wins out. Have you not been paying any attention? This levels the playing field and may just make a crazy person think twice. Otherwise their brand of "vigilante justice", as you put it, ensures there will be more.
I'm going off of what the question says. I think the whole thing is illogical, and none of it passes the smell test. A crazy person DOESN'T think twice. that's because they're crazy. Aren't YOU paying attention? This time was an exception, but most of the time, a person who kills a bunch of people, INTENDS to die when he's done.
dead or captured doesnt prove or disprove crazy. The action does ... and regardless if they think twice. How many people die in a theater if half the audience is armed?
yes. If that shooter came through the door as he did ... how many people would have lived if the audience was armed? Its a hypothetical question because we will never know. The point being shots are fired and people draw their gun ... shooter is dead. End of massacre.
No. This guy was covered from head to toe with body-armor. He had the elements of surprise and darkness on his side, and in case that wasn't enough, he tear-gassed the place. So nobody would have been able to see where they were shooting, and even if they did, they still couldn't have killed him or even stopped him, because of the body-armor. What they would have done, was kill a lot more innocent people who were running away, and would have gotten in the line of fire, and probably would have killed a few of each-other. If half of the audience had drawn weapons to fire back, I'm guessing the death-toll would have been upwards of 40. And the shooter probably still wouldn't have been among them.
20 rounds of 44 Mag hitting JH may not have killed him but it would have knocked him on his ass. That much lead flying with momentum does not simply stop because it hits a vest.
We would not be returning to the days of the old west with shoot outs in the streets. Its more of a deterrent than anything else. Can we stop crazy? No. Crazy will do what crazy does. But crazy may stop and think when the possibility of people shooting back is present. Think about the Virginia Tech shooter(s) or anywhere else that someone has gone on a killing spree. Cops arent around, nobody else armed, nothing to stop them. Should they mandate that everyone carry a gun? No. But the possibility of many people carrying will detour a lot of this kind of crazy. Just my 0.02¢
I think this is a violent persons wet dream. I think it will not be a deterrent at all. I just think it puts more rounds in the air, when these things DO happen, and more lives in danger.
thats not truthful either. People that DO have carry and conceal permits are NOT violent and some of the most careful at handling guns.
At this point its only speculation as to its effectiveness. The one thing we do know was how it turned out without that deterrent and that people will over-react imposing even more laws about gun control. And the US Government will be all to willing to oblige a "scared" populace.
In Missouri, all that is required to get a concel and carry license, is 2 hours training. This consists of target shooting, and knowing where the safety is. There is no training on ethics or on judging a situation to determine if drawing ones firearm, is in fact the best option. It's a simple "can you shoot in the right general direction."
You NRA-types oppose with everything in you, even the slightest, and most reasonable gun-control legislation. You treat everyone who suggests that we should do better background checks, as if they just raped Thomas Jeffersons corpse. You treat anyone who has the audacity to say that civilians don't need assault rifles, as if they'd just burnt the flag. And then after a tragedy like this one, you shake your self-righteous fingers at US for politicizing a tragedy, saying "now is not the time to talk about it.".
I don't remember anyone saying we shouldn't fix our national security problems after 9-11, or our emergency management system after Katrina.
Guns are a problem in this country. Violence is a problem here. This problem needs to be addressed. Making this country more armed, in the name of scaring people who plan to die in their attacks anyway, is not an answer. We need to reduce the number of guns, not increase it.
The crazy people ARE average, until they show the crazy! Pop quiz: Of all of the weapons and ammo and armor that James Holmes used last Friday morning, what did he obtain illegally?
"The crazy people ARE average, until they show the crazy! " .... and you propose to legislate for crazy.
That is the same mentality that says we are going to pass a law every time an accident happens. Check it out ... we are humans, accidents happen and crazy will do crazy things.
How many more freedoms and liberties are you willing to give up to legislate crazy? How much more intrusion of an all to willing Government are you willing to grant? When will YOU feel safe?
We HAVE passed laws due to accidents. We have speed-limits, drunk-driving laws, laws about driving in construction-zones. We HAVE passed laws to diminish the risk that we may encounter a drunk or irresponsible driver.
We are so ass-backwards in this country right now, and afraid to act, that it's sickening. After the bridge collapsed in Minnesota, we tried to fix our highway infrastructure; and it got tied up in red-tape. After Katrina, we tried to fix our emergency response program, and people bitched that it was too much power in one office. And every goddamned time there is a mass-shooting, some right-wing-nut-job, who can't see past the end of his own nose; gets all pissy about his fear that the government is gonna take his precious guns. To be honest, anyone who is that obsessed with his guns, probably SHOULD be looked at more closely. It isn't about patriotism or tradition. It's just that you guys worship these killing machines. There are times when it is necessary to take a life. It's tragic, and awful; but necessary sometimes. But you guys celebrate it. I find that disgusting.
I think you just made a pretty giant leap in your assumptions about who I am, what I believe, and what my political views are. Thanks for revealing yourself to be incapable of rational thought or debate.
you're laughable, so stupid. I'm proclaiming your ignorance. Educated by you....more laughs. Probably a high school dropout or a military brainwashed you are.
Although I agree that people should be free to own guns, I find it ridiculous people want to mandate people to own guns. This is especially hypocritical when it comes from people who criticized Obamacare's mandate.
thanks for your contribution.
Doing this would instantly put guns in the hands of paroled violent criminals. How would that make us safer?
Secondly if everyone was armed (being of age, and passing a gun safety test as a given) how likely would it be that someone would come bursting into a public place guns blazing if they knew people would be shooting back?
Just because people are armed does not take away the consequences of committing murder.
Secondly, you may be right about much of that, but the homicidal tendancy of some people would still win out. The problem is that some would turn to vigilante justice, and just shoot the bad-guy, for fear that a trial will set him free. This will lead to ethical questions like "how far does this go? Do we kill people we suspect WILL commit a crime? What about people who do things we THINK should be criminal..." and so on. It's a very slippery slope.
The homicidal tendency of some ALREADY wins out. Have you not been paying any attention? This levels the playing field and may just make a crazy person think twice. Otherwise their brand of "vigilante justice", as you put it, ensures there will be more.
A crazy person DOESN'T think twice. that's because they're crazy. Aren't YOU paying attention? This time was an exception, but most of the time, a person who kills a bunch of people, INTENDS to die when he's done.
The action does ... and regardless if they think twice. How many people die in a theater if half the audience is armed?
Its a hypothetical question because we will never know. The point being shots are fired and people draw their gun ... shooter is dead.
End of massacre.
But a head shot stops all zombies.
20 rounds of 44 Mag hitting JH may not have killed him but it would have knocked him on his ass. That much lead flying with momentum does not simply stop because it hits a vest.
Its more of a deterrent than anything else. Can we stop crazy? No. Crazy will do what crazy does. But crazy may stop and think when the possibility of people shooting back is present.
Think about the Virginia Tech shooter(s) or anywhere else that someone has gone on a killing spree. Cops arent around, nobody else armed, nothing to stop them.
Should they mandate that everyone carry a gun? No. But the possibility of many people carrying will detour a lot of this kind of crazy. Just my 0.02¢
At this point its only speculation as to its effectiveness.
The one thing we do know was how it turned out without that deterrent and that people will over-react imposing even more laws about gun control. And the US Government will be all to willing to oblige a "scared" populace.
You NRA-types oppose with everything in you, even the slightest, and most reasonable gun-control legislation. You treat everyone who suggests that we should do better background checks, as if they just raped Thomas Jeffersons corpse. You treat anyone who has the audacity to say that civilians don't need assault rifles, as if they'd just burnt the flag. And then after a tragedy like this one, you shake your self-righteous fingers at US for politicizing a tragedy, saying "now is not the time to talk about it.".
I don't remember anyone saying we shouldn't fix our national security problems after 9-11, or our emergency management system after Katrina.
Guns are a problem in this country. Violence is a problem here. This problem needs to be addressed. Making this country more armed, in the name of scaring people who plan to die in their attacks anyway, is not an answer. We need to reduce the number of guns, not increase it.
Passing more laws and making it harder for honest Americans to obtain a gun wont stop crazy. Very simple.
That is the same mentality that says we are going to pass a law every time an accident happens. Check it out ... we are humans, accidents happen and crazy will do crazy things.
How many more freedoms and liberties are you willing to give up to legislate crazy? How much more intrusion of an all to willing Government are you willing to grant? When will YOU feel safe?
We are so ass-backwards in this country right now, and afraid to act, that it's sickening. After the bridge collapsed in Minnesota, we tried to fix our highway infrastructure; and it got tied up in red-tape. After Katrina, we tried to fix our emergency response program, and people bitched that it was too much power in one office. And every goddamned time there is a mass-shooting, some right-wing-nut-job, who can't see past the end of his own nose; gets all pissy about his fear that the government is gonna take his precious guns. To be honest, anyone who is that obsessed with his guns, probably SHOULD be looked at more closely. It isn't about patriotism or tradition. It's just that you guys worship these killing machines. There are times when it is necessary to take a life. It's tragic, and awful; but necessary sometimes. But you guys celebrate it. I find that disgusting.
"But you guys celebrate it." .... what the hell does that mean?
Thanks for revealing yourself to be incapable of rational thought or debate.
Run along little one ... you cant keep up.
Good Job douche bag. Educating you is a huge waste of anyones time.
I'll be going now ... there are for more idiots to deal with and you've reached your peak of stupidity.