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Old December 19, 2012, 09:11 PM   #1
mack59
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simple basic points to make about mass shootings

In all the arguing about new gun control or arming teachers etc.... I never hear the simplest and most eloquent argument made. That is that we had an assault weapons and magazine ban for ten years and it did nothing to stop mass shootings then. And every mass shooting since 1950, save one, has been in a gun free zone - therefore all gun free zones public or private need to have armed security.
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Old December 19, 2012, 10:16 PM   #2
sthomper
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I never hear the simplest and most eloquent argument made. That is that we had an assault weapons and magazine ban for ten years and it did nothing to stop mass shootings then. And every mass shooting since 1950, save one, has been in a gun free zone -


same here. its as bad a bush 1 claiming babies were taken from incubators in kuwait and left on the floor to die when

"It is unclear how much of Nayirah's testimony was coached. Though the firm was supposed to provide only stylistic help,[43] it was reported that H&K "provided witnesses, wrote testimony, and coached the witnesses for effectiveness............."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_(testimony)
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Old December 19, 2012, 10:25 PM   #3
johnwilliamson062
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How about his:
Many of these criminals spend MONTHS if not YEARS preparing for these things. It is their primary concern for this period. The best they come up with is an assault rifle?

Think if the shooter in Tucson had constructed a simple smoothbore cannon and fired it out of the back of a pick-up at the crowd along with a flintlock or two for his main targets? How could the plumbing parts required for such a weapon be restricted? How many people would have died?

Think if the Aurora shooter had used bombs in several of the theaters instead of guns in one? Unrestrictable household items and a few boxes of nails from Lowes is all it would have taken. Pursuing a Phd in Neuroscience requires FAR more chemistry knowledge than required.

This last shooting could have used a hand sledge and the outcome would have been no different. Against unarmed individuals who are unable to flee, a sword and basic training is going to do plenty of damage. If not true there never would have been serfs.

In many cases the use of firearms in these crimes has resulted in amazingly LOW casualty rates.

The US has a mental health treatment problem and an addiction to general violence. Every time you see a figure that says "gun violence" dropped following a gun ban ask yourself why the person touting that fact wasn't able to simply say "violence" in general dropped. Because it doesn't the murder rate and other violent crime rates don't change.
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Old December 20, 2012, 12:18 AM   #4
SIGSHR
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I wonder how much of the "mental health" is due to recreational drug use. We had guns back in the 1950s and 60s-we had JDs back then, gangs, plenty of disgruntled and anti-social people, but I don't recall any shootings like these. There was Howard Unruh here in NJ in 1949, he was adjudged a paranoid schizophrenic and institutionalized, the Texas sniper Charles Whitman was found to have a brain tumor. I think we haven't even scratched the surface on the effects of repeated drug use.
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Old December 20, 2012, 12:27 AM   #5
johnwilliamson062
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Psychiatric de-institutionalization reforms started in the late 40s and ran into the early 60s. Probably more rural or poor areas into the 70s. Of course some institutionalization is still in effect even today.

Opium has been common in the US for several hundred years. There are a few synthesized drugs that may contribute, but most people using hard drugs have a history of mental illness to begin with.

Last edited by johnwilliamson062; December 20, 2012 at 01:01 AM.
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Old December 20, 2012, 07:36 AM   #6
Hal
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Quote:
That is that we had an assault weapons and magazine ban for ten years and it did nothing to stop mass shootings then.
I've tried that a few times and it's ended badly.
When I bring that up to an anti, they just say it wasn't tough enough and something more effective needs to be done.

I could tell by the reactions of the "fence sitters" that were listening in that the anti won that one point, set and match.
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Old December 20, 2012, 10:02 AM   #7
Tom Servo
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There are several other threads discussing this, and there's a sticky at the top of this forum directing folks to use those rather than starting new ones.
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