The American Gun Law

[Cricko]

Surely after yet another massacre at a school the American Government must do something to their 250 year old gun laws.. I hear there are 300 million hand guns in the USA, what will it actually take for a change?

I know there are powerful groups who want to keep this outdated law intact so they can carry on being the Wild West but this latest atrocity has shaken the world so perhaps now something will happen.

I read this http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337551/michigan-guns-classroom/?mobile=nc yesterday, if true then they have finally lost the plot.


R.I.P to all those that lost their lives in Connecticut.

 

[mrsblue]

Guns have no place in the hands of the general public.

RIP to those lost to yet another nutter.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I think Obama might actually be the man to do something about this, I was impressed with the delivery of his public comment on this atrocity. I just don't understand what makes a 20 year old man want to wreak revenge on the place where his mother worked, however much he may have had problems with her.

So sad, and the children that survived will struggle to deal with the aftermath of this situation for some time. RIP to the innocent people whose lives have been cut short through the actions of, what presumably was, a deranged young man.

 

[BrettieAngell]

I don't think he can do anything about it, even if they made it illegal how many guns are there and how many people would turn them in? Despite all these massacres alot of Americans still believe its their right to bear arms. Expect a NRA rally in Newtown shortly. :angry:

 

[Bielzibubz]

As much as I'd like to think that this may well be the catalyst that puts in motion the wheels of change with regard to the 2nd amendment written in to the American Constitution I fear it'll not make one iota of difference. One major stumbling block is the fact the American Constitution itself forbids any fundamental legally written change being made to itself. One of the issues the NRA is so quick to trundle out when anything even remotely threatens their right to bare arms.

Deals will be done, platitudes will be spoken, and piecemeal changes made be made at State legislative level but essentially the status quo will remain, unfortunately. Besides which the horse has well and truly bolted now it's way to late to even think about making firearms illegal in the US. All they can perhaps do is make permits harder to get but judging by the individual self gratification and unbridled greed and corruption that pervades American politics at both national and State level I doubt even that will happen. :thumbdown:

 

[BaileytheQuitter]

Gun laws are only half the problem. It will take generations to eradicate the deep set relationship that American's have with firearms.

 

[Firestorm]

Whilst I think the gun law in America is absurd, outdated and actually twisting the spirit of the original constitution item. In this instance :-
It was a rifle so the number of Hand guns in America is irrelevant
He was 20 so under the age to own a rifle so if it was his, he was already breaking the law And if it wasnt his, he was breaking the law by taking it

 

[Bielzibubz]

Too true. 200 years of gun ownership have seen to that. I dare say the founding fathers would be turning in their collective graves if they could see the damage their words have been responsible for.

 

[Bielzibubz]

Whilst I think the gun law in America is absurd, outdated and actually twisting the spirit of the original constitution item. In this instance :-
It was a rifle so the number of Hand guns in America is irrelevant
He was 20 so under the age to own a rifle so if it was his, he was already breaking the law And if it wasnt his, he was breaking the law by taking it

Handgun, hunting rifle, assault rifle. Pretty irrelevant what type if you ask me. His mother had the licence for the rifle, he took it. He could have done just as much damage with a handgun. The fact it wasn't is neither here nor there.

One partial answer to the mess the US is in concerning this issue is to price the cost of bullets out of the market. Make it to expensive to own a gun. It doesn't infringe anyone's right to own a firearm or require a futile change to the US Constitution. A person could still put a couple of bullets into someone if his life was threatened and depended on it, it'll just cost $10k to do it that's all. But again I'll site the last paragraph of my first post. Greed and corruption would put pay to that little idea.

 

[Firestorm]

Interesting CNN article from earlier this year
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/09/politics/btn-guns-in-america/index.html?c=&page=2
If they actually enforced the laws they have, ie the unlisenced sales, it might be a start

 

[Firestorm]

Handgun, hunting rifle, assault rifle. Pretty irrelevant what type if you ask me. His mother had the licence for the rifle, he took it. He could have done just as much damage with a handgun. The fact it wasn't is neither here nor there.

One partial answer to the mess the US is in concerning this issue is to price the cost of bullets out of the market. Make it to expensive to own a gun. It doesn't infringe anyone's right to own a firearm or require a futile change to the US Constitution but again I'll site the last paragraph of my last post. Greed and corruption would put pay to that little idea.

Not sure that he would have been able to do that sort of damage with a hand gun
Firing 100 + shots having to reload every half a dozen shots or so would have been harder than with a semi automatic
That CNN link certainly shows that price is an issue

 

[Pubey]

Not quite sure why a US citizen would ever need this:

Any why is it easier to get a gun than get mental health treatment in the US?

 

[Firestorm]

My mistake....
Just read a BBC report that he had two handguns and a rifle was found in a vehicle outside the school

Exactly why a teacher would legally own 3 guns is beyond me.

Following on from what Beilzebub said, tax guns heavily (tobacco is priced highly because it is dangerous) and inforce the current laws more would be a start without needing to go near the Minefield which is the constitution

 

[Pubey]

Make ammo $10,000 a bullet.

 

[Firestorm]

Not quite sure why a US citizen would ever need this:

Any why is it easier to get a gun than get mental health treatment in the US?

If thats from the tweet that is doing the rounds, thats not the gun...
There is a lot of false information doing the rounds at the moment. I didnt check enough before my earlier post about a rifle
It was two handguns according to the BBC

No doubt the pro gun lobby will be coming from the angle that if the staff at the school had been allowed to take their guns to school they could have disarmed him earlier
Hard to actually argue that particular point but prevention is better than cure

 

[Dick Bate's Protege]

Make ammo $10,000 a bullet.

Wouldn't that encourage a mass black market with illegal ammo flooding in from some of the more unsavoury areas of the World?

IMO you can make guns/bullets illegal or too expensive, but the gun culture is well embedded within America and people will find a way regardless of the preventatives; much like drugs.

 

[Pubey]

If thats from the tweet that is doing the rounds, thats not the gun...
There is a lot of false information doing the rounds at the moment. I didnt check enough before my earlier post about a rifle
It was two handguns according to the BBC

No doubt the pro gun lobby will be coming from the angle that if the staff at the school had been allowed to take their guns to school they could have disarmed him earlier
Hard to actually argue that particular point but prevention is better than cure

Apparently he had a very similar rifle in his car. The rifle (and two handguns) were legally owned by his mum.

 

[OldBlueLady]

It was two handguns according to the BBC

On the interview on their Breakfast programme today, the expert in the studio said it was two pistols and and "assault" rifle.

 

[Bluesmanager]

Read yesterday that since Columbine in '97, there's been 66 similar incidents. That's an average of one every 333 days. Not got a clue on how to stop it (politics aren't my forte) but for the love of God someone nip into Congress and give them a swift kick up the arse!

 

[Firestorm]

On the interview on their Breakfast programme today, the expert in the studio said it was two pistols and and "assault" rifle.

The bbc article I saw said he was carrying two hand guns a rifle was found in the car and 3 other weapons were recovered
Could be that if the other weapons were guns he was not reloading but discarding the guns when empty
Its a good job he was stopped/ decided to tp himself before going back for the rifle