How many of you conceal carry on a regular basis?

Bobaloo wrote:

Atheism worked for them wrote:

That being said, it's sad that the principal of that school wasn't a conceal carry holder. Then again, being a school principal, she probably didn't believe in the 2nd Amendment either.

Hel1 yeah. Serves her right. Them five-year-olds shoulda' been packing too.

Are you for real? educated much? See if you can understand this?

But what about the country at the other end of the spectrum? What is the role of guns in Japan, the developed world's least firearm-filled nation and perhaps its strictest controller? In 2008, the U.S. had over 12 thousand firearm-related homicides. All of Japan experienced only 11, fewer than were killed at the Aurora shooting alone. And that was a big year: 2006 saw an astounding two, and when that number jumped to 22 in 2007, it became a national scandal. By comparison, also in 2008, 587 Americans were killed just by guns that had discharged accidentally.

Bobaloo wrote:

Hel1 yeah. Serves her right. Them five-year-olds shoulda' been packing too.

What happened today was horrific.

There are 300 million guns in this country. We are neck deep in guns, banning them now will not reverse that. To the guy in the other thread who made the comparison to bombs ("bombs are banned so nobody uses them").... If there were 300 million bombs in this country, it wouldn't matter if they were banned or not, they would still be easily had by those who want to do harm.

There are obvious issues with our gun laws. But Bobaloo, it is our duty to protect children, no the other way around. With the number of shootings that have occurred in schools in the last 2 decades, it's ludicrous to prevent teachers from having the option of carrying. Perhaps the anti-gun folk are equally responsible for what happened today as the gun rights people. We need to stop pointing the finger at each other and take care of the problem at its root. In the meantime, we should be arming ourselves against those who would use violence against us.

But what about the country at the other end of the spectrum? What is the role of guns in Japan, the developed world's least firearm-filled nation and perhaps its strictest controller? In 2008, the U.S. had over 12 thousand firearm-related homicides. All of Japan experienced only 11, fewer than were killed at the Aurora shooting alone. And that was a big year: 2006 saw an astounding two, and when that number jumped to 22 in 2007, it became a national scandal. By comparison, also in 2008, 587 Americans were killed just by guns that had discharged accidentally.

Canadian gun control wrote:

Hel1 yeah. Serves her right. Them five-year-olds shoulda' been packing too.

Are you for real? educated much? See if you can understand this?

Sorry, I guess my sarcastic tone wasn't clear. I figured the notion of giving guns to five-year-olds was sufficiently absurd, but given the apparently serious arguments you hear from the gun-rights sociopaths, maybe not.

Believe me, I know all about the lack of guns and crime in Japan. I live in Tokyo. This is a wonderful country. Japanese have built themselves a very peaceful, prosperous, compassionate society. I love it here (I'm an American expat).

neanderthal dream wrote:

Perhaps the anti-gun folk are equally responsible for what happened today as the gun rights people. We need to stop pointing the finger at each other and take care of the problem at its root.

Nice.

Bobaloo wrote:

Canadian gun control wrote:

Hel1 yeah. Serves her right. Them five-year-olds shoulda' been packing too.

Are you for real? educated much? See if you can understand this?

Sorry, I guess my sarcastic tone wasn't clear. I figured the notion of giving guns to five-year-olds was sufficiently absurd, but given the apparently serious arguments you hear from the gun-rights sociopaths, maybe not.

Believe me, I know all about the lack of guns and crime in Japan. I live in Tokyo. This is a wonderful country. Japanese have built themselves a very peaceful, prosperous, compassionate society. I love it here (I'm an American expat).

What's clear from your lack of reading comprehension is that perhaps you might be the next one to go off the deep end. Do you really think the Principal at the school was a 5 year old? Do you watch too much anime perhaps?

Since when is the desire to defend oneself and one's charges considered sociopathic behaviour? Perhaps you should study some recent history regarding Nazi Germany - you know, those progressivist folks who were allied with your wonderful Imperial Japan. One of the first things done there was to ban citizens from possessing firearms. Next thing you know, 6 million Jews are exterminated because they had no means of defending themselves against progressivist tyranny.

We should copy what the Israelies do at their schools and require our teachers and school administrators to complete a firearms training course and then arm themselves against the atheist/goth morons of the world.

neanderthal dream wrote:

There are obvious issues with our gun laws. But Bobaloo, it is our duty to protect children, no the other way around. With the number of shootings that have occurred in schools in the last 2 decades, it's ludicrous to prevent teachers from having the option of carrying. Perhaps the anti-gun folk are equally responsible for what happened today as the gun rights people. We need to stop pointing the finger at each other and take care of the problem at its root. In the meantime, we should be arming ourselves against those who would use violence against us.

I think most rational people would say that REDUCING the number of guns is the direction in which to head, rather than INCREASING them so that now kindergarten teachers are strapped.

The 2nd amendment needs to be repealed. That is the solution. People in the US do not need 300mm guns, and they should be taken out of circulation.

"but then the bad guys will have the guns". yes, that is right. By definition the only owner of a gun is a criminal. A good deterrent to turn in your gun.

And look at Canada. Any idiot can drive 2hrs south and get a handgun. Many do. There are lots of guns in Toronto, all from the US. And Toronto is an amazingly safe city compared to any US city of comparable size. Canada is >20% immigrants and Toronto is 50%. So you can't say Toronto is a homogeneous place.

Face it - the US needs to drastically reduce the number of guns, and make it a privilege, rather than a right, to own one.

1) Educate yourself about gun laws. 300mm guns? That's called a cannon. In another thread you complained about automatic weapons, which are not available to the public. You want to repeal the 2nd amendment without even understanding the rights it grants.

2) Chicago and Washington DC have already banned guns to citizens, and it has been an utter failure.

3) The US is different than any other country, and what works in Canada or Japan or even Switzerland will not directly translate to us.

4) 60 years ago, mass shootings like this never happened. Yet gun laws were looser then than now. What has changed in this time period? Answering that question is key to fixing the problem before us. I don't know the answer, but I can guarantee that repealing the 2nd amendment will not fix things.

neanderthal dream wrote:

...

4) 60 years ago, mass shootings like this never happened. Yet gun laws were looser then than now. What has changed in this time period? Answering that question is key to fixing the problem before us. I don't know the answer, but I can guarantee that repealing the 2nd amendment will not fix things.

Interesting point.

This may sound simplistic but there are two things that strike me as being very different today than 50 years ago.

1) Access to mental health care and adequate mental health institutions were drastically reduced during the Reagan years. They have not come back.

2) There was a prevailing sense of progress and each generation being able to do better than the previous one up until the Carter years. This also has not come back.

Today the perception and perhaps the reality is that most people are not going to realize "the American Dream". With that comes hopelessness, depression, incessant fighting over scraps, and an undercurrent of anger. For the vast majority this is not a good thing but not enough for them to snap. For those who should be getting mental health care, (and are not), these factors may well combine to produce absolute, raging nutcases who kill innocents because of some imaginary wrong the nutcases think that they are righting.

Lyndon LaRouche wrote:

There are obvious issues with our gun laws. But Bobaloo, it is our duty to protect children . . .

Oh yes, and you're doing a fine job of that aren't you, Captain America.

The fact is, people like you have betrayed not only your children but American society as a whole. You rail on about your rights, but you show no sense of social responsibility.

Fine then. If you want to carry deadly hardware around, do it.

But don't hide it. Do it openly.

Those around you have the RIGHT to know that you have that weapon.

They have the RIGHT to decide for themselves whether they want a vigilante in their midst.

They have a RIGHT to informed consent, for their own sake and for the sake of those they love.

And if a gun-packing vigilante walked into a restaurant where I was eating, I guarantee you that I would leave that restaurant. I suspect many, many others would do the same.

Needless to say, many business owners would ban guns from their establishments.

You insist on carrying a gun? Do it. Just do it openly. Let the rest of us exercise our RIGHT to decide whether to risk being caught up in your madness.

Atheism worked for them wrote:

Since when is the desire to defend oneself and one's charges considered sociopathic behaviour?

You JUST DON'T GET IT, do you? You're not defending anybody. You're putting them at risk. More people are murdered with guns in the U.S. than anywhere else on earth. The numbers tell the truth.

The mother of the loon who killed 20 young kids and seven adults yesterday was shot in the face with her own gun. She was a gun "enthusiast." She had several guns. She often took her kids to the local shooting range.

She's now dead. Her son's dead. Twenty-seven other people are dead. So in the end, whom did she "defend?"

Atheism worked for them wrote:

We should copy what the Israelies (sic) do at their schools and require our teachers and school administrators to complete a firearms training course and then arm themselves against the atheist/goth morons of the world.

And it's brought such peace and tranquility to Israel, hasn't it.

Maybe you should build iron domes over your cities, too.

Even with the earthquakes, I'll take Japan any day.

By the way, there hasn't been an "imperial Japan" for nearly 70 years. You really ought to get out more.