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10547. judithathome - 12/21/2012 9:51:40 PM Sorry...that should have been AND...so used to quick HTML. 10548. thoughtful - 12/23/2012 4:33:25 AM Doesn't delight me in the least about losing the NRA. I want to continue to have access to an "equalizer" and if legislation that is being bantered about by legislators who know nothing about guns is passed, we will be far worse off than we are now. And responsible gun owners would lose access to rational gun safety and training courses that they get now.
Worst of all, it would be my fears come true...that they will pass some knee-jerk reaction laws that will not be effective, but they will all congratulate themselves thinking the job is done...until the next tragedy. Meanwhile much needed mental health funding, family and youth counseling programs, training and security for schools and other public places will come under increasing budget pressures and no fundamental attempt to get at the root causes of this kind of crime will not happen. Moreover, tv, movies and video games will continue to become more violent, kids will become even more inured and better practiced at committing murder and the border between virtual and actual reality will become increasingly blurred. And those of us who have guns for protection will need them more than ever. 10549. judithathome - 12/23/2012 5:23:21 AM That's quite the bleak assessment....even for a pessimist like me. 10550. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 6:58:46 AM Other countries have similar modern entertainment without the mass slaughters we have. Yet the vast majority of our kids become productive citizens. We do a poor job of dealing with our fringe element. I think we will see positive steps to deal with what is predominantly an American problem among modern cultures. But I have a very positive outlook wrt American kids. These killers are almost always aberrations whose family and acquaintances know have serious problems.
I have guns too, but I am not afraid of our society, or what our kids are becoming. In fact, the longer I live and work around today's kids the better I feel about it. 10551. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 4:13:01 PM Do you know why these entities are dying?... inflexibility and a tin ear.
The only time I've ever been a member of the NRA is when it's been required of me (when I was a member of a private shooting range).
Needless to say I think any gun control laws that are to follow will be useless. I also worry about a similar blowback after the first AWB and the last thing I want is for the Tea Party to gain any ground back while still in control of religious nutbats. 10552. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 7:11:40 PM I agree. They really need a gun owners group that is totally apart from manufacturers. The NRA has never been a good spokesgroup for regular gun owners. Ducks Unlimited has members around here but I don't know anything about it. 10553. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 7:15:53 PM I agree about the NRA. Not that regulating AWs, clip sizes and background checks won't help. They might not, but they sure won't hurt. I'm also concerned about the knee jerk reactions wrt schools. Those have much more potential to do damage than any other ideas I've heard. Many are just hysterics. After 32 years I am not about to start packing heat in the classroom. 10554. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 7:18:36 PM And I love my principal, but I don't want her packing either. Life involves risk. Times like these certainly make you realize which politicians lack all common sense and calm in a crisis. 10555. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 7:46:20 PM "sure won't hurt" isn't a good enough reason to pass a law IMHO. The idea of a law is to reach consensus. If a law merely makes regular people's lives more of a hassle while accomplishing nothing they're more likely to become single-issue voters... and you're less likely to be successful if you were to come up with a decent policy.
The government has enough problems with credibility gaps to go around creating them eyes open.
Personally I think the most effective thing is controlled entry. The school where we took my son before we moved had it... and the school we're taking him to now is putting it in over the holiday (was already in the works before the massacre). They also posted an armed police officer after the CT shooting and before the NRA came out with their announcement.
And as usual the press totally missed it.... suggesting police patrol schools isn't that crazy.... it's all the other shit he said that was nuts and taking too defiant a tone. People aren't going to react well to that. 10556. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 7:49:14 PM It is a mistake to press people/principals/teachers into performing a duty they may have no disposition for. There is more to having a gun than having it. If you lack the mindset to use it, it's just part of the problem. 10557. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 7:51:22 PM As side from controlled entry, there should be controlled corridors. So that sections of the schools can be cordoned off.
Of course, then you have to worry about evacuating a school if there were a fire... or a perp setting off a fire alarm in order to get people into the halls and then start shooting.
It really isn't that hard to think about all of the ways to contend with the tactics a school might employ. 10558. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 7:56:02 PM I think it will help, but it doesn't threaten gun rights so people shouldn't squawk. Controlled entry is a nonstarter. They'd have to rebuild or revamp almost all schools and they simply don't need it. What about movie theaters? Parks? Malls? Lanza forced his way in. 10559. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 8:01:31 PM It's not just about the mindset of the teachers but logistics. If you keep a gun secure it's useless in an emergency. 10560. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 8:04:52 PM Yeah.. I kind-of talked myself out of it. I basically think there's no canned thing you can do.
The only "assault weapon" I have is the one my brother gave me when he moved to Illinois. I had some others that were "assault weapons" under the previous law but it was a complete joke because they were assault weapons only by virtue of the cosmetic features they had. I have a glock semi-auto that I use/used for the competitions I used to use. Those competitions are the basis for my statement that controlling magazine size isn't going to help. Magazine changes are pretty fast and easy even for a neophyte. Cho didn't use large capacity magazines at VaTech... he just carried more with him.
From a self defense standpoint I'm not threatened by many gun laws because I am content with a shotgun, lever action, and a revolver for the home. 10561. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 9:01:20 PM Us too. But we don't currently have a pistol. Stuff like that rabid skunk we had a while back requires we have some kind of firearm. The price of living where we live, which I wouldn't trade for anything. For security out here, dogs and lights are a huge help. 10562. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 9:02:24 PM The wild hogs are gone for the moment, but shooting them would have been a real challenge. They're dangerous. 10563. arkymalarky - 12/23/2012 9:12:44 PM Anything can happen, but I hope that when we've come further on the other side of this that we remember our schools are safe, as are malls and theaters. Incidents are very rare, and there's much more risk driving to and from those places. It's like the way people reacted to flying after 9/11 or a major airplane crash. 10564. iiibbb - 12/23/2012 9:59:57 PM 9-11 type responses is just how we roll these days. 10565. Wombat - 12/23/2012 11:56:28 PM iiibbb:
I posted this on another web site as steps I would like to see taken. NRA types went slightly batshit. What do you think?
* Mandatory firearms training and licensing. Can be administered by states, but must meet Federal standards. License information availablle to Federal and State law enforcement.
* Required liability insurance for each firearm owned. Insurance providers can set rates depending on type and use of firearm
* Portability across state lines OK
* Each firearm must be registered in a permanent national database that all state and federal law enforcement can access.
* Waiting period before purchase sufficient to conduct thorough background check. No gun show exemption, private sales must register change in ownership.
* Limit to number of firearms purchased in a given time period.
* No firearm or ammunition purchases by mail order or over the Internet.
Steps the NRA could take to restore a modicum of legitimacy:
* Permit its rented legislators to approve the nomination of a BATF director (it's been six years...)
* Permit its rented legislators to fully fund Federal and State enforcement of existing legislation pertaining to firearms use, sales, transportation and regulation.
3) Insist that its rented legislators fund Public Health studies of gun violence, misuse and its victims.
4) Fund and encourage development of "smart gun" technologies. 10566. arkymalarky - 12/24/2012 3:32:25 AM One thing my principal has always harped on (rightly) is keep your classroom doors locked. Lanza walked past a locked room rather than wasting time forcing his way in.
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