Time to toss the 2nd Ammendment…
It doesn’t matter what your opinion is on gun control… everyone has to concede one thing: when a student walks into his college and guns down over thirty kids trying to get an education, then we have a serious problem here people. This problem needs to be addressed, and like it or not… gun control will be one of the suggestions tabled. Yesterday’s incident at Virginia Tech will also make gun control a big issue for the upcoming primaries and especially for next year’s federal election.
I also have a news flash for ya: gun control works. If you need evidence, just compare the homcide rates between Canada and the US. We watch the same TV, listen to the same music and live right beside each other like roomies. Access to any kind of weapon makes a definite difference in homicide rates and nobody can deny it. Canada still has serious shootings too, but like once every decade which is a lot better than once a year. Access to dangerous weapons makes a difference, and if people can’t be trusted not to keep them locked away from the psychos who gun down people in schools, then they all need to be collected and destoryed.
I know what some Americans are going to say: what about our second ammendment rights? Screw your rights, they are overridden by other people’s right to exist. But to be fair, let’s have a look at this whole right to bear arms thing. It was written in the 1800’s… during a time when the arms the founding fathers were referring to were muskets. So technically they should have said the right to bear rifles, not automatic hand cannons with easy changing fifteen bullet ammo clips. If people want the right to hunt and do legal stuff with guns, that’s fine. But there is no need to have any kind of automatic weapons. None what so ever. The same goes for handguns. They are not necessary, and rifles will do the trick for most of the legal stuff people want to do like hunt or defend the home. Anything more than that is overkill and should be legislated as illegal.
If gun control lessens the amount of incidents like this that occurs, then it’s worth persuing and our consideration. Other nations allow their people to buy guns and have no where near the homicide rate the US has for gun related deaths. One reason is because rifles are the only guns these nations allow people to buy. We need to go after the handguns and the automatic weapons to resolve this issue. It won’t elimiate all shootings, but one less is a start. Hunters and real gun owners wouldn’t and shouldn’t have a problem with this… and I am sure they are just as disgusted by what happened yesterday.
I’m not saying that this would eliminate all shootings, but if less access could potentially turn into less incidents… then it must be considered. Other nations and our homicide rates are proof of that. It’s time to step up and just make it happen, unless you want to see more shootings like this in the future…
Peter
what about our second ammendment rights? Screw your rights, they are overridden by other people’s right to exist. Exactly.
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Gun Control is not the answer. Those who chose to do evil things will always have access to weapons. And while Canada and the USA may be in close proximity, there are still worlds of differences and freedoms in American than there are in Canada.
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What a breath of fresh air. It’s sad to think that somebody from another country has to be the one to point this information out, and that they understand the legislation better than many Americans.
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Peter, with all due respect, I have withheld any commentary yet for one very important reason: we have little information on the shooter or how he got his firearms. At least until then, I do not think you have a right to write an entry like this, especially one as arrogantly titled as “Time to toss the 2nd Amendment.” Your attitude of “screw your right” is little better than
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Bush’s of the past few yrs. I am a bit surprised you had no mention whatsoever of the public safety and cops, who, in my early glance, appear to be grossly negligent and slow-moving. As for your statement that “gun control works,” that is extremely broad- depends on the law, and even on the country. I’ll have my own entry soon enough.
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While I enjoy the fruits of gun control here in Norway (I am not sure I have ever even seen a handgun anywhere, including on the police) I think America is too far gone for gun control to work. There are just too many guns, not to mention the wild west, individualist, and yeah violent, culture that has been a crucial part of America since its founding. I wish it would be a simple matter of getting rid of the guns but it runs far too deep. And politically I don’t think it would fly. And, no, I certainly don’t think more guns is the answer. I will also agree that gun control, from the start, seems to keep violent crimes from ending up in a bloodbath. I just don’t know if it would be feasible in the States.
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Preliminary reports say the shooter was here on a student visa. The USA should revoke all student visas and send them packing. This would be as good a solution as yours. There are other reasons why people suggest your idea, do you ever wonder why?
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Well I feel that if I criticized Arsenic for not waiting a decent amount of time before politicizing this issue, I must do the same for you.
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Sound public policy is NEVER made in the emotional aftermath of a tragedy.
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Popeye’s right, policy suggestions made in wake of highly charged events leads to serious suggestions like ShadowKat’s (yes, I know his suggestion was made in jest to make a point but I have actually heard this suggestion made seriously already).
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Um. No. We don’t know enough to say one way or the other. Gun control may not have helped this in the slightest– or it may have. But in either case the 2nd amendment is a part of our Constitution and, while I support certain limitations to it, I can’t agree to simply throwing it out.
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Beyond that, keep in mind that the worst act of school violence in the history of the US didn’t (really) involve guns. (Yes, this is the worst school shooting, but not the worst act of school violence.) There are other ways to kill people. People will find other ways to kill people.
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And this is different from throwing out illegal search and seizure, due process, etc in the name of safety from terrorism how?
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Also, ditto popeye. You know nothing about the circumstances yet. The bodies aren’t even cold.
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To Dreamer: Canada and US have pretty much the same rights and freedoms. Certainly not a “world of difference” on that level. Gun control has worked in Canada, but even there, gun violence is on the rise. While I support some degree of gun control, studies have proven that concealed weapons laws work.
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The problem with comparing gun crime in Canada and gun crime in the US is they’re two very different countries. Poverty is more extreme in the US, even though rates of unemployment and poverty are similar. The Second Amendment has no real equivalent in Canadian law, and Americans tend to be passionate about the Constitution in general, leading to a greater desire for lax gun control.
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Whether gun control works is debatable. In Australia, for example, they banned essentially all guns several years ago, and found that their murder rate moved not one tick. Criminals, by definition, ignore laws. Banning guns would result in only the criminals having guns (as in Australia, which also saw an increase of home invasion type crimes). Instead, the response to this should be to…
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criticize the school for not responding properly, to say maybe if the profs were allowed to carry their registered firearms this could have been avoided (as at Appalachian Law School, where two other students retrieved their guns from their cars and stopped the shooter). I’m not saying to put guns in dorms, but I have no problem with profs who are registered carrying arms. But above all, there…
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were warning signs, that the school was aware of, in this person’s life. Why didn’t they act then? Mandate counseling if he wanted to remain matriculated? I’m not blaming anyone other than him. But from the point of view of the law and society at large, he was a “normal” person. Those who knew him and interacted with him, however, knew he was disturbed. And the school did nothing. I want to…
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know why this school was so lax both before and during the shootings? To get back to gun control, as I said, banning guns means only the criminals have guns. I’m not sure what should be done. But I do know an emotional, gut reaction might feel good, but isn’t well considered. The evidence for gun control is at best mixed. And given that, I can’t support violating the Constitution.
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There is a difference between a longgun and a handgun, yes, because they have very different uses. A rifle or shotgun is fairly useless for self-defence, especially in close quarters. And even then, it depends on the specific firearm. A .22 is not effective against anything other than a target or a rodent. Banning one is still a breach of the rights. If I’m in a dangerous area, and I have a carry
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permit, which am I going to want? A several foot long rifle that is easily deflected and seen, or a handgun that can be concealed and use in close quarters? This one use of a handgun, a terrible use, is not an indictment of all. Personal firearms are used in self-defence 2.3mln times per year. Similarly, why does one use of a firearm indict them all? A home pool is 100 times more likely to cause..
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the death of a child than a firearm in the home (believe it or not, it’s true). Do we then ban pools? Autos are involved in how many drunk driving deaths? Do we ban cars? No. We put the blame where it belongs – on the drunk who misused the care and betrayed the trust that society puts in all licensed drivers. Similarly, we must blame this person who misused the guns and betrayed our implicit trust
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RYN: It would be absurd and ungreatful if it wasn’t for the fact that New Line owe the companies the money, are claiming that they actually don’t and refuse to open the books and let the accounts be examined. You’re right that they took a risk on Jackson but considering the insane amounts of money and kudos he made them, I don’t have a lot of sympathy.
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