[MartinSE]

Between 70% and 90% of American favor universal background checks. And Congress won’t pass a law to require them.

[Taltarzac725]

Columnist: Stop using mental illness as scapegoat in mass shootings

It is too simple to just point at mental health.

According to a statement by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas, the overwhelming majority of people with mental illness are not violent. In fact, people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of violence, rather than the perpetrators. Less than 10 percent of shootings nationwide involved people with mental illness. When we rush to make a false correlation between mental illness and mass shootings, we’re actually keeping people from seeking much needed services and perpetuating stigma.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

I can relate. I was in Peoria, AZ (outside Phoenix) in the early 2000s. I was driving a cash register in a convenience store and frequently had the overnight shift. When someone came in openly carrying a gun it made more than my hair stand up. Our company had a policy if someone wanted to steal something, help them carry it out. Do not try to stop them. I never had to carry anything out, but a friend was shot and killed in another store because he tried to "protect" the company's money... he left a wife, and 2 grandchildren over $50 in the register.

Tough story. Perhaps the solution is that in the near future a convenience store will be operated by a ROBOTIC checkout clerk and a ROBOTIC stocking clerk. Perhaps no cash will be used, with every transaction by credit card in the future.
.....It's a problem needing a solution. I am sure that smart people are working on it. I saw somewhere that McDonalds was experimenting with stores without workers, 100% robotic.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Tough story. Perhaps the solution is that in the near future a convenience store will be operated by a ROBOTIC checkout clerk and a ROBOTIC stocking clerk. Perhaps no cash will be used, with every transaction by credit card in the future.
.....It's a problem needing a solution. I am sure that smart people are working on it. I saw somewhere that McDonalds was experimenting with stores without workers, 100% robotic.

Stopping gun violence by eliminating millions of jobs is not exactly a great idea.

[Kenswing]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Stopping gun violence by eliminating millions of jobs is not exactly a great idea.

It is if you're in favor of a nanny state like some around here seem to be.

[Normal]

Thank goodness Florida got on this issue after Parkland and passed much more rigorous laws for background checks and extended waiting to buy guns.

It would serve congress well to examine our laws. They are some of the strictest in the US and passed by a majority of conservatives and NRA members.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Woodbear

Guns will never go away........Attachment 93990

Guns need NOT go away. It doesn't have to be an "either / or" situation. There are fewer mass murders in the other G-7 countries than the US. The solution IS to have the PROPER guns in the hands of the military and the police. And a PROPER but different type of guns in CIVILIAN hands. The idea is to get the RIGHT mix and type of guns in the right hands.
.........People will remember Robb Elementary when it comes time to vote in November
........ Canada recently had a mass murder event. They are proposing eliminating all Civilian HANDGUNS and MILITARY STYLE long guns. That may or may not pass, but it shows that Canadians are FED UP with mass murders, school shootings, and gang-generated crime. It also shows that they are attacking the ROOT CAUSE of deadly crime.........the GUN. They are not FOOLED by politicians trying to DEFLECT the blame towards mental health and away from the GUN. They may not be as influenced by a gun lobby like the NRA in the US. I hope that they succeed like Australia, New Zealand, and other countries have in the past. Funny to see Canada being more innovative and seriously trying to seek a solution, while the US lags behind, acting like some 3rd world, violent, corrupt, and dead-end nation!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Better dealing with bullying and cyberbullying.

Bullying and cyberbullying go on in all other G-7 nations, but only the US has so MUCH GUN related crime and mass murders. US children will be AFRAID to go to school because of gang violence and their mental images of Robb Elementary. The G-7 nations have the same amount of exposure to mental health problems. Video games are the same. All elements of life in G-7 countries are the SAME as the US. The main difference is that the US has MORE accessible GUNS and therefore MORE violent crime!

[Trayderjoe]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

Between 70% and 90% of American favor universal background checks. And Congress won’t pass a law to require them.

Not sure where you get the range of “70-90%” are in favor of “universal background checks”.

Does everyone understand that these checks are meant for private sales? So tell me, since the present FEDERALLY REQUIRED background check system conducted by the FBI, doesn’t work properly, why not fix that system before adding more checks to a system that already doesn’t work?

I suppose this is in line with the “we need more gun laws” mantra. How about first ENFORCING the current laws?

Frankly I am tired of the, if “you” don’t support new gun laws then “you” and the NRA are condoning gun violence. If that is “your” mantra, then “you” must also accept that “you” support fentanyl drug abuse, human trafficking, 32 people per day (per the NHTSA) killed from drunk driving crashes, etc. if “you” aren’t supporting the enforcement of ALL current laws.

How about locking up criminals, support law enforcement, and work on HIPAA and how to address juvenile records in the CURRENT background check system? Will this stop ALL gun related shootings? Reality says no. Would it be is a start to reducing the occurrence? Yes and I would hope EVERYONE would agree at least on that.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Caymus

In the end, gangbangers and other criminals will always have guns.

Why then are children SAFER in schools in other countries than the US. They are doing things right, we are doing things wrong!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by PennBF

There are some of us who have lived and observed the period of destruction of our Society and the resultant Con regarding how to fixed it with a single act of change, e.g. gun control. We have seen the mental hospital's closed and the patients sent to the street., we have seen the church attendance significantly reduced, we have seen a tremendous growth in "entitlement" demands, we have seen people avoiding participation in work as they want needs given not earned, we have seen the Police and other authority groups, (e.g. teachers, etc) powers taken away, we have seen our children provided with electronic games which boast shootings, killings and the total disrespect for life, we have raised children who believe killing is a "game", we have made drugs legal or ignore their their use and effects on our lives, we have watched means of destroying total societies put in the hands of corrupt leaders, I am sure many more conditions can be identified by those who have also lived many many many years and are not fooled by the con that controlling guns will make our lives better. How many have heard a senior citizen say "I am glad I am living now as I would not want to be the children of today who have to deal with what we are leaving behind"? Let's not be fooled by the corrupt intellectuals who preach that gun controls will fix our problems but rather re-establish values that return us to a great society.

Wishful thinking will NOT drive the hands of time backward. We need to confront the problem as it exists today (Robb Elementry being an example). US gun ownership has gone up 30 % in the last 2 years. When we determine what is CAUSING that and DO SOMETHING about it, life will begin to return to the less violent 1950s days.
........Canada is TRYING to do something. The US is NOT trying.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Stopping gun violence by eliminating millions of jobs is not exactly a great idea.

A.I. and Robotics are coming whether anyone likes it or NOT. SOCIETY must ADJUST. Just like society adjusted from the horse and buggy to the automobile.

[MartinSE]

Originally Posted by Kenswing

Honestly? At this point I think you just like hearing yourself talk. If you can't get your point across with over 100 posts, you're just not going to. Now you're just trolling, throwing ridiculous things like plastic guns out there.

Thank you for your personal attack, in fact it was a pro-gun/anti-gun control poster that first brought up plastic guns as a way around gun controls. Funny how he was not accused of trolling.

So, I will just change plastic gun to bat or knife will get through which we have been assured are just as deadly as guns

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Yes, agreed. How people vote determines very important directions taken by people and their countries. You can vote for a dictator or you can vote against them and keep them out of power. My main point is that SOMETHING is brewing up in the US right now. The BIG INCREASE in US GUN OWNERSHIP in the last 2 years has me WORRIED. There is NOT a big increase in deer hunters or target shooters - there is SOMETHING else going on here. And I worry that it is DARK and SINISTER!
..........At the January 6th attempted OVERTHROW of the US government, you could see many flags. One of the most prominent flags had an image of a military-style AR-15-looking rifle. This has become the defacto SYMBOL of the dark proud-boy-type anarchy-oriented sick insurrectionists. Jan 6th PORTENDS a situation where citizens will have to choose between having a DEMOCRACY and NOT a dictatorship - OR having a strict interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and LOVING the proud-boy-anarchist and their SYMBOL of HATE and children's blood.......the AR killing machine.
..........you decide!

Oh please, there is no revolution being planned!! It doesn't take a rocket scientist or an IQ above that of a stupid chimpanzee to figure out what is going on. People are scared about rising violent crime and the government's inability or intentional reluctance to prosecute criminals to fullest extent of the law.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

Oh please, there is no revolution being planned!! It doesn't take a rocket scientist or an IQ above that of a stupid chimpanzee to figure out what is going on. People are scared about rising violent crime and the government's inability or intentional reluctance to prosecute criminals to fullest extent of the law.