A Problem with Open Carry Laws
 

Yesterday my hometown suffered yet another senseless gun tragedy. In this case 4 people were killed including the shooter. I will post a link to a report by the Denver Post but paste a paragraph included in the report because this tragedy might have been avoided.

Bettis said she recognized the gunman as her neighbor — whom she didn't know by name — and that before the initial slaying she saw him roaming outside with a rifle. She called 911 to report the man, but a dispatcher explained that Colorado has an open carry law that allows public handling of firearms.

The rights of ordinary citizens are being pushed aside by the gun lobby! If the police had responded to this call 3 innocent victims might have been spared.

Colorado Springs gunman, victims ID'd; police quickly confronted, shot suspect - The Denver Post

Guns do not load, aim and fire themselves. The typical hunter or other gun carrier does not commit mass murder.

This would be a better avenue to explore for the source of the problem, especially in Colorado:

Street drugs and schizophrenia

Overview: Use of street drugs (including LSD,methamphetamine,marijuana/hash/cannabis) and alcohol have been linked with significantly increased probability of developing psychosis and schizophrenia.

This link has been documented in over 30 different scientific studies (studies done mostly in the UK, Australia and Sweden) over the past 20 years. In one example, a study interviewed 50,000 members of the Swedish Army about their drug consumption and followed up with them later in life. Those who were heavy consumers of cannabis at age 18 were over 600% more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia over the next 15 years than those did not take it. (see diagram below). Experts estimate that between 8% and 13% of all schizophrenia cases are linked to marijuna / cannabis use during teen years.

Marijuana, Cannabis and Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia.com

Another useless argument for more laws. Criminals do not let laws govern their lives, Never have. If laws prevented any crime the prisons would be empty.

Then the person making the 911 call...
 

should have mentioned the person with the rifle was acting in a threatening manner. If one person has a car and drives into a crowd and kills 5 people we do not outlaw driving in public.

You can not predict some killings by people who are nuts and if they decide they're going to do others extreme bodily harm and act normal till they commit the act it matters not what they use for a weapon. The fact is guns save more people than they harm.

I fault the dispatcher for not sending an officer to check it out. Open carry notwithstanding, the officer would have ID'd the man, and run him for wants and warrants, and checked the weapon for theft.:024:

Unless the officer had probably cause (breaking a law, etc.), the person open carrying would not have to identify himself.

I suspect if this shooter had murder on his mind an officer would have hopefully recognized some sort of bizarre behavior that may have stopped I
this heinous crime. I agree the dispatcher and the person reporting the man carrying the rifle failed miserably in their communication.

She should have said that he looked like he was getting ready to prey on people. I do not see any easy answers here but fewer guns accessible to the mentally ill would be some kind of a strategy. How you make these less accessible would vary from community-to-community. I would expect that more programs of various kinds in each community would help through the churches, libraries, YMCAs, YWCAs, schools, etc. Volunteer programs that emphasize more community involvement of people looking out for others. Make people with problems like this Colorado Springs man want to help others rather than hurt them. Add more gun safety programs as well. More involvement of the National Alliance on Mental Illness too so that people understand better about the problems involving those with various mental illnesses. Very few of the large number of people with some kind of recurring depression or more serious problems ever become violent. https://www.nami.org/ https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Info...cs-Fact-Sheets

Giving people a reason to hope would help. Why linking depression to violent crime could be a red herring | Shirley Reynolds | Comment is free | The Guardian

I do have a problem with the NRA in not helping to curb the flow of weapons onto the streets of the US. Some of these weapons do not belong anywhere but in some armory or in the hands of the police/National Guard/US Army. If there are fewer weapons of this sort out there, then the criminals too would have a harder time getting them as would people with murder on their minds.

[QUOTE=Taltarzac725;1139693]She should have said that he looked like he was getting ready to prey on people. I do not see any easy answers here but fewer guns accessible to the mentally ill would be some kind of a strategy. How you make these less accessible would vary from community-to-community. I would expect that more programs of various kinds in each community would help through the churches, libraries, YMCAs, YWCAs, schools, etc. Volunteer programs that emphasize more community involvement of people looking out for others. Make people with problems like this Colorado Springs man want to help others rather than hurt them. Add more gun safety programs as well. More involvement of the National Alliance on Mental Illness too so that people understand better about the problems involving those with various mental illnesses. Very few of the large number of people with some kind of recurring depression or more serious problems ever become violent. https://www.nami.org/ https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Info...cs-Fact-Sheets

Giving people a reason to hope would help. Why linking depression to violent crime could be a red herring | Shirley Reynolds | Comment is free | The Guardian

I do have a problem with the NRA in not helping to curb the flow of weapons onto the streets of the US. Some of these weapons do not belong anywhere but in some armory or in the hands of the police/National Guard/US Army. If there are fewer weapons of this sort out there, then the criminals too would have a harder time getting them as would people with murder on their minds.[/QUOTE]

Let's just lock up everyone. Then we know we got all the criminals off the streets.

Those who would like certain gun rights are in fact ordinary citizens as well. So nobody is pushing anybody aside at all. Just adding or deleting rights that others may have or not have or want or not want. There is no negotiaiting of give us this right and push another aside. It is an emotional decsription and not factual.

Gun rights are there for any ordinary citizen to advantage of or not!!

On the open carry issue. It usually pertains to handguns, although not limited to them.
Open carry or not, if there was anybody meandering around with a rifle I would call the authorities and describe the actions as suspect warranting a verification.

People need to get over trying to not offend someone when they execute a see something say something situation. We need to err on the side of being safe not worrying about offending someone.

Sorta like snakes in a way. Don't waste time trying to figure if it is poisonous or not. Treat them all as if poisonous until knowledgeably determing other wise.

Not my intent... There is a problem with a law if this man's right to Open Carry trumps the general publics safety

I don't recall any verbiage in the 2nd amendment to a right to open carry correct if I am wrong.

You just keep believing that.:a20:

Blaming Guns for these shootings is like blaming Automobiles for Automobile Accidents.

Except an automobile's purpose is transportation not killing and maiming. There are weapons that are more appropriate on battlefields than on the streets of various cities. Common sense should show which guns/rifles/pistols these are.

Criminals will still get their hands on these but not as easily if there are more enforced laws. The mentally ill would get less of these in their control too if there were more well written laws that take into account the rights of those with various mental illnesses.

So sick and tired of these ultra liberal anti gun people wanting more laws thinking the laws will protect them and solve everything. How stupid can you be. Apparently pretty darn stupid. The criminals and crazy people out there do not follow any laws let alone gun laws. Guns are not at fault people are! Why can you understand this?

As for open carry there are good and bad points. Most people who carry a gun prefer to keep it concealed for obvious reasons.

Now we hear that Hillary favors the government taking all guns from the people regardless of the 2nd amendment. Get ready for the second American Revolution folks. How many people will die then?