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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 7, 2018 14:46:05 GMT
It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so bloody sad.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 7, 2018 17:23:04 GMT
A contrario a sick (Belgian) bastard murdered 2 cops and one bystander this week in liege. He attacked with a knife but inmates say now he had been trying to get his hands on firearms. God knows what the body count would have been if he had had access to automatic rifles.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 6, 2018 13:34:57 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Aug 6, 2018 14:03:43 GMT
Yes, obviously violent people can kill with knives, with motor vehicles or other things, but except in such cases as the Nice killer (I think he actually was a truck driver) having guns or explosives greatly multiplies the death and grave injury count.
The 2nd Amendment to the US constitution is more restrictive: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." But still, it is ridiculous in the 21st century.
Nobody here is preventing hunters here from owning rifles; they simply have to be registered. So do cars and many other potentially dangerous things.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2018 16:23:20 GMT
An old friend recently posted a news story with the headline "34 shot, including 4 young children, in 2 violent weeks in New Orleans". Naturally I immediately posted airing my frustration over the lack of meaningful gun control. Another reader wrote: I agree with more monitoring of mental heath background checks but am not sure what "gun control" legislation would actually help the situation. I support our Castle doctrine legislation in Texas where a homeowner can defend his home against an intruder. Agree that AR 57 sales should be more restricted. "Bad guys" seem to always have access to guns unfortunately.This is pretty common thinking, unfortunately. What makes me want to run my head into a brick wall about that last sentence is that cops in NO have told me that most of the guns on the street in that city were stolen from law-abiding nervous homeowners who had the guns to protect themselves.
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Post by bjd on Aug 7, 2018 8:43:08 GMT
I must admit that I find the use of the term "bad guys" really annoying. Who are the "good guys"? Those with guns they don't need? It makes it sound like some old western with guys in white hats and black hats.
And more "mental health background checks"? With the reduction of what health coverage there was, how many people with real mental health issues are in some kind of listing that is accessible to gun merchants? What about the gun shows where people go for a day out with the family and buy guns? Pink ones for the little lady. I'm sure the sellers will say," come back in 3 days and we'll see if we can sell you this gun".
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Post by lagatta on Aug 7, 2018 12:15:02 GMT
They seem to overlook very common domestic violence, often among family or friends who might not even have a criminal record, or just a minor one for non-violent crime (such as shoplifting or minor fraud). If there are guns, such rows can easily turn fatal.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 7, 2018 13:39:20 GMT
I kind of regret that when I had to empty my parents' house in Florida and put quite a bit of the contents in storage for my brother to pick up, I put my father's handgun and ammunition in a special box labelled as such. I don't even know where he got the gun, but it was for "protection." Would he have ever used it? I doubt it. My brother was probably thrilled to take possession of it, even though he is just as likely to never use it, but I probably should have thrown it in the trash.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 11, 2018 0:33:52 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 24, 2018 18:57:25 GMT
This is one of those articles that you wind up re-reading whole paragraphs because you cannot believe the psychotic stupidity of what is being proposed. Unfortunately, I am all too able to believe that the squirmy low-life Republicans will refuse to do anything to stop this madness. Honestly, this made me nauseated -- it seems proof that the right-wing crazies are so in control that there is no remedy. www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/us/politics/devos-guns-in-schools.html
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 7, 2019 18:27:54 GMT
... the main lawyer involved in passing on [Los Vegas shooting gunman Stephen Paddock's] nearly $1.4 million estate to the families of the 58 people he slaughtered at an outdoor country music festival is facing a quandary. Should the firearms be sold to raise as much money as possible for the bereaved, or would it be more appropriate to destroy the guns in an emblematic rejection of the kind of violence that Mr. Paddock carried out?Sorry, the only story I could find on this is in the NYTimes, which has a paywall. This is a perfect Port & Starboard subject, though. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/us/stephen-paddock-guns-firearms.html
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 13, 2021 18:24:07 GMT
I read that a number of elected federal officials in Washington are outraged that they suddenly have to pass through metal detectors to enter the Capitol building. I don't understand the problem since they always thought it was just fine for the rest of us to go through those detectors. It turned out that a number of the people were found to be carrying handguns ("We need to protect ourselves after what happened!).
What outraged me, though, is that some of these people were allowed to enter the building without going through the metal detectors if their protest was loud enough.
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Post by casimira on Jan 13, 2021 22:25:36 GMT
If any true justice is served, those persons responsible for the violence that besieged the 1/6/21 Capitol riot are found guilty they will be classified felons and stripped of their 2nd Amendment rights along with their right to vote. The irony of it all...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 13, 2021 22:29:41 GMT
That is well and good, but I was talking about senators and representatives who entered the Capitol today feeling they had the right not to be screened for weapons.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2021 1:10:31 GMT
some of these people were allowed to enter the building without going through the metal detectors if their protest was loud enough. I was talking about senators and representatives who entered the Capitol today feeling they had the right not to be screened for weapons. This makes me want to foam at the mouth. However, considering that the US treats the repeated mass murders of schoolchildren with "thoughts and prayers", are we really surprised? It keeps happening because of the sick gun culture in the US, to which these elected representatives cater. Blatant lawlessness get prettied up into "defending our rights". Several lawmakers simply walked around the devices. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert said, “You can’t stop me. I’m on my way to a vote.” source, with even more outrageous examples
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Post by casimira on Jan 14, 2021 16:18:17 GMT
That is well and good, but I was talking about senators and representatives who entered the Capitol today feeling they had the right not to be screened for weapons. I know what you were referring to Kerouac and wasn't dismissing it. Simply making a random comment about the overall situation.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 28, 2021 21:00:52 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 28, 2021 21:22:40 GMT
What an absolute tosser.
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Post by questa on Apr 29, 2021 0:33:55 GMT
The 28-29th April is the 25th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. 35 people were killed and 23 seriously injured. The killer is serving 35 life sentences in solitary confinement with family only to visit. The whole gun control legislation had a radical re-write, the government paid out thousands of dollars buying back guns of certain types (I've forgotten details) and an amnesty was granted to allow illegal guns to be handed in.TV showed truckloads of guns being destroyed in bonfires.
The survivors are having a small ceremony today. I have heard that someone in US wants to make a film about it...not a doco but feature film. I find that revolting and a sure way to encourage the copycats.
I still feel proud that Oz had the guts to take bold action on gun control.
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Post by onlyMark on May 26, 2021 5:28:47 GMT
"Texas to allow unlicensed carrying of handguns." www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57239610".....would allow Texans to better defend themselves in public and abolish unnecessary limits on the constitutional right to bear arms. "This is a simple restoration of Texans' constitutional right under the Second Amendment, a right of the people to keep and bear arms," state Senator Charles Schwertner, a Republican, said on Monday." I'm sure that'll go well for them. The view that to overcome the problem of bad people with guns is to give everyone else guns makes me wonder what will they do to control the situation when everyone carries a gun and there are still mass shootings. Allow them to carry two guns?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 26, 2021 5:53:59 GMT
Don't you know it's the teacher's fault when people are shot in school shootings? She should have been armed and ready to shoot. Seriously, that is their asshole logic. I read a version of that article about an hour ago in The Guardian - - read it with my mouth hanging open in disbelief.
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Post by onlyMark on May 26, 2021 7:39:47 GMT
Since posting this I went on FB and saw your post. It seems we think alike.
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Post by casimira on May 26, 2021 16:40:19 GMT
The number of gun related crimes in NOLA is so out of control that I can't keep up with it. Since I haven't been reading the newspaper or listening to the radio or watching TV I only hear snippets of the previous days incidents Many are gang related retaliatory shootings and the victims (the ones who survive) know who it is who shot them but will not reveal the shooter's identity. Then, there are umpteen carjackings that occur on a daily basis in upscale areas where out of nowhere an armed individual threatens the driver about to enter or leave their vehicle and who usually have a partner to serve as a lookout person. A lot of them have occurred in broad daylight with the vast majority of them late at night or early morning hours. Some of them are in neighborhoods that have hired private security services and yet, the villains seem to know just when and where to hit.
I have not heard of any official statements from the police superintendent, the mayor or district attorney addressing the issue. Many of the perpetrators of these crimes are juveniles and even if they are caught usually only spend a very limited time in jail before being released. They know this ahead of time so they don't seem to care. If anything, it gives them hero status among their peers.
I remember when my husband was working for the city as a paramedic and would be at the scene of a shooting. When asked if the victim knew who the person was that shot him or her, the answer was always "some dude". It wasn't long before police and paramedics came up with the phrase, "this some dude is a mighty m'fer", he really gets around".
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 15, 2021 15:46:50 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 15, 2021 15:59:43 GMT
Yes, I saw that photo in the news, too.
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Post by casimira on Jul 15, 2021 16:13:19 GMT
"Words fail" is about the only thing to be said about this.
NOLA continues to have rampant shootings, car jackings and armed robberies. I dread reading or listening to the daily local news.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 1, 2021 13:33:32 GMT
Another mass shooting in a school. Serms a father bought a SigSauer pistol. 15 years old son got his hand on it and went to school discharging about 12 bullets. Killed 3, several mire wounded inc in critical condition. Bastard surrended without difficulty with 7 rounds in the gun. Parents hired an attorney and forbade cops to talk to the kid, CNN says. Sick of it. The victims are 14, 16 and 17... an ocean of tears is being released as i write.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 1, 2021 21:14:55 GMT
It just goes on and on and on. And of course controlling the number of weapons in the general population is out of the question -- let's stick with thoughts and prayers. Sickening.
Coincidentally, when this most recent school shooting story broke, I happened to look at Yahoo news, an outlet I usually avoid. Over a period of several days it reported one shooting incident after another, none of which were front page news, presumably because none was bad enough. Apparently the loss of "only" one or two human lives at a time isn't enough to bother anyone.
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Post by bjd on Dec 2, 2021 7:27:15 GMT
Of course the current US Supreme court is too busy discussing limiting abortion to deal with gun control. Or is gun control never on the books in the US?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 2, 2021 17:48:16 GMT
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