Seems somebody at the Miami Herald wants you dead

[Tonchi]

Originally Posted by Skunks

Shouldn't we address the root causes (what makes people want to shoot up our schools), rather than the symptoms (them, armed, in a school)?

You must be kidding. Nothing will even be considered along those lines until somebody finally walks into CONGRESS and starts blazing away. There should be no shortage of volunteers for this honor. THEN we will see more "investigations" and legislation then we've had in the last 50 years

[Skunks]

Tonchi-

Yes, but I suspect more than a couple would include suggestions to permit senators and representatives to carry concealed weapons.

UG-

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

When an armed crazy shows up, there is no time to consider "escalation." He's done all the escalation there can be, as it's now life and death.[/i]

I have had no training in the handling of firearms, or in how to behave around people who are armed, or in how to know when to use a firearm that you do have. But here is my thought: If someone in the room with you is armed and crazy, and you pull out your gun, that provides an immediate threat against them. It changes the armed crazy into an armed, threatened crazy. Which I rate as an individual with a higher chance of acting violently. They have an imminent need to act; that is, to shoot you. Escalation.

Address the root causes? There is but one: mental illness. You can't pass a law against insanity; our entire legal theory militates against that.

"Mental illness" is not, by any definition, singular. It is a broad concept.

And no, you cannot legislate against 'it'. But you can mitigate it, prevent it, treat it, study it, understand it.

Originally Posted by BigV

My schools are Weapons-Free Zones. It will stay that way.

I support that.

Originally Posted by Tonchi

You must be kidding. Nothing will even be considered along those lines until somebody finally walks into CONGRESS and starts blazing away. There should be no shortage of volunteers for this honor. THEN we will see more "investigations" and legislation then we've had in the last 50 years

Sign me up!

(That was a Joke to anyone from Homeland Security who is reading this )

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by BigV
My schools are Weapons-Free Zones. It will stay that way.

You can try but that's exactly the reason these wackos are drawn to schools...... gun free, safe environment to act out their fantasies.

Arm Willie the Janitor so he doesn't have to rely on his bagpipes.

[Hippikos]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

You can try but that's exactly the reason these wackos are drawn to schools...... gun free, safe environment to act out their fantasies.

Arm Willie the Janitor so he doesn't have to rely on his bagpipes.

With this logic, EVERYBODY should have a gun?

I remember Saddam gave thousands AK47's away in Iraq just before the invasion. See the carnage that's happening now.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Hippikos

With this logic, EVERYBODY should have a gun?

I remember Saddam gave thousands AK47's away in Iraq just before the invasion. See the carnage that's happening now.

Obviouly the guns caused it, since there were no problems in Iraq before then.

Not "EVERYBODY" should have a gun...criminals should be excluded. And people who aren't willing or able to handle their weapons responsibly. Beyond that it should be a matter of personal choice.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

... Nothing will even be considered along those lines until somebody finally walks into CONGRESS and starts blazing away. ...

Russell Eugene Weston Jr tried on July 24, 1998

[Hippikos]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Obviouly the guns caused it, since there were no problems in Iraq before then.

Not "EVERYBODY" should have a gun...criminals should be excluded. And people who aren't willing or able to handle their weapons responsibly. Beyond that it should be a matter of personal choice.

What do you think it caused? Smoking waterpipes? 300-600.000 people died in Iraq the last 3 years, of which 70% due to internal violence. This is much more than during Saddam times.

The US has the highest gun related deaths. Do you really think distributing more guns will lower that figure?

As I mentioned before Canada has about the same gun possession, yet much lower gun related death. Something to think about.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Hippikos

As I mentioned before Canada has about the same gun possession...

Oh, come on. After spending billions of dollars on a failed gun registry they have "about the same gun posession"? Spare me.

The current violence in Iraq has zero to do with Saddam passing out AKs to the civilans and everything to do with decades of Baathist tyrrany and oppression. It's mostly Sunnis trying to get back the dominance they had and Shiites trying to make sure that doesn't happen. And both of them feel religiously justified because the "other guys" are kufar.

If you think it wouldn't be happening if Saddam hadn't passed out small arms you're deluding yourself. Weapons don't cause violence any more than matches cause arson; that's an animistic superstition. People with violent intent commit violence.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by BigV

My schools are Weapons-Free Zones. It will stay that way.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

You can try but that's exactly the reason these wackos are drawn to schools...... gun free, safe environment to act out their fantasies.

Originally Posted by Hippikos

With this logic, EVERYBODY should have a gun?

I remember Saddam gave thousands AK47's away in Iraq just before the invasion. See the carnage that's happening now.

If you disagree with my opinion....schools, being gun free zones, are a safe place to raise hell.....tell me why these wackos rarely chose police stations or military bases for their terrorizing?
Please note I did not say give everyone a gun or that schools should not be gun free zones.......except for arming Willie the janitor.

[Hippikos]

# For 1987-96, on average, 65% of homicides in the U.S. involved firearms, compared to 32% for Canada
# For 1987-96, the average firearm homicide rate was 5.7 per 100,000 in the U.S., compared to 0.7 per 100,000 for Canada.
# For 1989-95, the average handgun homicide rate was 4.8 per 100,000 in the U.S., compared to 0.3 per 100,000 for Canada. Handguns were involved in more than half (52%) of the homicides in the U.S., compared to 14% in Canada.

People with violent intent commit violence.

I ask you again: do you think distributing more guns will decrease gun related deaths?

The current violence in Iraq has zero to do with Saddam passing out AKs to the civilans and everything to do with decades of Baathist tyrrany and oppression. It's mostly Sunnis trying to get back the dominance they had and Shiites trying to make sure that doesn't happen. And both of them feel religiously justified because the "other guys" are kufar.

So, what do YOU think happened with the thousands AK47 that Saddam passed out? They use it only on New Years Eve? Read this:

The NGO, Doctors for Iraq, reports that it has seen a massive increase in the number of patients with bullet wounds in Baghdad. It says the victims are usually men between 18 and 45 years old, and that most are killed or injured by automatic weapons fired at close range.

Nowhere is the chaos and carnage caused by the misuse of military assault rifles more clearly demonstrated than in the current situation in Iraq. Violent deaths are increasing dramatically in Baghdad.

Weapons don't cause violence any more than matches cause arson

Yeah, there are plenty of these platitudes. I guess you use the infamous Ted Kennedy quote the next post, or how about this one: "Guns only have two enemies: rust and totalitarians", or "Know guns...know peace, know safety", you're free to use them.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If you disagree with my opinion....schools, being gun free zones, are a safe place to raise hell.....tell me why these wackos rarely chose police stations or military bases for their terrorizing?
Please note I did not say give everyone a gun or that schools should not be gun free zones.......except for arming Willie the janitor.

Post offices are not gun free zones, are they?

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Skunks

If someone in the room with you is armed and crazy, and you pull out your gun, that provides an immediate threat against them. It changes the armed crazy into an armed, threatened crazy. Which I rate as an individual with a higher chance of acting violently. They have an imminent need to act; that is, to shoot you. Escalation.

The theory is that if you're pulling out your gun, you are also half a second away from pulling the trigger on the armed crazy. The armed crazy might take hostages or just wave the gun around, but the law-abiding gun owner doesn't pull it out unless it's time to shoot right now.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

Post offices are not gun free zones, are they?

Yes, they are. At least that's the theory, according to one postal regulation. There's another that appears to create a conflict in the case of "for a lawful purpose", which is the case with most school victim disarmament zone laws too.

Kinda funny...when my dad was postal worker in the 1930's-1940's, he was issued a revolver sidearm. That was before he became a clergyman...

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Ibram

I highly doubt he knows me, let alone has enough against me to want me dead.

Which as you point out is pretty stupid -- he's not thinking things through.

Originally Posted by Ibram

He's stupid, but that doesnt mean he wants me dead. Youre stupid and you dont want me dead, right?

Not quite right: I'm smart and don't want you dead. For a small instance, I spell don't better than you do, consistently. My writing is thus that much clearer than yours -- you've got this little problem -- a solecism, yes -- with contractions. You ought to know better, so see to it, and no bellyachin'.

A child might think he ought to call me stupid when he can't write so hot -- but kid: I crossed puberty, mmm... 37 years ago.