The shooter was shot within 60 seconds, and still managed to kill 9 people. If he didn't have a gun (say he had a knife instead) some of if not all of those people could've been saved. I do genuinely want to understand your point of view, but I just can't see how banning guns wouldn't help
You just said it! The shooter was shot within 60 seconds! THAT’S why good guys with guns are needed, whether they be cops or not! And cops aren’t always so close by, so having armed citizens around is a good thing! And have you noticed that the vast majority of shootings happen in gun-free zones where the shooter knows they won’t have much (if any) opposition?
Also, look at the places with the strictest gun control laws, like Chicago - some of the highest crime rates in the country!
When you ban anything, the law-abiding citizens will obey, but the criminals won’t follow the law because they’re criminals. It’s already illegal to kill people, but does does that stop these nut jobs? NO! So they obviously don’t care about rules! So the bad guys will find ways to get guns and the good guys won’t have them. How are we supposed to defend ourselves if we aren’t allowed the best tool for the job?
And even if we were successful of keeping 100% of guns out of the US, look at the UK! They banned guns and criminals started using knives. They banned knives (and carrying any sort of pointy object in public like scissors and screwdrivers - so much for shopping for DIY and school supplies!) and they moved to acid.
Obviously it’s not the weapon but the PERSON who’s doing it! How about we focus on THEM and less about the inanimate object? Like that old saying goes: “Guns don’t kill people - PEOPLE kill people!” Let’s look at the root problem and solve that!
And if you think a knife can’t do as much damage as a gun, you are SORELY mistaken! You can conceal a knife attack MUCH more easily than a gun shot, so you don’t get that fast reaction of people running away to safety. And knives don’t run out of cuts like guns run out of bullets.
And let me show you these:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2570996/At-27-dead-109-injured-gang-knife-wielding-men-attack-train-station-China.html - 33 dead and 143 wounded
https://crimeresearch.org/2014/04/a-note-on-mass-victim-knife-attacks/ - 16 year old was able to wound at least 24 people with a knife in just 5 minutes
http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/tag/mass-stabbing/ - One list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Knife_attacks - A bigger list
https://www.businessinsider.com/switzerland-gun-laws-rates-of-gun-deaths-2018-2#switzerland-is-obsessed-with-getting-shooting-right-every-year-it-holds-a-shooting-contest-for-kids-aged-13-to-17-1 - and why Switzerland rocks!
Also, I had started a discussion about gun control and whatnot HERE (and I’m aaaaaaaaalmost certain this Anon is the same person), so I figure this is a good way to get this out of my draft box. I’ll put it under the cut because it got LONG!!
**NOTE** Everything from here on out is a continuation from the “HERE” link above, so if you want to know what in the world I’m talking about, I suggest you scan that quick.
Um, guns are totally defensive items! Just because people use them offensively doesn’t mean that they can’t help protect yourself and others from those people!
Defensive is not the same as preventative.
And there are also many more examples of good people (whether they be cops or civilians) stopping shooters. Will the shooter get some shots off? Most likely, yes. But how many fewer people will they shoot if they get shot themselves? As for friendly fire, that’s always a possibility if there are people who are not hiding/running away from the shooter (though of course people will follow the adage of run/hide/fight with regards to active shooters), making themselves greater targets. I think you’re imagining the good guys going at it like westerns where they just recklessly shoot in the general direction of the bad guy and hope they hit, as opposed to not shooting until you’re sure of your target.
I totally agree that we should keep guns out of the hands of people who are more likely to use them incorrectly! I’m not saying we should make people have guns or give guns out like candy, just that good and responsible people should not be stopped from having guns! And we already have background checks in place to do that. And those stores or people who don’t do that need to be stopped because that is irresponsible. Also, there needs to be better follow through with enforcement, unlike the total incompetence that happened at Parkland:
And yeah, we do have the highest gun ownership in the world. You want to know what else we have? The 28th spot for gun murders. Those who have the highest gun murder rates? Countries with MUCH lower gun ownership [full set of statistics here]. More gun facts can be seen HERE, including where they mention that when gun ownership went up by 56%, gun violence went down by nearly half. And here’s a fun post that talks about the amount of gun violence in the US (most of these points are made from a tracker that lists EVERYTHING, including “non-fatal [and even non-injury] incidents and AIRSOFT/BBGUN incidents as ‘Data.’”). See Wyoming? Highest gun ownership in the country and not a single “shooting” incident. And don’t forget that many of the gun death statistics that come out after mass shootings include suicides and gang violence where the crime is targeted and not a spree.
And speaking of sketchy statistics and the statistics you NEVER hear about:
Okay, I was confused about punitive vs. preventative at first because punitive is not a word I often hear. First, basic definitions:
Preventative - undertaken to forestall anticipated hostile action (aka actually physically stopping something from happening)
Punitive - inflicting, involving, or aiming at punishment (aka consequence after the fact, like the punishment for breaking a law)
So, using your traffic laws analogy:
A concrete barrier physically stops a car from crossing over to the other lane. PREVENTATIVE.
The law says not to cross the double yellow line on the road and if you do then there’s a hefty fine, maybe more consequences. PUNITIVE.
There’s nothing PHYSICALLY stopping you from crossing the double yellow line, but there’s INCENTIVE to not do it because of the punitive consequences of the law. No law actively prevents people from breaking them! They provide a reason for people to keep the laws.
(and like I said above the cut - law abiding citizens will follow these laws, but criminals will not).
divebombmod reblogged your post:Turns out? Long-distance road trips go a bit...
By “Acceptable highway speeds,” do you mean ‘posted speed limit’ or 'what the police won’t stop you for?“
Technically the second one, since keeping up with the flow of traffic is ideal, so long as you don’t dip into the reckless driving zone.
(I tried like five different approaches at making this into a joke, but each time the punchline came out to “the cops police arrest Amish for confessing to a drive crime he didn’t actually do.”)
So this comes from THIS post (Give me 5 characters and a number, and I will put them in preference order for that situation) and Situation 1 is: Invite to dinner with parents.
So here we go!
1. Renarin is quiet and unassuming, so he’s probably a safe bet. Also, since he can heal people, he can fix my dad’s hearing and Parkinson’s, so that would definitely get him kudos!
2. Adolin is a really awesome stand-up guy, the kind of guy you totally wouldn’t mind meeting your parents because he’s just like that. Also, with his Shards, think of all the wood he could cut!!!!
3. Shallan, while she might be slightly unstable at times, what with the whole multiple personalities and whatnot, she would make a great guest (or at least make herself a great guest depending on the situation) and she could also illusion our house/property to give us ideas of what we wanted to do with it; a blueprint as it were.
4. Kaladin is Mr. Broody-Pants so he might make that dinner REALLY uncomfortable. He’s honorable and great...but my GOSH the baggage that guy has! He rarely smiles and he exudes trauma!!
5. Hoid is... Well, let’s put it this way: I love Hoid. He’s one of my all time favorite characters and holy crap we could worldhop with him and it would be AMAZING!!! I very nearly put him as my first choice just because of how simply awesome he is. However...this is HOID we’re talking about!! Knowing him, this dinner would turn into some sort of quest to save the Cosmere and I don’t know if I’m ready for that type of commitment! :P
And now, @divebombmod, I see your ask and raise you this one:
Hoid, Dalinar, Szeth, Rock, Syl: Situation 14
(And remember, no spoilers for the stuff I haven’t read yet!! I just finished chapter 90 so please bear that in mind!!!)
