They should have a thoughts and prayers drive. See if they can gather a million thoughts and prayers, and get the governor of Texas to deliver it to grieving families in person.

The only sure things in American life are death and Christianity.

Dave N. wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 3:39 pmI have no desire to own his old glock or whatever.

I'll take it.


Someone should invent a gun that shoots guns. Not like guns as projectiles; I mean a gun that destroys guns.

The greatest of American disgraces is knowing that no amount of rage or protest or devastation or loss will change anything about this country’s relationship to guns or life. Nothing will change about a craven political system where policy is sold to the highest bidder. Language is inadequate for expressing this lack of civility. - Roxanne Gay, New York Times 5/26/22.

That's the thing, right? Everybody knows for sure nothing will be done by now so it's not even worth wasting your breath. Gonna draft another bill Democrats? Pfff, don't even bother. You know it won't pass, we know it won't pass. Just don't even bother. Now is not the time to politicise blah blah

The only thing that's likely to happen to US gun laws is the Supreme Court strikes down even more restrictions. Nothing else is possible except more guns, more massacres.

So yeah, thoughts and fuckin' prayers, Gunlanders.

motorbike guy wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 9:20 am Nothing will change about a craven political system where policy is sold to the highest bidder.

This is the problem, 100%. Get private money out of politics and watch things change for the better.

I've no problem with hunting rifles and single shot sport pistols in the right settings (like, for sport), everything else should be off-limits to the general public. I'd prefer all were off-limits, but I'd settle for the former option, too.

School shootings from 2009 to 2018:

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2

288

You Americans are fucked up.

agiant wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 4:41 pm School shootings from 2009 to 2018:

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2

288

You Americans are fucked up.

Guilty as charged. Only the way it's panned out is everyone else here has to pay the price for select politicians (mostly Republicans) who are in the pocket of the gun lobby and NRA...not to mention the centrist/Dem politicians too afraid to confront them. Any of said people who assume a solemn and conciliatory air in the wake of these horrific tragedies are, at best, talking out of both sides of their mouths. They should be ashamed. Ditto anyone who votes for and enables them. We can't have it both ways now. The genie is out of the bottle and has been for some time. At the very least an assault weapons ban is in order, ASAP. There is a direct correlation between their availability and the frequency of these shootings. The facts back this up.

America is indeed a strange place. If we had the "freedom" so often associated with our supposed way of life, kids and teachers would be able to go to school without having to worry about this. Parents would be able to rest easier too. Instead such shootings have become weirdly normalized and are often rationalized as some sort of sick "cost of doing business" or "collateral damage," a mere unfortunate side effect of the right to bear arms...something that has more to do with "mental illness" than the rampant availability of killing contraptions.

The governor of my state, Dildohead DeSantis, wants in earnest to enact legislation that will allow open carry of any firearms without a permit. This is one of the most psychopathic things I've ever heard. These same White Christian ethnostate nationalists who get real squeamish about the mere mention of the word "gay" or the pronouns associated with non-binary folk think it's somehow a great idea if more and more people here are able to walk around brandishing unregulated firearms. As they say, that'll end well.

Background on me:

I grew up with some gun exposure, it was actually more safety and cleaning than actually shooting. 22 target practice with my dad who grew up with some pheasant hunting in upstate NY with his dad, and at summer camp.

My wife went to Columbine during the shooting. Her experience was far from the worst among the survivors, but it would be fair to say she was traumatized.

Couple thoughts on guns:

First, this assault weapons ban talk is tricky. The gun nuts love pointing out that what non-gun nuts call assault weapons is somewhat arbitrarily defined. It would be easier to focus on magazine size, but that still would be of limited benefit because even with smaller magazines, psychos can switch them out. This is why I'm in favor of the even more politically difficult semi-automatic weapons ban. In fact I think we should toss all pistols/handguns while we're at it, no revolvers, none of it. Pistols are responsible for more gun deaths than assault weapons because of crimes of passion, gang shootings, and suicides.

What is not crap is hunting deer and elk. Introduction of wolves and bow hunting are both good things, but we still need humans to help take the place of the predators we've removed and manage their populations. This will inevitably require some rifle hunters. Those folks do not need, and should be smart enough not to want an AR-15 to hunt an elk with. Nothing about those weapons is any good for hunting. They are designed to maim as many enemy soldiers as possible. This should leave bolt action rifles for deer/elk hunters and double barrel shotguns for the fowl.

So in this imaginary world of mine, heavily regulated shotguns and rifles are only in the hands of hunters (I have a notion this is the GB way, limeys and scots help me out here?). Confronting the inexplicable insanity and evil that is a component of our society it's hard not to imagine a certain frequency of shootings, but the casualty totals could be 80% lower. Ideally the cold impracticality of conducting a one man assault on a building with these hunting weapons would disincentivize the homicidally inclined from even trying.

Now if only we can get a popular political movement banning all semi-automatic weapons and pistols going.....

I own two shot guns for hunting ducks.

If you can't defend your home with a Mossberg and think you need a pistol or anything that is semi automatic then you need to have a check in with reality.

If you showed up at my door and wanted to get ride of my guns because you wanted to get rid of all guns you can have them.