Controlling Gun Violence

[ChadTower]

Another thought.....

Is anyone familiar with paintball and Airsoft? I was checking this out, as I would bet that many parents just buy these "toys" without teaching proper firearms rules of safety. I would also bet that a lot of parents don't know these rules themselves. Now, my dad would never allow us something that shoots a projectile at anyone. I've was taught firearm saftey at 5 years old with a .22

I have seen this in my area. Paintball/Airsoft arenas are popping up all over the place. I see kids on the side streets having Airsoft wars. Some blocks have had issues with Airsoft guns being used to bully. Some kids have been cutting the orange plastic tip off of their Airsoft guns to make them look real. One kid went so far as to cut the orange tip off of his gun, go to a strip mall, and run around the parking lot pointing it at people and laughing. Predictably someone called the Police and there was a confrontation and the kid didn't want to drop his Airsoft gun. Eventually, he did, but not until he had a freaked out Police Officer pointing a real gun at him screaming "PLEASE... PUT THE GUN DOWN NOW". Kid almost got himself shot and probably left a psychological scar on that poor Officer.

Some of my kids' friends are into this stuff. I won't allow it. My kids have been over friends' houses and come home suddenly "because they started playing with their Airsoft guns and I'm not allowed". They know which of Dad's rules can be broken and which should not be. I don't mind cap guns, plastic dart guns, etc, but as soon as it steps up to a real projectile I don't believe kids should have them without adult supervision that treats it like a real weapon.

 

[oldsarge]

Grandpa
could the source you are thinking of be; Lt Col Dave Grossman;On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society or Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence

I believe that's it.

 

[TakeAHike]

I was talking about this with one of my friends the other day and we were discussing the fact that it is society failing that is at the root of the problem. People want to blame TV shows, movies and video games when it is really the parents failing to be parents. I wasn't even allowed to watch a rated R movie, let alone anything with violence or killing in it until I was 16 or 17. These days parents don't have time to parent so they sit their kids in from of the TV and don't monitor what they are watching.

I also think that mental health care in this country needs to be addressed. There are always signs in the case of these mass shooters. For goodness sakes the Aurora theater shooter sent a book to a psychiatrist a month before he committed this shooting detailing what he wanted to do, but she didn't read it because she didn't have time. I think she should be held criminally liable but she won't be of course.

I don't think that arming the teachers is going to help. For one, where are they going to keep these weapons where they would be safe from the children accidentally finding them and killing someone? Also, as someone else mentioned most teachers are not proficient enough with a handgun to try to shoot someone accurately, especially under duress. It is just as likely they would hit an innocent bystander as the gunman.

I think there needs to be serious conversations about all of the contributing factors including mental health care and gun control. I am sorry but I don't think the only thing that should stop you from being able to purchase a gun is whether you have any felonies on record. You have to go through more rigorous questions to get Bariatric surgery for goodness sakes.

 

[jason]

I have seen this in my area. Paintball/Airsoft arenas are popping up all over the place. I see kids on the side streets having Airsoft wars. Some blocks have had issues with Airsoft guns being used to bully. Some kids have been cutting the orange plastic tip off of their Airsoft guns to make them look real. One kid went so far as to cut the orange tip off of his gun, go to a strip mall, and run around the parking lot pointing it at people and laughing. Predictably someone called the Police and there was a confrontation and the kid didn't want to drop his Airsoft gun. Eventually, he did, but not until he had a freaked out Police Officer pointing a real gun at him screaming "PLEASE... PUT THE GUN DOWN NOW". Kid almost got himself shot and probably left a psychological scar on that poor Officer.
.

On a side note I know a few police officers. If you point any gun at them they take it as a threat. They have mentioned some people have painted their real guns with orange tips to try and fool officers and other people. So that orange tip does not really mean much anymore. Most officers will treat it as a real gun as long as it looks like a real gun.

 

[Diver97]

In Oklahoma they are getting ready to introduce a bill that will allow teachers to carry concealed weapons at school. In addition to having a CCW they will be required to obtain CLEET training and will be limited on the types of ammunition they can carry. They also will be required to keep the weapon in their possession at all times.

I don't think this will solve the problems we are facing but if a teacher is going to risk their life to protect their students I like the idea of giving them the option to shooting back.

 

[Barney]

Gun free Zones are just target rich enviroments for psychopaths.

Obvious proof that this is so true is that they won't show positive stories of CCW in the mainstream media. Where are the authorities praising those brave people that defend others, prevent robberies, murders and such.

 

[Barney]

One more though on this, example that shows how US is slowly adopting some kind of protectionists culture that GB has. While this is a smart products Hardwire Bodyguard 10x13 Ballistic Panel it shows how wrong is our stand against these criminals. We should not be buying these panels for our children but criminals should be the ones considering them for themselves because they know that law abiding CCWs are out there ready to respond.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Barney;
One more thought on this example that shows how US is slowly adopting some kind of protectionists culture that GB has. While this is a smart products, it shows how wrong is our stand against these criminals. We should not be buying these panels for our children but criminals should be the ones considering them for themselves because they know that law abiding CCWs are out there ready to respond.




Hi...


Although something like that should never be necessary...under present conditions in this Country...it is certainly appears to have its place.

 

[dinosaur]

So...I think I've got it. It's not really a question of killing people. It's who you kill that matters. I don't really care. A long time ago they told me to kill bad people and they identified them. I had to sneak up on them and shoot them. They were targets. They were bad.

Granted, if I see someone committing an atrocity, I don't have a problem with it. Kill them. It makes society an easier place. That doesn't make it right. It just makes it easier.

Argue as you wish. Just don't get in my sights if I'm convinced you're bad. This is what we've come to be.

God help us.

 

[oldsarge]

So...I think I've got it. It's not really a question of killing people. It's who you kill that matters.

Assassination: Theory and practice. By Richard Camellion.

 

[CozInCowtown]

 

[oldsarge]

A lot of people think that guns are banned down under. I recently spoke to an Aussie and they clearly stated that it's not true. There was a major government buy back program that yield quite a few guns. It is still legal to own guns. I was unaware of this until recently.

 

[Barney]

So...I think I've got it. It's not really a question of killing people. It's who you kill that matters. I don't really care. A long time ago they told me to kill bad people and they identified them. I had to sneak up on them and shoot them. They were targets. They were bad.

Granted, if I see someone committing an atrocity, I don't have a problem with it. Kill them. It makes society an easier place. That doesn't make it right. It just makes it easier.

Argue as you wish. Just don't get in my sights if I'm convinced you're bad. This is what we've come to be.

God help us.

And this is so true. I would love to see someone doing a study on how we skipped those normal, human, ways of thinking, and became just the opposite.

 

[Barney]

Barney;
One more thought on this example that shows how US is slowly adopting some kind of protectionists culture that GB has. While this is a smart products, it shows how wrong is our stand against these criminals. We should not be buying these panels for our children but criminals should be the ones considering them for themselves because they know that law abiding CCWs are out there ready to respond.




Hi...


Although something like that should never be necessary...under present conditions in this Country...it is certainly appears to have its place.

I would have to disagree. Side note, I'm not an idealist, I'm a practical man that will adapt to a situation. But I would never buy this product for any of my family members. To me that would be a real defeat and I'm still not there.

 

[Gondor]

The thing that terrifies me the most is how the good is being portrayed these days. To be good you must eliminate/destroy/kill evil things. How twisted is that?!

 

[Gondor]

Let's look back since say....Columbine.

Now let's take the method or "tool' in which the evil was done and take it out of the equation. What are we left with?

All young males aged 18-24. Most all had mental issues. How many had been on medication? How many were currently under some kind of treatment? The answers are very telling but we ignore them. Why do we ignore them?

Because the gun is the symptom of the disease. It's easier to think we could treat the symptom and it will all go away. Ever hear of the Bath School incident? The "tool" doesn't matter. What matters is getting to the root of the problem.

The young men in this country are in serious trouble. I believe years of telling people they are super-special and removing personal accountability from everyone (It's always someone or something else's fault!) leads to people who feel like victims all the time and lash out violently instead of coping with distress and working through problems.

We treat the symptoms because we don't want to admit that WE failed as a society. We get clues and hints through social media, facebook and twitter and see people irrational or way too stressed. We then sit back anonymously at our monitors and say "OOhh! This could get interesting!" instead of getting involved. It's our own little reality TV show in real time and we as Americans have made sport out of it. We don't get involved because we're so afraid of jumping to conclusions or "hurting someone's feelings". It's so much easier to say we didn't see the tweets or we had no clue somebody was about to snap when something bad eventually happens. Then it usually comes out, as it already is in this case,that the signs were there for a long time and we all stood by and did nothing.
The root of the problem is our society today and the most heinous part of itself, our "canary in the coal mine" is the actions of this group of people, the young males in this country that we should be taking care of and figuring out where we've lost our way with them. It's time to get to and focus on the true root of the problem. That answer will show that we as a society have failed and that's a hard pill to swallow.

I'd rather swallow that pill and do something proactive than go through another day like yesterday.

One of the best pieces of written observations I have read in days. Seriously, you need to make it more elaborate and publish this stuff.

 

[ppine]

Lorax is the voice of the turtle. He knows some stuff. Over time we are able to identify the special skills our members have. Don't be afraid to call out someone here for their perception and ability.

 

[Gondor]

I agree! Some people are just not meant to do something. A lot of us agree on this but not many of us can form that into words that good.

 

[Lorax]

Lorax is the voice of the turtle. He knows some stuff. Over time we are able to identify the special skills our members have. Don't be afraid to call out someone here for their perception and ability.

Voice of the turtle? And here all this time.....I thought I spoke for the trees.:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

Glad you guys liked my perception of current events.

 

[Boroffski]

We all watch too much television, work long hours, don't have enough money.......bla bla. But for some reason these things are more important than our children's grades, who they run around with and family in general.

C'mon people! It's our ever evolving "net worth, credit score and curb appeal way of life" that's the cause of these things. And we've been at it for hundreds of years, perfecting this system that revolves around a fictious worth. And now this "family second" approach to life has bred psychopaths that look to cause harm and devistation to this backward society we've created.

It's not gun violence..... It's human violence. Until we quit blaming anything but ourselves, these atrocities will continue.

Lorax, you nailed it.