Thanks for the honest answer Dave....of course I couldn't disagree more and here's why. (Now we're only talking about the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary....keeping it nice and simple) Lanza was looking for the softest target available, that's why he selected defenseless little kids....he didn't target the local cop shop or nearest military installation....just innocent little kids. And what did he do when the first responders showed up? He pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head! No Dave....had there been a deterrent at Sandy Hook Lanza would have gone elsewhere.
As I mentioned in a previous thread the mental health system is in a shambles.
BTW you never addressed my second question..........:blink000:
I'm interested in the answer to the second question as well, but here's the issue I see and by no means am I trying to 'pile on' Dave, just hoping to add more to a hopefully productive discussion.
Instead of taking the murder is illegal, cocaine is illegal, etc. approach and saying those things happen and those items are illegal approach, I want to attempt one that I hope is more pointed towards this point of the discussion that's not as easy nore establishment based (in terms of using it as a 'gotcha' comeback etc.).
First and foremost, the rate of single parents and the status of a lot of parents' (single or together) mental status that dictates their parenting is degrading in my opinion. however we cannot obviously police parenting choices unless it puts the child's life in danger etc.
But more to my point, guns are regulated similar to prescription medicines. You have to have a background check (and FOID card in my state) in order to purchase a new firearm. You also have to have a doctor prescription to obtain prescription meds. There are laws against the illegal sale of firearms just as there are laws against the sale and redistribution of prescription meds. But both happen all the time unfortunately. But comparing the two I don't see how additional restrictions would help nor how it is possible without amending the Constitution (for the gun portion) and if you go down that path, you are dismantling the very foundation of this country because If you say one amendment can be changed, that opens the doors for all of the others. It could also be said that the prescription med issue is a larger issue by saying the amount of illnesses and deaths etc are worse than guns as gun deaths are just more sensationalized by the media but it's Monday and I don;t really want to get into a stat/fact dispute and have to dig them up and bog down the conversation with them so I would like to place their priorities as equal for comparison purposes.
And finally and additional point that is related to this massacre talk, the Aurora shooter drove past three other movie theaters that allowed firearms in order to go to the one that did not allow firearms. So overall, no, firearms will not stop the first death, but they can keep the first death from growing into 14 by stopping it at the 2nd or 3rd etc. and preserving as much life as possible to minimize the impact of the psychos when they rear their ugly head.
