Ho Hum Another campus shooting.

[downbeatplumb]

Do guns come with directions to the local place of learning in the US?
Thats how it looks over here.

[Crossless2.0]

I work with someone who still insists Sandy Hook as a government-coordinated hoax.

You are in the wrong line of work.  Think of their total lack of standards for who can work there.

The guy in question is a paranoid idiot when it comes to politics/world affairs, but he really knows his shit when it comes to cargo ships.  

[Minimalist]

We are allegedly a "developed country."  What is your goal?  To be like Somalia?

Given the current state of our government, I would say we are well on our way. Remove guns from the hands of citizens to protect against the government and we'll be on the fast track to joining the third world for the average citizen with a police state that would put Russia to shame.

Horseshit.


Too many people live in a fantasy world in this country. 

The solution to every problem is not to shoot it.

[Neo-Scholastic]

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Wanted to add- I grew up around guns, I learned to shoot one when I was about 4 and have shot many different types of guns (in ranges or out in the desert, supervised by adults when I was growing up. I have never had an interest as an adult). I was involved in a traumatic incident with a relative involving a gun turned on me where I genuinely feared for my life growing up. I am guessing most people who are anti-gun have not shared a similar traumatic experience directly involving a gun nor do they likely have much experience in handling or firing a gun themselves. While I would never own one or allow one in my home, I am not convinced they are the root of the problem with these mass shootings. As with what happened to me, people who resort gun violence and turn them on others not out of self defense are MENTALLY UNSTABLE INDIVIDUALS (or have grown up in or are involved in a culture of violence such as a gang). It's like saying deaths from drunk driving are because of cars instead of placing the blame where it belongs- the drunk individual who decided to use the car.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. The most dishonest statistic most widely repeated is that where you have less guns there is less gun violence (like Cato's graph). Who cares what weapons kills ya?
The real statistic of interest is what the effect of guns or lack thereof have on violent crime overall. The goal is not to stop or reduce gun-violence per se. The goal is to stop or reduce all kinds of violence and death, regardless of weapon. I think those statistics remain inconclusive.

The US does have a terrible crime problem. All free societies do. That is one side effect of liberty. If you want to feel safe on the streets then move to a totalitarian state.