(June 15, 2017 at 11:41 am)Shell B Wrote:(June 15, 2017 at 11:02 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: But his history wouldn't have stopped a relative or friend with a clean history from buying a gun for him. Or he could just go to a gun show and ignore background checks.
It didn't even stop him buying it for himself, it would seem. I'm 100% for stricter background checks and specific other laws, even though I enjoy being able to own a firearm.
On a side note, I'm sick and tired of the Republicans scapegoating mentally ill people. They're like, "Sure, more gun control. We need to stop mentally ill people from getting guns." First off, there is a difference between murderous assholes and mentally ill people. Sure, some people are both, but they are not the same thing. Secondly, the heaping majority of people with mental illnesses are perfectly safe. Captain hand washer is less likely than Captain well-armed militia to protect us from the blacks to go off on a shooting spree. Sure, if you have a history of paranoia, violence or suicide attempts, maybe we shouldn't give you a gun, but mental illness means a lot of things.
I hate that people get stuck on "motive". You are correct, there is a difference between a sane, but disturbed person, and someone who is mentally ill, but regardless of motive, they both have one thing in common, easy access to firearms.
The Va Tech shooter was mentally ill, the UPS shooter and the Softball shooter were disturbed but not mentally ill, but all of them got access to firearms.
