Another mass shooting.....

[Wyrd of Gawd]

The solution is simple:  If you want a gun buy one; if you don't want a gun then spend your money on something else.  That's known as "freedom".

Americans, 4.4% of the world population, own 1/2 the privately owned guns in the world. 3% of Americans own 50% of the 256,000,000 guns in this country.

For goodness sake, it's not everyone has 5,000 guns and ammo in his palace = http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gu...LU20151204.  Do you have any idea how much that would cost, even if they were bought from thieves?

[Brian37]

Speaking of PTSD. 

I think far too many think of that as strictly a battlefield thing. No, even with the trauma of being physically and or verbally abused as a kid, can cause a kid to grow up with severe mental issues, including but not limited to depression, eating disorders and trust issues, and can themselves go on to become abusive as adults.

But even the trauma of witnessing firearm accidents, or a suicide can cause family members and friends long term emotional trauma.

I witnessed this change in a co worker quite a few years ago. She was a buser at the breakfast joint I worked at. When I met her she was thin and fit. She got fired for not showing up one weekend. Turned out that weekend she witnessed her cousin blow his brains out in a driveway with a handgun. I only found out a year later when she showed up to eat there. I didn't recognize her at first. She had developed an eating disorder and gained weight. I am quite sure her witnessing her family member kill himself had a profound affect on her mental state.

Now, I have witnessed death myself, my mom. And that sucks too. But I'd say that watching someone's head explode like a watermelon suddenly is far more traumatizing than knowing a natural death is coming like my mom's was.

I don't think those on the far right understand there is a huge cost to tax payers protecting our flooded market as far as health insurance costs, emergency room costs, and the mental health care costs to those family members whom survive a family member dying by firearm.

Oh it's frighteningly common i have talked to School teachers , Prison Guards , Paramedics , Even my own colleagues  on the subject . It's unfortunate that after we got the military to acknowledge it .I'm now having to do the same to hospital ' Prisons, and even my own bosses .

I can remember talking to my mom's physical therapist at her nursing home, after she had died, he had expressed concern for the mental health of the staff, especially having to witness death on a regular basis. Unfortunately the more giant corporations buy up places like that, the less they give a shit about the staff. 

I don't know how doctors and EMTs and nurses and even nurses aids handle that over and over. But just like police and military, even they should have some professional support too. 

I think far too much of our modern marketing in the world sells the idea that humans are supposed to be super human, and the fact is we are not. Humans really need to face the fact that we ARE fragile and not bullet proof. We certainly evolved to overcome trauma, but we also cannot and should not treat physical or emotional trauma as something you can simply shake off.

[vorlon13]

I was unaware of the long term negative effect my hospice volunteering and the AIDS crisis had on me. Even felt kinda cocky about it that the AIDS thing was powerless to lay a glove on me even.

Sure, I was aware of my raging case of survivors guilt, but I was firmly of the opinion it was an entirely natural and acceptable consequence of it. I was so sure, in fact, I feel there is something wrong with people I know who went through the same/worse that I did and don't have it.

So, it was quite the jolt to have finally wiki'd 'survivors guilt' and discover it's part of PTSD.

Shit and goddamn it. I've had it since 2/87. Recently discussed a conversation I had had back then with someone and pointed out all the red flags I was exhibiting at that time and was unaware. It's had a profound impact on my life since. I had a 2 year 'vacation' from it when things were so bad after Brian died my physician noticed it all on his own and put me on an antidepressant. But we still missed the big picture there, we just knocked the top off the mountain there, the rest of the mountain remains.

I have added 'PTSD' to my medical chart with current physician, but we are focused on the gall bladder issue for the time being, and that's fine. That is a helluva distraction all by itself.

I've noticed that opening up about it bit by bit is helping. I might swing by an LGBTQ friendly counseling center soon and ask for a referral and/or support group info. There otta be quite a few 'walking wounded' from the AIDS crisis, the issue is even mentioned in the video We Were Here for gosh sake, and I think being around some others like me could be an opportunity for me to help and be helped.

[popeyespappy]

Ok...so apart from the rhetoric, and the bad straw men... what are you proposing....and what do you see that producing?
You sound too me, very much like a shady politician, who is talking about how much he is cutting taxes in this area, where he is raising them somewhere else.
I’m just looking for a straight answer.

I'm not Brain. I'm not as far from Brian as one can get on the issue of gun control, but I'm definitely on the other side of the spectrum.

Just to demonstrate how far I am from Brian these are the last six and half additions to my weapons hoard.









As a gun owner I'd be more than willing to discuss:

Registration of all firearms.
Universal background checks for all sales including private.
Improvements to reporting into the background check system.
Mandatory safety training for firearms owners.
Mandatory reporting of lost/stolen firearms.
Adding semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines to a separate registry similar to the NFA registry but without the tax.

A compromise I'd like to see from the other side is the reclassification of suppressors from Title II to Title I firearms. I'm willing to give gun control advocates a lot of the things they have been asking for. Are they willing to give me something in return?

Things I will not support:

Bans.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Good to see the 3% represented.

[popeyespappy]

Says the fucker that owns a Ma Deuce.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Says the fucker that owns a Ma Deuce.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?

[Autumnlicious]

@popeyespappy

Bans only become popular because the laundry list you propose is infinitely harder due to a gerrymandered minority who states all and any regulations on firearms is to be opposed at all costs.

This, predictably, manifests in an ineffective culture war that sometimes ends with a specific sundry firearm component or assembly banned for a while. Then there's a chance the ban expires in law because it never was intended as a policy fix per se but to placate both sides for 5 years.

That said, nearly everyone I know in CA would settle for the list you wrote of things to discuss.

I want the Australian model - they have guns, regulations and training. An excellent trifecta.

But it will cost money. Sports enthusiasts and hunters don't bother me. It's the hoarders, paranoics and dubious "I need this gun for protection even though I leave it out in the open at home". If you're not diligent enough to secure your firearms and treat them with deadly respect, you shouldn't have one.

I feel the same way about driving.

[vorlon13]

Tehama County California school shooting

At least 3 dead

Shooter dead

kid(s) dead

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Tehama County California school shooting

At least 3 dead

Shooter dead

kid(s) dead

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/...aps-charts