For John, BLUF: Guns represent a very hard problem, notwithstanding what some might suggest.
Writing at The Daily Beast Megan McArdle says "There's Little We Can Do to Prevent Another Massacre". The headline writer says that "The things that would work are impractical and unconstitutional. The things we can do won't work."
Yes, our statistics regarding gun deaths are worse than those of other nations. But, we are starting with a backlog of illegal weapons, or weapons that are legal but owned by people using them for illegal purposes.
One point I would make here is that on the one hand, machine guns are not illegal to own, and on the other hand, any gun can be put to military use by someone.
What is the goal of Gun Control advocates and what is our criteria for measuring success? I would suggest that people like Mayor Bloomberg should agree that their goal, and our criteria for success, should be that beat police and police in cruisers are armed with no more than a night stick—like the British Bobbie. Then we will know we have sponged up all those guns that are a threat to us all.
Regards — Cliff
5 comments:
...And if we looked back at recent decades in which there were fewer such massacres, we'd see that it was EVEN EASIER to obtain semiautomatic weapons then.
One thing we should all do is a quick "battle drill" for an Active Shooter scenario. We're probably more statistically likely to be hit by lightning, but it's still a good idea to practice some of the "what ifs." When the fit hits the shan, we're going to revert to whatever training we've had...parts of our brain stop working and muscle memory kicks in.
If you work on a first or second floor, huddling in the corner is NOT the best solution if an active shooter is inside your building. Window egress is a far better choice.
Megan McArdle is absolutely, 100 percent right.
ONE thing we can do, that's within our power, is improve our preparedness.
Its noteworthy that for some a 'solution' is to have more armed people in our everyday lives (including elementary schools I guess) under the theory that people could respond to these scenarios. I found this report about how average people fail at this scenario even with very good training noteworthy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjZY3WiO9s&list=UUlbQJRyYumXUW5hrGjvQNdA
Tak
I watched the video. It seemed straight forward. On the other hand, two winters ago, in a parking lot at Stadium Plaza I slipped on some ice and did a perfect Parachute Landing Fall (PLF). I even pulled my hands and arms into my chest like I was pulling down on the risers. I hadn't done one of those in decades. The good news is I wasn't hurt in the fall. Reflex action.
Regards — Cliff
People kill people. And if a person finds another person who, in their opinion (not matter how demented) needs killing, they will accomplish the goal with something.
I find it singularly obscene that the leftist gun grabbers are all atwitter and angered up about this latest horrible, unspeakable tragedy, but are aggressively defensive (yes, you can do that) about the RIGHT to kill somewhere on the order of 3000 unborn babies a day. Where is the non-stop media outrage about the national slaughter of teenagers and young children on our highways and byways?
What makes this entire tragedy even more obscene it that the leftist politicians and lapdog media have jumped all over this to score points about something that they know is hyper-emotional and thus could constitute a critical grand slam victory of societal control if they can convert their hysteria into law.
BTW, in the Oregon mall shooting a few weeks ago, the reason that the dirt bag with the gun shot himself was because he saw that one of his intended victims had drawn a weapon...so......coward like he was....just like all the other craven scum that have used weapons of any kind to kill someone else....he shot himself first.
If you examine the stats on what states have the largest gun ownership and most liberal concealed carry laws, you will find that they also have the lowest rate of weapon supported crime. Why....because gun toting scum bags are essentially opportunistic cowards.
To set the record absolutely straight, you can go out and purchase a fighter aircraft easier than you can purchase an automatic weapon. First and foremost...the tax on the things are prohibitive.....as is the amount of paperwork required. The term "semi-automatic" has been both misused and badly represented. The only thing a semi-auto does is eject a spent shell while inserting another shell in the chamber. The user still has to pull the trigger. Most pistols sold today are in that category....the rest being wheel guns. To purchase an AR Anything.....requires approval from the FBI...and considerable waiting time.
Finally, while we are talking about national outrage.....where is the national outrage and media coverage of the increasingly frequent and horribly violent black gang violence against whites? Oh..you haven't heard about that?? Well....of course you haven't. To talk about that would be racist wouldn't it? And...after all....the black gang members who do that are just "frustrated" and "damaged" by their desperate lives. So we are supposed to be more understanding.....
More involved fathers.... look at the shooters profiles. Or anyone else in jail.
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