The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
02-25-2018, 12:10 PM
Boost Czar
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Lawrence O’Donnell thinks muzzle velocity matters when it comes to stopping school shooters armed with AR-15s.
All the hammering has gone to his head.
In a segment on his show, The Last Word, O’Donnell rebuffed President Trump’s suggestion to provide firearms training to school teachers, dismissing it as “fantasy,” adding that the velocity of a bullet fired from an AR-15 would outmatch any bullet fired from a handgun.
“A bullet fired from an AR-15 travels 3x faster than one from a handgun,” read the MSNBC tweet promoting his segment. “And yet the president and the NRA think giving teachers guns will stop a school shooter.”
While anyone who’s fired a gun (or even anyone who has a rudimentary grasp of arithmetic) knows that the velocity hardly matters in close proximity, O’Donnell—and others who regurgitated his suggestion as a talking point—think that equipping an AR-15 confers them with special, superhuman advantages against handguns.
To break it down, a fully-functional AR-15 fires at 2,500ft/s, while bullets from a handgun travel at 1,300ft/s. The time differential between the bullets hitting their intended target is so small as to be insignificant—it’s a small fraction of a second, and too small to matter unless you’re aiming at long-distance targets hundreds of yards away.
The only real difference that a high-velocity firearm might have compared to a handgun is that the impact can cause more damage. That said, carrying an AR-15 won’t make a shooter invincible against anyone with a gun trained on him—no matter how outclassed it might be in the velocity department.
Stick to berating your production staff, Larry.
All the hammering has gone to his head.
In a segment on his show, The Last Word, O’Donnell rebuffed President Trump’s suggestion to provide firearms training to school teachers, dismissing it as “fantasy,” adding that the velocity of a bullet fired from an AR-15 would outmatch any bullet fired from a handgun.
“A bullet fired from an AR-15 travels 3x faster than one from a handgun,” read the MSNBC tweet promoting his segment. “And yet the president and the NRA think giving teachers guns will stop a school shooter.”
While anyone who’s fired a gun (or even anyone who has a rudimentary grasp of arithmetic) knows that the velocity hardly matters in close proximity, O’Donnell—and others who regurgitated his suggestion as a talking point—think that equipping an AR-15 confers them with special, superhuman advantages against handguns.
To break it down, a fully-functional AR-15 fires at 2,500ft/s, while bullets from a handgun travel at 1,300ft/s. The time differential between the bullets hitting their intended target is so small as to be insignificant—it’s a small fraction of a second, and too small to matter unless you’re aiming at long-distance targets hundreds of yards away.
The only real difference that a high-velocity firearm might have compared to a handgun is that the impact can cause more damage. That said, carrying an AR-15 won’t make a shooter invincible against anyone with a gun trained on him—no matter how outclassed it might be in the velocity department.
Stick to berating your production staff, Larry.
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02-25-2018, 12:19 PM
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meanwhile:
An armed communist militia group belonging to the larger Antifa movement states that its goal is to recruit and radicalize college students with mental health issues in Austin, Texas.
Far Left Watch reports that a far-left “anti-fascist” organization called Red Guards Austin, which glorifies Communist dictator Mao Zedong, and openly calls for armed revolt against “capitalists”, has a variety of cells to promote and diversify its message—one of which organizes at the University of Texas-Austin.
Dubbed the Revolutionary Student Front, the recently appeared in the news for holding “self-defense training” on campus and promoting the murder of police officers. In February, it published a 13,000 word document outlining its “Revolutionary Mental Health Program” covering its goals, failures, successes, and their shuttering of the program.
The document details the extremist group’s stated goal to target students with mental health problems and radicalize them into “active fighters” for the Antifa movement (Highlights by Far Left Watch)
Source: Far Left Watch.
Far Left Watch reports that a far-left “anti-fascist” organization called Red Guards Austin, which glorifies Communist dictator Mao Zedong, and openly calls for armed revolt against “capitalists”, has a variety of cells to promote and diversify its message—one of which organizes at the University of Texas-Austin.
Dubbed the Revolutionary Student Front, the recently appeared in the news for holding “self-defense training” on campus and promoting the murder of police officers. In February, it published a 13,000 word document outlining its “Revolutionary Mental Health Program” covering its goals, failures, successes, and their shuttering of the program.
The document details the extremist group’s stated goal to target students with mental health problems and radicalize them into “active fighters” for the Antifa movement (Highlights by Far Left Watch)
“The primary goal of this program was to address the mental health needs of students in a way that would primarily serve to politicize and strengthen them, to become more committed to revolution and more capable of carrying it out.”
“The RMHP was born out of a process of social investigation during our first semester as an organization in the fall of 2016. We set about determining what aspects of life were being neglected by the capitalist administrators of the University of Texas (UT). Naturally, we also set about gathering ideas from students on how these problems could potentially be solved without resorting to begging for handouts from university bureaucrats, whose class interests are always against those of the working class. Through many hours of discussion with students while tabling and at our public meetings, and through regular contact with disgruntled students, we uncovered numerous pressing needs facing the general student body and working-class students alike. From this point, we sought to determine a site of struggle that would appeal to the sections of the student population most ripe for radicalization and to develop a plan to address those needs in a way that would politicize these students, with the goal of course being to make them into active fighters in the revolutionary class struggle.”
The group claims that it got the idea from the Socialist Patient’s Collective (SPK), a German neo-Marxist organization that re-frames mental illness as a product of capitalist oppression, and that people suffering from psychological problems could be radicalized to form a revolutionary class.“Over the winter of 2016 and in the early spring of 2017, the leadership of RSF spent a significant amount of time studying the work “Turn Illness into a Weapon,” which recounts the experiences of the Socialist Patients’ Collective (SPK) of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1970.”
As highlighted by FarLeftWatch, the document states explicitly that each of its projects is designed to “recruit fighters.”The goal of every initiative and program launched by a revolutionary organization should be for the purpose of recruiting fighters into its ranks and forging them in the fiery furnace of class struggle.
It also states that some of the group’s own organizers suffer from mental health issues.Orienting recruitment toward those suffering from qualitatively more intense mental illness, a population whose conditions in general serve as barriers to reaching the point of being continuous fighters (we say “in general” because many of the best organizers in the revolutionary movement and our organization also suffer from these conditions) does not accomplish the task of drawing from the most advanced sections of the people.
The document, like other manifestos, contains pictures of armed militants and repeat calls for political violence and armed revolution.
“Because our forces can only be built through the militant, violent struggle against the enemies of our class, we know that these fretful cowards will never reach that point. Making war will prepare us for the war to come, rally around us and bring into our ranks those who realize the necessity of violence to achieve a classless society free from exploitation, and unmask the real enemies of the people. We reaffirm our commitment to the principle of revolutionary violence that is necessary to confront the enemies of the people”
* * *
The knowledge that prison or death awaits us as revolutionaries aiming to destroy capitalism should be enough to encourage us to develop our organization in a thorough and well-rounded manner
* * *
To be an effective revolutionary, a skilled writer cannot devote themselves merely to writing—they must also learn to speak well, punch hard and shoot well, work hard, design propaganda, communicate well with others, and so on.
The document concludes with an unapologetic call to action, stating:“The actions to come in the following year will draw clear lines in the sand between revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries. We will make no apologies for the necessary violence of our struggle and will spare no sacrifice for the battles to come because we are revolutionaries committed to the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a classless society. We live for the people, we fight for the people, and we die for the people. This is what it means to be a revolutionary and this is what we uphold from this point until the final dying breath of capitalism.”
“The RMHP was born out of a process of social investigation during our first semester as an organization in the fall of 2016. We set about determining what aspects of life were being neglected by the capitalist administrators of the University of Texas (UT). Naturally, we also set about gathering ideas from students on how these problems could potentially be solved without resorting to begging for handouts from university bureaucrats, whose class interests are always against those of the working class. Through many hours of discussion with students while tabling and at our public meetings, and through regular contact with disgruntled students, we uncovered numerous pressing needs facing the general student body and working-class students alike. From this point, we sought to determine a site of struggle that would appeal to the sections of the student population most ripe for radicalization and to develop a plan to address those needs in a way that would politicize these students, with the goal of course being to make them into active fighters in the revolutionary class struggle.”
The group claims that it got the idea from the Socialist Patient’s Collective (SPK), a German neo-Marxist organization that re-frames mental illness as a product of capitalist oppression, and that people suffering from psychological problems could be radicalized to form a revolutionary class.“Over the winter of 2016 and in the early spring of 2017, the leadership of RSF spent a significant amount of time studying the work “Turn Illness into a Weapon,” which recounts the experiences of the Socialist Patients’ Collective (SPK) of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1970.”
As highlighted by FarLeftWatch, the document states explicitly that each of its projects is designed to “recruit fighters.”The goal of every initiative and program launched by a revolutionary organization should be for the purpose of recruiting fighters into its ranks and forging them in the fiery furnace of class struggle.
It also states that some of the group’s own organizers suffer from mental health issues.Orienting recruitment toward those suffering from qualitatively more intense mental illness, a population whose conditions in general serve as barriers to reaching the point of being continuous fighters (we say “in general” because many of the best organizers in the revolutionary movement and our organization also suffer from these conditions) does not accomplish the task of drawing from the most advanced sections of the people.
The document, like other manifestos, contains pictures of armed militants and repeat calls for political violence and armed revolution.
“Because our forces can only be built through the militant, violent struggle against the enemies of our class, we know that these fretful cowards will never reach that point. Making war will prepare us for the war to come, rally around us and bring into our ranks those who realize the necessity of violence to achieve a classless society free from exploitation, and unmask the real enemies of the people. We reaffirm our commitment to the principle of revolutionary violence that is necessary to confront the enemies of the people”* * *
The knowledge that prison or death awaits us as revolutionaries aiming to destroy capitalism should be enough to encourage us to develop our organization in a thorough and well-rounded manner
* * *
To be an effective revolutionary, a skilled writer cannot devote themselves merely to writing—they must also learn to speak well, punch hard and shoot well, work hard, design propaganda, communicate well with others, and so on.
The document concludes with an unapologetic call to action, stating:“The actions to come in the following year will draw clear lines in the sand between revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries. We will make no apologies for the necessary violence of our struggle and will spare no sacrifice for the battles to come because we are revolutionaries committed to the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a classless society. We live for the people, we fight for the people, and we die for the people. This is what it means to be a revolutionary and this is what we uphold from this point until the final dying breath of capitalism.”
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02-25-2018, 03:06 PM
Boost Czar
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there's a lot of /r/conspiracy about him.
we should talk about the shooter democrats refuse to talk about:
he really is creepy:
we should talk about the shooter democrats refuse to talk about:
he really is creepy:
Last edited by Braineack; 02-25-2018 at 03:17 PM.
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02-25-2018, 04:39 PM
The Deadliest Mass Shootings In HistoryRank
Name
Location
Year
Victims
1
Garissa University College Attack
Garissa, Kenya
2015
148
2
Peshawar School Massacre
Peshawar, Pakistan
2014
141
3
November 2015 Paris Attacks
Paris, France
2015
130
4
2011 Norway Attacks
Oslo, Norway
2011
67
5
Westgate Shopping Mall Attack
Nairobi, Kenya
2013
67
6
2017 Las Vegas Shooting
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
2017
58
7
South Korea Shooting of 1982
Uiryeong County, South Korea
1982
56
8
2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting
Orlando, Florida, USA
2016
49
9
Sousse Beach Mass Shooting
Sousse, Tunisia
2015
38
10
Virginia Tech Shootings
Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
2007
32
11
Tian Mingjian Incident
Beijing, China
1994
28
12
Sandy Hook Massacre
Newtown, Connecticut, USA
2012
27
13
Sutherland Springs Church Shooting
Sutherland Springs, Texas, USA
2017
26
14
Kampala Wedding Massacre
Kampala, Uganda
1994
26
15
Port Arthur Masacre
Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia
1996
25
16
Luby's Shooting
Killen, Texas, USA
1991
23
17
San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre
San Ysidro, California, USA
1984
21
18
2015 Bamako Hotel Attack
Bamako, Mali
2015
20
19
2010 Chihuahua Shootings
Chihuahua, Mexico
2010
19
20
University of Texas Tower Shooting
Austin, Texas, USA
1966
18
21
Dunblane Massacre
Dunblane, Scotland, UK
1996
17
22
Erfurt School Massacre
Erfurt, Germany
2002
17
23
Hungerford Massacre
Hungergord, Berkshire, UK
1987
16
24
Winneden School Shooting
Winnenden, Germany
2009
16
25
Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine, Colorado, USA
1999
15
26
Edmond Post Office Shooting
Edmond, Oklahoma, USA
1986
15
27
Toulon France Shooting
Toulon, France
1995
15
28
Zug Massacre
Zug, Switzerland
2001
14
29
Luxiol Massacre
Luxiol, France
1989
14
30
2015 San Bernandino Attack
San Bernardino, California, USA
2015
14
31
École Polytechnique massacre
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1989
14
32
Pashupatinath Temple Shooting
Mandsaur, India
1983
14
33
Aramoana Massacre
Aramoana, New Zealand
1990
13
34
Fort Hood Shooting
Fort Hood, Texas, USA
2009
13
35
Binghamton Shootings
Binghamton, New York, USA
2009
13
36
Baku Shooting
Baku, Azerbaijan
2009
13
37
Velika Ivanča Shooting
Velika Ivanča, Serbia
2013
13
38
Kamwenge Trading Centre Shooting
Kamwenge, Uganda
1994
13
39
Aurora Shooting
Aurora, Colorado, USA
2012
12
40
1999 Atlanta Shooting
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1999
12
41
Rio de Janeiro School Shooting
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011
12
42
Campinas Massacre
Campinas, Brazil
2016
12
43
Cumbria Shootings
Cumbria, England, UK
2010
12
44
Charlie Hebdo Shooting
Paris, France
2015
12
45
2011 Rio de Janeiro School Shooting
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011
12
46
Washington Navy Yard Shooting
Washington, D.C., USA
2013
11
47
Geneva County Massacre
Geneva County, Alabama, USA
2009
10
48
Bombo Shooting
Bombo, Uganda
2013
10
49
Kauhajoki School Shooting
Kauhajoki, Finland
2008
10
Name
Location
Year
Victims
1
Garissa University College Attack
Garissa, Kenya
2015
148
2
Peshawar School Massacre
Peshawar, Pakistan
2014
141
3
November 2015 Paris Attacks
Paris, France
2015
130
4
2011 Norway Attacks
Oslo, Norway
2011
67
5
Westgate Shopping Mall Attack
Nairobi, Kenya
2013
67
6
2017 Las Vegas Shooting
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
2017
58
7
South Korea Shooting of 1982
Uiryeong County, South Korea
1982
56
8
2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting
Orlando, Florida, USA
2016
49
9
Sousse Beach Mass Shooting
Sousse, Tunisia
2015
38
10
Virginia Tech Shootings
Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
2007
32
11
Tian Mingjian Incident
Beijing, China
1994
28
12
Sandy Hook Massacre
Newtown, Connecticut, USA
2012
27
13
Sutherland Springs Church Shooting
Sutherland Springs, Texas, USA
2017
26
14
Kampala Wedding Massacre
Kampala, Uganda
1994
26
15
Port Arthur Masacre
Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia
1996
25
16
Luby's Shooting
Killen, Texas, USA
1991
23
17
San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre
San Ysidro, California, USA
1984
21
18
2015 Bamako Hotel Attack
Bamako, Mali
2015
20
19
2010 Chihuahua Shootings
Chihuahua, Mexico
2010
19
20
University of Texas Tower Shooting
Austin, Texas, USA
1966
18
21
Dunblane Massacre
Dunblane, Scotland, UK
1996
17
22
Erfurt School Massacre
Erfurt, Germany
2002
17
23
Hungerford Massacre
Hungergord, Berkshire, UK
1987
16
24
Winneden School Shooting
Winnenden, Germany
2009
16
25
Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine, Colorado, USA
1999
15
26
Edmond Post Office Shooting
Edmond, Oklahoma, USA
1986
15
27
Toulon France Shooting
Toulon, France
1995
15
28
Zug Massacre
Zug, Switzerland
2001
14
29
Luxiol Massacre
Luxiol, France
1989
14
30
2015 San Bernandino Attack
San Bernardino, California, USA
2015
14
31
École Polytechnique massacre
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
1989
14
32
Pashupatinath Temple Shooting
Mandsaur, India
1983
14
33
Aramoana Massacre
Aramoana, New Zealand
1990
13
34
Fort Hood Shooting
Fort Hood, Texas, USA
2009
13
35
Binghamton Shootings
Binghamton, New York, USA
2009
13
36
Baku Shooting
Baku, Azerbaijan
2009
13
37
Velika Ivanča Shooting
Velika Ivanča, Serbia
2013
13
38
Kamwenge Trading Centre Shooting
Kamwenge, Uganda
1994
13
39
Aurora Shooting
Aurora, Colorado, USA
2012
12
40
1999 Atlanta Shooting
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1999
12
41
Rio de Janeiro School Shooting
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011
12
42
Campinas Massacre
Campinas, Brazil
2016
12
43
Cumbria Shootings
Cumbria, England, UK
2010
12
44
Charlie Hebdo Shooting
Paris, France
2015
12
45
2011 Rio de Janeiro School Shooting
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011
12
46
Washington Navy Yard Shooting
Washington, D.C., USA
2013
11
47
Geneva County Massacre
Geneva County, Alabama, USA
2009
10
48
Bombo Shooting
Bombo, Uganda
2013
10
49
Kauhajoki School Shooting
Kauhajoki, Finland
2008
10
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02-25-2018, 06:08 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
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Annoying because we, like the rest of the world, think that citizens should NOT be able to carry guns?
It took one massacre: how Australia embraced gun control after Port Arthur
Our solution has served us well for over 20 years now - the US clearly doesn't have one and unfortunately never will due to the 2A.
Facts are only annoying if they disprove your argument.
It took one massacre: how Australia embraced gun control after Port Arthur
Our solution has served us well for over 20 years now - the US clearly doesn't have one and unfortunately never will due to the 2A.
Facts are only annoying if they disprove your argument.
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02-25-2018, 07:43 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Canberra, sort of
Posts: 1,089
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The militia doesn't seem to be too well regulated if its members go around shooting up schools, concerts and churches, not to mention using their guns in the course of criminal activity. Perhaps someone should have a word with whoever is running this militia?
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02-26-2018, 08:53 AM
Boost Czar
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Seriously, do Australians hide in a corner until there's a big news story about a shooting, just so they can come out from hiding from everything that wants to kill them so they can try to justify and feel better about losing their own guns?
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02-26-2018, 09:10 AM
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Location: Huntington, Indiana
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Annoying because we, like the rest of the world, think that citizens should NOT be able to carry guns?
It took one massacre: how Australia embraced gun control after Port Arthur
Our solution has served us well for over 20 years now - the US clearly doesn't have one and unfortunately never will due to the 2A.
Facts are only annoying if they disprove your argument.
It took one massacre: how Australia embraced gun control after Port Arthur
Our solution has served us well for over 20 years now - the US clearly doesn't have one and unfortunately never will due to the 2A.
Facts are only annoying if they disprove your argument.
Meanwhile, you've entirely ignored any of our points and suggestions about how to address the issue and insist that we just don't care.
You've also managed to be insulting to group of people who are the most upstanding citizens in the country (concealed carry holders commit .1% of ANY crime).
At least two of whom in this very thread would have been victims without the ability to bear arms.
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02-26-2018, 09:29 AM
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Bryce Bowling
Someone told me today that they were shocked that I haven't given my viewpoint on the gun debate. I was going to stay out of it, but honestly, it's been a week ...of the same garbage, so I'm going to speak on this briefly (well, not so briefly ..... here goes).
A Point-by-Point primer on the gun debate (from a legal gun owner and father)
I have 2 little girls in school right now. I am a member of the NRA, I shoot competitively, and I own a lot of guns. But if you told me that giving up all of my guns would ensure there would never be another child murdered by a lunatic, I would voluntarily give them up in a heartbeat. I think most legal gun owners would do the same. Would it help? No.
The only thing I have seen on TV and rampant on Facebook for the last week is how we must ban AR-15's. I've actually seen some destroying or turning in their AR-15's to law enforcement for some unknown reason.
Most people screaming for a rifle ban couldn't pick an AR-15 out of a lineup if it saved their life. Most people can't tell you the difference between automatic weapons (which, by the way, are illegal without heavy licensure) and semi-automatic. Most can't tell you what an "assault rifle" is - mainly because that's a "BS," made-up term. So, I'm going to present some facts - backed up by evidence and statistics - to help paint a picture of why banning a weapon will do nothing. I ask you gun control advocates to keep an open mind as you read (if you choose to read). But at the same time, I will offer a suggestion on something I have written the White House and our State Senator about that has the potential to help. So, here we go - facts and stats 1st:
-The USA has, by far, the highest per capita gun ownership in the world. What is per capita gun ownership? Basically, when measured by number of guns owned per 100 residents - the USA leads the list at 90. 90 guns owned per every 100 residents.
-The estimate is that a total over 360 million guns are privately owned in the US. 15 million of those 360 million are AR-15s.
-The AR in AR-15 does not stand for Assault Rifle and it doesn't stand for Automatic Rifle either. The AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. "Assault" is a verb - not a noun - assault is what you do with a weapon. I can assault you with a stick (it doesn't make it an "assault stick" or maybe it does). I own an M4 (a beefed up, full bolt version of the AR-15), and yes, for all the people that say "why do you need that?", I do hunt with it depending on the hunt. I also shoot competitively - not only with my rifles, but with shotguns and pistols.
-Have you heard that these "assault rifles" are used in the majority of homicides? I heard that - this week. On the news. Is it true? Not even close. According to the FBI, rifles of all kinds account for 3% of firearm homicides. Clubs, hammers, hands, fists and knives are all used to kill much more frequently than a rifle. According to FBI statistics, you are 3 times more likely to be stabbed to death than to be killed with a rifle. Don't think you can mass kill with a knife? Just 3 years ago, a group of 3 men in China went on a killing spree in a train station. They killed 33 and wounded 130 more. Not a single gun was used - they only had knives.
-Contrary to what news outlets like to convey, the vast majority of mass shootings involve pistols. How many CNN anchors have you heard this week claiming the AR-15 to be the "weapon of choice for mass shooters?" Again, more "BS." In a review of mass shootings from 1982-2012, 66 percent of the weapons used in mass shootings were pistols. That same review found that only 14% of weapons used in "mass shootings" would qualify as an assault weapon under the definition used in a 2013 bill sponsored by Dianne Feinstien (D-Calif).
-In a secondary review of mass shootings from 1982-2017, about 1/4 of mass shootings involved a rifle (of any type - including but not limited to the AR-15), almost 1/4 of mass shootings were performed using a garden variety shotgun. Well over 1/2 of all mass shootings in that same time period used pistols only.
-The Va Tech shooter killed more than double the amount of students recently killed in Florida. He only used pistols. No rifles were used in that spree ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html ).
So, will banning the AR-15 do anything? No, and here's why. A person dead set on committing murder doesn't care about your law. If he can not legally buy an AR-15, he'll get one illegally, on the black market. Remember he/she is a criminal; they don't care about your law. So, let's play devil's advocate and say we confiscate, and even eliminate all AR-15s and similar rifles, and they aren't available - even on the black market. The criminal will still mass murder - using a shotgun. Remember, almost as many mass shootings have involved garden variety shotguns. So, we'll ban, confiscate and destroy shotguns. OK, the criminal will move to pistols - banning the rifle or shotguns will simply change the 66% of mass shooting being with pistol to 90+%. So, ban the pistols then. They'll move to knives, they'll go on the dark web and find instructions that allow them to make a bomb (capable of killing and maiming hundreds at a time) that they can make out of household items in less than 10 minutes. Banning an AR-15 simply takes it out the hands of the legal gun owners. It won't keep it out of the hands of criminals - and even if it does, it will simply drive them to change the instrument. It's like taking away the truck they would use to drive to the mass shooting. They'll find another way ( maybe a box truck rented from Home Depot - https://tinyurl.com/y9p4cqlm ).
So, what about people that buy it legally and then snap? Ahh, there's where the problem lies.....and there is where we can make a difference. How?
Everyone likes to yell "gun control," but no one seems to be able to give a detailed answer on what that means (outside of ban, ban, ban!). We have gun control laws now. The problem is they aren't enforced. And now that the details start to emerge we can see how many red flags were overlooked with this kid in Florida. He told people he was going to do this. He was reported to the FBI. Twice! He was treated in a mental health facility for psychiatric illness and yet he was still able to purchase this weapon legally. That is absurd. This is the heart of the problem.
Show me a mass shooter in recent memory that has not had a documented history of psychiatric illness. I am a physician and I'm all for following HIPAA guidelines but we must lighten up on HIPAA guidelines and merge the ICD-10 diagnoses codes for mental illness from the electronic medical record to the FBI Background Check National Database so that individuals who have a history of psychiatric illnesses that predispose them to homicidal and suicidal tendencies, are kicked out of the system just as any felon would be. If I smack my wife, she reports it, and I go a month later and try to buy a gun, I can't. But I can threaten to kill people, actually promise to be a "school shooter," even be treated for schizophrenia and still LEGALLY purchase a firearm.
In an effort to enact some form of change, I have written both the President and Tennessee State Senator Lamar Alexander. (Who of you would have ever thought the first time I'd write our President or Senator would have been in the name of gun control?) Will it fix everything? No way, but it's a start, and it does have the power to prevent a person with schizophrenia from walking in to Bass Pro Shop and leaving with an AR-15 and 500 rounds in 20 minutes. Please recall, most every person who committed a mass shooting in recent memory obtained their gun legally. There's no excuse for that.
Until we enforce our current gun laws and do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, this problem will not change. And it has to change. It just simply doesn't change by targeting a weapon that looks "scary." I hope I've opened a few eyes here.
Disclaimer: These are my views. They may not be your views. I won't get in to a verbal sparring match with you over this. If you'd like to talk more about this, call me. I'll have you over to my house and we'll discuss it. I'll provide the cigars.
I have 2 little girls in school right now. I am a member of the NRA, I shoot competitively, and I own a lot of guns. But if you told me that giving up all of my guns would ensure there would never be another child murdered by a lunatic, I would voluntarily give them up in a heartbeat. I think most legal gun owners would do the same. Would it help? No.
The only thing I have seen on TV and rampant on Facebook for the last week is how we must ban AR-15's. I've actually seen some destroying or turning in their AR-15's to law enforcement for some unknown reason.
Most people screaming for a rifle ban couldn't pick an AR-15 out of a lineup if it saved their life. Most people can't tell you the difference between automatic weapons (which, by the way, are illegal without heavy licensure) and semi-automatic. Most can't tell you what an "assault rifle" is - mainly because that's a "BS," made-up term. So, I'm going to present some facts - backed up by evidence and statistics - to help paint a picture of why banning a weapon will do nothing. I ask you gun control advocates to keep an open mind as you read (if you choose to read). But at the same time, I will offer a suggestion on something I have written the White House and our State Senator about that has the potential to help. So, here we go - facts and stats 1st:
-The USA has, by far, the highest per capita gun ownership in the world. What is per capita gun ownership? Basically, when measured by number of guns owned per 100 residents - the USA leads the list at 90. 90 guns owned per every 100 residents.
-The estimate is that a total over 360 million guns are privately owned in the US. 15 million of those 360 million are AR-15s.
-The AR in AR-15 does not stand for Assault Rifle and it doesn't stand for Automatic Rifle either. The AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. "Assault" is a verb - not a noun - assault is what you do with a weapon. I can assault you with a stick (it doesn't make it an "assault stick" or maybe it does). I own an M4 (a beefed up, full bolt version of the AR-15), and yes, for all the people that say "why do you need that?", I do hunt with it depending on the hunt. I also shoot competitively - not only with my rifles, but with shotguns and pistols.
-Have you heard that these "assault rifles" are used in the majority of homicides? I heard that - this week. On the news. Is it true? Not even close. According to the FBI, rifles of all kinds account for 3% of firearm homicides. Clubs, hammers, hands, fists and knives are all used to kill much more frequently than a rifle. According to FBI statistics, you are 3 times more likely to be stabbed to death than to be killed with a rifle. Don't think you can mass kill with a knife? Just 3 years ago, a group of 3 men in China went on a killing spree in a train station. They killed 33 and wounded 130 more. Not a single gun was used - they only had knives.
-Contrary to what news outlets like to convey, the vast majority of mass shootings involve pistols. How many CNN anchors have you heard this week claiming the AR-15 to be the "weapon of choice for mass shooters?" Again, more "BS." In a review of mass shootings from 1982-2012, 66 percent of the weapons used in mass shootings were pistols. That same review found that only 14% of weapons used in "mass shootings" would qualify as an assault weapon under the definition used in a 2013 bill sponsored by Dianne Feinstien (D-Calif).
-In a secondary review of mass shootings from 1982-2017, about 1/4 of mass shootings involved a rifle (of any type - including but not limited to the AR-15), almost 1/4 of mass shootings were performed using a garden variety shotgun. Well over 1/2 of all mass shootings in that same time period used pistols only.
-The Va Tech shooter killed more than double the amount of students recently killed in Florida. He only used pistols. No rifles were used in that spree ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html ).
So, will banning the AR-15 do anything? No, and here's why. A person dead set on committing murder doesn't care about your law. If he can not legally buy an AR-15, he'll get one illegally, on the black market. Remember he/she is a criminal; they don't care about your law. So, let's play devil's advocate and say we confiscate, and even eliminate all AR-15s and similar rifles, and they aren't available - even on the black market. The criminal will still mass murder - using a shotgun. Remember, almost as many mass shootings have involved garden variety shotguns. So, we'll ban, confiscate and destroy shotguns. OK, the criminal will move to pistols - banning the rifle or shotguns will simply change the 66% of mass shooting being with pistol to 90+%. So, ban the pistols then. They'll move to knives, they'll go on the dark web and find instructions that allow them to make a bomb (capable of killing and maiming hundreds at a time) that they can make out of household items in less than 10 minutes. Banning an AR-15 simply takes it out the hands of the legal gun owners. It won't keep it out of the hands of criminals - and even if it does, it will simply drive them to change the instrument. It's like taking away the truck they would use to drive to the mass shooting. They'll find another way ( maybe a box truck rented from Home Depot - https://tinyurl.com/y9p4cqlm ).
So, what about people that buy it legally and then snap? Ahh, there's where the problem lies.....and there is where we can make a difference. How?
Everyone likes to yell "gun control," but no one seems to be able to give a detailed answer on what that means (outside of ban, ban, ban!). We have gun control laws now. The problem is they aren't enforced. And now that the details start to emerge we can see how many red flags were overlooked with this kid in Florida. He told people he was going to do this. He was reported to the FBI. Twice! He was treated in a mental health facility for psychiatric illness and yet he was still able to purchase this weapon legally. That is absurd. This is the heart of the problem.
Show me a mass shooter in recent memory that has not had a documented history of psychiatric illness. I am a physician and I'm all for following HIPAA guidelines but we must lighten up on HIPAA guidelines and merge the ICD-10 diagnoses codes for mental illness from the electronic medical record to the FBI Background Check National Database so that individuals who have a history of psychiatric illnesses that predispose them to homicidal and suicidal tendencies, are kicked out of the system just as any felon would be. If I smack my wife, she reports it, and I go a month later and try to buy a gun, I can't. But I can threaten to kill people, actually promise to be a "school shooter," even be treated for schizophrenia and still LEGALLY purchase a firearm.
In an effort to enact some form of change, I have written both the President and Tennessee State Senator Lamar Alexander. (Who of you would have ever thought the first time I'd write our President or Senator would have been in the name of gun control?) Will it fix everything? No way, but it's a start, and it does have the power to prevent a person with schizophrenia from walking in to Bass Pro Shop and leaving with an AR-15 and 500 rounds in 20 minutes. Please recall, most every person who committed a mass shooting in recent memory obtained their gun legally. There's no excuse for that.
Until we enforce our current gun laws and do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, this problem will not change. And it has to change. It just simply doesn't change by targeting a weapon that looks "scary." I hope I've opened a few eyes here.
Disclaimer: These are my views. They may not be your views. I won't get in to a verbal sparring match with you over this. If you'd like to talk more about this, call me. I'll have you over to my house and we'll discuss it. I'll provide the cigars.
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