So gun control, mental health care, and mass shootings

[Bioture]

I think we (should) care about each other's opinions. Yours is unique because you're from the state.

[DoTheFandango]

It's been a very rough time here in Connecticut.

We don't get much attention nationally, and when we do it's usually something about UConn or Yale, which is fine because that's pretty much all our state has besides good pizza. You can drive through CT in 1.5 hours. Newtown is no more than 45 minutes away from me. This is a small state, and a community. So when something like this happens in your state, much like when the Cheshire murders happened a few years back, the state gets shocked. People freak out. This goes beyond that.

That day, people were zombies. My mom was near silent for 18+ hours. You think back to when you were in school, right before Christmas. You think about when you put your kids on a school bus and fully knew that was the safest thing you could do.

And then this happens.

And the word around Connecticut, which I want known, is that people don't give a shit how you feel about keeping your assault-style weaponry. The only reason those exist are to kill people at a high rate. Anything that makes it that easy to kill people should not be accessible. Or at the very fucking least, not have it be as easy as it is now. Despite what our insanely inept national legislative body will do, state laws will soon pass a 50% sales tax on any ammo bought outside of a range, and a law that states ammo bought at a range can only be used at the range. Further, you're looking a maximum magazine size of 10-15. If you're not down with that, get the fuck out of Connecticut, I guess. It's not going to happened because of inaction on the local level again.

I don't really care about any of your opinions, and you don't care about mine, which is also fine. I just want to let you know that these are the repercussions that will happen here.

[Fit of Rage]

This is a retarded argument, something tragic happens and every liberal, and politician decided to take it upon themselves to demonize something. I think you should all read the history of gun control and the countries whose civilians lost the ability to own weapons, and what happened to those people. Guns are very useful for things besides killing other humans, they can be used to kill other humans but really the main point of guns isn't the gun itself, it is the knowledge that a population is armed, that is the point of the second amendment. Never will another country, or our own country truly be able to subjugate our citizenry due to the fact that we are able to protect ourselves and that very possible fear is always in the minds of countries foreign and domestic.

But seriously, read up about countries who passed strict gun control laws in the past and the genocides it has caused.

Nobody said take away the guns. I'm pretty confident you and plenty of others would be able to pass a psychiatric evaluation. You have to be qualified to drive a car in this country--if you're not you don't get a license to drive. Why shouldn't guns be the same way?

Will we stop every future shooting? Of course not. But that's a terrible reason not to have a serious discussion about gun ownership and (way more importantly) the state of mental health overall.

[Celestial Jeddak]

The real tragedy here is your lack of reading comprehension and that very pathetic attempt to troll the thread.

You're a troll.

Yeah kids who torture/kill animals usually turn out to be serial killers

I really do believe some people are just inherently evil from the start (Rotten Apple)

I wanted to say this is true (though I'm not sure about the usually part, but I think kids that torture and kill animals have a higher chance of becoming a serial killer)
Just like that one serial killer that didn't want to be called a serial killer..

[Crescent Seal]

I feel like watching the movie Minority Report now. Never saw it before.

[Crescent Seal]

Its a great subject to have a discussion on. I sort of believe the same thing as you but I feel that sometimes those inherent evil notions can lay dormant and at times be triggered by external factors.

[gran guerrero]

bad parenting doesn't always create bad people

some people who are subject to abuse/bad parenting/missing parents (from their lives) sometimes turn out to be well-adjusted adults who want to be opposite of what they suffered from their parents or lack of parents.

it's the whole nature vs. nurture argument

I believe they both have their influences, but it's mostly in your genes. You either are or aren't. If you are are, you would most likely make choices that reflect that.

[gran guerrero]

Are people born with a pre-existing evil notion? Its tough to answer that but I think bad parenting is a hugeeee factor.

Yeah kids who torture/kill animals usually turn out to be serial killers

I really do believe some people are just inherently evil from the start (Rotten Apple)

[Crescent Seal]

It's just pure evil people.

Are people born with a pre-existing evil notion? Its tough to answer that but I think bad parenting is a hugeeee factor.

[Crescent Seal]

I don't get it. You agree and then disagree.

Not only would it (likely) reduce the number of incidents, but it would reduce the impact of any incidents that do occur since the weapons would be much less powerful.

Who would a ban on (semi)automatic guns affect? Bioture, an avid gun owner, admitted above it wouldn't affect him.

Read it carefully. I said I agree it would reduce the smaller scale incidents but not the major ones because a shooter would find a way to purchase an assault rifle if he wanted to go to the extreme.

[gran guerrero]

My cousin has aspergers

he's far from violent. He's a softy that loves history and the beatles.

I wish people stopped relating mental disorders such as aspergers, autism and other mental disorders as a form of mental sickness that causes them to go on a mass killing rampage.

It takes a calm, collective mind to do something of this proportion.

It's just pure evil people.

[gran guerrero]

Beat you to it soup!

[Soup du Jour]

if anybody can recall the movie where it was the future, everyone was drinkign energy drink X and everyone was stupid im gonna go ahead and watch it. It was a good movie.

The movie was Idiocracy.

Not sure what the official standing on his mental health is but I read that he had Aspergers and a personality disorder.

Our dear Jerome Scuggs has admitted to having Aspergers. The definition of a personalilty disorder is probably so broad that we all have one. Mental Health issues are a great place to look, but I think the quicker and easier fix removing these weapons from public hands.

I agree it would probably lower these incidents, but if you notice that the common trend in all of these high level shootings is that the gunman kills himself in the end. If a person is willing to go to that end then he would make sure to purchase the most efficient weapon capable of taking out as many as possible no matter what the laws were. It would definitely lower the "smaller" scale incidents, but we are talking about another breed of shooter here.

I don't get it. You agree and then disagree.

Not only would it (likely) reduce the number of incidents, but it would reduce the impact of any incidents that do occur since the weapons would be much less powerful.

Who would a ban on (semi)automatic guns affect? Bioture, an avid gun owner, admitted above it wouldn't affect him.

[gran guerrero]

Haha, I heard on the news that the bells rang 26 times for the 26 children but not for the mother, isnt that something.

Besides, it's something much more difficult to control, if anybody can recall the movie where it was the future, everyone was drinkign energy drink X and everyone was stupid im gonna go ahead and watch it. It was a good movie.

Idiocracy

[Crescent Seal]

Apparently he made it a point to show his hatred for his mother. They found 4 bullet holes in her head.