Raises hand This kind of nut. Yes, this was horrible. But I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that this gun was not purchased legally. If so, all the bans in the world would not have stopped this.
Now I’m sure all the people out there will go blaming GTA, Eminem, and the gun manufacturer, which we all know is the true root of the problem. :rolleyes:
On preview, I notice you can get an AK47 at Walmart for which I am speechless.
Well, I’ve heard that making things illegal only hurts the people that are law abiding, and I certainly agree with that to a point. I fell though, that they are easier to acquire, if someone is allowed to legally purchase them.
Why? The AK-47 simply a smallish semi-automatic rifle. There are dozens of models of guns that perform identically (for all intents and purposes). What makes this one model so particularly vile that it shouldn’t be sold at Wal-mart? And nineteen year-olds with no criminal records are able to legally purchase one.
My guess, which is based on NRA statements about previous incidents of this nature, is that the NRA will either a) say nothing, or b) call the incident a tragedy for the parents and children involved. Not a bit of “spin.”
On the other hand, I’d like to see how the anti-gun crowd will “spin” this. Whoops! You’ve already begun by calling for an immediate ban on “all assault rifles,” and labeling anyone who might have a differing opinion a “nut.” But before you start banning anything, define “assault rifle” please—in terminology descriptive and narrow enough to be acceptable in a court of law, because surely, a ban of this nature will be challenged. The term “assault rifle” means a very specific thing to the military. It has no real analogue in the civilian world. If I were to make another guess, I’d say that you don’t really know much about the objects you wish to ban.
Some additional spin: I note the CNN website is calling the weapon an “automatic rifle.” This is inaccurate. It’s a semi-automatic rifle. There’s a difference between the two terms.
Good. Give 'im life in prison. And if he accidently trips and falls on the way to the courthouse, I won’t shed no tears.
But World Eater, buddy, pal, my dearest of dear friends… let’s not jump to conclusions or get caught up in hysterics. Yes, it was quite the tragedy… but let’s not let our emotional reaction determine our judgments.
Ok, so let’s include those as well. Perhaps I’m naive here, and I know that this is been tread over 50 million times, but I simply think automatic, and semi automatic weapons should be banned. I know this is a touchy subject, and people think they should have the right to own and all, but what is the point of owning an AK47? Seriously.
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This bothers me, severely.
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All right I’ll have to take that “nut” back, if only for a few minutes.
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I would say anything above a certain rate of fire, and above a certain ammo capacity, should be banned. Now figuring out that threshold is going to be a huge debate, but I’ll guess that semi automatic and fully automatic weapons would be above my threshold.
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My understanding is they are both capable of a high rate of fire.
I understand Spoofe, it just seems like it was time to revisit the question.
In common parlance, an “automatic” weapon is often actually a semi-auto. The phrase “fully automatic” has come into existence to help clarify (?) the ambiguity.
I am fucking sick of hysteria getting in the way of rational thought. School shootings happen what, once a fucking year? A kid is more likely to get struck by fucking lightning than to die in a school shooting, but does that matter? No. An immediate outcry to ban all “assault rifles” by shrieking anti-gun freaks ensues.
Remember the fucking Brady Bill? That was in 1994. They banned the manufacture of new assault rifles. What the hell do you want them to do more, go into peoples houses and start taking away their guns?
Assault rifle history. The Sturmgewehr 44. It’s a scary looking automatic rifle with a necked down cartridge. The ammo was slightly less powerful than the standard rifle cartridges of the time, but therefore more could be carried. Recoil was reduced, allowing less skilled marksmen to fire the new weapons.
I’m more scared of the mentality behind the weapon than the weapon itself. A sniper with a hunting rifle (more accurate and powerful) would be damn dangerous. But, that doesn’t seem to happen as much.
Just to clarify a tad, an assault rifle is one capable of “automatic” fire, as in, it will keep firing as long as the trigger is held down until the magazine is emptied. It can also be selected for single fire, one shot for each trigger pull (what 99% of gun owners and people familiar with firearms know). These types of firearms (such as Al Capone’s favorite tool, the Thompson sub-machine gun) have been banned from private ownership unless you undergo a background check, to include fingerprinting, and paying a fee of approximately $300. There are not a lot of legally owned machine guns running around in the US.
As per Standard Operating Procedure for almost any of the “Media” in this country pertaining to (Oh, My, God, Goddess, deity of your choice) a child with a gun, the term for any weapon that can fire more than one round without re-loading is an “automatic” rifle, preferably an UZI, or an M-16 variant (see, sniper, Malvo), or the ubiquitous AK-47, which most people in this country are now intimately familiar with after 20+ days of Iraqi news reports. Of course, what the perp’s used in this latest tragedy is not an AK-47, but, What the Hey, why let facts stand in the way of a good story (SOP). For those watching CNN or FOX, YMMV.
Does it bother you severely that a sixteen year old with no history of drunk driving can legally purchase and operate an automobile, accidents with which more than 50,000 people are killed annually on America’s highways?
Then you are free to not buy one. What does this have to do with my AK-47 which is only ever used for removing groundhogs from horse farms and putting holes in paper targets for the enjoyment of the owner?
Sure, you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a semi-automatic rifle of many types. Of course if it looks too menacing because it has a folding stock and a bayonet lug, it’s illegal, or if it has a flash-hider and a folding stock, it’s illegal, but those cosmetic differences have nothing to do with the actual performance of the rifle. Most of the things outlawed by the 1994 Brady Bill were aesthetic, cosmetic, and only applied to extremely specific models of rifles with ‘threatening sounding names’.
To be totally honest, one could do far, far more damage with a standard deer hunting rifle than with an AK-47 purely because of the range one has using a deer rifle (such as a Remington 700) with a scope.
Either way, are you aware that by even bringing that gun onto the property of an elementary or secondary school in the U.S. the shooters were already in violation of about 40 federal laws? What would one more law have done to prevent that? You are also aware that murder is illegal in all 50 states, correct? Do you think they would’ve changed their minds if shooting someone was even more illegal?
I guess I am of a very small minority of people that view ownership of these types of weapons as completely useless.
What are the typical uses of such a weapon? Hunting? protection? Collecting? In the first case a hunting rifle should be fine. Protection? A Desert Eagle should be fine
Please fill me in as to other possible uses.
Assault weapons kill more then school children, and they kill more then once a year.
What effect would banning these weapons have in regards to the daily lives of the people that own them? I ask this because I’m sure I’ll get people saying we should ban cars, knives, and other things that can be used to kill people.
Just some thoughts.
I guess it was stupid to open this in the pit, as I would have appreciated some honest debate on the matter. I think I came out of the gate wrong.