On one day, in one American town 13 times as many people (27) were murdered by gun than were murdered by gun (2) in one entire year (2006) in Japan, a nation of 127,000,000 people. And yet we dither. The warning from the Right is that “they are coming for your guns.” This is partially true (we’re coming for some of them) except that “they” is actually “we,” and “you,” whether you know it or not, are actually part of that we because that we includes family, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens, which is not nearly as nebulous an entity as your favorite bogeyman “the government.” We the people are coming. And you, as a person who may have no respect for government, need to respect that.
We are told that we must come to you now politely and with respect to gain your support or at least your lack of resistance to the new set of laws and regulations that, hopefully, will soon apply to the guns you covet and worship. I for one am in no such mood. Accountability is a big word in your dialectic, and in your unyielding attitude toward gun ownership in America, and in your support of the NRA I am holding you accountable for enabling the gun-available environment that led to the mass slaughter of children in Connecticut, to name but one incident. You will resist this characterization because you are a sportsman or a hobbyist or a perceived self-defender who is merely exercising your 2nd Amendment rights. You are innocent. But you are not. What you’re guilty of is indifference, in the face of brutal statistics (31,000 gun deaths per year in America), to the mayhem inflicted on your communities, near and afar, by your stubborn affection for guns.
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” That is correct. That is why severe limitations on gun ownership and access to guns must be in effect in the United States. The reality of our imperfect and increasingly violence-tolerating culture (if you visited another world and witnessed children entertaining themselves with virtual games of shooting and death, would you view them as peace-loving or something else?), is something you can no longer ignore. That reality, not your connection to times past or to the glowing mythology of guns in America, demands an adaptation and a response to the killing power of modern guns.
This much I know. If I had a tradition, activity or even a need that involved guns, and I saw what guns at large had done to my country, I would gladly limit or compromise my access to guns for the greater good. Not to do so would be disgracefully un-American and insupportable, but most of all selfish. As good, responsible and deserving as you think you are, our society is peopled by many who are hostile, irresponsible, uncontrollable, ill-trained, and imbalanced. Efforts to control or monitor those members of society have and will always fall unacceptably short. That leaves guns as the controllable variable in the American equation of death by guns.
There; their; they're. Learn the difference -- people might take you seriously. Do I correctly presume that you were marching in Hartford?
Whether such a ban would survive a challenge in the Courts post District of Columbia v. Heller is a close call. hopefully, we'll never find out -- instead, the majority who are decent, freedom-loving and rational will prevail upon their elected representatives not to enact such a misguided law in the first place.
See, I'm much less hung up on exact definitions - whatever the weapon and magazine used to fire 30 bullets in 27 seconds in Aurora and 33 bullets in 15 seconds in Tucson.......that type of killing power has NO place in civil hands. None.
you are misinformed. no semi-automatic weapon discharges 30 rounds in 27 seconds or 33 rounds in 15 seconds, even when used by an experienced marksman. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that a semi-automatic firearm could possibly fire that quickly, so what? Of course they would be appropriate in civilian hands. first, they are in now common circulation among the population of the USA, and therefore protected by the Second Amendment, under District of Columbia v. Heller. Second, what you anti-firearm zealots fail to apprehend is the frequency that an experienced marksman misses a stationary target with a handgun in the calm of a shooting range. for a terrified woman, living alone or with a baby, a hi-cap magazine brings security that faced with a threat, she can do the necessary successfully and survive. Perhaps you should tear yourself away from you Ku Klux Klan buddies and spend an afternoon at the shooting range-- you might learn something.
You appear to have a very high opinion of yourself, which is wholly unwarranted. What do you know about my education attainment or income? I have no doubt that both are far superior to yours.
I have forgotten more about our Consitution than you'll ever know, loser.
Who is mistaken? More: "At least 30 gunshots were heard in court Tuesday as prosecutors played a 27-second recording of a 911 call made during the theater shooting....The audio came from what detective Randy Hansen testified was the very first 911 call from inside Theater 9 during the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises.” http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/aurora-movie-theater-shooting-prosecutors-play-911-calls-from-inside-theater-9-in-court-tuesd-4
It was Detective Hansen who analyzed and reached conclusions about the Aurora gun shot tape, not a reporter. Fred - "innumerable other semi-automatics, and they can't possibly be fired that quickly" Live and learn Fred -go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AmzW732NY Now imagine with a 100 clip mag as the Aurora shooter had...............
For the last time Fred - and I assume you visited the video/url I supplied to you showing extremely rapid fire of a number of semi-auto assault weapons like the Ar-15 used in Aurora - here is another source for "30 shots in 27 seconds" (notice IT QUOTES DETECTIVE HANSEN): "The courtroom heard the first phone call to come from inside the theater during the actual shooting. HANSEN TOLD PROSECUTORS HE COUNTED at least 30 SHOTS FIRED during the 27 SECOND phone call." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/08/questions-remain-on-colorado-shooter-state-mind-during-massacre-hearing/ Give it up.
Live and learn Fred -go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AmzW732NY
“The official rate of fire specs for the Colt M16 (fully automatic military version of the AR-15) are: Cyclic: 800 rounds per minute Sustained: 12-15 Semiautomatic: 45 Since the AR-15 has no full auto or burst settings, it cannot fire as fast as an M16. In particular, the cyclic rate of fire simply doesn’t apply. That measures how fast the mechanism reloads and fires again when the trigger is held down. With an AR-15, the weapon does not fire another round until the trigger is released and pulled again. The sustained rate, which I mention in the article, takes into account tasks the user must do to continue shooting, including changing magazines, aiming, and letting it cool off." (cont.)
"The semi-automatic rate measures how quickly the rifle can be fired with a minimal level of precision in targeting, but does not account for issues such as cooling or magazine changes. In a sense it’s how quickly the user can pull the trigger and return to some kind of aim after recovering from the recoil (which is not that severe on an AR-15). But it doesn’t account for the problems that can occur if you shoot too fast for too long, such as jamming or overheating. What makes it semi-automatic is how it redirects some of the gases from a shot’s gunpowder to move certain parts of the gun so that another cartridge goes into the chamber. The gases are hot and contain impurities. This heats up the gun and can cause bad consequences like cooking off. The impurities can foul the gun and cause it to jam. We don’t know the full details yet (and may never know) but some reports indicate the Aurora shooter’s AR-15 jammed. Whether that was due to a mechanical problem with the drum, overheating, or fouling. There are different opinions about this but the AR-15 has been criticized as prone to jamming.” http://wredlich.com/ny/2012/07/gun-control-aurora-and-the-ar-15-factoids-and-foolishness/ Regarding rates of fire for fully automatic weapons (which are actual “military style weapons,” unlike so-called “assauly rifles,” and have been illegal for civilians to own since the 1930s; http://www.military-sf.com/ROF.htm