Huey Driver Loc: Texas

Like most others I’m tired of the mass shootings and general gun violence in America today. I am pro-gun and have owned guns since I became old enough to legally hunt as a teenager. I’m equally tired of the anti-gunners clamoring each time a shooting occurs “we need more gun laws” and even, “we need to confiscate all guns”. Are the anti-gunner’s so thick between the ears that they really do not understand simple things or do they just not want too? Simple facts like, guns are inanimate objects and can do nothing on their own without some sort of intervention: mostly human. Or, bad people are the problem, not guns.

Let’s look at two cold hard facts. Mass shooters like the woman who recently shot through the glass doors of a school, entered and started shooting is perhaps in many ways typical of most gun violence perpetrators. They either don’t give a tinker’s damn about gun laws or just don’t think about them before they commit a gun crime. They are hell bent on doing their evil: period. Some say we should confiscate all guns: do you seriously believe even if we tried to forcibly remove all guns with more laws, went house to house gestapo style, or by offering a fair monetary buy back this would actually work? In your dreams maybe? It is estimated that there is something like 433.9 million of these inanimate things called firearms in civilian possession in the US. Things that are lifeless and harmless without someone using them. I’m sure the gang bangers, thugs, gang members, dope dealers, radical extremists, etc. would be first to line up to rid themselves of the guns they currently own. What would be created by legislating confiscation of all guns would be an unarmed defenseless population except for the people who shouldn’t own guns in the first place.

Sadly, there is no magic bullet or single unfailing answer to eliminating or at least reducing the number of mass shootings and gun violence. There probably never will be; but we need to take a much more aggressive posture of finding the bad seeds before they develop and commit their evil.

We better start by understanding and sound thinking: rational people will no doubt agree; guns themselves are not the problem but people are. Today’s technology and man power is currently unable to ferret out all the bad folks that have problems and probably never will be; so, we better start using more defensive ideas and quit focusing on the laws we now have that just don’t work so then in frustration we add laws and expecting they will do the job even knowing they won’t. We should start by thinking outside the box more and by putting more effort into defensive ideas and admit what we are doing right now plainly isn’t working and continuing will only provide the same results: almost nothing.

Someone said to me: “but if we could get rid of all of the guns we wouldn’t have all those shootings”. Yep, she’s right: but we’d still have knives, ball bats, axes, bombs and worst of all those mentally challenged people who want to commit evil. Who knows, it might even be worse than today? Let’s not forget what Timothy McVeigh and others have done: without guns?

Will I ever need to carry a gun to protect myself? I hope not. I lived through that scenario in Vietnam. But, if I do ever do need a gun for self-defense or defense of others, I hope our misguided legislators that vote and continue to create gun laws that don’t work at stopping bad people and their evil, are not the reason for my not being able to legally own and carry a gun.

Bad people? We seem to have an abundance of them these days so we need to figure out how to defend ourselves from them and more gun laws just aren’t going to do it.

gorgehiker Loc: Lexington, Ky

Thanks, but your essay would provide no comfort to the families of the four victims of the latest mass shooting in Louisville in my home state. There would have been far more victims if not for the bravery of responding police officers who killed the shooter. One of the nine innocent people injured is a young police officer who graduated from the police academy on March 31 and was shot in the head by a shooter who had more firepower than the brave officer. THIS IS INSANE!

Triple G

Watch the most avid gun rights spokes people and law enforcement begin to realize that there needs to be nation-wide rigorously enforced red flag laws and nationwide registry.

gorgehiker Loc: Lexington, Ky

What do you suggest to stop the senseless carnage?

Triple G

I don't see any human benefitting from the use of long guns with large capacity to warrant the availability of them and gun deaths were less with the ban; let's put it back in. There needs to be something done on a nationwide basis with coordination among the states on registration, licensing, training, etc. Doing nothing is not an option.

jcboy3

Conservatives always say it's the people, not the guns.

Perhaps an AI program can be used to identify those people before they kill, and they can be pre-emptively arrested and thrown in jail.

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

Nor would more laws that WOULDN'T have stopped the shooter.

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

McVeigh did a pretty good job with no guns at all. And you still imply guns are the problem instead of the people that use them. Sad

steve03 Loc: long Lsland

Thank you for bring this up. Mcveigh used fertilizer and other chemicals to make the van a bomb and later there was new laws and regulations to control the sale of these products.Its been 30 years since that terrible day and this kind of weapon have not been used again.The same cannot be said able guns.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-109hhrg35932/html/CHRG-109hhrg35932.htm

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

The point being, no guns lots of other means to kill masses of people.

WNYShooter Loc: WNY

Anyone can very easily still obtain everything that McVeigh used for that bomb.

Rose42

Not a good idea. The red flag laws are too easy to abuse. A registry only means its easier to take things away

What people seem to not understand is that if someone has murder in their heart they will find a weapon. Red flag laws and a national registry won’t stop them. We should start by enforcing laws we do have, stop enabling mental illness and do more thorough checks.

Triple G

I'm already seeing the gun activists, police, legislatures, Fox news on air people, beginning to speak favorably for these things. It does feel different now that something in a nation-wide basis just might get started.

Bill 45

I have been hearing and reading about this bs since the days of the JFK's assassination. Here we are 60 years later and the beat goes on. It look like that guns are more important than people. Only in America

Huey Driver Loc: Texas

Guns aren't the problem, people are. Rid the US of all guns and violence would still exist proving
guns never were the problem. It was and still would be thoese bad people all along and they will continue to be a problem.