Shootings this week

[shinerbock]

Several tragic incidents this week resulted in numerous deaths.

It will be interesting to see what role this plays in the upcoming elections. The left will most certainly proclaim that more gun control is needed to eliminate these incidents, while the right will likely note that these all occurred in "gun free zones."

[chitownxo]

My parents live in Tinley Park, IL (where the Lane Bryant shootings took place) and one of the girls was a member of the church my family and I belong to, so this one, in particular, has been hard for me to process. This took place, literally, in my backyard. My mom and I did the majority of our Christmas shopping at that mall.

I'm kinda hoping the politicians leave these shootings alone. I know Obama released a statement about the Tinley Park incident, and I didn't have a problem with that (he is the Junior Senator from Illinois, after all), but am unsure about the others. These are all horrible tragedies; it's been a tough week.

[PhiGam]

Bowling for Columbine (I felt) did a great job in showing that the problem isn't that America has the most guns or the most historically violent people but rather that our news media desensitizes us to violence. Less guns won't curb gun deaths enough to even bother infringing on our second amendment rights, the only way to fix the problem is to eliminate the source (our forms of entertainment). Obviously there's way too much money involved for that to happen so we just need to accept, as a society, that this kind of thing is going to happen.

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by PhiGam

Bowling for Columbine (I felt) did a great job in showing that the problem isn't that America has the most guns or the most historically violent people but rather that our news media desensitizes us to violence. Less guns won't curb gun deaths enough to even bother infringing on our second amendment rights, the only way to fix the problem is to eliminate the source (our forms of entertainment). Obviously there's way too much money involved for that to happen so we just need to accept, as a society, that this kind of thing is going to happen.

Interesting. I think it extends a bit farther than media, but I have no doubt that it plays a substantial role.

I'm not for the politicization of these tragedies either, I just thought it was an interesting split for the opposing sides. Often, these shootings obviously favor one side of the argument, but I don't think they do here. Instead, you have tragic displays of gun violence, but that show the obvious weaknesses of the gun control agenda. Whether or not allowing guns could have prevented or mitigated the events, clearly criminals aren't dissuaded by even states with strict gun control policy (Ill.).

It was a sad week, and unfortunately there isn't always a solution.

[PhiGam]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Interesting. I think it extends a bit farther than media, but I have no doubt that it plays a substantial role.

I'm not for the politicization of these tragedies either, I just thought it was an interesting split for the opposing sides. Often, these shootings obviously favor one side of the argument, but I don't think they do here. Instead, you have tragic displays of gun violence, but that show the obvious weaknesses of the gun control agenda. Whether or not allowing guns could have prevented or mitigated the events, clearly criminals aren't dissuaded by even states with strict gun control policy (Ill.).

It was a sad week, and unfortunately there isn't always a solution.

As a member of the NRA and somebody who got their first gun when I was 12 obviously I am biased. I don't understand how people can shoot another human being and I also can't understand how people think that taking away guns will curb violence when there are countries like Canada with higher gun ownership rates and far less violent crimes. There are gun laws outlawing automatic weapons now but they aren't hard to get, especially if you're on the wrong side of the law.

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by PhiGam

As a member of the NRA and somebody who got their first gun when I was 12 obviously I am biased. I don't understand how people can shoot another human being and I also can't understand how people think that taking away guns will curb violence when there are countries like Canada with higher gun ownership rates and far less violent crimes. There are gun laws outlawing automatic weapons now but they aren't hard to get, especially if you're on the wrong side of the law.

The only way for gun control to work is through a complete ban. Of course, this is likely to fail, just as alcohol and drug bans have failed miserably. An illegal market for firearms may actually increase violence.