General Gun Violence/Gun Control

[BeginnerSleuther]

Red Flag laws are a valuable tool to help law enforcement get guns out of the hands of unstable people before they commit an act of violence. If Tennessee had such a law, the school shooting may not have happened. Instead, the Police Chief said she wasn't even on their radar.

What are ‘red flag’ laws and how can they prevent gun violence?

Psychiatrist Amy Barnhorst explains how red flag laws work and how ordinary people can utilize them if they are concerned someone is at risk of harming themselves and others with a gun.

health.ucdavis.edu

Except most mass shootings are not the result of the severely mentally ill.

"However, a Columbia University research study found that of the 1,800 mass murders, only 8% of all mass shooters were diagnosed with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or severe bipolar disorder."

A look into the traits of a mass shooter

Researchers have identified four traits shared by most mass shooters and discussed how often they have a diagnosed mental illness.

www.cbsnews.com

New Findings from the Columbia Mass Murder Database

Data from Columbia Mass Murder Database reveal psychosis and other serious psychiatric illness absent in the majority of perpetrators.

www.columbiapsychiatry.org

Most Mass Shooters are Terrorists, Not Mentally Ill

The misperception of gunmen as “crazy” is damaging. Here’s why.

www.psychiatrictimes.com

People have latched on to mental illness without actually understanding it.

I may have missed it as I haven't kept up with the news on the TN shooter. Can you please provide a link that the shooter was mentally ill? I know the parents said she had an "emotional" problem, but that doesn't mean mentally ill.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I sometimes think we've become so desensitized to the fight that we're willing to throw out the baby with the bath water. It seems to me that the pro-gun side should want stricter laws to prove that guns are not dangerous in the hands of law-abiding citizens, not lax laws that blur the lines between the dangerous and the non-dangerous.

MOO.

I think that is exactly what has happened. We debated how to fix it after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde. Here we are after Covenant.

Once the unbearable became daily news, the gun debate basically ended. We’ve somehow decided as a nation that mass shootings are something we will live with. We aren’t taking away guns. 2a. So now we will all carry.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

jmo

 

[MyBelle]

I think that is exactly what has happened. We debated how to fix it after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde. Here we are after Covenant.

Once the unbearable became daily news, the gun debate basically ended. We’ve somehow decided as a nation that mass shootings are something we will live with. We aren’t taking away guns. 2a. So now we will all carry.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

jmo

I have no idea why or when gun laws became so politicized. The driving principle in enacting legislation should be common sense and a wish to protect public safety.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/gun-law-grades-by-state-what-matters/index.html

 

[angelainwi]

I have no idea why or when gun laws became so politicized. The driving principle in enacting legislation should be common sense and a wish to protect public safety.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/gun-law-grades-by-state-what-matters/index.html

Two Words: Gun Lobby

 

[MyBelle]

Two Words: Gun Lobby

I know. I've long held the opinion lobbyist $$$ should be illegal.

 

[Kentlydoesit]

Have the laws kept apace with the technology?
The sheer lethality of modern weaponry surely changes the legal standpoint and rationale behind its inception?
Surely it’s whole raison d’etre is no longer relevant today, what, getting on for 250 years later?!
From an outsider (UK), looking in, it appears your laws regarding this are antiquated and need to be reviewed but I do realise the influence of the NRA et al put paid to this.

 

[ginestra]

Two Words: Gun Lobby

NRa is classified as a Social Welfare Organization. Insane, eh?

 

[Deleted member 39678]

You can google mass shootings for each state. Montana has had 3 over the 4 year period 2015-2019. The population in 2019 was around 880,000. Wyoming had only 1 during that same period (but only 550,000 people, so..)

It's definitely a more pronounced problem in the more urban areas of the more urban states. Alaska's homicide rate is just about at the national average (nothing to brag about if one is from, say, Japan).

Alaska had one of the earlier school shootings (1997):

1997 Bethel Regional High School shooting - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That was before Columbine.

North Dakota certainly "wins" in terms of zero mass shootings (but its death by gun homicide is above the national average by just a little).

View attachment 412792

Overall deaths by guns in Alaska are among the highest rates in the US.

IMO.

Does this include suicides? I feel that good number of people who commit suicide would find another way of doing it if a gun was not available. That throws the numbers way off in my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

As a medical expert, it's my opinion that no one should have easy access to purchasing semi-automatic weapons.

So your in favor of waiting periods and background checks. I don't think those work very well myself.

The bad guys still get their guns. JMO.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

I think that is exactly what has happened. We debated how to fix it after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde. Here we are after Covenant.

Once the unbearable became daily news, the gun debate basically ended. We’ve somehow decided as a nation that mass shootings are something we will live with. We aren’t taking away guns. 2a. So now we will all carry.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

jmo

Are you saying that the only way to prevent school shootings is gun confiscation?

 

[Soulmagent]

I

I agree 100% that mentally ill people having access to guns, legally obtained or illegal ones needs to be looked at.

While I can see laws being written that would have mandatory reporting by mental heath providers helping in background checks I'm not sure if would work for all situations.

What about those who never seek professional help but instead self medicate? What about their access to illegal guns?

I'm afraid that I have more questions than answers on this subject. JMO

Even if you win this ,you still allow the same mentally ill people to school your children ,unless you send them to private school.
<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

 

[Deleted member 39678]

I have no idea why or when gun laws became so politicized. The driving principle in enacting legislation should be common sense and a wish to protect public safety.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/gun-law-grades-by-state-what-matters/index.html

Gun control is politicized because both sides use it against each other to gain votes.

I posted about this with you yesterday. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[SouthAussie]

"An analysis of public mass shootings resulting in four or more deaths found that more than 85% of such fatalities were caused by assault rifles"

"67% of Americans— <modsnip>—support a ban on assault weapons"

"While the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur"

"In 1994, Congress adopted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it generally “unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess” a semiautomatic assault weapon. The law was adopted with a sunset clause, however, and expired in 2004, despite overwhelming public support for its renewal"

"Though the US House of Representatives passed legislation in 2022 to renew and strengthen this assault weapons law, that legislation has not passed the US Senate and there is currently no federal law restricting the sale, manufacture, or possession of assault weapons."

Assault Weapons

Assault weapons enable shooters to fire quickly and repeatedly. Banning them can help prevent mass shootings.

giffords.org

 

[Deleted member 39678]

"An analysis of public mass shootings resulting in four or more deaths found that more than 85% of such fatalities were caused by assault rifles"

"67% of Americans—<modsnip: Politicizing>—support a ban on assault weapons"

"While the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur"

"In 1994, Congress adopted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it generally “unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess” a semiautomatic assault weapon. The law was adopted with a sunset clause, however, and expired in 2004, despite overwhelming public support for its renewal"

"Though the US House of Representatives passed legislation in 2022 to renew and strengthen this assault weapons law, that legislation has not passed the US Senate and there is currently no federal law restricting the sale, manufacture, or possession of assault weapons."

Assault Weapons

Assault weapons enable shooters to fire quickly and repeatedly. Banning them can help prevent mass shootings.

giffords.org

What is the definition of an assault rifle/weapon?

 

[SouthAussie]

What is the definition of an assault rifle/weapon?

From the link I posted .... "Assault weapons, especially assault rifles, are typically semiautomatic versions of weapons created for deadly battlefield purposes. They are designed and equipped with features that enable mass killing, including sustained, high-volume rapid fire shooting at large numbers of people in a short period of time."

"Perpetrators of many of the deadliest shootings in modern American history—including in Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Sutherland Springs, El Paso, Robb Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Aurora, and Dayton—used assault weapons equipped with large-capacity magazines."

 

[Cool Cats]

"An analysis of public mass shootings resulting in four or more deaths found that more than 85% of such fatalities were caused by assault rifles"

"67% of Americans— <modsnip> —support a ban on assault weapons"

"While the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur"

"In 1994, Congress adopted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it generally “unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess” a semiautomatic assault weapon. The law was adopted with a sunset clause, however, and expired in 2004, despite overwhelming public support for its renewal"

"Though the US House of Representatives passed legislation in 2022 to renew and strengthen this assault weapons law, that legislation has not passed the US Senate and there is currently no federal law restricting the sale, manufacture, or possession of assault weapons."

Assault Weapons

Assault weapons enable shooters to fire quickly and repeatedly. Banning them can help prevent mass shootings.

giffords.org

These are easy to buy and you can skip the background check and buy from a private seller.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

From the link I posted .... "Assault weapons, especially assault rifles, are typically semiautomatic versions of weapons created for deadly battlefield purposes. They are designed and equipped with features that enable mass killing, including sustained, high-volume rapid fire shooting at large numbers of people in a short period of time."

Pretty vague. What are the exact features that define an assault rifle?

 

[SouthAussie]

These are easy to buy and you can skip the background check and buy from a private sellar.

You have to start somewhere. Banning assault weapons might be a good start. Considering the damage they have done.

Banning them should allow for confiscation, when an assault weapon is discovered.
Banning them should stop the manufacturers making them for public consumption.

It seems that the majority of Americans WANT them banned.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

These are easy to buy and you can skip the background check and buy from a private seller.

I can't do that legally. I'm not allowed to buy ammo legally unless I submit to a background check.

 

[Cool Cats]

I can't do that legally. I'm not allowed to buy ammo legally unless I submit to a background check.

Not sure what you mean.

It is not illegal to buy assault rifles and you can buy bullets at Walmart, no background check for bullets.