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Guns. Woken up to 2 news stories here in the UK.
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<blockquote data-quote="Lil" data-source="post: 662942" data-attributes="member: 17309"><p>The cases where 1-4 year olds get their hands on guns fall into my category of "stupid"...NOT the children, but the owners. You don't leave a loaded weapon (or a knife, medication, broken glass, lighters or any other potentially hazardous item) where a toddler can get a hold of it. For that matter, guns should be carefully stored even if the kid is old enough to know better. </p><p></p><p>It sounds like a lot of people here know people who have children who have died from firearms. I do too. A woman I knew (close friend of a friend) lost her 14 year old son, who was in his room showing off his hunting rifle to a friend and it was loaded. This horrific and senseless death could have been so easily avoided if they'd used simple gun-safety rules of making sure guns were unloaded when not in use and NOT handling it improperly. It was DRILLED into me that you NEVER put your finger on a trigger or point a gun at anything you don't intend to put a bullet in - even if you are SURE it is unloaded. </p><p></p><p>This is a serious problem. Gun control won't solve it. </p><p></p><p>My father kept a loaded 44 Magnum revolver under his bed in a wooden case. There was no lock on the case. My brother and I never, ever considered touching that gun. I remember being home alone with a girlfriend when I was about 13 and we watched scary movies and scared ourselves to death. We got butcher knives from the kitchen for "protection". It never occurred to me to get that gun. </p><p></p><p>Not all kids are like that...if anyone knows that, it's the people on this board. But we were. Even my D C was the type that had no interest in guns. He wasn't (when he was young) one who would even consider going through our things. Had he been a different kind of kid, there would have been a different safekeeping involved in Jabber's gun. </p><p></p><p>There is not any person here who has said guns are wonderful fuzzy toys that should be embraced. They've merely pointed out that people prone to do violence will find a way to do it whether guns are legal or not. If guns are illegal, they'll use knives, axes, explosives - or most likely - illegal guns. Drive-by shootings are horrible things. Does anyone here actually believe gang-bangers are using their own, properly purchased and registered weapons? Now that's absurd. </p><p></p><p>When you get right down to it, there is NO way to successfully ban guns in the United States. The country is too big and there are too many guns. Short of declaring martial law, throwing out the basic freedom that this country was founded on, and literally going door to door to take guns, you will never get them. Let's face it, in this country that would mean war, plain and simple. There are too many people with illegal guns or who have the survivalist SHTF mentality who have (sometimes stockpiled) weapons and who will fight to their dying breath to keep them.</p><p></p><p>So what do you do to stop gun violence? I don't know. The vast majority of people who commit crimes like the theater shootings are mentally ill...not legally insane, but clearly ill. So better mental health would help. But people won't go if they don't want help. We on this board know that better than most. Much gun violence is from gangs and other criminals. I have no idea how to deal with that. My best suggestion was already made. Tougher gun-crime laws.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lil, post: 662942, member: 17309"] The cases where 1-4 year olds get their hands on guns fall into my category of "stupid"...NOT the children, but the owners. You don't leave a loaded weapon (or a knife, medication, broken glass, lighters or any other potentially hazardous item) where a toddler can get a hold of it. For that matter, guns should be carefully stored even if the kid is old enough to know better. It sounds like a lot of people here know people who have children who have died from firearms. I do too. A woman I knew (close friend of a friend) lost her 14 year old son, who was in his room showing off his hunting rifle to a friend and it was loaded. This horrific and senseless death could have been so easily avoided if they'd used simple gun-safety rules of making sure guns were unloaded when not in use and NOT handling it improperly. It was DRILLED into me that you NEVER put your finger on a trigger or point a gun at anything you don't intend to put a bullet in - even if you are SURE it is unloaded. This is a serious problem. Gun control won't solve it. My father kept a loaded 44 Magnum revolver under his bed in a wooden case. There was no lock on the case. My brother and I never, ever considered touching that gun. I remember being home alone with a girlfriend when I was about 13 and we watched scary movies and scared ourselves to death. We got butcher knives from the kitchen for "protection". It never occurred to me to get that gun. Not all kids are like that...if anyone knows that, it's the people on this board. But we were. Even my D C was the type that had no interest in guns. He wasn't (when he was young) one who would even consider going through our things. Had he been a different kind of kid, there would have been a different safekeeping involved in Jabber's gun. There is not any person here who has said guns are wonderful fuzzy toys that should be embraced. They've merely pointed out that people prone to do violence will find a way to do it whether guns are legal or not. If guns are illegal, they'll use knives, axes, explosives - or most likely - illegal guns. Drive-by shootings are horrible things. Does anyone here actually believe gang-bangers are using their own, properly purchased and registered weapons? Now that's absurd. When you get right down to it, there is NO way to successfully ban guns in the United States. The country is too big and there are too many guns. Short of declaring martial law, throwing out the basic freedom that this country was founded on, and literally going door to door to take guns, you will never get them. Let's face it, in this country that would mean war, plain and simple. There are too many people with illegal guns or who have the survivalist SHTF mentality who have (sometimes stockpiled) weapons and who will fight to their dying breath to keep them. So what do you do to stop gun violence? I don't know. The vast majority of people who commit crimes like the theater shootings are mentally ill...not legally insane, but clearly ill. So better mental health would help. But people won't go if they don't want help. We on this board know that better than most. Much gun violence is from gangs and other criminals. I have no idea how to deal with that. My best suggestion was already made. Tougher gun-crime laws. [/QUOTE]
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