Can some of the real rifle experts answer this question for me?

[MarkA]

Scorch: No, these issues have always been around. We have had killers like Caligula, the James boys, Dillinger, Hitler and Himmler around ever since time began (usually self-centered sociopaths with no regard for others' rights or ideas that disagree with theirs). The biggest difference is that society used to make sure kids understood the difference between right and wrong at a fairly early age. Nowadays they are taught that there is no right or wrong, it's how you feel that makes it right or wrong. Morality is a no-no, and protecting kids from the consequences of their actions is a mandate. So you get kids that commit minor crimes at early ages, and they are sheltered from law enforcement by short-sighted teachers who are trying to be nice, which leads them to commit bigger crimes because they got away with it the last time. It's a very complex issue that gets people all fired up because some of those kids are theirs. Solution? Don't know.

Don't know? I think you answered your own question there, bub. As (keyword) responsible adults, we have an obligation to bestow upon our little ones a sense of what's right and wrong, and a working concept of consequences for one's actions. We don't need any governments permission to do so, and as a society, we have indeed gotten lazy about it, and now we're reaping what has been sewn.

You're completely right too, in saying that it's always been there. Since before written history, there have been wolves among the sheep. In today's digital age however, the wolves are getting a lot more press (CNN makes more money that way, and the OP's silence makes me believe he's just here to stir that pot). I think it would behoove us to take whatever we see in the news with a grain of salt to a degree as individuals, agree to take our youth's hand and lead them down the right roads just as we were.

We, the good people of the world, are still the majority. Putting a bullhorn and a camera in front of a few confused individuals, giving them some press, doesn't change that, or our responsibilities to the future generations that we can directly affect by looking at our kids and saying "see that? Don't be like that" and so on and so forth. Keeping the riffraff (those who would pander to such minorities) elected out of Washington helps quite a bit, too.

TL;DR: I'm brainwashing my kids to be members of a freedom sleeper cell. They just don't know it.

 

[Risasi]

It's not guns, it's certainly not caliber or action. It's the intent of an evil heart:

http://time.com/4407268/nice-attack-france-truck-bastille-day/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

https://nypost.com/2015/03/25/nyc-dance-club-arson-that-killed-87-to-be-commemorated/

Guns are just "sexy" to the media jackals and they love dancing in the blood of victims trying to sell disarmament of the generally law abiding populace.

If they somehow got rid of the 450 million to 600 million firearms in the U.S. then evil people would find another, and possibly more effective means of killing, and then nobody would be able to defend themselves.

 

[Ledslnger]

They need to ban cars, pressure cookers, cell phone use by minors, sharp sporks, acid of all types, trucks, planes, poison, tractors, etc. Just ban until we live in caves and then ban trees and.....we will still have violence using tools.

 

[davidsog]

We have had killers like Caligula, the James boys, Dillinger, Hitler and Himmler around ever since time began

Not really.

Today's mass shooters are simply trying to call attention to themselves. It seems to be done to "right some wrong" in their lives.

This is the result of an overinflated sense of entitlement, Hollywood condoned violence where every movie depicts the hero solving all their problems with a gun, and other modern entertainment where people sit on the sofa for hours killing realistic but virtual human beings.

Read, "On Killing".

 

[BeeShooter]

Bama - Banning ARs/Assault Rifles will not stop killings. However, the reasonable argument is that it may reduce the amount of people being killed per incident. The reason is the rate of fire per time. The restriction of ARs/Assault rifles to people with dysfunctional problems may also reduce the homicides committed. One of the failing issues of argument for the unrestricted use of the AR is magazine size and rate of fire and consequently its caliber.

 

[MarkA]

Maybe the real question should be: How do you win an argument when facts don't matter?

 

[davidsog]

Bama - Banning ARs/Assault Rifles will not stop killings. However, the reasonable argument is that it may reduce the amount of people being killed per incident.

That is mitigating the problem and not solving it. Once more, that mitigation punishes millions of responsible gun owners for the actions of a tiny few.


It goes against the 2nd most important right our Founding Fathers gave to us with the intention of using it to secure our inalienable rights endowed by our creator.

It is patently as ridiculous as banning cars for the actions of a few. Cars kill way more people than guns.

Solve the problem itself. Demand INDIVIDUAL responsibility, accountability, and end the culture of entitlement from our society.

End the glorification of violence and reward perception that comes from it which serves to provide these sicko's a perception of a moral foundation for their actions.