The suspension of tact and understanding always helps to further one's arguments and improve one's credibility.
I understand subtlety, but these days, many do not.
Some folks, though otherwise intelligent can't seen to get a clue, unless you hit them between the eyes with a "clue-bat". (or a brick,
)
Politeness, tact, and understanding get us points with people who actually think about the issues, I'm not worried about them, its the people who only feel that is the problem, they are greater in number, and they are being manipulated.
The world is a dangerous place. We tell them that, but they don't
feel it. Most of them have been raised safe, warm, and well fed their entire lives. They've been told and taught they will always be safe, and they get very upset when the world shows them in the most personal ways that they have been lied to their whole lives.
Note how many of these people are yelling at the politicians, but not the local police. Aren't the police the ones who failed to protect them?? The police, at least have a shot (sorry for the pun) at stopping a bad guy. Politicians can only make laws, and if the bad guy is going to break the law against murder, lesser laws have even less effect on stopping them.
Ban "assault weapons" and no one will have them, or be able to get them, so the killings will stop, right?
Sorry, that's not going to happen. You might be able to ban them, but the killing won't stop because you do. We had an assault weapon ban for a decade 1994-2004, and the killings didn't stop (nor did it make any detectable difference in the crime rate, up or down). Ironically, the AWB made the AR style (and all similar arms) MORE popular than ever.
There's a few million of these guns in circulation now, and even if you could make them all illegal, the same people who sell illegal drugs will (and do) sell illegal guns, too.
That Florida police chief (or sheriff, whatever he is) said he's going to have his officers with AR15s on that school campus, now.
Apparently a badge and a uniform makes one immune to the evil siren song of the assault weapon, crooning in the ears of civilians urging them to kill....
(deliberate sarcasm)
Except there is the Pulse nightclub shooting, done by a licensed security guard, who was investigated, background checked and psych evaluated, and passed all with flying colors...
No assault weapon, no guns of any kind were used to kill a few THOUSAND people on Sept. 11th.
Maybe I different from most people. Maybe I'm not a "good person", but if my 14yr old daughter had been murdered at school a week ago, I wouldn't be calling for a ban on the gun used. I be screaming from the rooftops that the PERSON who did it should be flayed alive, slowly, and if the govt wouldn't let me do it, they should at least let me watch!!
I had children in school during the 80s and 90s, and there were school shooting then, too. One of them in my state was stopped when the students (including at least one who had been shot) tackled the shooter, and wrestled him to the ground.
My kids and I discussed at length what to do if they were in a school shooting, and we decided that "cower in place" was the least desirable option.
I praise the bravery and sacrifice of the teachers and staff who have been killed trying to shield students with their bodies, but cannot help but wonder if the outcome might have been different if they had attacked the shooter, instead?
Note how the mass shootings never seem to happen anywhere there is an expected armed response available? Gun free zones, are, as a few politicians are now seeming to realize, nothing but a "safe work environment" for killers.