Aurora, Colorado: 12 Dead in Shooting Rampage at Midnight Showing of The Dark Knight Rises Read mor

[Hobaginator]

It's very much about the weapon as well though. There's no way 15 or so people would be dead and 50 injured with one man and a knife. Guns are extremely dangerous because they can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time to a large number of people.

I agree with this statement. Guns are dangerous, just like cars are dangerous. It requires a high level of skill, good moral ground, and decent mental capacity to use both safely and effectively in the right situations.

I have no idea why any American citizen would need a gun anyway, guns harm far more than they protect, they are not there for protection. Think of it this way: someone mugs you and you don't have a gun, consequence is you get your wallet stolen and maybe a punch in the face; someone mugs you and you have a gun, consequence is someone gets shot, someone dies. Normal citizens owning guns is one of the most idiotic things in America. I know I'm going to get torn into for this but what I say is the truth.

It has been in our constitution from the very start that we have the right to bare arms. This is to protect us from more than just crime. It's to protect us from the govornment. If citizens aren't allowed to have guns, neither should the govornment, or the military, or any other country for that matter. How would we solve that? I'm pretty sure it would come down to war. People are going to kill people no matter what you do to try and change that. I'd rather read about a mugger who was shot and killed, than a woman who was beaten and raped to death by an escaped convict. Truth is, just the fact that people are aware others might have guns deters a lot of crime in the states.

Genuine question, simply stated: could he afford mental healthcare?

I see what you did there. If what everyone's saying about gun control being off topic, then healthcare ought to be also, right? How about we start a new thread for that too?

I believe Hobaginator has very valid potential but it keeps getting dragged into name calling, anger-filled responses that any science-major would be laughed out at if he/she tried to use it as a means of justification.

I'm no science major, and yeah, I operate off of fury very efficiently (est. 98 mi/gal). I'll take your statement as a compliment.

About glorifying homicidal figures and the media's role in this... You can't blame media, you have to blame the man who pulled the trigger... I don't think media made him do it, but it may have helped him pull the trigger to pretend it all was just a movie. He obviously had no brass about him whatsoever, so it's anybody's speculation.

Fair enough you crazy Yanks I can understand its been part of your history for so many years.

Nix, it's more than just history. (Btw the "Yanks" fought for the Federal Govornment in the civil war to unite all 50 states and keep it that way. The Rebels fought against it for succession of a new govorning party of the South completely separate from the North.) Anyways, it's more than just history. It's what our country was founded on. Every part of the Constitution has been why the U.S.A. is what it is. I'm a patriot, and it infuriates me to see what's happening nowadays in politics... Politician geezers are just ripping pieces right out of the Constitution and finding loopholes to get away with it, it's happening all the time. If we're not careful, future generations are going to be living in chains -- the Constitution protects freedom.

So the way i see it is, keep your gun and you may save your life one day, or give it up and save many lives everyday. On a grander scale of things anyway, and if not total disarmament then i think at the very least, pistols only. Would you guys settle for pistols only even?

Sure. Can I trade my .22 caliber rifle for a pistol that fires 22mm rounds that can blow up a tank? 'Cause the fed has tanks, and choppers, and jets and missiles. At the very least let me protect myself against tanks should the socialist party decide it's time to burn the flag and rip up the Constitution in my lifetime. My point is that placing too much trust in the govornment is historically proven to be a giant mistake. Fed respects us, we respect fed. Fed starts taking away our rights, we fight back. You better be damn sure those govornment boys still remember the bitter fought battles in the southern hills. I'm a patriot for the U.S.A. That means that I'm not putting my life in some diplomat's hands, and when the shit hits the fan, your gun is your life.

Those of you who are against civillians owning guns, I imagine very few of you have had some homeboy from the hood point an unregistered pistol with the serial number scratched off at your face. Or some criminal phony pretending to be a cop try to rob you at gunpoint. If it happened to you and by sheer luck you lived to talk about it, I guarentee you'd seriously consider getting a Concealed Carry permit. I speak from experience. Both of those happened to me. The first one dry fired at my face point blank. He forgot to chamber a round. That's the only reason I'm sitting here typing to you right now. If I had a gun in that instance, he would have been one dead spade. I'm sure he's gone off to rape some 14 year old girl and stab some old lady for her purse since our run-in. Had I been armed when we met, he'd be nobody's problem. Same with the faux-deputy robber.

I still stand by my reasoning that if the moviegoers had been allowed to carry their firearms on premesis, this tragedy could have been prevented, or at least lessened. I blame gun control for their deaths and injury. Psychos are everywhere, but we need a way to strike them down when they get out of control.

[Sheechiibii]

Those of you who are against civillians owning guns, I imagine very few of you have had some homeboy from the hood point an unregistered pistol with the serial number scratched off at your face. Or some criminal phony pretending to be a cop try to rob you at gunpoint. If it happened to you and by sheer luck you lived to talk about it, I guarentee you'd seriously consider getting a Concealed Carry permit. I speak from experience. Both of those happened to me. The first one dry fired at my face point blank. He forgot to chamber a round. That's the only reason I'm sitting here typing to you right now. If I had a gun in that instance, he would have been one dead spade. I'm sure he's gone off to rape some 14 year old girl and stab some old lady for her purse since our run-in. Had I been armed when we met, he'd be nobody's problem. Same with the faux-deputy robber.

I still stand by my reasoning that if the moviegoers had been allowed to carry their firearms on premesis, this tragedy could have been prevented, or at least lessened. I blame gun control for their deaths and injury. Psychos are everywhere, but we need a way to strike them down when they get out of control.

I understand where you're coming from given your past, but have you ever stopped to think that if you didn't live in a country packed full to the brim with guns that maybe neither of those instances would have happened? Guns are extremely easy to come by in America, legal or illegal. I've never seen a gun in Britain, and I've only once heard about gun crime in britain on the news. Sure, there are groups who own guns, I don't know about them but I'm pretty sure they exist in this country, but you don't really hear of gun crime in this country at all. Why is that? Because barely anybody has a gun, not even the cops carry guns unless they're going to a crime scene where the perpetrator is armed and dangerous. Fact is if guns werent so easy to come by in America it's extremely unlikely that either of those situations would have occured to you.

[Hobaginator]

Fact is if guns werent so easy to come by in America it's extremely unlikely that either of those situations would have occured to you.

The phony cop was ex-military. Uncle Sam trained him in the use of firearms, provided him with permits and liscences. Hell, he even somehow obtained a very real looking sheriff's dept undercover badge. Truth is, if somebody has malicious intent, they're going to get their hands on whatever they need to hurt people. Why should I just trust that my govornment's police and military are nice people? Because some diplomat said they are? The U.S. Marine Corps denied me the opportunity to serve, and this guy went into the Army right after high school. Maybe the U.S. just has a higher percentage of whackos. I don't know. Why should ANYBODY be allowed to have a gun, by those standards? Why not crack down on weapons and firearm manufacturers? Make it illegal to produce anything with the purpose of killing. Especially hunting rifles. Why do we need to kill deer? We can just go to a store and buy meat if we want it. Why don't we still just fight wars with swords and bows? Better yet, outlaw those too. Fist fight to solve our problems... Or we can all just sit down and talk about our problems and figure something out peacefully. Heh... In an ideal world, maybe. This isn't the carebears. There's criminals and murderers out there and I for one will not give up my basic animal right to defend myself in any way that I can.

I get what you're saying. I really do. Do you realize that the mexican drug cartel simply hacks people's heads off with machetes or uses chainsaws? It's common to find decapitated heads on the sides of the road in many places where cartel activity is rampant. In third world countries there are roving machete gangs... People will simply light houses on fire to kill who they want. My point is that if it's not one method, its another.

Believe me, I'm the type of guy that can handle myself in a fist fight, but no matter how fast I can throw a combo or how many punches I can take it doesn't change the fact that a single bullet to the head can end my existence in a second. This is the world we live in. I don't see the problem with responsible citizens living in peace, being polite, good samaritans, and carrying their pistols just in case. That's what it's like in most of Kings Mountain, NC. It's actually pretty peaceful.

Jason Alexander wrote something interesting about this today.

TwitLonger — When you talk too much for Twitter

Ok so this guy argues the right to bear arms definition as it appears in the Constitution:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Definition of MILITIA
1
a : a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency
b : a body of citizens organized for military service
2
: the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service

I am signed up for Selective Service and trained by the State to use a handgun safely and effectively through my Concealed Carry Permit class. If the govornment calls my phone and tells me to drive to the nearest National Guard base to report for duty, I'll be there, and I'll be able to score on an expert level in marksmanship upon arrival. Is that the only definition of Militia? No. Here's another hypothetical: If Barack Obama himself orders a convoy of tanks to drive through my neighborhood and unjustly sieze our property, and we decide that isn't OK, we can organize and can become a Militia. I think this guy is mistaking the definition of a Militia. The "minute men" who fought against Great Britain during the American revolution were a Militia, organized in a grassroots system against the oppressive govornment that they deemed unfit for rule. The army of the south in the Civil War was a militia organized for the same purpose. High school grade American History.

These people believe that the US government is eventually going to go street by street and enslave our citizens. Now as long as that is only happening to liberals, homosexuals and democrats - no problem. But if they try it with anyone else - it's going to be arms-ageddon and these committed, God-fearing, brave souls will then use their military-esque arsenal to show the forces of our corrupt government whats-what. These people think they meet the definition of a "militia". They don't. At least not the constitutional one. And, if it should actually come to such an unthinkable reality, these people believe they would win. That's why they have to "take our country back". From who? From anyone who doesn't think like them or see the world like them. They hold the only truth, everyone else is dangerous. Ever meet a terrorist that doesn't believe that? Just asking.

That entire statement paints every gun supporter as an idiot terrorist who's afraid of everyone else. Quite the contrary. I'd like to believe in the good of man, that's why I don't see any reason why my guns should be taken away. Unless of course HE is the one who is afraid. He's a moron and here's why: if our rights are being stripped away, it's going to be the very people he's insulting who are going to mobilize and defend his freedom to his protests. Our right to bear arms ensures that we can quickly mobilize to form a Militia in the event of a corrupt govornment taking hold. He makes it sound like the stuff of fantasy stories. He is a half-whit non-scholar who needs to take a high school class in American History. I don't even know who he is or why his opinion should be brought into this thread. Of course a grassroots militia would have less of a chance against a larger force with organized military and all the weapons that comes along with it, but the act of defiance against tyranny, and spilling our own blood for the freedom of our nation is winning. For an able-bodied man to do anything but is failure and cowardice, and non-American. He talks as if something like this could never happen, and has never happened. It's in the books. I think I've made my point. His opinion is invalid and illogical.