This is about all I'm going to say on this subject until the board moves on, since it's pretty much degenerated into a whole lot of "You psycho gun nuts just want everybody to be armed" from one side and "You socialist Eurofags just want to castrate all of us like you are" from the other, with occasional bursts of sanity from people like KenJennings which are duly ignored by both sides.
First and foremost, this was not all about the guns. This kid had a documented history of being unstable, of being a stalker and generally being fucked up in the head. Pretty much no one who knew him was surprised by what he did. Yes, maybe without a gun the body count would have been smaller. Or maybe he would have built some explosive devices and leveled the entire place before anyone could have lifted a finger to stop him. The body count is not the fucking point. The machinery he used is not the fucking point. He was a ticking time bomb and everyone who knew it dropped the ball. The system set in place to supposedly protect the students did and is doing more to cover its own ass than to protect any student.
Let me make it perfectly clear here, I am 100% for the right of responsible gun owners to own firearms, whether it be for self-defense, collecting or shooting sports. But honestly folks, the NRA and their ilk are out of control. They refuse to listen to anything even remotely like a reasonable proposal regarding gun control; not banning firearms of any kind but sensible restrictions that would prevent people who have a documented history of mental illness, violent behavior, stalking, or anything else that should raise screaming neon red flags during the process of a firearms sale. Honestly, what the fuck is the problem with that? This kid skated right through the current background check process even with the history he had without a single peep of alarm from the system. Forget the bullshit "waiting periods", slapping even more onerous cost on top of what it all ready costs to purchase a firearm or restricting certain firearms based on nothing more than cosmetic appearance. What we need is a background check system that takes this information into account. Everyone knew this kid had problems except the most important person: the one who sold him the guns. I can't blame the seller too much, he's not psychic and sometimes people with even grave mental illnesses can hide it very well when they feel the need. But this is what could have saved a lot of lives. Not total gun bans, not arming every third person on the frickin' campus or any of this other all-or-nothing bullshit I keep seeing. He could have been stopped and the people who needed to know he was trying to arm himself could have known about it but both the pro- and anti-gun sides are too busy wallowing in their own scare propaganda and locking antlers with each other to see it.
That's my peace on it folks. Discuss amongst yourselves.
First and foremost, this was not all about the guns. This kid had a documented history of being unstable, of being a stalker and generally being fucked up in the head. Pretty much no one who knew him was surprised by what he did. Yes, maybe without a gun the body count would have been smaller. Or maybe he would have built some explosive devices and leveled the entire place before anyone could have lifted a finger to stop him. The body count is not the fucking point. The machinery he used is not the fucking point. He was a ticking time bomb and everyone who knew it dropped the ball. The system set in place to supposedly protect the students did and is doing more to cover its own ass than to protect any student.
Let me make it perfectly clear here, I am 100% for the right of responsible gun owners to own firearms, whether it be for self-defense, collecting or shooting sports. But honestly folks, the NRA and their ilk are out of control. They refuse to listen to anything even remotely like a reasonable proposal regarding gun control; not banning firearms of any kind but sensible restrictions that would prevent people who have a documented history of mental illness, violent behavior, stalking, or anything else that should raise screaming neon red flags during the process of a firearms sale. Honestly, what the fuck is the problem with that? This kid skated right through the current background check process even with the history he had without a single peep of alarm from the system. Forget the bullshit "waiting periods", slapping even more onerous cost on top of what it all ready costs to purchase a firearm or restricting certain firearms based on nothing more than cosmetic appearance. What we need is a background check system that takes this information into account. Everyone knew this kid had problems except the most important person: the one who sold him the guns. I can't blame the seller too much, he's not psychic and sometimes people with even grave mental illnesses can hide it very well when they feel the need. But this is what could have saved a lot of lives. Not total gun bans, not arming every third person on the frickin' campus or any of this other all-or-nothing bullshit I keep seeing. He could have been stopped and the people who needed to know he was trying to arm himself could have known about it but both the pro- and anti-gun sides are too busy wallowing in their own scare propaganda and locking antlers with each other to see it.
That's my peace on it folks. Discuss amongst yourselves.