Gun Control in US and Canada

tincan

Well-Known Member
In less than a week there have been two major shootings in public areas in the US resulting in deaths of innocent people. Gun control in the US has always been a hot button issue and it's sad to say that these sort of events are a necessity to bring this issue to the forefront, which I'm sure it will be in the coming days. As emotional as these latest incidences have been I think my stance on gun control has remained constant and it it:

-Guns are too prevalent in society in general
-Guns are too easy to purchase (not enough proper screening)
-Many types of guns should be deemed illegal as their purpose was not for protection/hunting and were designed for assault/military purposes and have now found their way into society.
-Many people who own guns don't know how to use them/store them properly.
-The NRA and other similar organizations have done a good job to convince voters and elected officials of their agenda
-The 2nd amendment was written over 200 years ago and needs to be overhauled

Most of my opinions and research on the gun control issue comes from US sources although I do have many hunting buddies here in Canada. I'm sure their are a range of opinions on this subject so looking forward to learning from all sides.
 
you can walk into any gun show down here and walk out with whatever your wallet can handle. large capacity magazines are a major issue with all of this. a 40 round clip for a glock??? what the hell for! weapons that allow rapid fire, AR15 and knockoffs, have no place on the street and when coupled with those high capacity magazines really present a threat. the NRA is a lobby group which speaks for the gun and ammo dealers and manufacturers. there one and only mission is to promote sales. they care less about safety or impacts of misuse. the killlings this morning at an ELEMENTARY school should shock everyone human on the planet. but what will happen is a bit of huffing and then it with the shopping mall shooting will be sweep from public view. those of us who own and use firearms are at a total lose regarding how to change all of this. with the supremes in the pocket of the conservatives, any legislation passed by any state brave enough will automatically head to this court and be struck down. my heart bleeds for the parents of these young children.
 
I agree that the state of our society is the fundamental problem. I feel that the shift towards more violence is, not surprisingly, correlated to the shirt towards more inequality. Poor people with no access to mental healthcare are more likely to commit acts of violence. If anything I hope this absolutely tragic week of events sets some policies in action to prevent the root causes of these horrific shootings. I fear that there will be a strong force hoping to 'solve' these problems by putting in more metal detectors and arming teachers and mall workers which in my opinion would be going in the exact opposite direction. Can't imagine what the families in CT are going through at the moment.

I guess the fundamental problem is why is society so screwed up. The culture is shifting more violent year after year. I don't understand why everyone is so angry? It's more a flaw in our culture we have to change, and so far no one has been able to solve it. I am shocked this happened but not surprised either. That sucks as a parent I am outraged to see this. Could you guys imagine if that happened here? I am still looking at images asking why? What a merry Xmas for those families. That sucks I can't belive some of things I am seeing lately. Just like that doctor that stabbed his kids to death in Ontario. Unreal sick society we are in.
 
This should be interesting...

lol, get the popcorn.

The sad thing is the 'mericans will use the shooting as proof of why the need MORE guns. They'll say if those people had guns they could have defended themselves, mean while they end up shooting their loved ones in the night thinking its burglars.
 
I have nothing against guns as long as they where designed and are being used for hunting. What reason could anybody have for buying an assault rifle and body armor other than to kill people. American's need to stand up and tell the NRA to sit down a shut the **** up.
 
I don't think anybody will debate that lives have been ruined forever and that this is an unimaginably horrible time in the life of the families of the victims. However, if this not the time for discussion when is? Every year in the US tens of thousands (varies widely by year) of gun deaths take place. For 25,000 deaths, for instance, that would be 68 deaths per DAY! 68 lives and families lives that have been ruined for ever each DAY! The time to talk about this rampant problem plaguing our world is NOW while the worlds attention is focused on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States

this is not the time for this discussion. there are lives that have just been ruined forever.
 
Todays sad events will ruin the lives and peace of many persons, immediate families, extended families, friends, the officers and emergency personal who have to see this in person and their families. Hundreds of peoples lives upset forever. Because young kids have been targeted...you will see some action taken. The public will react and force some change.
 
Indeed and unimaginable act of violence this morning. I just read the most recent detailed news and it unfortunately sounds like all the laws in the world would not have stopped this young man’s anger and actions. I can’t imagine the fear everybody experienced.
 
Indeed and unimaginable act of violence this morning. I just read the most recent detailed news and it unfortunately sounds like all the laws in the world would not have stopped this young man’s anger and actions. I can’t imagine the fear everybody experienced.

Agree-- how can "crazy" be regulated?? Wish there was an easy answer. My thoughts go out to the families....
 
One small step would be to ease the violent video games so many young kids love to play. Killing is the game. We all played with toy 6 guns and stick rifles but we did not see the blood spurting out of the victim we just eliminated as on the video game. I believe it desensitizes the violent act. Just my thoughts
 
The perp in the last mall shooting was described as 'one of the nicest guys who liked playing video games'
 
Crazy cannot be regulated but it can be treated (in many cases) and it can be limited by making changes to our society. On the other hand it is, legislatively speaking, very easy to make substantial, immediate changes to gun control regulation that would make it more difficult for assault weapons and huge magazines to get into the hands of those likely to use them for evil. I do agree there is not an easy answer to eradicate the sort of incidences we've seen in the US this week as there are many factors involved but I am yet to hear a good reason for touting these sort of weapons other than the usual 'it's my 2nd amendment right' which was written 220 years ago when the musket was the most effective gun for military purposes. Times have changed, guns have changed, laws need to change. There are many other issues other than gun control that need to be addressed but it is a piece of the puzzle and the simple fact is there are too many guns, they are too powerful and they are too easy to acquire.

Agree-- how can "crazy" be regulated?? Wish there was an easy answer. My thoughts go out to the families....
 
yup, agree with this. It's interesting how we choose to make things like super violent video games acceptable yet can't let kids see boobs in a movie until they are of adult age.

One small step would be to ease the violent video games so many young kids love to play. Killing is the game. We all played with toy 6 guns and stick rifles but we did not see the blood spurting out of the victim we just eliminated as on the video game. I believe it desensitizes the violent act. Just my thoughts
 
video games are rated just like movies, so you must be a certain age to play a violent game - just like you must be a certain age to watch a violent movie. If your young kid is playing a violent video game then you fail as a parent and the blame is bad parenting not bloody video games.There are 100's of millions of people playing violent video games and they aren't out doing acts of violence, blaming any form of art for human actions is incredibly flawed.
 
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Crazy cannot be regulated but it can be treated (in many cases) and it can be limited by making changes to our society. On the other hand it is, legislatively speaking, very easy to make substantial, immediate changes to gun control regulation that would make it more difficult for assault weapons and huge magazines to get into the hands of those likely to use them for evil. I do agree there is not an easy answer to eradicate the sort of incidences we've seen in the US this week as there are many factors involved but I am yet to hear a good reason for touting these sort of weapons other than the usual 'it's my 2nd amendment right' which was written 220 years ago when the musket was the most effective gun for military purposes. Times have changed, guns have changed, laws need to change. There are many other issues other than gun control that need to be addressed but it is a piece of the puzzle and the simple fact is there are too many guns, they are too powerful and they are too easy to acquire.

are you aware of what guns were used in todays shooting? ive heard 2 9mm handguns. No huge magazines and or crazzy assualt rifles.
 
video games are rated just like movies, so you must be a certain age to play a violent game - just like you must be a certain age to watch a violent movie. If your young kid is playing a violent video game then you fail as a parent and the blame is bad parenting not bloody video games.There are 100's of millions of people playing violent video games and they aren't out doing acts of violence, blame any form of art for human actions is incredibly flawed.

Agreed, same as blaming guns for **** like this. If he didnt have a gun we would have used something else. . Ive even heard people today say on FB that guns should be illegal except Police.. How retarded are people?
 
Agreed, same as blaming guns for **** like this. If he didnt have a gun we would have used something else. . Ive even heard people today say on FB that guns should be illegal except Police.. How retarded are people?

when was the last mass killing you heard of where the assailant used a knife or blunt object? Innocent lives were taken with a bullet, you can't divorce the method of killing from the equation, its one of the fundamental reason that so many lives were taken so quickly.

Watching coverage still, this has got to be one of the saddest things I've seen a long time, f*cked up doesn't describe it.
 
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video games are rated just like movies, so you must be a certain age to play a violent game - just like you must be a certain age to watch a violent movie. If your young kid is playing a violent video game then you fail as a parent and the blame is bad parenting not bloody video games.There are 100's of millions of people playing violent video games and they aren't out doing acts of violence, blame any form of art for human actions is incredibly flawed.

There are millions of people with guns not commiting violent acts as well. Things are getting worse and I would speculate that violent movies and tv, violent video games, bad parenting, single parent homes, lack of dicipline, lack of religion, poor teachers, drug use, and many other things in some way contribute.
 
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