13 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2018
    1. The risk is that the passage of a few partial measures will take our eyes off the bigger picture and drain the energy out of the demands for change led by young people after the Parkland slaughter. That is what the gun lobby is counting on.

      Being productive in assuring those who own firearms are mentally steady could do good things. And the constant media coverage of these issues does nothing but promote the loss of the innocents ability to defend themselves and for other mentally ill individuals to commit these acts to become "famous".

    2. So would repealing lax concealed-carry laws, stand-your-ground laws and other rules that are proliferating around America to make it easier to shoot someone and get away with it.

      You mean the right for an individual to defend another or himself from harm? Why take away the innocents defense and provide an easier escape for criminals? This is not productive and keeps people from defending themselves from those who wish to harm or kill them.

    3. The real problem is that there are far too many firearms in America — more than 300 million, according to Congress. They are too easy to obtain and they are becoming ever more lethal.

      Taking firearms away from those who obtain them legally will raise crime rate in areas where previous gun owners once lived. Not to mention, with the number of firearms already present in the United States, those seeking to obtain a firearm will do it illegally with ease. This does one thing, leaves the innocent and law abiding citizens unarmed and at risk.

    4. nly 5 percent of the mass shooters it studied were under 20. And of course, mass shooting victims account for a tiny percentage of the Americans gunned down every year.

      That is still 5 percent that could be managed and aided, while suicides account for most of the gun deaths per yer. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/upshot/gun-deaths-are-mostly-suicides.html This also proves again why mental illness must be emphasized while discussing firearms.

    5. But bump stocks could have been banned at any time before or since a killer used them to murder 58 people in Las Vegas last fall, and Trump has done nothing to make it happen.

      Its easy to look in the past and say someone should have done this before this, the issue is being addressed and it is a step towards what the author wants.

    6. “prohibited by federal law from possessing guns due to severe mental illness.” In only 11 percent of the cases did the group find “evidence that concerns about the mental health of the shooter had been brought to the attention of a medical practitioner, school official or legal authority.”

      Precisely why mental illness must be more heavily monitored and studied to be used in the future. Many signs appear but are ignored with unstable individuals.

    7. It is tragic that in recent decades, states have closed mental hospitals and thrown people into prisons when they should be receiving psychiatric care. But that has little to do with gun violence — in or out of schools, on a small or mass scale.

      Exactly, so why mock Trump for offering the idea of reopening these facilities that would be heavily monitored and used for good?

    8. president and others on the right are suddenly claiming to be dedicated to addressing the nation’s epidemic of gun violence.

      Its a step in the right direction, especially with addressing mental illness that seems to be at least a decent percentage of reasons behind shootings.

    9. “nab” people and throw them in a padded room because “something was off.”

      The idea is to get mentally ill individuals the help they need before they become a threat to themselves and society. This also provides shelter and aid to many homeless that are mentally ill. The idea isnt a scary or unorthodox system that was abused many years ago, rather the opposite to help ill people who need it.

    10. the Soviet Union.

      Which had very strict regulation with a government that watched its peoples every move. The control this author offers is on par with the same ideas he is mocking. https://www.quora.com/Could-you-have-owned-a-gun-in-the-USSR

  2. Feb 2018