Gun control discussions in the wake of the Newtown, CT deaths

I'm not a gun person. They scare me. They are a tool designed to do one thing- kill. I've fired them, but I don't like them.

That said, I understand the reasoning behind owning a gun. It is one's right to protect their family. Fine. But does one need an assault rifle to do that? No. That seems extreme to me.

Another thing that disturbs me are Open Carry laws. I sincerely don't understand why anyone feels the need to run to the grocery store with a pistol in their pants. It happens on a weekly basis here that someone comes into the store, and we get customers running up saying so and so has a gun. It freaks people out, me included. I don't feel safer knowing that some random guy is walking around with a weapon that can kill me, and I have no way of stopping that from happening.

What I would like to see are strict renewal processes for gun owners. I say this because the people that go on killing sprees are people that are frequently using legally obtained weapons. Seniors have to retake their driving tests here every four years (I think)- so why can't gun owners be required to take mental health tests every four years for relicensing? Fail the test, and you have a year to get your stuff together, or face losing the privilege of owning a firearm for good.

In the case of the CT shootings, the weapons were his mothers'. My understanding is that she worked very hard to raise her sons, and to provide Adam with the care he needed. Of course she had no way of knowing that he would kill her and then kill 26 other people. But she did know that he suffered from a form of autism that frequently includes a lack of empathy and social awkwardness. It seems foolhardy, and a little selfish, that she would keep so many weapons around that he obviously knew how to access. I am not saying that because of her son's condition, she loses the right to own weapons. What I am saying is that she should have taken extra precautions.

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Originally Posted by PatInTheHat

If my heavy Chevy....

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Yeah this says it a lot better duddnit, and hmmm, nope I can't see any reason why there should be any problems, well yeah okay, one's that actually make any real actual sense to any reasonably rational, and maybe even a little sensible thinking human being, butt...
http://cdn.front.moveon.org/wp-conte..._n-480x648.jpg
...best be gettin' somewhere near close to somethin' in this line of thinkin', or set my ol' Chevy & me free goddamn it:glare:!

Oh yeah, and if you have a house, or even just property, your in every way responsible for it too, but then there was that house sitting witch, witch sitting house, whatever sittin' on whatever incident, and I can only suppose we've wisely set that as our benchmark precedent on dangerous assault houses:y:.

I am a gun owner but I'm not a member of the NRA. My parents and neighbors are and we all own guns, mostly for hunting. My husband and I both agree there is no reason a regular citizen should own a semi automatic weapon, you can't hunt with those kinds of weapons. I think those should be reserved for military purposes only. I don't see the reasoning of why people want to own one of those. :(

I can't say I've read every post here, the conversation is much too long for me today. I will say that I feel, gun laws aside..a huge problem we have is media attention! I know it's important to talk about but every show, paper, magazine etc. has news like this front and center. This kind of attention gives this kind of tragedy so much of a Hollywood feel! We need to stop this, I believe people who are already on the edge eat up the possibility of so much fame. We are over informed with every thing horrible that goes on in the world. We as a society are at fault somewhat..don't give them the kind of attention they crave!!

Tera, I agree with some of what you are saying. The problem is, there are some out there who trully do want to "take all out guns away." To deny that is silly.

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Originally Posted by Mojo*mofo

Another thing that disturbs me are Open Carry laws. I sincerely don't understand why anyone feels the need to run to the grocery store with a pistol in their pants.

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I agree that it freaks people out, but I understand open carry. There are things in my part of the world called roberies and rapes and beatings. Some of these things happening in very public areas (like walmart). If you are carrying in the open, these things can be stopped, or kept from happening all together. That being said, I own a gun, but have never carried it. I just try to stay aware and keep myself and my family out of dangerous situations.

God bless the victims and their families, and God bless us all. I pray that God will lead us to the answer we seak, and that not one of our law makers will be led astray...or any of us, for that matter.

And just so everyone knows, I'm a gun owner, and I respect everyone on this boards opinions, and I love you all as fellow humans. Sometimes humans dissagree on things, but that's ok. Hopefully, an answer is out there to be had, and hopefully, the blood of innocents will not be spilled again.

God please be with and protect us all. Amen.

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They are a tool designed to do one thing- kill.

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...I don't kill with mine, I punch paper...however, if my I or my family were threatened-then youdambetcha I'm aiming for center mass and pulling the trigger...end of story, and the same with the perp...

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Originally Posted by PatInTheHat

Yeah this says it a lot better duddnit, and hmmm, nope I can't see any reason why there should be any problems, well yeah okay, one's that actually make any real actual sense to any reasonably rational, and maybe even a little sensible thinking human being, butt...
...best be gettin' somewhere near close to somethin' in this line of thinkin', or set my ol' Chevy & me free goddamn it:glare:!

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I really love this graphic. It's so sensible. And it doesn't say a THING about "taking all the guns."