Originally Posted by
soonerguru
I think it should be much harder to buy AR-15s. Why an 18 year old could walk in and easily obtain that plus multiple rounds of ammunition is a problem, IMO.
In almost every mass shooting, there are reports that law enforcement was made aware of a person in distress. Yet, in those cases, there is nothing legally for them to do. You may seem like a wackadoo to me but if you haven't committed a crime -- or, as one of the NRA-killed proposals enumerated, had had a restraining order filed against you -- there is nothing law enforcement can do to take your firearms.
I'm not in favor of disarming the population, plus, the very idea of it is total fantasy. But I think we need to seriously reconsider access to ammo and in particular firearms that make it easy to waste dozens of people in a matter of seconds, such as the AR-15.
I'm glad you support expanding background checks. I would hope that if that is done (HINT: It won't be done because half of the Senate will totally stonewall it), it would close the loop that allows private sales and sales at certain gun shows to happen without a background check.
I agree with hiring security consultants to protect schools, but look at Oklahoma! We don't fund education adequately as it is. Adding entire security protocols seems like a good idea but costs money. If the money is not appropriated this will just be an unfunded mandate, such as the silly window-dressing bill proposed by the legislator in Oklahoma today.
Making it harder (even almost impossible in some cases) to go out and buy an AR so you can waste a bunch of kids or people in Las Vegas enjoying a country music concert is not an example of "taking guns away from honest citizens." That is how it is reframed and mischaracterized by politicians who are doing the bidding of the gun lobby. Remember, the NRA exists to support gun manufacturers, first and foremost. And, gun manufacturers make a lot of money when people are freaked out and buy lots of guns and ammo. When their members are told firearms are going to be confiscated or outlawed, people run to gun shops and buy more guns and ammo. This has led to a ridiculous and unsustainable number of firearms in our country. It's also led to a precipitous decline in reasonable civic conversations, such as this one, about gun reform. The gun lobby is constantly using fear-based tactics to keep its constituency angry and afraid, which is corrosive to our national politics but keeps people running to buy more firearms.
It's not like this anywhere else on earth. Other major countries have mental illness, and violent movies, and people who don't go to church, and the Internet, and guess what? They don't have mass school and Wal-Mart and grocery store shootings every other week. We do. Yes, it's cultural, but it's also a result of the ridiculous availability of weapons of mass murder and piles and piles of easily obtainable ammo.
For someone such as yourself, or someone who is licensed and has to continue to renew their license, such so-called assault rifles could be made available, but there should be a serious background check and follow-up background checks on top of background checks. Further, any weapon like that used in a mass murder through carelessness, such as the one used in Sandy Hook which was not adequately locked up, should make the gun owner culpable in the mass homicide.
if you have a weapon of mass murder in your home, it should be your responsibility to keep it locked away and secured.
This is just common sense, and in no way infringes on people's constitutional rights. It shouldn't be easier to buy an AR-15 than a friggin beer. At least in Oklahoma now you can legally buy a joint at 18-- but it still takes longer to get the license for that than it does to buy a ************* AR-15 and go mow down a bunch of elementary kids and their teachers.
Violence and Mental Health
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