Things that frustrate us all

[MacLeod]

Unfortunately, with 350 million guns out there already, most of which will last over a century if properly maintained, and many of them in the hands of people who will die before handing them over... the genie is well and truly out of the bottle.



I'm fine with 18 year olds being allowed to own shotguns or hunting rifles. But military rifles... not sure anyone outside of the military needs those. Remember that massacre at the music festival in Vegas, which took more lives than the last two combined. The shooter was older than me.



But right now, we need practical solutions. Maybe ones that can be implemented while the public is receptive to change.

Reports I've listened to puts the number closer to 400m

Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country - Wikipedia



Isn't the problem not that the public is receptive to change with something like 80-90% of US voters in favour of things like universal background checks, rather than the politcians are unwilling to impliment policies which the vast majority seemingly support?

So if the current crop of politicans won't, perhaps it's time to vote them out and vote in those that will impliment things the majority of people want.

 

[Oddish]

"Let them die." - Admiral James T. Kirk

There are more problems than that. Including pro-2A cops, unregistered weapons, and the sheer expense of compensating the owners. I could write reams on the subject, but this is a "general frustrations" topic. I'll be happy to discuss gun politics in a more suitable place.

So if the current crop of politicans won't, perhaps it's time to vote them out and vote in those that will impliment things the majority of people want.

That should always be the case. And it shouldn't take an atrocity like this to do it.

 

[Non Sync]

^ And they're still calling that psycho in Texas an "alleged" shooter, even though everybody fucking KNOWS he did it!

From a legal standpoint, the media is following long standing standards that until it is fully proven someone actually did it that they drop the "alleged" label.

Family members of dead people can sue that if there was a misidentification they were libeled indirectly.

 

[Kor]

^ And they're still calling that psycho in Texas an "alleged" shooter, ...

News media outlets are basically covering their backs to protect themselves from libel claims by using terms such "suspected," "alleged," "authorities believe," and the like, until a court legally establishes guilt. I'm not sure what happens if the person in question is deceased, since criminal prosecution is no longer possible.

Kor

 

[MacLeod]

There are more problems than that. Including pro-2A cops, unregistered weapons, and the sheer expense of compensating the owners. I could write reams on the subject, but this is a "general frustrations" topic. I'll be happy to discuss gun politics in a more suitable place.



That should always be the case. And it shouldn't take an atrocity like this to do it.

Unfortunantly it often takes tragic event(s) for change to occur, and the point at what is deemed unacceptable can vary from person to person. Perhaps it's just me but 1 of these events is 1 to many and I expect politicians to do something to try and minimise the chance of it occuring again, and if the worse does happen and it happens again for them to do something else to try and miminise the chance of it occuring again, rinise and repeat until it never happens again.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

From a legal standpoint, the media is following long standing standards that until it is fully proven.

It already has been proven.

Like I said, the bastard was caught and killed at the scene. There's nothing left to prove. What, are they going to claim it was an alien impostor or something?

 

[Oddish]

The use or non-use of the term "alleged" is very low on my priority list. I care more about how we keep our kids safe.

 

[MacLeod]

The use or non-use of the term "alleged" is very low on my priority list. I care more about how we keep our kids safe.

Not just kids but all citizens.

 

[Oddish]

Agreed. But to do that, we need to accept that like them or hate them, privately owned guns are here to stay. And then, work from there.

 

[flandry84]

Speaking as a foreigner it seems to me that the gun issue is beyond solving.The “out of my cold dead hand” faction would it seems rather start a civil war than give up their weapons.Not an easy time to be an American and all I can do is offer sympathy.

 

[Non Sync]

DirecTV/ATT = ARRRGGGGG!!!!!
I called over a week ago to cancel service as a cost savings measure, scheduling to end on the 15th, which was the end of the billing cycle. Received a call from them on the 14th to try and save a 20-year-plus account. Offered a rate which was less than a third of what I had been paying, which was less than the streaming service I was switching to. Got the next bill a couple of days later for the full amount. Called again and they were able to bring the bill down to half and said that they needed to get other approval for the rest of the amount, which would happen before the auto-pay date of today. Naturally, today the charge went through for the half rate. Spent over half an hour on the phone to be told that a cancellation order was in place but they could not tell me when it was effective.

I'm getting the idea that they're messing with me now. Especially since the caller ID on the number I called showed "Nevada Bell Telephone." When I called earlier, it showed as "Potential Fraud."

 

[dupersuper]

"Let them die." - Admiral James T. Kirk

He was actually a captain at the time...

 

[Oddish]

To make matters worse, the one school in my district that had a cop at the school removed him because of the "defund the police" mess. So now, instead of having 1500 of our 20,000 or so kids protected from school shooters, that number is now zero.

So yeah... I'm @#*$!-ing frustrated. Kids I'd give my life to defend are getting less protection than the jewelry store at my local mall, which at least has a rent-a-cop.

 

[dupersuper]

To make matters worse, the one school in my district that had a cop at the school removed him because of the "defund the police" mess. So now, instead of having 1500 of our 20,000 or so kids protected from school shooters, that number is now zero.

It's not like the cops were all that great in the last one...

 

[Oddish]

It's not like the cops were all that great in the last one...

Maybe not. But realistically speaking, the best we can hope for in terms of new laws is maybe something like a magazine capacity restriction that won't affect existing stuff, or restricting possession of semiautomatic weapons to 21 and up, which the next junior maniac might or might not be affected by. Arming and training school staff is regarded as fringe lunacy. So, on-site law enforcement is among the few solutions that might have a chance at implementation. Might solve some other problems too, especially at high schools.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Unfortunately, with 350 million guns out there already, most of which will last over a century if properly maintained, and many of them in the hands of people who will die before handing them over... the genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

Isn't that like saying "The ship is already half flooded, no point in plugging the leak"? It's true, just passing stricter gun laws wouldn't clean up the guns already out there. But it'd make it at least a little harder for the next psychopath from getting one easily.

At the very least we need laws that place the burden of proof on the applicant to prove they have the training and temperament to safely possess a firearm, same as we do for drivers licenses. And there's just no argument at all for non-military personnel having semiautomatics of any kind.

 

[Oddish]

Isn't that like saying "The ship is already half flooded, no point in plugging the leak"? It's true, just passing stricter gun laws wouldn't clean up the guns already out there. But it'd make it at least a little harder for the next psychopath from getting one easily.

Not saying that at all. There are a lot of laws I would welcome: universal background checks, prudent limits on magazine capacities, and restrictions on military assault rifles to name a few.

I'm simply saying that guns in the United States of America are here to stay, and we need to implement solutions with that fact in mind.

 

[MacLeod]

Maybe not. But realistically speaking, the best we can hope for in terms of new laws is maybe something like a magazine capacity restriction that won't affect existing stuff, or restricting possession of semiautomatic weapons to 21 and up, which the next junior maniac might or might not be affected by. Arming and training school staff is regarded as fringe lunacy. So, on-site law enforcement is among the few solutions that might have a chance at implementation. Might solve some other problems too, especially at high schools.

It's a sad state of affairs if you have to have police on site at schools all the time.

 

[auntiehill]

But, apparently, that is exactly where we are.

 

[Oddish]

It's a sad state of affairs if you have to have police on site at schools all the time.

Maybe. But we protect our money, and kids are infinitely more valuable.