And they are either not there or retreat when there is a real threat.
Things that frustrate us all
- Thread starter rhubarbodendron
- Start date
Or the shooters first victim, such as the mall shooting which occured days earlier (if I am remebering correctly).
Your point is well taken. However, consider our options:
1. Don't do anything. Schools remain soft targets by legal mandate.
2. Put a trained uniformed professional in our schools, to guard the kids.
3. Arm and train select school staff.
Because the people cannot emotionally handle the idea of teachers packing iron, #3 is off the table. So do we go with #1, and hope the next time a school gets shot up, it isn't us?
Sure but you could also have as well as those ideas you outline
Universal background checks for all gun sales private or trade.
Mandatory psych tests before purchase
Red Flag laws
Ban certain magazine sizes
Ban certain types of weapons
And hypothically these armed persons in schools could turn into the shooter, or they get clumsy and leave their weapon out somewhere they shouldn't by accident
Now the pro-gun side doesn't want to give an inch as they likely see it as the start of a slippery slope if we give in on say Universal background checks what will have to give into next. Hence arguments that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, armed teachers and/or armed gurads for every school in the country. Metal dectectors at schools, only one way in (you can still have multiple exits because doors which only have one means of opening from the inside such as fire escape doors do exist).
Where does it stop? Armed guards at every cinema, every entrance to every mall, entries to concerts, churches, hospitals, how about entrances to parks, theme parks or other places where large number of people gather. What does that say about a soceity if it has to resort to those measures?
But lets take a look at the recent NRA meeting in Texas and yes I know this is a US secret service thing, but guns were banned when US ex-Preisdent Trump was speaking. Surely there would be no reason to ban guns with all those responsible gun owners there and if by some chance there was bad owner there, there would be plenty of good guys with guns to stop them.
But why out of all the developed countries do mass shootings seem to occur so frequently in the USA compared to others? In a recent Sky News interview Senator Cruz ran away when asked that question, fortunatly for him there was more than one exit. Other countries digest the same media as the USA, have mental health issues, areas of deprevation and poverty. Yet these types of incidents are very rare in those other developed nations.
If you look at crime statistics, the US does not have higher rates of violent crime than other developed countries. They do have higher murder rates than those countries. The evidence seems abundantly clear. Guns don't make people violent, but they do make violent people deadly. Altercations that would result in a black eye without guns result in murders.
Before you go arming teachers, look at the statistics between people who accidentally shoot their family members and compare them against how often they are legitimately used against burglars. Arm the teachers, you're moving that grim household statistic straight into the schools. I doubt it'd be even months before some teacher got scared and accidentally shot an unarmed student, who let's be honest, is more than likely to be black. They won't pay for new school textbooks and you think they'll pay for proper training?
Before you go arming teachers, look at the statistics between people who accidentally shoot their family members and compare them against how often they are legitimately used against burglars. Arm the teachers, you're moving that grim household statistic straight into the schools. I doubt it'd be even months before some teacher got scared and accidentally shot an unarmed student, who let's be honest, is more than likely to be black. They won't pay for new school textbooks and you think they'll pay for proper training?
Just put a tariff on the sales of Guns and ammunition to fund these hundreds of thousands of armed guards in fortress USA, I'm sure they'll be no objections.
I didn't advocate arming teachers, I said it isn't going to happen, any more than the owners of those 390 million guns will meekly turn them in to the ATF and happily rely on the police to protect them (worked out great in Uvalde, not to mention those riot zones in 2020). Guns aren't going anywhere, and neither are those GUN FREE ZONE signs outside of schools. So what's the alternative?
Yes, I support background checks, and given that cops hit the street with 15-round magazines, I think it's ludicrous that a civilian thinks they need 100-shot C-drums. We should make changes in what guns can be owned and how they're acquired. But that doesn't mean we can't provide security for our kids as well.
Yes, I support background checks, and given that cops hit the street with 15-round magazines, I think it's ludicrous that a civilian thinks they need 100-shot C-drums. We should make changes in what guns can be owned and how they're acquired. But that doesn't mean we can't provide security for our kids as well.
"There is a reason why troubled 18-year-olds can buy assault rifles, body armor and high-capacity magazines. There is a reason why racism, conspiracies and increasingly dangerous idolatry infect parts of our country, and federal gun legislation has stalled time and time again. It’s the gun lobby – the NRA, the NSSF and the politicians who are frightened of them.
The horrific murders of second- and third-graders are part of that system. It’s time to rebuild it. We can all be safer from gun violence if we’re willing to stand up to the gun lobby and the politicians who champion their dangerous extremism in pursuit of profits."
The horrific murders of second- and third-graders are part of that system. It’s time to rebuild it. We can all be safer from gun violence if we’re willing to stand up to the gun lobby and the politicians who champion their dangerous extremism in pursuit of profits."
- Ryan Busse is a former executive in the firearms industry who is now a senior policy advisor for Giffords. He is the author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America
I couldn't agree more.
A closely related species of annoyants: the buyer at the grocery who grabs every single head of lettuce, inspects it, squeezes it to death with their bacteria-infested claws and dumps it back into the crate. Unappetizing at the best of times, potentially infectuous in the corona-era. What are the other customers to do - wash their lettuce with carbolic soap??
I'm a pacifist but during these last 2.5 years I repeatedly caught myself wishing for a tank. Or a water cannon at least.
A closely related species of annoyants: the buyer at the grocery who grabs every single head of lettuce, inspects it, squeezes it to death with their bacteria-infested claws and dumps it back into the crate. Unappetizing at the best of times, potentially infectuous in the corona-era. What are the other customers to do - wash their lettuce with carbolic soap??
I'm a pacifist but during these last 2.5 years I repeatedly caught myself wishing for a tank. Or a water cannon at least.
I see that in my store every so often. Really pisses me off.
Along with the
-heads who come up to the checkout line, leave all their stuff on the belt, then suddenly realize they've forgotten something and rush off to get it, holding up the line in the process. 
We also used to have a lot of basket cases who complain about getting carded, but thankfully there's a lot less of that now. (We card absolutely everyone who buys alcohol now. No matter how old they look.)
I'm not sure about in Canda, but they ended all of our mask mandates here in the US, so I haven't touched mine in months. To be clear, I'm not anti-mask in any way, I wore them whole time they were required, and I'll wear them again if they start requiring them again, but I don't like them, and if I have to option, I'm not going to wear them.
Public transit that is federally regulated (planes, trains) still require masks, and in fact still also require proof of vaccination.
At the provincial level, it varies by province. In Ontario (my province, as well as @DEWLine 's), most masking restrictions have been removed, but masking requirements for public transit (buses, etc.) are still in place, in addition to health-care settings, long-term care homes, retirement homes, and shelters. These were most recently extended on April 27, and are currently set to expire on June 11 (but may also get extended again).
Although there are no actual mandates for any other settings, most public health officials are still recommending wearing them in indoor settings regardless. I still do, when I'm in a public setting (grocery store, etc.), but unfortunately it seems only about 25-30% of the population are currently doing so.
The masks don't really bother me at all. (And in fact, I don't quite get why some seem to dislike them so much, but of course I understand that we are all individuals with our own likes and dislikes.) But what I *really* don't like is getting sick, so I'll take whatever tools I can get to avoid that as much as possible.
@Avro Arrow, I'm planning on (finally!) returning to Canada for a vacation next year. I'll probably still have to get tested for covid before I come home. Are tests still hard to come by up there? I had heard that they were almost impossible to find. Is that still the case?
Actually it would be a lot easier if your airports offered covid testing, then I could just get one right there before going through border preclearance! Hey, a man can dream.
Actually it would be a lot easier if your airports offered covid testing, then I could just get one right there before going through border preclearance! Hey, a man can dream.
Sorry, I'm not really sure I know a definite answer to your question; I haven't had to get a test for a while now. For the rapid antigen tests, they are basically giving them away at drug stores here. But I assume you need a PCR test? Our local COVID assessment centre is still open, but it doesn't handle tests for travellers. It does look like you can get them at a number of pharmacies, however. The downside is that it looks like you need to book a specific appointment, it takes up to 48 hours to get results, and costs a fair bit of money ($150 at Shopper's Drug Mart, for example).
Here's some additional info: https://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/health-and-pharmacy/covid-19/testing/international-outbound
But if you're not coming till next year, things may have changed again by that point. And things may also be different depending on what province you're going to. I believe you've mentioned before that you've visited both Calgary and Montreal? The situation in Alberta or Quebec may be different than that in Ontario.
Whichever one the US border requires. I''m trying to find out which ones are acceptable.
I planned on coming to Toronto and Montreal.
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Oh yeah, in that case people should definitely be wearing them then.
I've only seen a handful of people still wearing them around here. My mom and I actually did continue to wear ours for a little while after the mandates were starting to lift, but once we were both fully vaccinated, and most other people stopped wearing them, we did too. We just figured at this point, we're vaccinated, and by now the majority of people who can get vaccinated probably have been, so the masks just didn't seem necessary to us anymore.
I just find it uncomfortable, the ear bands bother my ears, and the way it blows my breath either up into my eyes or over my ears bugs me.
But like I said before, if the mandates go back into effect, I'll put it back on, and I'm pretty sure my mom will too.