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Democrats in House introduce bill to ban semi-automatic weapons

More than 150 Democratic members of the House today sponsored a bill that will ban all semi-automatic weapons, including pistols and rifles.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., announced Monday he is introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018. More than 150 Democrats have signed on in support of the legislation, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said. “Today I joined @RepCicilline and 150+ of my colleagues to introduce the assault weapons ban. It’s time for Congress to listen to the will of a majority of Americans and pass sensible legislation to get these weapons of war off our streets. #NeverAgain #MSDStrong,” Deutch tweeted.

The bill prohibits the “sale, transfer, production, and importation” of semi-automatic rifles and pistols that can hold a detachable magazine, as well as semi-automatic rifles with a magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds. Additionally, the legislation bans the sale, transfer, production, and importation of semi-automatic shotguns with features such as a pistol grip or detachable stock, and ammunition feeding devices that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Essentially, this bill would try to repeal the second amendment of the Bill of Rights. It will also require the confiscation of numerous weapons that have been available to the public for more than century, including John Browning’s classic 1911 pistol, which he invented in 1911 for the government but has been a best seller since.

The comments by Democrat Cicilline above also shows his complete hatred and ignorance of weapons. That they are now including pistols in their fake term of “assault weapons” illustrates this clearly.

Note too that the Democrats have previously introduced legislation that would have nullified the first amendment, as well as protested the protections included in the fifth amendment. That’s three out of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights that they don’t like. That’s the Bill of Rights, designed to protect ordinary citizens from tyranny and oppression and which is the fundamental hallmark of the American experiment in self-government.

Let me repeat this: The Democratic Party has now officially placed itself in opposition to one third of the Bill of Rights.

How can anyone by now doubt the fascist nature of the Democratic Party and its supporters?

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34 comments

  • Phill O

    All these people are protected by private security forces or government paid security forces.

    This ban will certainly keep their employees safer (that is, the scum on the street.).

  • Cotour

    “War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.”
    ― Mao Zedong

    “Political power grows out of the barrel of the gun…”
    ― Mao Zedong

    “The Communist party must control the guns.”
    ― Mao Zedong

    “There are some militarists who say: ‘We are not interested in politics but only in the profession of arms.’ It is vital that these simple-minded militarists be made to realize the relationship that exists between politics and military affairs. Military action is a method used to attain a political goal. While military affairs and political affairs are not identical, it is impossible to isolate one from the other.”
    ― Mao Zedong

  • Kirk

    This is just the sort of extreme legislation which should help encourage Republican voter turnout in the fall.

  • Cotour

    Always relevant.

    https://youtu.be/-aW1eiMrE0U

    When men and governance and abuse of power goes away then there will no longer be a need for the Second Amendment. It is the continuing failure or incompetence of law enforcement who due to their incompetence (Or purposefully? HMMMMMM) have allowed many, many recent evil, psychotic, murderous events to happen from the information and evidence that we all become aware of.

    Trust none of them, no matter who is unfortunately dispatched, and change nothing other than who runs the FBI the DOJ and many local Police departments. That sounds like a much more effective plan, if stopping nuts on very much known and well understood and advertised killing campaigns is what the goal is.

    That is what the goal is, isn’t it?

  • Orion314

    Get rid of the illegal aliens , and you’ll get rid of the Democratic party.

  • brightdark

    Kirk: Definitely. The Repubs were worried about the turnout in November. I don’t think they are now.

  • pzatchok

    Our gun problem in America is actually a mental health issue.

    In ALL other western nations with lower mass shooting statistics they ALL have asylums. And use them. They have FAR lower criteria for placing and keeping people in them.

    Here in the states we just want to medicate them and send them out into the world on their own recognisance.

    We have an unhealthy fear of asylums from the past like the Creedmore Psychiatric Hospital in NY were there were horrific activities taking place yes, but today we have so much more oversight on places like this. We need them back.

    We need judges who do not have a fear of ordering someone for evaluation and or institusionalization.

    And how about a three strikes rule for the medicated. If the cops are called on you three times because you were not taking your prescibed meds or were taking extra drugs like illegal ones then you go back into the facility permanently. You have proven a lack of responsibility for even your own care.

    That kid in florida would have been in an institution years ago and thus never would have been able to buy a firearm. Let alone had a chance to use it. He more than likely would have been permanently institutionalized.

    We need to change the argument to a mental health issue and force the dems to defend their medicate and release idea. Now that we have universal health care everyone can get the treatment they so despirately need.
    It would be better for the mentaly insane to be placed in the new, safe, regulated institutions and that way they could get their meds, have a home and food. Plus a doctor to help them every day.
    People close who woudl understand their problems.

  • Jollster

    Pzatchok,

    You are right. Mass shootings are a mental health issue. How could these people be in their right mind? You are wrong, however, when you say all western countries utilise asylums. There are no permanent asylums in Australia. Our mentally ill are treated in the community. We have no mass shootings because we have no easily accessible guns available for the mentally ill to use. Handguns and assault weapons are outlawed. Farmers and sports shooters are allowed certain types of guns to conduct their business. Remove guns from the equation and the mentally ill cannot go on a murderous rampage.

  • FC

    Jollster,

    It’s a great system, unless you’re in a café in Sydney and a terrorist is the only person with a gun. Or you’re a farmer in Queensland and the police decide that people in your area will no longer be allowed to have handguns. Or…

  • Jollster

    Hi FC,

    As strange as it sounds, the system did work on the day of that shooting. The gunman only managed to kill 1 person (the police accidentally shot the other person) because all he could get his hands on was an aged shotgun. Imagine how many people would have died in that cafe if he had access to an automatic weapon, an AR-15 perhaps? 10? 20? A lot of people in the Sydney CBD.

  • Jhon

    They really are stupid to add handguns and shotguns to the bill. In this atmosphere a ban on assault rifles just might squeak through, but add the 1991 and other guns and the bill is dead. Do they plan to ban just the sale of these guns or do they plan to confiscate all the ones that are already out there? If they plan to confiscate, they will have a big fight on their hands.

  • wayne

    “….had access to an automatic weapon, an AR-15 perhaps…”
    Not an automatic weapon, and never has been.

    I would put forth the proposition;

    “Come to my house, and attempt to steal my weapons, from me?”
    I’m not going to ever allow that.

  • wayne

    “It’s Time: To give our guns to Hitler.”
    Owen Benjamin
    https://youtu.be/Mz0hRo-dkcI
    3:41

  • wayne

    “It’s Time: To submit to Islamic Tolerance”
    Owen Benjamin
    https://youtu.be/H94CDxVVM0E
    (6:07)

  • wayne

    “Stop Blaming Guns: ‘Sheep, sheep-dogs, and Wolves'”
    Howard Stern (suprisingly coherent commentary)
    Oct 10, 2017
    https://youtu.be/VZ8i6EGH4FI
    (14:13)

  • pzatchok

    Jollster
    I do not think the Australian mental care system is as great as you think it is.
    Just a quick internet search came up with all the same problems America has experienced for the last 40 years except your nation is just starting them.

    Heck Australia even has a new and very small mental health political party.
    https://www.amhp.org.au/

    The only thing going for Australia was the fact there never were many fire arms in the nation to begin with. The culture was used to being disarmed. And even then when firearms were ordered to be turned in thousands never were and still have not been.
    America has one firearm for each and every person. Not counting the military. How many would be left over if we were ordered to turn them in? And would it make a difference?
    50 years ago we had the very same per capita numbers but No mass shootings. Why? Society, the thug life, and mental health care. We still had institutions and people were ordered into them.

    California has a law, like most states here, that takes way firearms from the mentaly ill. If your are declaired to be mentally ill AND judged to be a harm to yourself or others your firearms are ordered confiscated.
    As of 4 years ago California was 20 thousand patients behind in the confiscations with no way of catching up. Plus these patients are NOT nessessaraly ordered to be hospitalized. Most are out running around with us just trusting that they keep taking their meds. And that never happens, they all at one point or another stop taking their meds for any number of reasons at least once during their life. Thats why they were ordered to turn in their firearms.

    Australia is running right down this same road and they will get the very same resaults. Except they will not have access to guns. But you will have insane people running around quietly threatening the safety of any soft targets like women and children.

    We need a few places to put these dangerously psycotic people other tham prisons.

  • Cotour

    And what would support the lefts supposed drive and narrative to “confiscate” guns / attack the Second Amendment to their supposed advantage in the coming election cycle?

    The next school or other soft venue shooting of innocents. That would drive the conversation supposedly to the Democrats (Read now Leftist Democrat party) advantage.

    It is just curious to me how the FBI, who through evidence was very well informed about the potential about this last perpetrator, not to mention the local police who were very, very well associated with the subject by their officially interacting with him on several DOZEN occasions. 20 / 20 hind sight seems to be indicating that they appear to be allowing these events to happen? As sick and depraved as that sounds.

    But what we have learned over the years through evidence is that high level leadership, and they are the ones who control policy and the exercise of power, can do things that might make a person question their logic and more importantly their alleged morality. S.O.M. in practice is not believable for those in the Pedestrian realm and that is its power. So is it policy being too paranoid about political correctness or structured agenda at some level? I scracheth my head.

    And I hate having to point out this potential, but the long term evidence might support it. The FBI had extensive real time evidence on off the top of my head 1. Whitey Bulger 2. The Tsarnov brothers 3. The Florida Islamic Pulse night club shooting 4. Uranium One 5. The fraudulent nature of the Steele dossier 6. Nicholas Cruz 7. Major Hassan 8. The Senate baseball / Steve Scalese shooter, this off the top of my head. I am certain the list is much longer.

    Why? The cynical among us might say to drive the Gun / Second Amendment issue in the public square to drastically change the Constitution based in fear mongering and fear tactics as set by high level leadership in government. Anything to acquire or retain power, anything. (As sick as that sounds)

  • wayne

    The history of “asylums,” in the USA is varied & mixed but until the advent of anti-psychotic drugs in the late 1950’s, they were essential. (Haldol was invented in 1958 I believe)
    –speaking only of persistent, severe, mental-illness:
    “Medicating people,” only solved part of the problem, but the de-institutionalization movement of the late 60’s/early 70’s, essentially emptied out State Facilities. (to our detriment, the pendulum swung way too far.)
    There is a persistent back-ground rate of severe mental illness that does benefit greatly by the use of locked and/or highly restrictive environments, but they are expensive to operate, especially under the old state-run Model. (and we spend a lot of money on illegal aliens, we used to spend on home-grown people.)
    That Population is relatively stable in numbers and does not account for the vast majority of mass killing crimes whatsoever.
    -One of our State Psychiatric Hospitals (locked Unit) in Michigan for example, about $700/day. Private Hospital about $500/day, “Specialized Residential” adult foster-care (non locked facility, 24 hour/staffing) in contrast is about (up to) $225/day, and a “regular” adult foster care setting is about $1,200/month.
    The pressure is always to stabilize a person at the least-restrictive level of service and then back off and allow them to operate at the level that allows the most independence.
    Forced Hospitalization and medications are required at times, the vast majority of these folks however, can be maintained quite well outside these setting’s.

    Ref– the Florida killer. We don’t know & they won’t tell us– I’d bet his File was 3 feet thick, “well known” as a “high system utilizer,” [this was all billed to Medicaid, scores of people had to sign off on everything, every step and dollar, of the way], and probably voted most-likely to go nuts by every Clinician who saw him or read his File.

    Tangentially– we need to get the Federal Government out of “Community Mental Health,” and not turn our Police, into Social Workers, nor expect our Social Worker’s to be the Police.

  • Jollster

    Hey Pzatchok,

    Don’t get me wrong. I think our mental health care system is broken and needs reform. I wasn’t championing it when I replied to you. I just wanted to point out your error of saying all western countries utilise asylums. Aust & NZ don’t.

    You’re correct. Aust never had a gun culture, although there were plenty out in the community. The were reports of thousands of firearms being buried when the buyback was announced back in the early nineties after a gun massacre in Tasmania. I’m sure it occurred. But, in my opinion, the guns that are buried and hidden are inaccessible to people who want to do harm to others.

    Australia is identical to the US in most ways, I would argue against your supposition the US is what Aust will look like a few years down the road. We are there now. Where we differ is our views on guns, and they’re role in society.

  • wodun

    Bear in mind that gun violence in the USA has gone down as gun ownership has gone up. We believe that people have the right to defend themselves from other individuals and the government.

    The 2nd amendment and the constitution are very clear, despite efforts at incremental efforts to punish law abiding gun owners and ban guns, we have the right to bear arms and the only way to change that is through amending the constitution.

    None of the gun banners are actually going through the legal process to ban guns. They are acting with total disregard for the constitution.

    The scapegoating of innocents, collective punishment, and punative regulations are all things we fight through peaceful activism and the voting booth. Attempts to confiscate guns in mass will lead to revolution. Gun banners never think through to the outcomes of their policies, which usually include never stopping the event used as justification of illegally taking away our rights.

  • Edward

    The assumption that gun violence is a mental health issue is fallacious. Several other issues are closer to the root cause. First, there is the background check, which prevents those with mental health issues from obtaining guns. Except that many jurisdictions do not report their criminals or disturbed to the database, so government has failed us on that score, which explains why people think it is a mental health issue.

    Second, notice that from 1950 through 10 July 2016, 98.4% of all mass shootings in the US happened in gun-free zones. The gun-free zone prevents the right to self protection, so the shooter can shoot for long periods of time — the location of choice for most mass shooters.
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/01/09/over-98-of-mass-shootings-occurred-on-gun-free-zones-research-shows

    Third, one common aspect to many mass shootings is to gain media attention. It works like a charm, which is why terrorists and terrorist wannabes sometimes use this method.

    Fourth, just as with this case, many mass shootings could have been stopped if the FBI or other government authority had not dropped the ball. Washington Navy Yard, Garland Texas, Fort Hood, Charleston, Boston, San Bernardino, Orlando, Parkland.

    The Sutherland Springs Church was likewise a gun-free zone, But while the police were minutes away, a neighbor was only seconds away. In most mass shootings, the shooter continues until someone with a gun arrives; otherwise he runs out of ammunition, or he chooses to stop.

    Guns do not kill people. It takes a person to use the gun, knife, bomb, car, or other device. Guns and other devices do not act on their own.

    There are plenty of places that we actively protect with guns, such as sporting events, government capitol buildings, police stations, airplanes, and Pamela Geller’s art contest, and they do not get many successful mass shootings. Or even many attempted shootings.

    The US is not a homogeneous place, where guns are concerned. There are gun-free zones and gun rich zones. Even cities distinguish themselves with gun policies, some actively reducing the number of guns and some encourage gun ownership. Detroit and Chicago, two of the former, are shooting zones, but Plano Texas, one of the latter, rarely has shootings.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE (6 minutes, Bill Whittle, “Number One with a Bullet”)

    I’m not sure whether you noticed that the US murder rate (4.7 per 100,000) is more than ten times that of the rate at which people are killed by gunfire (0.3). Even in the US, guns are not such a common weapon of choice for murderers.

    pzatchok noted that the US has about one gun per person, but Whittle notes that we do not have the most murders per capita. That is because we are, as with our cars, fairly responsible gun owners.

    Well, we are less responsible with our cars than with our guns, because about four times as many people are killed in car accidents as are killed by guns, even though we also have about one car per person.

    Then again, a large majority of gun deaths happen where the law abiding have largely disarmed themselves, leaving them hoping that the police, who are only minutes away, arrive in the next few seconds, because it is seconds that count. (Where are the police when you need them? Minutes away.)

    As I pointed out in my first paragraph, many jurisdictions do not report their criminals or disturbed to the background check database, allowing those most likely to abuse them to have them, and leaving the disarmed citizens at the their mercy.

    Jollster wrote: “Remove guns from the equation and the mentally ill cannot go on a murderous rampage.

    From the keyboard of the naive.

    Knives, bombs, cars. All have been used recently for murderous rampages.

    Australia is identical to the US in most ways

    Except in the ways that it counts most. For instance, the US has a Bill of Rights that legally prevents the government from taking away our rights. Robert noted this in his comments. Australians, on the other hand, have their rights granted to them by the various governments, and those governments are able to take them away at a whim. All it takes is for such fascists as the US Democrats to get into office, as Mark Steyn pointed out in 2011:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH70VHZ857M (9 minutes)

  • wayne

    pzatchok–
    I saw that article as well.

    -The newspaper writer may however, be co-mingling Special-Education services and Community Mental Health services. (And the quote from the Superintendent is ridiculous–schools ‘force’ students to do all sorts of stuff, what’s he talking about?)

    “Education” and “Mental Health” are two entirely different ‘services,’ and being emotionally/intellectually impaired, are entirely different catagories from a diagnosis of ” adult or child mental illness.” (And we no longer segregate special-ed students, within an educational setting. He was “main-streamed,” at school, meaning he attended special ed classes at least part of his school day, along with ‘normal’ classes.)

    It would not surprise me at all that the guy was in the “emotional/intellectual impairment” catagory at school. In order to receive Special-ed services he had to be determined “emotionally or intellectually impaired.” And because the impairement occurred between the ages of birth-18, he is considered “Developmentally Disabled,” by legal definition. (someone like him, would begin receiving SSDI payments, from the date of the determination as DD, his parents would manage these funds, until he turned 18.

    That does not automatically imply however, that he was “mentally-ill” per se. (He’s entitled to special-education services up until the age of 22/23, but is not required to participate in educational services beyond age 18.) [he obviously no longer wanted to ride in the “short yellow bus,” or attend his special-ed classes, beyond age 18.]
    (( he can’t be ‘forced’ to attend educational-classes beyond age 18, but he can be forced to take medications & participate in Treatment, if the appropriate Treatment Order was obtained from a Court. My personal favorite (for persistent severe M.I.) is the “30/365 Treatment Order,” meaning the indidviual must comply with Treatment during the year, and can be forcibly hospitalized up to 30 days per year, for non-compliance or decomposition, without pre-authorization for payment from Medicaid.
    In this situation–the minute he turned 18, I’d want the parent’s legally declared his guardian (if they weren’t already) and obtain a Treatment Order on him. (a less restrictive Order, such as a “10/90” might be appropiate, renewalable every Quarter, and includes up to 10 days of forced hospitalization.)

    Chances are incredibly high he was in the “child-side” of Mental Health, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t (in addition to special-ed at school) and as a minor his parents were responsible for his treatment compliance. (The ‘authorities’ won’t tell us, and the Media is just ignorant.)
    The worst combination possible, (among many, sadly) is to be Developmentally Disabled and develop a mental illness as a young adult. Diagnosing children is an art unto itself, and children are treated differently than adults, clinically and by law. (again the ‘authorities’ aren’t going to tell us and the Media is beyond ignorant.)
    [tangent– very few psychiatric medications are actually approved for ‘children,’ although they are used extensively, in children.]

    Bottom line however?– The negligence of this progressive school-district, (and the scores of people who signed-off on every single thing, every step of the way,) does not make my 2nd Ammendment right’s up for a vote, now or ever. (As a Special-Ed student, he would have had a permanent Treatment Team, comprised of 3-5 professionals, assigned specifically to him, and his progress would be documented quarterly & annually, and agreed to by everyone involved.)

    They CREATED this Guy, I for one do not intend to suffer my Right’s because of THEM.
    (Plenty of people need to lose their cushy jobs and lavish pensions on this one. It will be interesting to see who they target to throw under the bus and how they deflect their own willful negligence.)

  • Cotour

    Wayne, you get down to the nub of this issue.

    That Florida community and the police department policy with the help of the FBI failed or for some reason “allowed” Cruz to be Cruz.

    This is more about incompetence than the Second Amendment, but once again the subject at hand is conflated from one to the other and the conversation is not viable but confusing. Pure Alynski technique leveraged into the media coverage and the usual Liberal / Leftist agenda.

    If guns were the actual problem then we would or should all be dead given the numbers of them in the country.

  • wayne

    Cotour– good stuff.

    “Rule 12”
    from Rules for Radicals:
    “Pick the target, freeze the target, personalize the target, and polarize the target.”

    -I guarantee this guy had a file 3 feet thick.
    -the sheriff Guy is an elected democrat hack, and is apparently “not responsible for the (in)actions of his deputies.” >Time to fall on your sword dude, forfeit your pension and disappear.
    -the whole school district participated in an Obama/Holder “program” whereby the district received more money, if they didn’t report certain categories’ of school-based criminal events and ‘incidents.’ And this was done in coordination with the Police department.
    -I guarantee the school staff on the ground (and at the bottom) “knew ALL about this kid,” and that Licensed professionals regularly signed-off on everything. Most of whom probably covered-their-backside’s in writing, but ultimately far more of these decisions than anyone thinks, are driven by education-funding and Medicaid billing. Look to some “administrative bean-counter,” for wrenching the ‘process.’ It ALL comes down to money, resources are finite and must be allocated, we need to know who made those decisions, and those people, have-to-go.
    -This guy probably had an open adult-case at ‘community mental health,’ but they won’t tell us. (and again, the Media is ignorantly biased toward not explaining ‘how things actually work in real life.)
    –the Media know nothing about firearms, and even less about “special education,” and “mental health.”
    (welcome to Ameritopia)

    tangentially– we need to get the Feds out of local community mental health, and control (and direct funding) has to move closer to the State and Local areas.

    (I have no problem personally, with public- (local) support of indigent people, with severe, persistent, developmental disabilities or mental illness. But that is NOT what these ‘social-programs’ are actually designed to accomplish, and very few if any should be provided under the current Model, and by virtue of the rules, their mandated ‘customer-base’ is far too broad.)

    (See the recent Post from Mr. Z.)

  • Cotour

    Wayne, there is no such thing as consequences such as pension or any other form of cost within government, none.

    In the real world there is, but not in government, everything is guaranteed to the max. Its part of the communal criminality model of operation to some extent, ala the Clinton crime family. Everyone knows and so no one can be held responsible.

  • pzatchok

    Wayne

    You have pretty much hit the nail on the head.

    At 18 this person would have had to have been forcefully institutionalized and forced back on any of his meds.
    No matter what he did before then.

    I know that there is WIDE range of mentaly ill. I have two examples in my family. A cousin with downs who is the most wonderfull person you could ever find. but even she had a few days of frustration and lashes out physicaly. Just like any young child.
    I also have a cousin who was adopted knowing he was an ‘alcohol sysndrom’ child. He was not developmentaly slow but he had no off switch as we say. When he got frustrated or mad he went straight to extreme violence. At first he hit and kicked his mother and eventually he even stabbed her on two occations. The meds helped but he hated them and refused to take them.
    Because no charges were ever filed and he was never found guilty of anything he was allowed to buy firearms at 18. He eventually accidentaly shot someone showing off his gun which finally, eventually led to his forced institutionalization. Thank god the other person lived with no lasting problems.
    One day without meds, an angry outburst and he could have been a Cruz.

    As soon as excesive repeated violence manifests itself I should be noted in a permanent ATF only record. The person can always have this expunged by a court at anytime.

    Our juvenile record system should also be changed. Instead of disapering at 18 they should be kept until 21. Or lower the age to 16 instead of 18. After 16 everything counts.

    Cruz is a walking talking shooting example of all of our systems failures. From the medical systems to the court systems.

  • Commodude

    Edward, I have to disagree with you on the background checks. Unless someone has done something criminally there is no record of mental health issues in the NICS database due to HIPPA. To get mental health reported into the NICS system would require modifications to HIPPA.

    Our mental health system is badly flawed. In addition, our understanding of brain chemistry and the effects of altering the chemistry of the brain is in its infancy. While I don’t argue that no psychoactive meds be used, I would argue we need more control over the prescription of those meds and better studies on what exactly they do. I’ve seen people’s personalities radically alter while under the influence of these drugs, altered to the point of being a danger to the public. Until we get a better handle on what we’re doing, more controls should be in place.

    Lastly, you missed one in your list of preventable shootings. Jiverly Wong, who shot up the American Civic Association center about 2 blocks from where I used to work, got his pistol permit despite his parents writing a letter to the court basically begging that his permit application be denied. He shouldn’t have had the permit, no permit no pistol, no pistol, no shooting.

    They system is fine, our application of the system is badly, deeply flawed.

  • Edward

    Commodude,
    I am confused as to how you disagree with me on background checks. In part, my point was that many jurisdictions fail to report those with mental health issues, and that seems to be your point as well.

    My first and fourth points noted that the application of the system is failing. My second and third points were how gun-free zones and massive publicity for the perpetrator are flaws in the system.

    I did not argue that the mental health system is not flawed. It may well be, but it is not close to being the root cause for mass shootings. Guns were much more freely available forty years ago — even to the insane released onto the street, as no background checks were done and far fewer anti-gun laws existed — but mass shootings were not so common. Although a questionnaire was required starting fifty years ago, it wasn’t until after a (supposedly) disturbed person shot Reagan that background checks began to be implemented. NICS was founded 25 years ago.

    The system encourages gun-free zones and allows for publicity for the perpetrator and whatever his cause may be. These two systemic flaws give a place and reason for easy mass murder. These are two areas where the system is not fine.

    News media could systematically refuse to publicize the perpetrator and his cause, removing fame (or infamy) and the advertisement of a cause as reasons for mass shootings. Governments could discourage gun-free zones, which has worked well in many locations, including Pamela Geller’s art contest.

  • Commodude

    Edward, my point is that it’s not at a jurisdictional level, it’s a creature of firewalling what should be public safety information behind the monolithic HIPPA statues.

    I agree that it’s a problem of bureaucracy more than an issue of mental health or firearms, but the two tangential issues merge and create a horrific mess, which the media preys on. If it bleeds, it leads.

  • Cotour

    The argument FOR the semi automatic (and some humor):

    https://youtu.be/Cw6jDrshgEw

    When guns are outlawed, then only criminals will have guns.

  • Commodude

    Seems that the Parkland perp (sorry will NOT use the idiot’s name) had a recommendation for involuntary commitment which was ignored.

    So many chances to avoid this before the perp ever laid hands on a firearm…

    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/2018/03/apnewsbreak_some_wanted_florida_suspect_committed_in_2016?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

  • Cotour

    Gary, Commondude posts an excellent example of the need to draw a line and have it walked.

    If only someone had the stones and the common sense to do so, in this case, and the many others of these cases there would be much less violence and murder in the country. This kid needed to be humanely locked up or monitored long before he had the opportunity to do such damage. Now, sad to say, all he needs is a needle in his arm. It could have all been avoided.

    I have posted before that I think this now inability to exercise such reason and common sense has been weaponized (Mainly by the Left) into the ability to be able to do nothing. And this institutional inability to do anything serves the Leftist goal of razing the country as we know and understand it and “Fundamentally transform it”, sound familiar.

    And even if that is not the actual imagined and designed agenda of the Left that is being pushed the effective result is the same. And it is just not acceptable any longer.

    The NRA? The NRA has not a thing to do with any of this. But they make a good scapegoat. Would anyone point a finger of blame at any car enthusiast organization because people are purposefully killed by cars used by nuts? Of course not, but it is a great political emotion button.

  • Cotour

    Once again, on September 11th 2019 the Leftist and now anti American / Globalist “Paper of record”, The New York Times communicates and attempts to recast reality. And just like “Its the guns”, now Its “the planes”? What happened to the people who choose to do what they do?

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/341686/

    (I again took my pocket knife out the other day, opened it and set it on the table, and it still has not attacked or killed anyone! Again, it must be in a good mood or it must like everyone?)

    This may all sound silly to a reasonable person, but this is just one more example of how the Left attempts to subliminally and psychologically reshape reality to their purposes in the minds of the public. As silly as that may sound.

    Have these coroporate operatives for the Left become soooo blind to the words that they compile to communicate the “News” to the public that they are no longer able to see their bias and illogic? Or are they involved in a not so covert attempt to manipulate the minds of the public and they just no longer care about being found out?

    The New York Times changed this message to the public related to their story on 9/11. Its the guns, its the planes, both in my reality are inanimate objects fashioned by humans and have no intent or motivation, no ability to do anything without direction from their masters. Has the New York Times gone so over the edge that they can no longer determine the difference between reality and their desired fantasy reality?

    You tell me, these are some very sophisticated communications platforms and I can not see them not fully and completely understanding what they are doing. And then you must ask: What exactly are they doing?

    In my fairly well informed opinion these international coroporate citizens of the world, controlled by the more Left oriented, Socialist minded and politically correct among us are involved in the destruction of the America and the freedoms and Rights that has freed so many people on the planet. Why are they so involved in this concerted effort to destroy this America that we know and love so much?

    Because this America with its Constitution and its Bill Of Rights that makes America so powerful and relatively free is the one thing that stands in the way of a “unified” Socialist / New World Order / One World Government controlled by a U.N. / Brussels type world leadership model. This IMO is their way to fulfill their delusional Socialist dreams. And never doubt that they are dreams, dreams that would with certainty turn into nightmares, paranoia, slavery and mass murder in the name of the “greater good”. This is the path to their “utopia”.

    We are not naive.

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