radishhead said:
mrstickball said:
radishhead said:
http://www.kctv5.com/story/19071381/shooting-at-theater-during-batman-premiere-in-colorado
I just turned on the news and I saw this incident - apparently it's the worst in the USA since a school shooting many years ago (I think), so it's extremely saddening.
Aside from just reporting the story however (which I assume American users know about already), I wondered what your opinions were regarding gun laws. It's impossible to deny that the chances of such a tragedy happening would be reduced if ownership of a gun is illegal without a license (assuming these licenses were very difficult to get, and wouldn't allow a civilian to carry one in public). Is the idea of possessing a gun an outdated idea, or is it still significant in the modern world?
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Doesn't change the fact he could have done a thousand other things to kill them. Or purchased the gun illegally. We don't know if he owned firearms legally, or illegally.
You magically assume evil people won't be evil if they can't own a gun. That isn't the case. American crime rates have steaidly been decreasing for the past 20 years, despite the fact that gun ownership is at an all-time high.
Furthermore, the availability of carry concealed weapons have done a lot to prevent these types of shootings, or at least mitigate the damage. In the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, it wasn't a cop that aprehended the suspect, but gun owner with a legal carry permit.
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Gun crimes in the UK are almost unheard of - when it happens, it's serious gangs aiming to rob diamond/jewelery shops or something, not just some random guy with a rifle. But I guess you're right in that gun ownership in America has gone past the level of just being able to ban them now, too many people own them, so it's safer to own them than to not
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violent crime rates went up in england after they passed the gun ban.
and in places that have been loosening their gun laws in the US have had a steady decline in crime rate.
crime went way up in DC when they passed their gun ban, and after Washington DC vs Heller case, crime went down in DC.
