Shooting at Batman Premiere - 12 dead / Your opinions on gun laws

[Mr Khan]

sperrico87 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 Is the idea of possessing a gun an outdated idea, or is it still significant in the modern world?

I completely disagree with the premise of your question.  I don't think that just because there is a shooting, that there should be an automatic debate on gun laws and Second Amendment rights.  I see no correlation whatsoever.

Criminals are people who by definition do not abide by laws, so how can you say that law-abiding citizens should have their right to bear arms diminished or taken away because an insane person went on a rampage? 

Better yet, why would you willingly take away the right of people to defend themselves against violent crimes in progress?  If more people in that theatre had a concealed pistol, they could have taken the shooter down and saved lives.  I just see no sense in your post at all.

We've been over this endlessly. A second shooter would have just likely shot more innocents in the confusion, or hesitated for fear of doing so, like the individual who was conceal-carrying during the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. Concealed-carry people are not automatically heroes.