a national gun ban wouldnt work because we have hundreds of millions a guns in this country, it would be impossible to get rid of all of them. criminals would still have them they would still be sold illegally. so as thomas jefferson said, a gun ban would only disarm the innocent, and empower the criminal making it easier for them to do crime.

and even if we somehow erradicated guns from civilians, that doesnt erradicate crime. so until you can do that, i want to defend myself. guns are the great equalizer.

furthermore a gun ban would still leave guns in the hands of the government, what i fear most, and the whole point of the 2nd ammendment. that empowers our ever increasing government to become even more of a totalitarian statist dictatorship.

Nice speech there preacher. Just for your Information, terrible shit happens with or without guns. The lax gun law in america just makes it that much easier to get in possession of a gun and who do you think will take that opportunity? The joung female whos about to get raped and strangled? The old granny whos about to get robbed and shot to death? Or the rapist, the murderer, the robber, the batshit insane crazy people who WANT TO HARM OTHER PEOPLE?

Maybe I went a little too far saying that NO civilian should have a gun, but there needs to be thorough screening and monitoring of people in possession of guns. And no, harsh gun laws will not prevent people from doing evil things, but guns have a habit of increasing casualties. Look at this very incident. Do you think someone with a knife couldve injured 60 people and killed 12? Someone with a baseball bat? Guns make killing just so damn easy.

Also, California or Washington having stricter gun laws isn't doing shit, when someone could just drive in another state and get their gun.

Your logic fails miserably, AGAIN. Show me how many massacres were actually prevented by someone with a gun. I can only vaguely, maybe, remember one that was stopped, not prevented, by someone with a gun. That's about it. I'm not even sure if I remember that correctly though.

i share you bolded sentiments, and that is why i will continue to support the 2nd ammendment with my voice and vote, and deeds

Unbelievable... For such a fun and joyous event to turn into such tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this horrific act of senseless violence. You aren't alone.

*Deep sigh* So terrible.

but crime has been going down in the us since guns laws have been getting less strict, states have been passing conceal carry tha past 2 dacades, and crime has been going down there, alternately crime has gone up in states with the stricter gun laws

You don't need guns to stop the government. The Soviets didn't need them. Hell, guns were what got them the Soviet Union in the first place, because the majority of Russians sure as hell didn't want Communism, but the Bolsheviks were well-armed and better-organized than the gun-toting Whites. Guns got them Communism, peaceful protest got them freedom. Generally countries that win their freedom with guns don't end up being very nice places afterwards (the US being an exception, largely because our "Revolution" was executed by democratically-elected officials at the colonial level fighting higher-level British institutions), but you can look at Eritrea, Algeria, pretty much all of Latin America, or former Portuguese Africa or Indonesia.

It would be easy to impose: a no-questions-asked grace period where anyone can turn in a firearm for destruction, preserve hunting so long as the guns are kept locked up when not being used for hunting, and allowances for antiques and collectables. After that, any gun that's found is a $25,000 fine (or 1 year in jail for every thousand dollars that you can't afford to pay on the fine), plus $100 per round of ammunition.

You know what I fear most? People like you. Paranoid people who carry guns because they're afraid that the government is going to "come after them." Come off it, what do you think, that the government is going to enforce some kind of police state? That you and all of your fellow gun owners are going to march on Washington with your little handguns and "take back our country?" Do you think the military would allow that to happen? Do you think the police would allow that to happen? Do you think a bunch of civilians could OPPOSE the military if they took the side of the government?

though I would like to live in a country were guns were outlawed to the public, I hope people realize that the actions of a few(like the one) don't disrupted the thousands of law abiding citizens that carry guns and to which some have successfully defended their life or the life of others.

A gun is just another mean of killing, taking them away wouldn't necessarily end the violence, people would just use bats, knives, bombs. etc.(I remember watching one of those mystery murder documentaries were the serial killer used a hunting bow) let us be reminded that the greatest attack on U.S. soil wasn't caused by a gun, but with knives and box-cutters(9/11)

I think it's not the actual weapon itself, but the person behind the weapon, we can sit here and give example after example oh how guns were used to kill people, while the other side will give example after example of how guns were used to save lives. it's like the concept of war: both sides think they're right, but in this case we might never see a victor.

let us use this time to mourn the lost/injured instead of pushing our agendas

Cool story bro, but my sister, my parents, my friends would never carry a gun. They just wouldn't, and neither would I. The only thing the Second Amenment does is give total strangers walking by me on the street the right to have guns, and to hide them from me. It does nothing to make me feel safer, and having a gun wouldn't make me feel safer, either.