Guns dont kill people!

People kill people!!!1!!!1!11!!

"The US President quietly signed a bill which would roll back an Obama-era regulation demanding gun checks for people with mental illnesses in February this year.

The law, which was first finalised in December, aimed to add people receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses and people deemed unfit to handle their own financial affairs to the national background check database."

I don't think that's the issue represented. The bill would prevent someone who may be homicidal or scizophrenic from obtaining a dangerous weapon. What would we lose by not allowing the mentioned people from owninf a firearm?

Any gun shop can deny someone the sale of a gun for any reason. If someone looks disturbed or shady, they can deny the sale. In the despite its good intentions, what the policy actually does is take away the gun rights of a large category of individuals without any evidence that they pose a risk of harm to self or others, and without legal due process protections commensurate with abridging a constitutional right. I'm fine with a different law being introduced that takes those things into account. Just because a law or rule is well meaning doesn't mean that it's right or smart. 

My other recent reply to Hiku could be a good response to this. 

A prayer can also be an action.

I rather have people praying than doing nothing at all. Obviously there are more effective actions that people can do, but after hearing the news....... praying for their families and loves ones should be the first thing to do.

What if we implemented universal background checks and updated our gun laws to prevent discrimination? I feel that would check off your (justified) causes for concern

It's fucking irritating to see someone say 'thinking/praying about X' and Professor Edge Dicklord 1st must take out his intelligence and 'expose' how useless praying is. 

Do these people have no idea what being empathetic is? I feel as though they're the type of people who boast about how 'blunt' they are while they complain about being hated by almost everyone in their social circle(s). 

Sure, sending prayers may not do anything, but it's considerate. If someone tells me they're doing terrible, I'll always tell them I hope their day improves. May do nothing, but it shows you aren't a heartless dick who always needs to prove a point.

We have a republican legislature, and a republican exectutive branch.  The ball is now in their court, to do something to resolve this issue.  If they can come up with a way to alleviate this problem that does not involve stricter gun legislation, more power to them.  And if they can't, then that's the only course of action that I can think of.

disturbing stuff. I wouldn't jump the gun though (no pun intended) regarding gun rights in the USA though. A huge amount of crimes are commited with guns sold on the black market or that have been stolen, so the concept that you could simply limit guns and have some massive effect is sort of naive. Bear in mind the size of the United States. If it's been impossible to stop the drug cartels from getting massive amount of goods into the states (despite the USA wasting billions to try and combat that with the DEA) then why on Earth do you think it would work with other things?

not to mention, for every story of some madman massacring with a gun- there's a story of someone STOPPING a criminal because they had a gun for self defense. It goes both ways. 

Crazy people will always manage to kill in some shape or form. I think the higher frequency of it happening these days falls on two things: there are more and more people in the world and the MEDIA allows for people to get recognition (in a way) for committing crimes. It's like a payoff for them. Attention. That and 50 years ago when a crime occured you didn't necessarily hear about it that day because news was so much slower at getting around

Anyway. Terrible tragedy, hope the families make it through the loss, and that the dead rest in peace. 

Impossible, at church of all things, to predict something like this happening. The shooter must be a real bastard 

that's true.

at minimum anyone with a history of pyschological issues should be barred from buying a gun. Or at minimum heavier restrictions on automatic rifles or whatever. I'm a huge proponent for gun laws, allowing citizens to own guns, because the majority of people who legally obtain a firearm (registered from a store) are using them safely and for defense. That and you don't want to have all your guns in the hands of the military/police, on the off chance they became tyrannical. But that said, I honestly don't see why someone needs more than a double barrel shotgun or standard rifle to defend themselves

No reason someone needs an UZI or AK 47 to protect their family. Or IF someone really wants to have those maybe they should be required to take some tests, regular handling and accuracy safety tests, etc. 

A middle ground seems reasonable. The USA is far too big and different to expect people not to own guns. The concept of telling someone who lives in a poverty stricken urban area with tons of criminals who will get guns illegally, that they can't own a gun too- that's absurd. I can't emphasize enough that the black market for guns is gigantic and that the biggest people hurt be strong gun laws are the law abiding citizens. Because- newsflash- a repeat offender criminal isn't going to follow the law and listen if you ban guns. 

But, yeah, if someone wants to own a heavy automatic weapon I don't think it'd be unfair to require them to take some serious training and potentially even verify they're sound of mind. within reason of course