So who are all these "reasonable people" begging to carry firearms 24/7?

[Liberal Veteran]

Since this is big news, let's have at it.

The NRA and its supporters say the answer is to make it easier for everyone (usually referred to as "reasonable people" or "responsible people&quot to carry around weapons pretty much everywhere.

But how many reasonable people want to live in a society where a holster is part of the daily wardrobe for a trip to the mall, or getting ready for work, or shoveling snow, or having a bite to eat at a restaurant or a day on the beach?

I own a gun, but I have never in my 47 years felt that I needed to have one at my side in public settings and consider myself a reasonable person. In fact, if there is somewhere I think I might need a gun, it occurs to me, that I might want to avoid that place.

So who are these hoards of people the NRA refers to that are just falling all over themselves to be the heroic armed protector of the innocents?

[atreides1]

1. Definition

Anyone who can come up with the money to purchase a gun, legally of course!

[dpgillam]

2. Me, for starters.

I served 20 years in the Infantry, and did 2 tours in Iraq.
Having my firearm handy let me eliminate bad guys before bad situations turned into total disasters.

Today's tragedy couldnt have been prevented by such laws.
But there have been many other incidents that could.

[rustydog]

3. Sorry, I've pissed off gang members, drug dealers

have had people threaten to kill me the next time they found me on the street and I still do not feel the need to FUCKING carry a weapon!

Jesus, if it is that bad in America that I need to pack 24-7, we FAILED as a country and your service was in VAIN.

[Liberal Veteran]

4. So, let's turn America into Iraq? Really? That's your answer?

Apparently, we are so far apart on what a civil and peaceable society should be like, I'm questioning even asking you.

Everyone armed to the teeth doesn't make a civil society, it makes a nervous and skittish society.

Maybe you have good reason to live in fear. I don't. Even when I was in the military, the only times I carried a weapon was when I was watch duty on the ship or during a security drill. I didn't even carry one when I did shore patrol duty.

[kestrel91316]

6. Your military experience bears NO relationship to

daily American life and is of no help. You don't get to be judge, jury, and executioner on our streets at home. Sorry if they taught you otherwise.

[IdaBriggs]

7. I do not trust your judgment in non combat situations.

The fact you seem to be confused about civilian behavior concerns me, and says you need your guns taken away.

[madinmaryland]

8. PLEASE explain some of those other incidents it could have prevented.

Can you do that with out going the NRA home page??

TIA.

[ThatPoetGuy]

10. There are many incidents that would have been created by such laws, and

many incidents that would have been made worse by such laws.

[Lugnut]

13. Bullshit!

There is no reasonable excuse to wear a firearm when you're going shopping, going to your kid's school or going anywhere for that matter, military longevity notwithstanding.

[Zoeisright]

14. Bull. Shit.

Today's tragedy could have been prevented by gun controls laws that other countries have. NO citizen needs to own the kind of guns used to murder those children.

If anything, this is an argument to ban guns altogether. Because they were purchased legally. But that requires logical reasoning skills, and the courage to live without a penis substitute.

[RichGirl]

5. If we all NEED to carry guns....

We'll have to stop calling this the greatest country in the world. We'll be worse than Libia.

Interesting how the right wing has treated Benghazi like the crime of the century....FOUR PEOPLE KILLED. Yet 20 children killed and they are still more concerned about their precious piece of metal.

Wonder if John McCann who used the tragedy of Benghazi against Susan Rice...will now use this tragedy to promote stronger gun laws. Don't think so....

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. I know and have trained GLBTs who have been attacked

Gay bashing does not always happen in bad parts of town. Sometimes it even follows them home. Violent EXs who think they somehow own their partner is another. Again, not always in a bad neighborhood. These are often people for whom firearms are a last resort after multiple incidents. They are also those who would get rid of their firearm as soon as they feel they no longer need it, but certainly not today.

Until their needs are addressed, I am willing to actively support personal ownership of firearms, including handguns. The police are certainly not adequate and are at time part of the problem.

There is a sickness of violence infecting the nation and it is getting worse daily. Guns have always been with us, but this level of violence has not.

[Liberal Veteran]

11. You raise an interesting proposal on the cause, but sometimes we have to treat the symptoms first.

Making it easier and easier to obtain guns and carry them around literally everywhere is not making things better.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. There is also the individual vs the group aspects to this

Some Lemmas:
- Cops cannot protect the individual in the immediate and are sometime part of the problem
- The strong criminals prey on the weaker members of society
- Certain members of our society are clearly targeted for violence
- Socioeconomic factors are important but not always definitive.

Consider that if we were to disarm, instead of occasional public shootings we would have daily muggings, bashings, and home invasions instead. What would the net death toll be? Its an evil calculus but it is something that needs to be discussed as part of this. To me we need to address the level of violence and its root causes. The tools are not the root of the problem.