An adult conversation about guns

[Playinghardball]

Earlier today, a gunman walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where people were watching the midnight showing of the new Batman movie. He fired gas canisters into the crowd, and then opened fire. At least 12 people are dead and 59 people are injured. My heart and prayers go out to all of them.

On the day Gabby Giffords was shot, I was picking up my son Henry from a lesson when I got the text message saying there had been a shooting. I’d campaigned with Gabby in 2006. Henry didn’t understand why I’d stopped getting into the car and started crying.

Walking back from a haircut the other day, I passed Café Racer, where on May 30th a gunman walked in and killed four people.

It's time we had an adult conversation in this country about guns.

On January 17, 1989, a gunman in Stockton, California walked onto a playground and opened fire, killing 5 children and injuring 30 more.

On July 1, 1993, a gunman in San Francisco walked into a law office and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 6.

On April 20, 1999, two gunmen in Columbine, Colorado walked into their high school and opened fire, killing 13 people and injuring 21 others.

On January 16, 2002, a gunman in Virginia walked into a law school and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 3.

On July 8, 2003, a gunman in Mississippi walked into a factory and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 8.

On March 21, 2005, a gunman in Minnesota walked into a high school and opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 5.

On November 20, 2005, a gunman in Tacoma walked into the mall and opened fire, injuring 6.

On March 25, 2006, a gunman in Seattle walked into a party and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 2.

On February 12, 2007, a gunman in Utah walked into a mall and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 4.

On April 16, 2007, a gunman in Virginia walked onto the Virginia Tech campus and opened fire, killing 32 people and wounding 17 others.

A lot more at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/20/1112130/-An-adult-conversation-about-guns

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. We should, but we can't

when one side won't listen.

[Johnny Rico]

2. The article defines an "adult conversation" as one in which the pro-gun side gives in

and the other side doesn't give an inch. Pass.

[RegieRocker]

3. They are incapable of having an adult conversation about guns

[edhopper]

8. So even just a ban on assault weapons

and large capacity clips is off the table.

Who isn't giving an inch?

[Johnny Rico]

11. "Just" that, huh? You only want to ban the most popular centerfire rifles in America?

Not to mention most of the magazines used in semiautomatic firearms?

Gee, is that all?

If my side got what they really wanted, we'd be repealing the '86 machine gun ban, and the '68 and '34 gun control acts...so it's not as if we're getting everything we want.

Howzabout we just stick with the laws on the books right now? Nothing for your side, nothing for my side.

[edhopper]

12. So we can have

more Auroras? I don't think so.

[AlexAmore]

4. There are two sides to this.

What about all the times the good guys (average joe) shot back and defended people?

What about the fact that the War on Drugs is a complete failure and drugs are smuggled
into prisons 24/7. You think a war on guns will be any different?

News Flash the theater was gun-free zone. For some reason it didn't work. Maybe because
he went into the back door and they didn't put the gun free zone sign back there. I've heard
conflicting reports.

[Egalitarian Thug]

5. How can one have "an adult conversation about guns" when one half of the participants

view the topic as the very Devil himself, and therefore refuse to learn even the most rudimentary facts about it, while the other is just as convinced that the agenda is to take what they view as theirs? The infamous "assault weapon" that figures so prominently in that diary is a prime example of the former and the reactions to it the latter.

This is the flip-side of the abortion issue. Neither one is going to change anytime soon and nobody is going to alter their position. There has to be a willingness to listen to have a conversation and nobody is listening here.

[lapfog_1]

6. I've posted this here before (even before the assassination attempt on Gabby)

I went to one of her "congress on the corner" meetings... this one was in Douglas, AZ... also at a Safeway.

The teabaggers were out in force... this was the summer of "disrupt the town halls" and shout down health reform.

The meeting that I went to made the news because one of the idiot teabaggers, carrying a concealed handgun, dropped it on the floor of the supermarket (there were a row of chairs lining the wall, many in line were elderly, so the thing was to move from one folding chair to the next one as the line to meet with Gabrielle moved..) She was very smart in meeting with each constituent individually rather than having a group meeting where the tea party idiots could dominate the conversation.

Anyway, they were there with their "Don't thread on me" flags and many were openly armed. But the guy that dropped his was about 10 chairs behind me had simply stuffed his pistol in his shorts pocket and, as he moved from chair to chair, it fell to the floor and the lone police officer got a little excited over this...

I remember talking to her aide and telling the person that this was a dangerous situation for the congress person and that Ms. Giffords should take every precaution.

[Motown_Johnny]

7. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre killed 7

Today we lost 12.

[flamingdem]

9. Good luck with that here on DU

There are many gun apologists here who you wouldn't expect until they get irrational, then you know..

[maveric56]

10. I lived 1/2 mile from this. As it was happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre

[NashvilleLefty]

13. An Adult conversation?

Yes, I agree that it's time. But it's simply not as simple as pro-gun and anti-gun.

I dated a girl who had a concealed weapon license, and one of the points of contention between us was that she honestly believed that she was in a video game. I have never carried a gun in the city, and I never will.

However, I live in the woods. I keep a shotgun available, and I have used it on snakes - twice. It has saved my life and that of my family. I would not think of living where I live without it. Many rural citizens grow up around them and learn how to properly use them at a young age.

But I see no reason to take my shotgun into the city. I see no reason for any kind of weapon in the city, except for the psychological boost of having "protection". In the old west movies, they used to have everyone check their guns when they entered the "town".

One side needs to realize that guns are necessary in some situations and in some areas.

The other side needs to realize that there are situations and areas where a gun is simply inappropriate.


So there is the Adult conversation.