Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	Guns in a church...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 9:32:18 AM

Guns in Atlanta Airport...stupid

Nuts with guns...frightening

No, owning a gun does not make you a gun-nut.  Owning a gun and thinking you should be allowed to carry it whether pellet pistol or assault rifle, loaded or unloaded, concealed or exposed, anywhere anytime with no regard to whether or not others around you like the idea or want you near them...well, that makes you a nut in general and a gun-nut in particular.  (NOTE TO MM...this is an expression of opinion, not a claim of fact)

I know (hope) all of us send our thoughts and prayers to Charleston.

Name:	Summer Lover -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 5:45:37 PM

That has got to be some of the most asinine crap I have heard in a while….  The murder of innocent people is tragic, but I guess it would make you feel better if this idiot doused the church in diesel fuel and torched it.  Roof is a coward as were the theater shooter and the school shooters – all of those places were “gun-free zones”.  I just have to wonder if those restrictions are in place to foster more tragedies in order to push the anti-gun agenda.  

If you believe that the Government in general or specifically the Police are charged with protecting you and your loved ones, I would suggest you check the court rulings. If you are not enough of a person to protect your family by any means necessary, it sounds like you are not much of a person.   If you carry an unloaded firearm anywhere in hopes that you will be able to defend yourself – you would be far better off with a sturdy knife; and just maybe, the death toll would have been lower if one of the good people had been armed… 

Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 6:37:07 PM (updated 6/19/2015 6:46:53 PM)

I guess I'm not "normal" in feeling uncomfortable around guns but I am, especially when hate-mongers, or racists, or nuts such as Roof can legally and easily obtain them. If you want to demonstrate your manhood, and that is exactly what it boils down to, by walking around with a loaded firearm then please do it somewhere far away from me. You do realize that almost all the shootings that have occured with such regularity in this country have been carried out by people using guns they had legally obtained. If we are so politically intemidated by the NRA that we can't bring ourselves to realistically review and revise our gun laws within the 2d amendment and with the support of 8o% of the citizens, even after 26 kindergartners are slaughtered, then we are a nation with cowards and idiots in leadership positions.

As to whether the loss of life would be less if more people had been armed I doubt it and have never seen any statistics that lend such a statement andy credibility.  It is hard to imagine that if 8 or 10 people had opend fire at the shooter in the darkened theater in Aurora, CO that the loss of life would be less.

All senseless deaths are tragic. Why don't we have the courage and will to try to prevent a few of them?

Name:	Summer Lover -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 7:55:14 PM

I understand that there are those among us who are uncomfortable around firearms, and that there are many who should not have access to them.  The 2^nd amendment was put in place to protect our rights under the Constitution to include the 1^st amendment; it has absolutely nothing to do with sport shooting, hunting or even self-defense.   

It would likely surprise you to know how many law-abiding citizens in your proximity are armed, and you will never know that I am, unless there is a threat to those for whom I care.  As far as the percentage of American citizens who do not support what are called “common-sense gun laws”, I would bet that it is – at this time – a silent majority.   

I will accept the responsibility to help protect my family, and firearms help me do so – it has nothing to do with “manhood” or even with being a man.  I know that I have my wife’s back and she has mine – but we are too old to resort to fisticuffs.   Firearms help make us more equal and when they are taken away, we will all be victims.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 8:46:20 PM

Well said, Summer.  My wife and I are among that silent majority.

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/19/2015 9:23:52 PM

A well armed society is a polite society. But my favorite cliche is when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. Archie delighted in pointing out that some of the worst tragedies were done with legal guns.  Young punks all looking to become infamous. I wonder how many of the hundreds of black on black murders committed in NY, Chicago, Baltimore, (insert city here), were done with legally registered guns. Why don't you get back to us with that FACT Archie.

Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	Well said Summer Lover
Date:	6/19/2015 11:10:42 PM (updated 6/19/2015 11:23:05 PM)

And I respect your exercise your 2d admendment rights in such a responsible way.  Do you think the man who pranced through Atlanta Airport last week with a semi-assult weapon, which he claimed to be loaded and for his "protection" was demonstrating similar responsibility?  According to the GA legislature he was.  I excerise my 1st amendment right to respectfully disagree.  Seems to me the last place you might need to pack for protection would be in a post 9/11 airport. 

I would appreciate your opinion on whether the drafters of the constitution had any intent for the 2d amendment to be interpreted as the NRA insist it be interpreted.  I cannot imagine that the framers had any vision of the firepower that would evolve over 230 years and if they had they would have made an even more direct and defined connection between the bearing of the most lethal of arms and the militia than they did.

BTW Lifer, the above is an opinion with no claim that it is a fact.  The 1st amendment gives me the right to have and express it.  Too bad some on this forum seem to offer scant support to that right for those of us who have an opinion that runs counter to their own. FACT...I have no idea how many black on black murders are with legally obtained weapons.  FACT...I know the white on black murders in Charleston were with a legally obtained weapon in the hands of a racist punk!

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Well said Summer Lover
Date:	6/20/2015 8:00:37 AM

So it is about proportioallity? Ok, let's go with your "FACTS". The framers intent was to give the citizenry a means to protect themselves from tyrants and despots who may achieves power over them. At that time about the biggest weapon the government had was cannons, the citizens had muskets. Not proportional but one well placed sniper or sabatuer could pretty much equalize things. On top of superior firepower the government always has a numbers and financial advantage.

FACT: now the government has tanks, APC'S, helicopters, planes, drones, and satellites. Tell me how a semi-automatic AR-15 is proportional? Much superior firepower coupled with data acummalation (AKA SPYING) give the government the massive advantage.

So going with your strict interpretation of the second ammendment I need to upgrade my firepower. Anybody got a spare F-35 sitting around for sale cheap?

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/20/2015 8:55:49 AM

Amen.  I've had a permit to carry a concealed weapon since I have lived down here.  People aren't supposed to have to worry about their protection when they go to church, when they go to the airport, when they go to the movie theatre, but recent events have proved otherwise.  I had a situation in Montgomery outside a bookstore that made me glad I was carrying, although it turned out okay.  I'm not a nut, and I'm not looking for a confrontation.  But, I do encourage other women to think about their personal safety.  And it might surprise you how many nice, respectable now realize that they may find themselves responsible for the safety of themselves and their loved ones.

Name:	Summer Lover -	Reply
Subject:	Well said Summer Lover
Date:	6/21/2015 2:19:01 PM

Architect, my personal belief is that those of us who are not “professionals” are better served with concealed carry rather than open, and while I think that open carry of an AR is more to make a statement than it is to protect himself and those for whom he cares; I do not want to infringe his rights to do so.  With regards to the AR pattern rifles – I believe they are the most popular rifles in the United States right now, so it would make sense to carry one for personal defense.  I think that a PDW or SBR (both just regulated versions that do not meet the arbitrary “minimum barrel and LOA” of “legal” rifles - would make more sense, and that is only a $200 tax stamp and 6 months away, but again, that is MY opinion.

 Lifer is correct about the intent of the 2^nd amendment, and though our forefathers would likely not have envisioned the progress that firearms have made.  I think that they also would not have imagined that our country would have digressed so much that a high percentage of our citizens are totally dependent on the Government.  When I was in high school in the ‘70’s, we pointed and laughed at the U.S.S.R., but looking back – we are there.

Name:	Summer Lover -	Reply
Subject:	Murder...tragic
Date:	6/21/2015 2:33:54 PM

Hound, I have just to look at my wife and daughter and think – many people will take advantage of the “weaker sex” or those of us who are “beyond our prime”, simply because we are not a “hard target”.  I would have a hard time looking in the mirror if something happened to one of them because they had to wait for someone else to protect them. 

 An analogy many may not like, but related to the bear sightings around the lake…  Do not “play dead”, look large and menacing….

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Good Advice
Date:	6/21/2015 3:59:33 PM

In both cases.

Name:	Shortbus -	Reply
Subject:	Forget banning guns.......ban psycotropic drugs
Date:	6/21/2015 11:34:21 PM

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/06/no_author/every-mass-shooting-has-one-thing-in-common/

otherwise you need to ban baseball bats , barbed wire and box cutters ..................

Name:	Shortbus -	Reply
Subject:	Forget banning guns.......ban psycotropic drugs
Date:	6/21/2015 11:35:40 PM

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/06/no_author/every-mass-shooting-has-one-thing-in-common/

otherwise you need to ban baseball bats , barbed wire and box cutters ..................

maybe toenail clippers too

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Forget banning guns.......ban psycotropic drugs
Date:	6/22/2015 10:28:16 AM

I think what is missing from your article is that in most of these cases, the killer was prescribed medicine, but had stopped taking it. 

For anyone suffering from depression or bi-polor disorder or anxiety these drugs are a blessing.  They are taken by millions every day.   To suggest that these drugs are somehow responsible for violent behavior is irresponsible. 

Name:	Shortbus -	Reply
Subject:	Redneck seconds the idea.....ban psycotropic drugs
Date:	6/25/2015 11:08:53 AM (updated 6/25/2015 11:11:51 AM)

https://youtu.be/cTWi5GefKYc         @ 7:30

warnin'   cussin'

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Redneck seconds the idea.....ban psycotropic drugs
Date:	6/25/2015 6:51:56 PM

I asked a therapist friend of mine who confirmed that she was familar iwth the study.  She told me that it was widely disregarded by the professional community, because it did not take into account those who had previous violent and/or suicidal episodes before taking the drugs.  In other words, there wasn't proof that the drugs were directly responsible for an increased violent behavior.

As far as Redneck... well, I generally don't take medical or societal advice from a YouTube video, although I understand that there are videos out there that teach bomb making and other terrorist necessities.  Maybe You Tube should be banned.