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That is pretty wierd how it just goes into impenetrable blackness.

From the way the VP of the NRA is talking, socialism is to blame for the school shootings because all I'm hearing from him is "Socialism! Socialism! Socialism!" Of course though, he is talking at the conservative PAC, also the usual NRA propoganda. This post is absolutely soaked and dripping with sarcasm.

So, someone who can blend in with the passengers, 21 jump street style. It's all reactive though. Prevention is what you need. Exactly, it would be better to prevent it from happening in the first place. If arming teachers is prevention, then we might as well apply MAD doctrine and go all out.

Fractal guns! Arm those with guns and arm those with guns and arm those with guns and arm those with guns (trails off into infinity). lol

Wouldn't it be better to stop it from happening in the first place? And no, arming the teachers doesn't count if the shooter shows up anyway. Arming the teachers seems to amount to MAD doctrine, I mean, it almost seems like people are trying to apply MAD here. Besides, when has arming teachers ever stopped a shooting? Conservatives always say we should give more guns without proving that it actually works.

With what though, AR-15s? What if the shooter shows up with body armor? It doesn't seem like a viable solution and it just seems better to stop an event from starting in the first place, not after the shooter shows up and has already started shooting.

Part of it is the second amendment since you'd have to reconcile any solutions with that, and I'm pretty sure we're the only country with the right to own firearms inscribed right in the Constitution. Part of it is also the culture. And a lot of it is also just pure politics. I don't think it's going to take generations though, maybe just the generational shift in politics as millenials come into politics.

That is so obviously copypasta, just replace the word communist with the word liberal, or a whole bunch of other things for that matter.

Har har you The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has been declining for a long time though and we don't know how long the one on Neptune has been there. The GRS though has been observed since at least the 17th century. I suppose it'll be interesting to see if theres any new systems developing as that one fades. Though it may be possible that the cycles that involve the GRS take centuries to happen.

Rifling did exist then, it just wasn't particularily commonplace, and there were problems with residue gunking it up. Anyways, it seems a little silly to block the use of it in a historical re-enactment, stage blanks are a thing.... The article does mention that they didn't have any problems before now, so, it's just this particular city council being obtuse or something.

If they're talking about the specific gun type, AR-15 (or the style), then it'd be accurate.

Which articles are you referring to? Don't know what you're referring to as far as tone.

I've also heard that bump stocks are considered anathema to serious gun enthuanists or at least disapprove of their use, though I don't know how common that sentiment actually is among gun owners. Still, banning bump stocks is about the narrowest, thinnest, most focused thing you could possibly do with guns and wouldn't do anything with the problem in general. It's just something that politicians can (try to) tout as having done something.

Mostly symbolic because extradition won't happen unless Putin decides that those people did him wrong and deserve to be punished.

I'd question the structuring of that second map a bit because it makes a huge jump in category for number of suicides, rather than incrementing, it jumps right to 122 from 17.

Some would argue guns aren't the problem and outright confiscation of legally owned firearms would be a bad idea, yes. The 'anything else is useless' is actually 'politicians can't agree and compromise on a damn thing'. Voluntary buybacks are definetly a thing though. Don't know the specifics of how Australia did it though, whether through voluntary buybacks or outright confiscation.

They still have to budget for it though, and whether or not you agree that the federal government should be involved, it's still pretty telling that they're defunding for the very thing that they're blaming.

The thing is with going after mental illness is that the Republicans and Trump want to decrease funding for the very things that would help treat what they're blaming, which seems counterintuitive if they really thought mental illness was to blame. I agree that helping treat mental illness would go a ways towards helping, but what the Republicans have been doing is in the opposite direction.

How would you legislate against 'this weapon looks like it's something you would go shoot people with' though? As mentioned, the AR platform is so common and in the public domain that it's difficult to deal with. As polarized as the discussion in the US is, there probably isn't any perfect solution that everybody would agree on or that would work best. The thing is that the proven solution in the rest of the world has been to reduce the accessability of firearms in one way or another. Not outright confiscation mind you, that wouldn't go over well, theres methods that don't involve that.

The AK platform (of which the 47 is the most common/popular) is one of the (if not THE) most common weapons in the world, that I do know.

I believe the most common weapon in homicides as of 2016 was the .380 with the .40 coming in a close second. Both are handgun rounds and are used by small and relatively cheap models. Did they ever confirm what the Vegas shooter way using? I don't remember the specific types, but the Vegas shooter had like 18 weapons (how many types though, I don't know) in his hotel room and caches of more elsewhere. Id be interested to read about this if you have any links. I'd imagine that the gun culture in general and prevalence of guns could have given them pause.

Well, there is a reason (just wnat it is, I don't specifically know, other than the kill factor) that the AR-15 type is so popular with mass murderers. With the lack of comprehensive and data rich studies going into every single small detail, like CDC would for diseases, it's hard to know what to target if we don't know what to target other than what we do know.

That's one of those things that aren't always clear, or at least people weasel word their way around. I can't tell you the legal definition and calling them paramilitaries might be the wrong answer.

I've always assumed that 'assault rifles' or 'assault weapons' referred to guns with large magazines or namely, those that were purely designed for war (or those based off of those purely designed for war). Also, while you say that the two fire the same ammo at the same rate (and obviously you know your guns, so, I take you at your word), there IS a major distinction, namely the number of bullets at a time. Hunting rifles and such aren't what's being used in these mass murders, it's the high capacity assault rifles. I know you said that the term 'assault rifles' is what causes you to tune out of the discussion, but what other term would you use? weapons of war? I know of no other term to describe that class of weapons. Which I suppose might be part of the issue with the gun debate, the terms being used.

Is a gun a privilege or a right? According to the Constitution, it's a right.