I've got no statistics, but I'd venture a guess that words have done more damage than guns every thought about doing.Originally Posted by GreatUsername
I've got no statistics, but I'd venture a guess that words have done more damage than guns every thought about doing.
It's not the gun that does the killing it's the mental case that should have never been able to buy one in the first place.People kill people and always have and always will,weather with a gun, a knife,poison,bat,automobile strangulation you name it,they still have murder without guns and it outnumbers gun murder 3 to 1.So would it not be prudent to get rid of the offender or remove the mental patient to proper facilities.And on this war on drugs give me a break, that crap was around when I was in high school and I'm almost 44,has it worked yet?NOT!You show me crime committed in this country that is not committed by reoffenders out for a joyride back to prison and I'll show you utopia.I will protect me and mine ,thankgod I live in Texas. And I don't know anyone who does not own firearms so where all this is coming from must be DC where you cant own one.
Imprisonment and mental institutions are pretty expensive. And we imprison more than any other first world nation. Perhaps decriminalizing those drugs would solve some problems? If gangs don't have illicit goods to traffic, they probably won't be fighting as much anyways.
As for mental cases buying guns, this is why it's important to do background checks. During the time of the Founding Fathers, such individuals were less common as they often died due to lack of proper medical and psychiatric care, and those who remained usually were too poor to afford or acquire firearms. So while normally I disagree with the "it's outdated" argument, I think this makes a case for mental evaluations, or SOME sort of very basic set of qualifications required for firearms purchase.
And as I've said before: a huge number of gang and mass shootings use stolen or borrowed guns. People need to lock up their own guns better, and trust people less. I don't care how much you love your son or daughter, if they have a severe disorder, it's irresponsible to not keep your guns secured. Those loose guns account for the higher death-toll from firearms each year: accidental shootings.
And of course... keep your own piece close at hand. It's your right, and your responsibility to protect you and yours when the seconds count and help is only minutes away.
We had 500,000 inpatient psychiatric beds in the 1950s, but only have about 50,000 now. I find it hard to believe we can't afford the level of care we provided in the 1950s. In addition, I think that Obamacare decided that we can afford any and all healthcare needed by anyone.
As for prisons, it would be better for society to decriminalize lots of activities, like owning a 30 round magazine (currently illegal in DC and about 7 states), and get truly dangerous individuals off the streets.
Instead of making prisons the 'cushy' places you describe them as, how bout we think of them as one vast renewable energy source.
Giant gerbil wheels.
Have the inmates generate the electricity needed to watch their TVs and turn on the lights in their cells.
And 3/4 of what they generate can go out to the grid.
Make em work.
Course, that might make em harder to catch on release...
As for the war on drugs, like prohibition, once legalized, the 'gangs' will just turn their attention to something else that's hard to get. There will always be something else someone with money is willing to pay for.
The 1950s institutional system was a series of small almost self-supporting communities the likes of which we'll never see again. Mostly because the skills have been lost and the land is no longer available. They were large working farms, grew much of their own food, used the inmate population in sort of occupational therapy in the fields and had huge staffs. There was also reportedly a lot of abuse and not a whole lot of cures, plus now coming to light are more stories of people incarcerated simply because it was more convenient to 'put them away.'
There are several old State Hospital properties in MA that are currently Wildlife Management Areas and offer some of the best hunting in the state. The land is mostly fallow fields and encroaching forest, great for deer and bird cover. But wandering around out there you can see the old outbuildings, the once tilled fields and the broken cattle fences and just know that era is gone.
Roger that, B. About as much interest as trying to balance the federal budget!
Good cherry pickin'. I see what you did there.
You know theres an answer for everything.
You do realize they have to make a budget in order to balance it, you know something that hasn't done yet in 4 years.
Last edited by crashdive123; 01-02-2013 at 09:05 PM.
Have you ever heard of Marx's "The Communist Manifesto," or Hitler's "Mein Kamp," or Mao's "Little Red Book?"GREATUSERNAME - "... Guns have a proven capability to cause massive physical, personal, and societal harm if owned by those who don't know how to keep or use them safely, whereas the rights covered in the other parts of the bill of rights do not, at least not on the same scale."
Those are just the tip of the modern-day iceberg of "highly dangerous words."
Anytime our Government begins "licensing" or "mandating conditions" on an individual's Constitutional and inalienable Rights, those Rights are no longer "Rights," but Government granted privileges, revokable anytime by politicians' whims and nefarious plans.
That is a fact, not a supposition.
When people say, "Ahh, we can trust politicians to do the right thing as they just want to help everyone have a nice day, I am always reminded of the line in a play/movie written by the late, great playwright, Tennessee Williams, in "A Streetcar Named Desire."
In one scene, the main character "Stanley" is talking to his destitute, pretentious and snobbish, freeloading sister-in-law "Blanche DuBois," for whom he has great disgust. He asks her, "Blanche, how in Hell have you ever gotten along all these years?"
Blanche answers, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
That is the same as people who say, "Trust the politicians (strangers) 'cause they'll do the right thing for us. They only want a few of our Rights and if we give them up, they'll not want any more. We can depend on them."
Until the next "compromise."
Nope, I'll not depend on "the kindness of strangers (politicians)." I've spent far too many years observing their "kindness."
S.M.
Last edited by Seniorman; 01-05-2013 at 04:20 PM. Reason: Correct typo.
The government doesn't care and the church has gotten fat and lazy, so who's going to take care of these people who A. Shouldn't have a gun, and b. aren't receiving the SUPERVISED care they need? yes, legalize and regulate drugs, prostitution and gambling (just like we do everything else in our society). things that are regulated but legal :cars, driving privileges, tobacco, alcohol, businesses, employment, health care, all foreign trading, some local trading, food procuction, processing and sanitation and storage, hunting, fishing (both commercial and private), building and maintaining residences, land rights and zoning. weapons have been neccessary for the same reasons since we lived in the cave, just the weapon has changed. and the first murder was committed with a rock. so none of these issues are new, we have simply lost the idea of personal responsibility and sanctity of human life.
Last I looked, breaking and entering was a crime.a huge number of gang and mass shootings use stolen or borrowed guns. People need to lock up their own guns better...
Breaking and entering with intent to steal a firearm is a felony.
Maybe we need to lock up the criminals instead.
We had 500,000 inpatient psychiatric beds in the 1950s. Now we have 50,000. I suspect we can do more in this area. Imprisonment is largely a byproduct of the war on drugs. That has worked about as well as Prohibition, so we could could use the resources from there to pay for the psychiatric beds we need.
As for the argument about gangs and mass shootings being done with stolen guns, that may be true for gangs, but in everyone of the mass shootings that has whipped up this frenzy the guns were legally obtained. Gabby Giffords shooter had purchased his guns. The Aurora, CO shooter had purchased his own guns. The latest one in CT, the mother bought the guns. Clearly the NICS system does not contain enough mental health information.
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