@Veteran229 well I’m certainly not ignorant as you suggest. Using your clarification, is it ok to drive a basic car without a license? Can a “doctor” practice unlicensed to a certain point?

Look! All these people keep getting shot! I know, what we need is MORE GUNS!
Yeah, that makes total sense.

It's white nationalists that did the killings this weekend, white privileged boy's! It wasn't anyone who were in jail or life criminals! WTF!!!!

@MichelleGar1 I wanted to say the same thing but you said it so well. Recidivists were not responsible for anything this weekend nor for all the other mass shootings that have occurred. It seems as it is just more "off the top of your head" statements because you should just say anything in order to make your point correct. As long as this crazy bullshit type of thinking goes on nothing is going to change.

You're using talking points from Fox and Friends "gun free zones" and these individuals did not have any prior incarceration so your recidivism has nothing to do with young white male adults who typically cause this destruction. Oh, by the way my son is a young white adult male (27) I'm stating fact, nothing else.

@AmelieMatisse true, residivist were not responsible for these attack, I was referring to the majority of gun violence which is done by repeat offenders in gun free zones. Oh and set these animals free given a chance they probably would be repeat offenders. And if a predestination at the mall was exersizing thier right as an American citizen and was viligent perhaps the shooter would be dead before inocent people.

...the real fanatics are grinning.. They ‘reload,’ melt & pour their bullets, buy powder by the keg, and reuse their brass cartridges. They’re arming for ‘end times’ ..when Walmart won’t be open ~

@Varn powder is regulated, most people do not and cannot make bullets, sure there are some nutcases who do, but not the majority

Thanks for your comment. But in this poll I just want to address the issue of Possession and the right to bear firearms, since the topic of restrictions on automatic and semi-automatic weapon types is very complex.

@Veteran229 I don't know anything about this. Can you explain?

@Williamcristiano I'm just glad that we have the conversation and try to brainstorm through all possibilities which is a heck of a lot more than our congress does.

@Veteran229 thanks for the info I did not know any of that. So why doesn't it work better to keep automatic weapons out of people's hands as I would think the tax stamp would have a huge damper on buying one of them?

@Veteran229 I agree the constitution cannot contradict itself but it was written back in the days of muzzle loaders. I bet those guys never thought there would be the weaponry that exists today. I don't think the idea should ever be to ban but I see nothing wrong in regulating and there is something wrong with how we are restricting and/or regulating in this area.

@Veteran229 well Crowder didn't get my love for calling me a filthy hippie although I got a kick out of Cartman, Dirty Harry, Stallone, and Arnold in one film but he missed my favorite Bruce Willis. Our society is a hell of a lot more complex than it was back in 1776. Imagine travelling 600 miles just to off a bunch of people. Geeze it would take you weeks and you would be way too tired to do the carnage scene. And even Jefferson had written that the Constitution should be changed to address changing times. Oh and I did not ever use the words "automatic weapon" my ex boyfriend, Army Special Ops cleared my head of that misnomer. My point is that some people shouldn't have firearms but I don't know how we begin to make that happen. Why is our country so dangerous? The Swiss have more guns per capita than we have And they have not had a mass murder in years. Why the US?And I support your right to have all the firearms you want as long as you are a sane person and do everything possible to keep them out of the hands of those who shouldn't have anything more dangerous than a sharpened pencil at their disposal. Hell my brother who is ex Army Special Forces has an arsenal that is mind boggling but I have no idea why he does and he knows my feelings about it.
So I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree as we sure are not changing each other's mind anytime soon.

That's Bumper-sicker material! (best laugh of the day) Hey - not all us Democrats are unarmed..

@Varn If you make bumper stickers, I would like to have one!

I believe you are a law-abiding citizen, this research has been done so that people can give all kinds of opinions, in democracy everyone has the right to make an argument.

@Williamcristiano ...then why not simply ask for opinions? She’s right, the options were limited (hers is best), and that’s why I didn’t vote ~

An interesting point to ponder is that mass shootings only account for about 2% of the gun related deaths in the US annually. The other 98% involve hand guns. Of those, fully half are suicides.

So ... bottom line ... ban assault weapons, you reduce gun deaths by 2% .. maybe!! Make mental health care freely available and you might reduce gun deaths by as much as 48%.

Perhaps a shift in focus is in order? Add to that, virtually all mass shootings occur in areas where guns are already banned by law (gun free zones). Is making it more illegal to have those guns there really going to help??

@Veteran229 In the 90's semi-automatic long guns and short guns were banned.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@Normanbites it should not matter percentage. What concerns me the most is the possibility of potentially surviving a mass shooting. Individuals choose this for many reasons, political, personal vendetta, suicide by police etc. They will not stop taking this course but if we can minimize the devastation and survival rate that may be the only thing we can do.

Mental health needs be addressed but we don't have political will to put the resources towards that.

We don't live in a perfect world but minimizing deaths and casualties while doing everyday things should not be a fight. There have always been gun deaths in the US, as a teacher I didn't think I'd face potential death at work. I'd rather have someone with a handgun then with an AK 47 or automatic pistol entering my school. Wouldn't you?

@Pamscwf1 If it is about saving the greater number of lives, the assault weapons and the mass shooting should not be the top priority. Those percentages do convert to numbers, the bigger the percentages, the greater the number of lives to be saved. Why are people so bad with statistics?

As for facing a class room shooter, I would rather face one in an enforced gun free zone than an unenforced one, wouldn't you?

@Veteran229, @Normanbites I've made no statements on statistics. My concern is the possibility of surviving a mass shooting. We are not banning guns but don't need weapons whose sole purpose is to kill as many as possible in one incident. It took 20 seconds for 9 to be killed and 27 wounded, the gunman was killed at 30 seconds.

There are SRO's in schools who are armed. It's crazy to think additional guns help. This didn't help at Parkland. We are not going to ban guns. We don't need weapons with the sole purpose to increase body count.

@Veteran229 Not if the narrative denies the statistics which does seem to be the case here.

@Pamscwf1 You did say, "...it should not matter percentage. What concerns me the most is the possibility of potentially surviving a mass shooting...." But in the same post you also said, "..... minimizing deaths and casualties while doing everyday things should not be a fight. "

To which again, I say, "percentages do reflect the numbers to be minimized".

And all of this to evade the question I asked, which was, ".... I would rather face a class room shooter in an enforced gun free zone than an unenforced a class room shooter (even if the illegal weapon were more illegal and still unenforced), wouldn't you?"

finally.....someone else that understands that laws made during muzzle loading weapons are pretty much OUTDATED in these days..thank you

..this shouldn’t be a laughing matter… but: “I think no one will be safe until we all acquire tanks” ..nearly says it all.

Decades ago I questioned the gun crazies ..why can’t we all own Tactical nuclear weapons, including gravity bombs, short-range missiles, artillery shells, land mines, depth charges, torpedoes, ground-based or shipborne surface-to-air missiles and air-to-air missiles? WTF?! It says “A well armed militia” - right?

@Veteran229 yes, the civil war was a failed revolution

@Varn most people don't drive to far so I think we can keep the armour plating thick by switching to electric and covering the tops of them with solar panels, making them safe for the environment, too.

I need to hunt up a patient attorney now.

@Veteran229 gattling guns came about in the 1840s/1850s......Revolutionary war was a few years earlier.Like 75 years earlier.IF my math is correct.....And I know it is....oops,I forgot to start this response with...ummm

..good for quick points, though, right