Fact: Hardly anyone supports confiscation …. even though there is valid argument that the need for a “well armed militia” has long since passed. Never said tighter firearm laws (mental illness reporting, etc) were going to be simple or easy. Even Nashville parents said their child never should have possessed a firearm but neither they nor the counselor had any mechanism they could turn to to even report that fact. Eliminate anything that chambers any ball high velocity round. That starts with, but should not be limited to, battlefield grade or specs caliber. Without open carry permitting a police officer is powerless to have stopped the Nashville, and other killers, merely by observing the weapons in their possession. Nothing will 100% eliminate the problems but our kids deserve us to do more than we have.You're going to have to get specific to establish law. Talking points won't cut it.
The red flag statute is worthy of discussion, but no one has come up with criteria to prevent abuse of systems proposed. As we've seen with swatting in the online gaming community, false reporting gets innocent people targeted by law enforcement.
But yes, we do need to restrict mentally ill people from purchasing weapons, but doesn't that start with being honest about people who are mentally ill?
Open carry doesn't mean squat and it's crazy you'd suggest that has anything to do with someone wanting to do others harm. Do you really think restricting open carry has made a violent person decide to wait on being violent?
Not sure about the no background check thing. Isn't that a private sale issue? Pretty hard to police that given we can't even stop drug and human trafficking.
Making something illegal doesn't stop crime directly. The best you can hope for is making people think twice about punishment. The problem with murder is that it's not like speeding. People willing to commit murder already don't care about consequences.
Your final point about eliminating gets closer to the end game of total confiscation. All firearms are deadly. The idea of restricting the "most deadly" is a fairytale.
The manner in which these school shootings have taken place could be done with any firearm, and that's the point. It's all or nothing. Either a firearm is legally available or not. If you want to be sure, then you must take away all.
Name a caliber that should remain available after your ideal restrictions are in place that couldn't kill the same number of people from the Nashville shooting or any other school shooting in recent memory.
PS - I’m not naive enough to refuse to acknowledge there are places / times when protection of oneself is paramount. That said, I also believe in my heart the Founders would take action to stem massacres of innocent victims particularly in schools.
Last edited: