DescentBB

200 million gun owners who don't have a problem with guns, as compared to the 50-odd multiple homicides in recent history. Or less, there really haven't been many overall *of this type*.

The gene pool is so screwed up it's a wonder babies aren't being stillborn in record numbers. We have people with physical and mental deficiencies who most definitely should NOT breed pumping out a few litters. Nature cannot take it's course and kill these defects off because of the idiot Save The Children initiatives. These unfortunates usually have the worst parents imaginable, who either don't care about the kid (my baby is my welfare check!) or don't like the kid because they don't like the mom/dad, so they aren't taught a damn thing, and drugged constantly so the parent can shirk being a parent.

It's a hell of a combination. Lack of perception of actual reality, the lack of realization that the reality they think they exist in is not real, no education or no life education (big difference), religion, socially accepted brutal violence on TV (but omg a boob! FREAK OUT FREAK OUT...religion sucks) combined with unbearable pressure by social workers, psychiatrists, doctors, and parents (if they even care)

To fix this? You can't. You can't tell common America anything because they are nothing but children in their 30's. Some studies pegged the emotional intelligence of this country somewhere at the 8th grade level. It's obvious how accurate that is, go watch a few commercials and tell me if they aren't made for complete morons. The education level of the average is awful. It's obvious how accurate that is, look at the products being hawked, the scams being used, and how successful they are. Every one of them targets morons, and they come out of the woodwork by the millions. Government will lie, kill and steal however, whenever, and whatever it can.

However removing guns isn't going to do anything, and you're simply punishing the masses for the actions of the few, and making this country a more dangerous place because of it. We're going to need our guns desperately soon. The economy doesn't have much time left, by the way it's going, and if you think you're going to be safe without a gun, you are very, fatally, wrong. The people who will suffer the most have the least to lose, and they will swarm out of the cities and kill whoever they can for food. (Hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it, the government is seeing to that)

Funny psychology in our society. More people die in automobiles every year than will be killed by maniacs with guns, and yet people get more freaked out by the gun deaths.

People will merrily get in their cars and rarely worry that they are MUCH more likely to die a violent death in their cars. Alcohol, drugs and cell phones should probably be considered ammunition while the car is the weapon. The driver is just controlling the trigger. I actually get more nervous driving in my car at night after the bars close than I do about someone who has snapped and is carrying a gun.

There is no way to remove all of the guns in this country if you wanted to. It would require a major infringement of everybody's civil rights to conduct a military search of all homes in order to take away all guns, and that's probably what it would take. Even then, it wouldn't be successful, violence would ensue.

What really needs to be done is a vast improvement in the mental health care in the U.S. Right now, people who are mentally ill are hospitalized for a short time, drugged up and then sent back out with no supervision or follow up and no money to pay for the drugs which are just a band-aid and not a cure for their illness anyway.

Most mental health programs were shunted into county health systems after most mental institutions were shut down years ago, not that asylums were humane either. They were just a way to hide the problem from the so called 'normal' people. Now the federal government is cutting back on funding to these agencies as well, so sick patients are shoved back on the streets to fend for themselves or cause trouble.

The people of this country are going to have to make a choice on their priorities with mental health care. Do we make it a social priority to fund and do the research to find better solutions for mental health issues other than the drug and dump we have now?

Private health care will not solve the problem, it costs too much and will not serve all of society. There will always be those who can't afford it and they will be the ones that go out and kill, which I think is a much higher cost to society.

Saying the mental health care system needs improvement is like saying a burned down house needs a little paint.

tunnelcat wrote:Funny psychology in our society. More people die in automobiles every year than will be killed by maniacs with guns, and yet people get more freaked out by the gun deaths.

I didn't look up the statistics but I'm pretty sure more people are intentionally killed by guns than cars. As for deaths caused by the mentally ill, as Zuruck pointed out, in many cases no one knows for sure how disturbed they actually are until it's too late. I agree that we could do a much better job addressing mental health, but that's not the answer to this issue.

IMO, the only thing that's going to stop us from killing each other, whether we use guns, knives, bombs or whatever, is evolution and I don't mean Darwin's Theory. Maybe in a few thousand years there won't be a need for weapons and we'll all "just get along".

Personally, I think it's gonna take alot longer.

It doesn't matter whether it's intentional or not, you're still dead. Why do people have more fear of intentional death than accidental death? It's the same argument of flying verses driving a car. Many people are more afraid of dying in a plane crash than in a car crash, but more people die in car accidents by far. It's human nature that when you have the perception of no control, you fear it more, but it's not very realistic and it doesn't change your odds most of the time.

Just as accidents can be preventable, maybe some deaths caused by people with mental illness can be prevented if we try and change the system, although you're right, many times there is no prior indication of a problem with some cases.

Krom, you're right and that's the problem. We have no or little infrastructure to solve the mental health issue and no one seems to be trying.

At the rate we humans are going, we'll wipe ourselves off the planet, either by murder, pollution or possibly even radical climate change.

Well, I guess that would solve the problem.

WillyP - !!!

tunnelcat - I understand what you're saying and I agree with some of it. But what we're talking about here is murder and what can be done to prevent it, not the fear of dying. No doubt we could prevent more deaths caused by the mentally ill and the system definately leaves alot to be desired. But I think it's just a small part of the big picture.

As for wiping ourselves off the planet ... well ... that's another topic.

Edit: oops ... sorry Willy - fixed it (e) -)

tunnelcat wrote:It doesn't matter whether it's intentional or not, you're still dead. Why do people have more fear of intentional death than accidental death? It's the same argument of flying verses driving a car. Many people are more afraid of dying in a plane crash than in a car crash, but more people die in car accidents by far. It's human nature that when you have the perception of no control, you fear it more, but it's not very realistic and it doesn't change your odds most of the time.

(bolding by me)

i found that to be very insightful. I've noticed the issue of Control coming up more and more lately.
I unwittingly touched on Control in my thread about how we perceive souls, i also just talked about the issue of Motive in my Power vs Corruption thread. And my theories of Mental Health and "play" have been increasingly based around Validation and it's effect on your ability to predict and control the world around you.
It's becomming quite the central theme to me.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_ ... ael_attack

Who stopped this attack? At a seminary? A student with a gun. Why did the terrorist start shooting here instead of just blowing himself up? he thought no one would have a gun.

I doubt if more guns “or” less guns can solve this problem, this is a violent society, and when we start dealing with “that” we might make some progress.

Liberals always yell Guns Guns Guns, that’s simple political rhetoric, because solving the actual problem would be way to hard. (and might offend their biggest supporters, Hollywood)