Gun Reform- what's the right solution?

Tonight I'm feeling a little inspired and definitely off-topic. :juggle

For a while now, our nation's government is pursuing a way to satisfy public discontent of the unnecessary deaths of innocents resulting from questionable members of society using guns as merciless weapons in acts of violence.

I feel our government is feeling pressure to do something and is ignoring the root cause- incorrectly going about it.

First, the deaths of innocents are unacceptable and trigger many concerns. From these deaths, we as a civilized society are compelled for justice and to prevent this from happening, so we enlist government to help in a legal fashion.

What can government legally do? Due to the freedoms our government supports and courageously defends, it cannnot effectively lock up potential offenders, change the hearts/minds of potential offenders, quarantine/isolate/protect prospective targets, and any other human interference.

Government has assigned itself to deal with the device of killing- the weapons used. It is the simplest and easiest for government to implement. There are problems in this approach- it unnecessarily compromises the freedoms we all hold dear. Fundamentally it fails to address the root cause. nonono I believe gun control is no solution to the problem and some of this effort should be used for other options & issues.

The Texas knifeman last week showed that gun control won't make us any safer. Guns don't equate violence- anything used as a weapon equates violence. The young CT man easily side-stepped the background checks. In addition many gun laws aren't enforced/followed consistently. What happens when this new gun reform is passed, then found it doesn't work and doesn't prevent killings? To whom do we apologize?

Although there probably are many things beyond my understanding, I believe government can help in different ways. After witnessing the Affordable Healthcare Reform aka "Obamacare" make it through all three branches of governnment (Legislative- Congress, Executive- Presient, and Judicial- Supreme Court), I'm convinced our government can do anything (pro or con). Currently government isn't considering other options. :bash

It seems our society is morally & ethically eroding. The media and entertainment industry is out of control (government can help here). Too many violent movies/video games that "out do" the last in terms of action, gore, violence, etc. News media practically glamorizes murderers, court trials for killing, live feeds from vehicle chases/stand offs, etc. Too many ideas, situations, circumstances, and justifications for violence are constantly on TV/movies/games.

Unknowingly we allowed this violence into our homes and delivered it to our impressionable children. Now after years of this "out do" cycle, profanity and violence are common place on public television and in the movies. We've become numb to it. It's caused us to change how we see circumstances and value others & life itself- it's cheapened it.

The killers are profiled and found to have some unstable fabric. What I find interesting is most function without notice or being recognized as unstable in a threatening manner, which frightens me to think that there may be many others with this hidden potential.

The Batman movie shooter in CO brought to life a violent movie scene. The CT shooter wanted to "out do" the summer camp mass killing done by another in a foriegn country (brought to us via our efficient media industry). The college shootings are copy-cat in design (again brought to us via media). These ideas were spawned from seeing something then considering it and ultimately bringing it to life.

This leads me to say, before any action or trigger is ever pulled an idea/thought has to occur. If minds are polluted with violence as an acceptable action, violence then becomes an option when adversity arises. To me this is the root cause. :twocents

What can government do without violating feedoms of speech (as this becomes the argument of media & entertainment)? :dono I'm talking about all options including out-of-the-box ideas- not just legislation. There are some smart people out there that may have solutions. All I can say is kudos to CBS (media) for not replaying the shocking Ware leg fracture from the NCAA tourney. If this kind of social responsibility became the new norm, there's still hope. :highfive

As you already know, I'm optimistic- I fish for crappie! :biggrin

If you believe in the power of prayer, pray for our leaders, this country, and that His Will be done to fix this broken world.

Excellent read! I have no idea what the solution is, but I know one thing...........guns don't kill innocent people, bad people kill innocent people.

Gun reform should lean more towards acceptance. I promise you, I would rather protect my child with a gun than my president. If you're going to tell me different, then you're also a threat. We've allowed it all. Take God from the school and you lose the ultimate protector. Now, put up a sign insurring that there aren't any weapons on the property and it sounds like a great place for crime.

Wake the Eff up! There's a very disturbed portly fellar in North Korea that is threatening the same things. We've tracked down and killed Bin Laden and Sadaam because they were affecting our every day lives. To think that the evil that those men possess are only contained in foreign countries is ludicrious.

Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are here to protect us, remember?

Term limits for the house, senate and supreme court.

Bad people have been around since the dawn of time. And contrary to what some might think, they exist in the good ole USA as well and always have. In my lifetime I have seen the Manson family, Son of Sam, John Gacy, Ted Bundy, and the list goes on. However, I don't remember people trying to take away my family's guns during the 70's and early to mid 80's. Why is that? I can speculate that two reasons are lobbyists and the media are the culprits in this day and age and can furthermore point to the fact that liberalism is running rampant. We got "phat cats" in Washington whose only concern is appeasing what they deem is the "moral majority". When in fact, they aren't in touch with this country's population at all.

This topic is something that touches this board specifically. Being fishermen makes us automatically outdoorsmen. Which in turn means that I imagine a lot of us own firearms. I am not a hunter, just a farm boy that happens to have 7 rifles/shotguns. The only way "Uncle Sam" is gonna get my guns from me is to pry them out of my cold, dead fingers.

I was glad to hear on the news that that the gun control measures the government wanted failed, while i don't own what the government calls an assault weapon with a 15 or 20 round clip and i have no desire to have one,the fact is if i want one i should be able to have one without the government having their fingers in it.

Why does the government have a right to know how many firearms i have or what kind they are they don't, as you can tell i am not in favor of registration of firearms nor am i in favor of much the government is trying as it concerns gun control. Firearms are not the problem the problem is the person behind the gun.

The government can't even enforce the gun laws they already have why do they think they can enforce new ones, it is just wrong to hamstring law abiding citizens with more gun control.

While I was dreaming of big fish and fun times on the water, my thoughts were interrupted by sobering reality. Felt motivated to share, so...

Too much youth violence across the nation lately. FL school bus attack, "bored" teens kill college player shooting him in back, 88yr war hero beaten to death, etc. Again evidence our nation eroding and in decline. Everything from legalizing drugs, perversion of marriage, too many exceptions to new Affordable Healthcare based on beliefs & culture- leaving the rest of us to the burden (still hard to believe in America we are forced against our will by our freely elected government to participate or pay a fine), rampant illegal immigration (ever thought that this group are willing criminals in the first place by breaking our federal law & have audacity to demand citizenship??? What kind of fools are WE???), increasingly violent movies & video games (de-sensitizing impressionable youth), media coverage sensationalizing mass killings & stand-offs & etc. (encouraging copy cat syndrome), youth embracing the "gangster life style".

How I'd like to wish it away, but things are what they are. I believe we need to practice the Golden Rule & spread goodwill more or we'll get more of these awful results. We are missing the basic common sense & values our Founding Fathers established America with. Are we happy with the changes & direction our society is headed?

Evidently this topic is on other's minds too. In the news tonight I learned Indy mayor was one of 18 mayors meeting today in Washington DC to discuss this topic and share strategies with Pres Obama and others in leadership roles. Let's pray things went well & positive change results.

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Originally Posted by SeaArk Slabchaser

Term limits for the house, senate and supreme court.

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The only thing that stops a bad gun is a Good gun!!!! If you haven,t got the M-16 and 15 shot clip's better hope your neighbor doesn't!!!!!

i agree with jackie, arm yourself or be a victim.