Texas shooting 19 dead.

[Agentgonzo]

Did anyone campaign for phones to disable texting functions when at driving speeds? No.

Yet they did campaign successfully to make texting and driving illegal at all speeds and deaths reduced as a result. Personally, I see this as a good thing.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

semi automatic weapons are for government control. Not pests.
The USA was founded for the 99%, we do not wish to live our lives under the regulations that the 1% require.

Its a shame they are not being used for government control and instead are being used to kill what the 1% mentioned earlier consider to be pests in your schools!

 

[Brew_DD2]

Even though we don't live in America it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that 99% of the population may be law abiding it's the 1% that have these guns that are the potential problem

I'd agree with you up to a point, but when you see the figures from accidental discharge of a weapon, it's terrifying. It's not all bad people causing death. Remove the gun, you remove the problem. Not that there is the political will to do it in America, but that horse has well and truly bolted. I truly think they are beyond the point of return.

 

[Dutto]

……. Did anyone campaign for phones to disable texting functions when at driving speeds? …..

Er … I don’t know about texting (‘cos I’ve never been stupid enough to try it whilst driving), but my phone (an iPhone7) won’t let me make or take a phone call whilst I’m driving!

I think it’s an optional system though!

BTW, if I phone someone on their mobile phone and they answer it whilst driving I just hang up. The last thing I want to hear is a relative or friend killing themselves as they answer my phone call!
:hat:

 

[Haversham]

semi automatic weapons are for government control. Not pests.

You are nuts. You just don't realise it.

 

[Rodcx500z]

The number one cause of deaths in children in the USA is ... guess what? Being shot .

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761

Are cars dangerous? Yes, but that's not their intention, and huge amounts of things are constantly being done to make them safer. There is only one purpose for guns, and that's to kill people. It speaks volumes that gun proponents don't say "yes, guns are dangerous and we should make them safer" and always rely on the fallacious argument of "other things are dangerous too, but we don't ban them (with the exception of chocolate eggs ) so I should get to keep my gun"

When you get to this point it's time to take a good long look in mirror, if i was American i would be utterly ashamed of that statistic

 

[DavidDetroit]

if i was American i would be utterly ashamed of that statistic

Most Americans are outraged and then there's the ensuing stalemate of the government. As mentioned a few times, the conservative politicians won't budge. And as long as half the country is kept in a state of terror by their own conservative politicians, it won't change.

 

[DavidDetroit]

The gun proponent likes discussing car crashes, drunk driving or texting as whataboutery when debating the subject "mass shootings."
I'm not saying that's the intent here but that's what it reminds me of when "gun control" is mentioned.

 

[DavidDetroit]

If they did not have a gun ,they would just use something else , a car for one ? What is it that there are so many severely mentally deranged people in the states to make them want to execute children ?

Not to be callous, but a car, for the most part, can't get into a school full of kids.
I'm not being patriotic here, but I don't think the number of insane would vary much in similar countries.
I would bet the UK is calmer and less threatening though which helps. Our politicians are still saying the election in '20 was aided illegally to elect President Biden. Those on the fence, mentally, feel threatened on a daily basis that their country is being stolen.
2/3 of the Republicans, as of April this year, believe it, according to NPR.

 

[Agentgonzo]

"they will always use something else" is a provably stupid argument (as you've just pointed out). I recall one previous discussion a few years ago when there was yet another mass murder in a school and a gun nut said that we had just as much problems in the UK with knife crime. When it was pointed out to them that it's VERY hard to go into a school and murder 50 people with a knife, her retort was "it doesn't matter how many people they kill, 1 is too many". I was utterly aghast. I'm pretty sure that the parents, friends and family of the other 49 victims would very much think it did matter.

 

[DavidDetroit]

As a Brit and an outsider, it seems to me that this means that members of a well regulated militia have the right to bear arms.
It seems to me that the "militia" and "well regulated" words have been long forgotten over the years.

Anyone coming away from that wording comes up with pretty much what you said unless there's some ulterior motive. We have the National Guard in each state under the control of the state governor which satisfies the requirement. If I'm not mistaken, the 2A came about because slave owners didn't trust the federal government from swooping in and freeing all the slaves.
It's just too silly to believe. Our NRA played a big part in putting the PR spin to the 2A. It took decades to accomplish but now for many Americans, they feel their freedom is being stolen if guns are regulated well.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Are cars dangerous? Yes, but that's not their intention

Good point.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Finally, if you are an American and are reading this, please be aware that the rest of the world thinks you are crazy when it comes to gun law.

I must remind people not from the US that it's a minority that is crazy about gun laws. We feel the same way about them as you do.
Due to a whole number of factors, conservatives have far more power than is warranted by popular vote.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

What amazes me is the fact Johnny108 thinks it's totally acceptable to have semi automatic assault rifles in the hands of the general public so they can use them against the government in some future fight that we all know is never going to happen and in the meantime the 1% mentioned earlier will use them to kill as many kids as they can in the shortest time possible.

Let's get real Johnny if this ever did happen the government wouldn't be fighting with semi automatic weapons they would be using drones, helicopters tanks and whatever else necessary to beat the plebs into submission, I have a feeling your assault rifle isn't going to be up to the job if this ever becomes a reality.

 

[DavidDetroit]

This brings another thought to mind: anytime you question the giant assault-type weapons with the pro-gun people, the comeback is, "They're no more dangerous than handguns, not much different than this, that or the other thing. You can use them for hunting--blah, blah, blah."
The point is that large weapons are meant to intimidate more and maybe there's a correlation between those who need to lug one around in public and their degree of fear.
Mentioned earlier, "fear" is the driving factor.
As far as protecting the state against the federal government, I agree with @Chippy_Tea. My solution is, if I must go there, to have strategic strongholds of weapons.
We already have the National Guard for each state.
Again, it's all fear-based ideology promulgated by the conservatives' own representatives.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Michael Moore covered it well. Americans are born into a state of fear. It's deliberately fostered.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Americans are born into a state of fear.

To repeat, it's not even half who qualify for such a label. Yes, they do exist, it is deliberately fostered (which ranks high in the "evil" category). What I can't figure out is why it only works, in the main, on conservatives.

 

[Donegal john]

To repeat, it's not even half who qualify for such a label. Yes, they do exist, it is deliberately fostered (which ranks high in the "evil" category). What I can't figure out is why it only works, in the main, on conservatives.

So that’s 166,201,825 people that feel that way ?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

@DavidDetroit

What changes (if any) would you like to see brought in to try to stop this before it happens again or is it too late?

 

[DavidDetroit]

So that’s 166,201,825 people that feel that way ?

Funny. Pretty much. The traditional conservative isn't a monster but the core will only vote a certain way based on religion or imagined usurping of freedom or something like that. Reason and common sense are not necessarily a part of it.