Las Vegas shooting

[think positive]

thank god they dont have easy access to guns then

[Skids]

thank god they dont have easy access to guns then

U don't think it would make one bit of difference going by the stats. Hanging, cutting of wrists or overdose do the same job.

[David]

[stui magpie]

Humans being what we are, someone who wants to kill themselves or others will find a way.

having said that, being a current gun owner and in the past having a small arsenal, I've come around to the view that there is just no reason for the average civilian to have access to semi automatic rifles or worse.

Sporting shooters or professional varmint hunters usually favour bolt actions. 1 shot, 1 kill. No hunter with any respect for themselves or their game would want to strafe a herd. Semi auto assault rifles were purpose built to kill people in combat. There is no valid reason to have them in the general population, not a single one I can think of.

Regardless of statistics, there is zero doubt that a person who wants to kill a lot of people will have a much easier time if they can access semi auto weapons with large magazine capacity than under our current laws.

It's just a completely different culture over there.

[Pa Marmo]

Any kind of Extremist.

Best keep your distant then, because by any definition from the left, Im a right wing Christian extremist.

[Mugwump]

Any kind of Extremist.

Best keep your distant then, because by any definition from the left, Im a right wing Christian extremist.

Yes, it is a fascinating word. The views of modern "moderate" Leftists today would have been considered "extremist" fifty years ago. And many things that were considered proper behaviour and responsible citizenship two generations ago are now "extremist". The long, indoctrinating march of radical liberalism through institutions such as the media, education, the law, and the public sector generally has been very successful, and like all powerful ideologies, it has succeeded in becoming an unconscious assumption across the culture.

[David]

[Mugwump]

[think positive]

[think positive]

Humans being what we are, someone who wants to kill themselves or others will find a way.

having said that, being a current gun owner and in the past having a small arsenal, I've come around to the view that there is just no reason for the average civilian to have access to semi automatic rifles or worse.

Sporting shooters or professional varmint hunters usually favour bolt actions. 1 shot, 1 kill. No hunter with any respect for themselves or their game would want to strafe a herd. Semi auto assault rifles were purpose built to kill people in combat. There is no valid reason to have them in the general population, not a single one I can think of.

Regardless of statistics, there is zero doubt that a person who wants to kill a lot of people will have a much easier time if they can access semi auto weapons with large magazine capacity than under our current laws.

It's just a completely different culture over there.

Great post.

And I sincerely hope they find a way to change that culture, sooner rather than later.

[think positive]

[Mugwump]

Yeah, I think so as well. It's also amazing how often the word "violent" is used nowadays to mean "something someone said that I don't like".

I think there is such a thing as progress, even in the moral sphere but it is underpinned by technological, rather than political change. For example, there is more kindness in society today than I suspect there was a hundred years ago, and certainly more than there was in the Middle Ages. I believe that this is because most people live higher up on the pyramid of wants. The sheer efficiency of Capitalism in accelerating technology and targeting production has created the capacity for us to surpass the brutal struggle for food and shelter and freed us up to worry about "first world problems". That is where real progress comes from.

In politics, on the other hand, it is a Marxist term based on old Karl's idea idea that history "progresses" through conflict according to scientific laws. It's depressing to hear even mainstream Labour pollies using this Marxist language, ignorant of its origins and meaning.

You're right that McVeigh and ISIS and those who truly believe in their methods are extremists. If we used the term in that way, we would think more clearly. Lots of people want to blur the conventional meaning of language to prevent clarity of thought, hence the elusive way that words like "violence", "extremism" and "offence" are often used today.

[Mugwump]

[think positive]

[Skids]