When will it stop?

Question

When will the government of the U.S. and Canada take lead in developing stricter gun laws?
There have been so many school shootings, most recent, :Virginia Tech.
Just before, Dawson College Shooting.
Check out this link for a timeline of school shootings.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html
How many does it take, how many people have to die before something is done?

Answer 1

And giving only criminals access to guns is SUCH a good idea.

Answer 2

Oddly, the campus was closed last year for another shooting nearby-not even on campus.

"Police evacuated and searched Squires Student Center on the campus after someone fitting Morva's description was seen inside. However, this sighting turned out to be unfounded.[2][9] Virginia Tech canceled classes and closed campus.[10]"

So, why don't we see anything about this in the news? Also odd that Bush made a statement about 2nd amendment rights, along with condolences-who else could manage that? The NRA, immediately following the Columbine shooting. Even Marilyn Manson canceled his concert out of respect. But not the NRA-it was a marketing opportunity. Bad times ahead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Charles_Morva

Answer 3

Maybe if we were not so Politically Correct, the shooter at Virginia Tech would have been committed to confined treatment by the Judge who turned him Loose. Remember that this Judge said that he was no threat to himself or others.
Obviously, the Judge is not Psychiatrist.
And, what about the Teachers, and School Administrators. They were aware of Cho's problems, but went by the Politically Correct Standards, which is to do noting until after the explosion, and then blame anyone else.

Answer 4

Gun law reform will probably never happen, at least not on the federal level. The requirement for a background check is about all the federal government can do.

In the US the Constitution mentions the freedom to bear arms. This has been said to mean that people have the freedom to own weapons to hunt or to protect themselves. This meaning allows the Federal Government to put a ban on private ownership of assault weapons and any larger weapon, but the right for a person to own a lesser weapon is explicit and cannot be changed.

States have added waiting periods and the FTC requires gun dealers to have a permit before they can trade weapons, but they are limited on which weapons they can control.

Ammunition like Black Talon that is designed to punch through Police bullet resistant vests has been declared illegal because a reasonable person shouldn't require a that kind of ammunition. But, even passing that law was tough.

Personally I think that there should be a national gun registry run by the NRA. It would be the duty of the NRA to protect the list, insure that people can own guns, and to assist the police in cases where a gun is put to a criminal use. But, even the hint of gun control sends the NRA into a fit.

It would be a wise thing to require paper work to be maintained on all guns, but dealers at guns shows don't do that, nor do they do that at pawnshops. These dealers feel that paperwork would reduce the amount of customers. It would, but it would also reduce the amount of criminals looking to get a gun without doing any paperwork on it.

However, all of this wouldn't have stopped the Virginia Tech Shooter. He was found to be in need of mental health care, but he was never committed to an institution so he has the same rights as anyone else. Currently I don’t know of any law that restricts gun ownership for people with mental problems, but such a law might be a good idea. Of course it is also a form of prejudices against those who have mental problems. It is easy to buy a gun in Virginia and other states. Purchasing that gun and then transporting it across state lines is not illegal. If he planed on selling it then you can argue that he should have a license for it, but there is no such requirement. He obtained the ammunition, and the extended magazines legally (there are no US laws on ammunition magazines). He obtained his knife and other gear legally and so he was ready to commit the crime.

The only way to have stopped that shooter would be if the University acted on the advice by his teachers that he was a danger to himself and society. Hanging a mental competency label on someone is hard to do and is only done reluctantly because of the prejudice that it creates. The University would have wanted clear signs that the gunman was a danger. The teachers only saw his mood and feelings, not his intent. If the University knew he had those weapons and magazines then it could have made a decision to arrest him, but proving intent is harder than just seeing it.

The same is true with the Columbine assassins. They stole the guns from their legal owner, who did take reasonable measures to prevent them from being stolen. The evidence of the pair’s intent was easy to find, but no one looked for it or paid that much attention. So when they went amok there was little that anyone could do about it.

Even if you had draconian gun control, Columbine pair would have still gotten their weapons. If they couldn’t get those weapons then they would have created more pipe bombs, or go out on the Internet to find other weapons like poison gas, or mortars. All of these weapon systems have been published in open source works and can be found if you are looking hard enough for them. Gun control may not be the answer.

The solution may not lie in gun control, but rather in the root cause; bullying. In the cases of all these school shooters they are doing it to strike out at those who were a threat to them. We all receive a little bullying in school at some point, but when it becomes excessive nothing is done about it. The school administration and the teachers over look it. Some care, but they don’t have any process or other way to stop it. The easiest thing to do is to blame it on the person being bullied, but most of the time they are the not at fault and are the ones that need to be protected. If someone had intervened in the case of these shooters, and if they put a limit on the bullying then their victims might have been saved.

Instead society prefers to let their schools become dangerous jungles with kids stalking each other waiting to pounce. A child, especially a teenager is crueler than a cat playing with his prey. A cat won’t keep this torture up for more than a few minutes. They also don’t call in other cats to torture the prey, and if their owner intervenes then the victim might live. But, human children don’t have this kind of control. There is no limit to how much bullying can be done or their numbers, or their frequency. Even if the school knows about the bullying they are powerless to do anything about it. All they can do is hope that the subject of the bullying will survive.

Change the issue of bullying and you will take away the motive for 90% of these school rampages. But, society is ignoring that; even though the news media has pointed it out several times. Competition among males is common and a part of their makeup. Every animal has to compete to get the attention of their mate, in almost all circumstances; from the lowly insects, to the rats, to dogs, to humans. Those that don’t do well won’t get to breed and so won’t pass on their genes. This means that society is breeding more completive males, more bullies. In the past they could head for the frontier and expend their energy there, but now days the frontiers are growing limited. Everywhere you go someone else has been there first. Our society is changing from one that depends on brawn to one that depends on brain and there are little outlets for the bullies. Men and their genes are teaching them to be bullies, and if they can’t be bullies then they become vindictive with bottled rage that will lash out at people.

Put a curb on bullying with male and female (they can be meaner than men sometimes) children and you can get that “Kinder, Gentler Nation” that George Bush Senior was looking for. Find a way to divert the energy spent on bullying into more constructive pursuits and you will come a lot closer to a world where school shootings are unthinkable. It starts with the parents and with the abolition of prejudices. Do that and you won’t see as many problems in school that we have now days.

Answer 5

I agree with you man. It's totally ridiculous how anyone can go into a gun shop and just buy anything they want! Semi-automatic or what not! We're still living in a primitive age and we need to confront that before more masscre happens. In about couple hundred years from now, people will laugh at us how we used to sell guns with just a background check.

Answer 6

It isn't about new laws.

It's about enforcing the existing laws.

The school shooting at Virginia Tech would never have happened if the state had just performed due diligence when he submitted his paperwork when he purchased his Glock.

Don't blame the lack of law. Blame the lack of enforcement. There is a clear difference.

Answer 7

Having more gun laws wouldn't keep these things from happening.
Quite frankly, fewer gun laws might have prevented it!
An Armed society is a Polite society.

Answer 8

it's already been to many...some people are just so in love with their guns they don't want stricter gun laws...what do they have to hide if they don't want stricter gun laws so much?

we need stricter ones plain and simple.

Answer 9

hmmm, bet if parents were charged with responsibility for their underage children you would see a dramatic drop in these shootings.

Answer 10

guns dont kill......people kill........next time i fail a test can i blame my pencil for doing the actual writing?