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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why can’t America ban automatic weapons?

905 replies

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 14/02/2018 22:42

I don’t get it. I honestly don’t. After Sandy Hook that should have been enough... statistics speak for themselves.

Why? What don’t I get?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
26
Exiguous · 16/02/2018 22:17

Kursk and when is the last time someone near the school had to shoot a bear?

A bear was shot in the city of Portland in 2011. bangordailynews.com/2011/09/23/news/portland/black-bear-shot-and-killed-in-portland/

bluepears · 16/02/2018 22:17

Blueprars - the graph shows a one person increase per 100 000 people at most - that’s not a large amount of difference

that being my point if banning guns did not stop crime it had no effect it went up and down in subsequent years and you can argue that the data is wrong but it certainly does not show the ban stopped gun crimes

Rinoachicken · 16/02/2018 22:17

The cost of round the clock bear hunters (it's a boarding school) would be ridiculous

Money before lives again I see

Rinoachicken · 16/02/2018 22:20

bluepears I find it astonishing that you are trying desperately to quibble over the small numbers of UK gun related crime (which includes no mass school shootings since the ban I might add) when the figures for your own country are counted in the THOUSANDS!

ineedamoreadultieradult · 16/02/2018 22:21

A bear was shot in the city of Portland in 2011. bangordailynews.com/2011/09/23/news/portland/black-bear-shot-and-killed-in-portland/

So 7 years ago a bear was shot by a warden not a member of the general public and this means randomembera of the public should have guns?

This is why I will never understand.

Exiguous · 16/02/2018 22:21

Money before lives again I see

In what way would hiring a professional bear hunter to protect a school save lives when the school is already staffed by trained hunters?

This is the most bizarre conversation.

ineedamoreadultieradult · 16/02/2018 22:22

random members

Huntinginthedark · 16/02/2018 22:23

the caretaker in the school with bears who already works there, could have a rifle and be in charge of bear control
Maybe pay him 5000$ extra p/y
What’s that going to cost you!

Or an assistant, maybe on 20k per year!
But you’ll justify gun owning for the few hundred $ it will cost you per year

Madness

Rinceoir · 16/02/2018 22:23

The majority of mentally ill people with guns are far more a danger to themselves than others. Suicide with a gun is typically far more effective than with an OD for example. So no room to intervene after failed attempt. I think also many mass shooters would not meet criteria to diagnose a mental illness in the years leading up the the shooting- at which point it is too late as they already have the weapons.

I agree with most people here- there is no reason that people should be carrying concealed weapons. There is no reason to need semiautomatic rifles. It is completely crazy that a teenager who cannot legally buy beer can amass such an arsenal. A shotgun for hunting with- reasonable as long as stringent background checks, regular need for re-licensing and proper storage. It should certainly ring alarm bells if someone wants to purchase more than one gun. Guns should only be sold through certain registered retailers- if you want a new gun the old one should be sold back to one of these retailers or destroyed by them before a new one can be bought.

Kursk I’m afraid that objectively you are not safer being a gun owner. You may feel safer than in the UK but the stats would confirm that in fact you are not.

ivykaty44 · 16/02/2018 22:24

Bluepears - we’ll never know though we will? How many more gun deaths have been prevented due to the ban?

Exiguous · 16/02/2018 22:24

the caretaker in the school with bears who already works there, could have a rifle and be in charge of bear control

That is in fact exactly how it works.

Julie8008 · 16/02/2018 22:24

John Lott who founded the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) has been uncovered as a fraud. His research was faked, uncorroborated and unpublished.

bluepears if you want to make a point then you need to produce a factual source of data that is not CPRC based. Google images is not a factual source, neither is funky junk. The FT is behind a pay wall so cant even see it.

Huntinginthedark · 16/02/2018 22:25

Exiguous
That’s fantastic!!
So why the need for extra guns in the hands of the public

ToffeeUp · 16/02/2018 22:28

Kursk would stricter gun laws have prevented you and your husband acquiring the weapons you own?

Biggreygoose · 16/02/2018 22:30

Actually there are perfectly good reasons to own semi automatic rifles and shotguns.

Crop protection and pest control for starters. Also hunting for small ground game.

Semi automatic guns are perfectly legal in the UK and many other countries where mass shootings in schools don't occur.

There are perfectly good reasons for owning more than one. Different calibers for different game (and the range is massive in the US), different set ups for night/day hunting. High capacity shot gun for pest control, low capacity for duck hunting.

Most gun owners I know here in the UK have at least 2 firearms.

Exiguous · 16/02/2018 22:31

So why the need for extra guns in the hands of the public

I am baffled. Where did I say that extra guns were needed in the hands of the public?

squishysquirmy · 16/02/2018 22:31

It's not even a choice between the status quo and banning all guns completely is it?
Wtf would anyone need a semi automatic to Shoot A Bear?
The notion that even the mildest improvement in gun regs is equal to removing all rights to own a gun is ludicruous.

Rinoachicken · 16/02/2018 22:32

You need a semi automatic weapon to shot rats?

Biggreygoose · 16/02/2018 22:34

Rino - it's easier.

Also for rabbits and baited squirrel where several shots for several squirrels are needed in quick succession.

squishysquirmy · 16/02/2018 22:36

I know people who own guns in the uk. There are incredibly strict rules about how they are stored, and who can own one, which massively decreases the chance of children and criminals getting hold of them. I really don't understand why the US can't at least make it compulsory to store guns out of reach of children.

squishysquirmy · 16/02/2018 22:38

Shooting rodents with a semi automatic? What a mess! Grin

Biggreygoose · 16/02/2018 22:38

@squishy, I agree. Our liscencing laws are entirely sensible and effective.

I can also get pretty much any gun I want, as long as I can justify it. It's not like any 'freedom' is being restricted.

Rinoachicken · 16/02/2018 22:38

It’s easier?

Oh well that’s ok then. As long as your life is made easier hey. Never mind these weapons were designed to kill PEOPLE in quick succession, and that having them freely available (to make it easier for you to shoot rats and squirrels) means that yes, more and more people are being killed in quick succession on a weekly basis.

Original poster
MaryPoppinsPenguins · 16/02/2018 22:40

Some people are almost laughably stupid. You don’t need a machine gun to scare bears. You don’t need a machine gun to shoot rats or squirrels. You only need one for killing as many children as possible in the least amount of time.

OP posts:
Biggreygoose · 16/02/2018 22:41

Small .22 rimmy it's fine. Personally prefer a .117 PCP, but hey ho.

Semi automatic refers to trigger function, not calibre or leathality or anything else. Some NERF guns are semi automatic....