Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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
Julie8008 · 17/02/2018 00:46

Biggreygoose
Sorry your talking crap. I grew up in N.I. and civilians cannot under any circumstances openly carry a handgun in N.I. Just try it and see how quickly the police shoot you.

TheBrilliantMistake · 17/02/2018 00:47

No. You questioned my assertion that different countries report different crimes differently. I never said the UK or USA.
When I gave you the evidence you had doubted, you changed the goalposts to UK vs US.
As for the drugs analogy same applies, of course it's hard to stop them all, but you don't have to stop them all, just stop as high a proportion as you can. The more valuable a gun becomes, the more reluctance to use it, and the further up the authority scale it goes... because it's worth more.

The US is in too deep to see a huge reduction in guns happen quickly, but they can still initiate a change now that might benefit them in 30 years time.
I still believe their biggest issue is cultural though. And that won't change anytime soon.

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 00:56

Where did I say they could be carried openly?

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 01:00

Julie, are you phylo_roadking posting on digital spy on say .... 2013?

You never even bothered to change the insult!

Firstly you state they can only be stored in gun clubs, which is wrong.

Now your attacking something I never said!

Julie8008 · 17/02/2018 01:12

Biggreygoose I quote you "Fri 16-Feb-18 22:51:57 ... There are no handgun restrictions in northern Ireland."

Having grow up there I know there are restrictions on handguns. Yes I couldn't be arsed looking up the actual legal quote because its so bloody obvious.

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 01:13

Which was meant in regard to capacity and calibre, given that's what the rest of the post was about....

As you pointed out the liscencing is bloody obvious!

Exiguous · 17/02/2018 01:18

Maine laws about firearms on school property. I would hope that a school employee isn't breaking the law

Yes - if you read back you'll see I said "They don't bring the guns into school but they have them nearby." They're well aware of the law.

ineedamoreadultieradult · 17/02/2018 01:30

Exiguous let's just hope the bear can wait while they go get the gun then.

RosemaryHoight · 17/02/2018 01:39

Its just heartbreaking to hear a dad talking about his 14yo daughter, who was killed for no reason.

RosemaryHoight · 17/02/2018 01:42

How could you not contemplate that?

Poor folk losing their children, the surviving children seem to be against bearing arms.

What will it take?

Julie8008 · 17/02/2018 02:35

Biggreygoose Ok just a miscommunication then, all good.

But the effect of the laws in N.Ireland are the same as in England ie normal people do not have guns or access to guns. The police are different.

It is important to point that out when we are discussing USA where you can buy a gun at ASDA and carry it around tucked into your belt.

ivykaty44 · 17/02/2018 04:47

Bluepears

How many school shootings have happened in US in 2018?

How many school shootings have happened in Europe in 2018?

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 06:54

@julie yup! Grin

Idk, I'm pretty normal... At least my mamma always told me so. Smile

I always gwap in Walmart whenever I go to the states, was there over Christmas and had the pleasure of seeing a bloke wandering through the sporting section with a shopping basket of milk, bread, butter, some veg and a few hundred 9mm rounds.

Is really fucking weird how universally accessible firearms are.

Kursk · 17/02/2018 07:03

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

2 years ago a bear was scare off with gunfire

Kursk · 17/02/2018 07:05

do they USA AR-15’s to shoot bears?

No a bullet that small would just piss off a bear!

Kursk · 17/02/2018 07:09

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.

True it comes down to perceived risk and as far as I am concerned The Lifestyle I have here is much better for my family than the U.K. could provide.

Kursk · 17/02/2018 07:13

ToffeeUp

We own 3 Hunting rifles, 3 handguns and a shotgun.

Stricter laws wouldn’t have prevented us from buying them. The only thing they would do is make it inconvenient or annoying to store or transport

Toomanytealights · 17/02/2018 07:25

Great lifestyle that ensures your children from 1st grade to teen live in fear every school day of their life.

I read a post on Instagram from a mother whose child told her she can't concentrate when the teacher leaves the classroom door open as they've been told to always keep them shut incase of a shooter. Same child plans hiding places in classrooms and tries to be nice to the kids dressed in black so they won't hurt her if they turn up with a gun.

Parents are scared their children won't come home,every day.

I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy. It's as if we're discussing a country ravished by war or dictators instead of the supposed land of the free.

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 07:36

Kursk.

Genuinely interested in your take on the storage and licencing laws the UK has.

I honestly don't find the storage or transport requirements restrictive, and I'm out and about a lot.

GnotherGnu · 17/02/2018 08:23

Kursk, the issue isn't whether you feel your lifestyle in the US is preferable, but your view that you are safer. The fact of the matter is that living in a remote area anywhere makes you safer from certain types of crime. However, it remains the case that the risk of your children being shot in school is clearly greater than it would be if you lived in a comparable area in the UK, simply because if another Cruz turns up it is so easy for him to get those guns.

GnotherGnu · 17/02/2018 08:25

Bluepears, doesn't the fact that you have to go back to 2010 to find a comparable incident in the UK, whilst there have been 18 in the US this year alone, tell you something about the effects of gun control?

gingergenius · 17/02/2018 09:04

Am I right in thinking my that semi automatic weapons are relatively easily converted to automatic once purchased? I too don't understand the need for any civilian to own automatic or semi automatic weapons. Oh and I've lived in south east London in some of the local black spots and still have never experienced the kind of violence Kursk has mentioned. My mum lives in Somerset; better warn her to be on her guard!!!

Kursk · 17/02/2018 09:28

To be honest I don’t know the British gun storage laws that well as I wasn’t a gun owner in the U.K

Biggreygoose · 17/02/2018 09:32

@ginger. It depends on the gun, it ranges from the very difficult to the near impossible. You need to rebuild the internals of the gun which means no small amount of machining and smithing skill.

What you can do instead if you have $100 or so, five minutes and a screwdriver is buy and fit something like a bump stock that gives you as near as makes no difference the performance of a full auto for none of the legal hassle.

Rinoachicken · 17/02/2018 09:37

I don’t think America will want to make any changes until the the current under 18 generation are all voters. Kids that currently live their school days terrified of being shot or have survived a shooting.