Gun Violence in America

[Dick Allen]

Will future teachers have to take gun courses to get certified?

[hogan873]

High school students across the country have had enough. I believe that these protests and walkouts are just the beginning of a major change in this country. What a lot of these politicians seem to fail to realize is that these students will be voting in 2020, some will be voting this year.

[BigSqwert]

High school students across the country have had enough. I believe that these protests and walkouts are just the beginning of a major change in this country. What a lot of these politicians seem to fail to realize is that these students will be voting in 2020, some will be voting this year.

 

I think these politicians always discount the younger voters since they typically don't show up to the polls. It's different now though. These kids are energized now and it's because their actual lives are now in danger. They will definitely be voting so hopefully they vote out all of these useless turds.

[hogan873]

I think these politicians always discount the younger voters since they typically don't show up to the polls. It's different now though. These kids are energized now and it's because their actual lives are now in danger. They will definitely be voting so hopefully they vote out all of these useless turds.

I couldn't agree more. I have two teenagers that will be voting in 2020, and they are pretty engaged in politics now. This latest shooting has really opened their eyes, and they've expressed worry about their safety at school. I know they're not alone.

[Brian]

Did Trump praise the NRA in front of all those kids or just on Twitter? He's nothing more than a keyboard warrior.

[BigSqwert]

Might not be the best idea to arm teachers.

[Dick Allen]

Did Trump praise the NRA in front of all those kids or just on Twitter? He's nothing more than a keyboard warrior.

Did you see the photo with the close up of his notes yesterday?

[Dick Allen]

Gun free zones are like going for ice cream to a killer. That's what Trump thinks.

 

Why is no one questioning Trump about rolling back the Obama mandate about making it harder for mentally ill people to buy guns?

 

 

[Iwritecode]

Obviously they think the "solution" is more guns. When that doesn't work, they will say they just need more.

 

What's funny is we already have "more" guns. America has about 42% of the civilian-owned guns in the world.

 

We have almost as many guns in this country alone as the rest of the world combined.

[Dick Allen]

What's funny is we already have "more" guns. America has about 42% of the civilian-owned guns in the world.

 

We have almost as many guns in this country alone as the rest of the world combined.

4.4% of the world population. The more guns theory has been debunked and the politicians with their tongues up the NRA's ass just ignore it.

 

I hope it does get these young men and women to the voting booth.

[StrangeSox]

What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns

They weren’t the first victims of a mass shooting the Florida radiologist had seen—but their wounds were radically different.

 

As I opened the CT scan last week to read the next case, I was baffled. The history simply read “gunshot wound.” I have been a radiologist in one of the busiest trauma centers in the nation for 13 years, and have diagnosed thousands of handgun injuries to the brain, lung, liver, spleen, bowel, and other vital organs. I thought that I knew all that I needed to know about gunshot wounds, but the specific pattern of injury on my computer screen was one that I had seen only once before.

 

In a typical handgun injury that I diagnose almost daily, a bullet leaves a laceration through an organ like the liver. To a radiologist, it appears as a linear, thin, grey bullet track through the organ. There may be bleeding and some bullet fragments.

 

I was looking at a CT scan of one of the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had been brought to the trauma center during my call shift. The organ looked like an overripe melon smashed by a sledgehammer, with extensive bleeding. How could a gunshot wound have caused this much damage?

 

The reaction in the emergency room was the same. One of the trauma surgeons opened a young victim in the operating room, and found only shreds of the organ that had been hit by a bullet from an AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle which delivers a devastatingly lethal, high-velocity bullet to the victim. There was nothing left to repair, and utterly, devastatingly, nothing that could be done to fix the problem. The injury was fatal.

 

[Jerksticks]

What are we going to do when these f’ed up kids start realizing how easy it is to make pipe bombs from everyday materials? I’m so surprised that never happens and I’m scared to death of the day it starts. No laws will be able to help anybody.

[StrangeSox]

Making functional explosives is much more difficult than purchasing a gun off the shelf from Bass Pro or going the even easier private sales route.

[Soxbadger]

What are we going to do when these f’ed up kids start realizing how easy it is to make pipe bombs from everyday materials? I’m so surprised that never happens and I’m scared to death of the day it starts. No laws will be able to help anybody.

 

 

Making functional explosives is much more difficult than purchasing a gun off the shelf from Bass Pro or going the even easier private sales route.

 

They tried to make them at Columbine. They just didnt do it correctly. Making a bomb isnt as easy as buying a gun. Some people could do it, but I doubt an impulse shooter like the most recent one would have had the time/patience/space to do it.

[Dick Allen]

What is the over/under for when a kid gets pissed off at his 115 lb. teacher, overpowers her and grabs her gun?

[Soxbadger]

What is the over/under for when a kid gets pissed off at his 115 lb. teacher, overpowers her and grabs her gun?

 

Students are going to steal the guns. Teachers have enough distractions as it is, they are trying to watch 20-30 people at the same time. All it takes is planning and a diversion.

 

But I heard arming teachers will be cheaper, because well now they are doing 2 jobs for the price one. Great deal for our teachers!

[StrangeSox]

They tried to make them at Columbine. They just didnt do it correctly. Making a bomb isnt as easy as buying a gun. Some people could do it, but I doubt an impulse shooter like the most recent one would have had the time/patience/space to do it.

 

Yeah. The plan for Columbine was really awful and, thankfully, mostly failed.

 

--Plant bomb in nearby residential area

--Bomb goes off, attracting attention of local law enforcement and EMS

--Shortly after bomb goes off, enter the school and plant two large bombs in the cafeteria. the plan was this would collapse the floor above as well, though I don't remember if they actually had enough explosives to do that

--At 11:17, which is what they had observed to be the busiest time in the cafeteria, the bombs explode

--As students flee out of the school, the two killers shoot as many people as they can with interlocking fields of fire

 

All but the last step failed because they couldn't make the bombs. If the bombs had succeeded, it's possible it would have been the second worst terrorist attack in US history, only behind 9/11.

 

The underwear bomber failed because he messed up the bomb-making. So did that guy in Times Square a few years ago. The recent Port Authority bomb did pretty minimal harm. Building a reliable bomb isn't easy especially if you're not willing to be blown up by it yourself.

 

Another myth from Columbine, somewhat relevant because some of the emerging narratives yet again about bullying and video game/movies violence, was that the main plotter was a bullied loaner. He wasn't. He was a somewhat popular psychopath.

[GoSox05]

Boston Marathon bombing. If those two guys would have had guns like an AR-15, they could have tripled or more the amount of people that died.

[bmags]

Yeah. The plan for Columbine was really awful and, thankfully, mostly failed.

 

--Plant bomb in nearby residential area

--Bomb goes off, attracting attention of local law enforcement and EMS

--Shortly after bomb goes off, enter the school and plant two large bombs in the cafeteria. the plan was this would collapse the floor above as well, though I don't remember if they actually had enough explosives to do that

--At 11:17, which is what they had observed to be the busiest time in the cafeteria, the bombs explode

--As students flee out of the school, the two killers shoot as many people as they can with interlocking fields of fire

 

All but the last step failed because they couldn't make the bombs. If the bombs had succeeded, it's possible it would have been the second worst terrorist attack in US history, only behind 9/11.

 

The underwear bomber failed because he messed up the bomb-making. So did that guy in Times Square a few years ago. The recent Port Authority bomb did pretty minimal harm. Building a reliable bomb isn't easy especially if you're not willing to be blown up by it yourself.

 

Another myth from Columbine, somewhat relevant because some of the emerging narratives yet again about bullying and video game/movies violence, was that the main plotter was a bullied loaner. He wasn't. He was a somewhat popular psychopath.

 

We also allow tracking of more common bomb making material pushing the bombs being created to be less reliable and hacky.

 

Can't track guns though.

[RockRaines]

What are we going to do when these f’ed up kids start realizing how easy it is to make pipe bombs from everyday materials? I’m so surprised that never happens and I’m scared to death of the day it starts. No laws will be able to help anybody.

What makes that easier and more deadly than a rapid firing rifle?

[Jerksticks]

Making functional explosives is much more difficult than purchasing a gun off the shelf from Bass Pro or going the even easier private sales route.

Disagree. It’s a lot cheaper to buy some sparklers, duct tape and nails than it is to purchase a gun and do the background check. I’ve built plenty of them, minus shrapnel. All I’m saying is it’s gonna suck when somebody finally does it and throws it in a crowd. It’ll make this look like a cartoon.

[StrangeSox]

1) There are ways around background checks. Even still, lots of people can easily pass background checks because they're fairly weak. For example, this kid who recently shot up the school. Or the Las Vegas guy. Or the New Mexico school shooter. Or the Pulse shooter. etc. etc. etc. etc.

 

2) I know about actual bomb-making from a professional perspective. I am not an expert, but I do have knowledge and have been trained by legitimate subject matter experts. Building reliable bombs that won't blow yourself up and will blow up when you want them to and do substantial damage are not easy to manufacture. Shoving some sparklers and nails together isn't going to have a huge effect.

 

 

If it really was that easy to build bombs and cause just as much if not more damage, why don't we actually see it happening? Why do they keep electing to buy guns and, in particular, "military-style" guns with pretty obvious aesthetic qualities?

[RockRaines]

Disagree. It’s a lot cheaper to buy some sparklers, duct tape and nails than it is to purchase a gun and do the background check. I’ve built plenty of them, minus shrapnel. All I’m saying is it’s gonna suck when somebody finally does it and throws it in a crowd. It’ll make this look like a cartoon.

So you think sparklers, duct tape and nails tossed into a crowd is more deadly than someone firing high capacity clips into a crowd from a distance?

[RockRaines]

1) There are ways around background checks. Even still, lots of people can easily pass background checks because they're fairly weak. For example, this kid who recently shot up the school. Or the Las Vegas guy. Or the New Mexico school shooter. Or the Pulse shooter. etc. etc. etc. etc.

 

2) I know about actual bomb-making from a professional perspective. I am not an expert, but I do have knowledge and have been trained by legitimate subject matter experts. Building reliable bombs that won't blow yourself up and will blow up when you want them to and do substantial damage are not easy to manufacture. Shoving some sparklers and nails together isn't going to have a huge effect.

 

 

If it really was that easy to build bombs and cause just as much if not more damage, why don't we actually see it happening? Why do they keep electing to buy guns and, in particular, "military-style" guns with pretty obvious aesthetic qualities?

People build sparkler or match bombs all the time by my place in michigan. They make a pretty good sound and a decent explosion, but have a pretty small blast radius and are pretty dangerous to carry around. Dynamite is a hell of a lot more effective. But there is a reason that guns are the weapon of choice. Its MUCH easier to obtain and prepare with a gun, and the damage ratio is much larger. Spraying a hundred bullets into a crowd will cause a lot more casualties than a sparkler bomb.

[pettie4sox]

Jerk, I dare you to try to make a bomb right now and make it to the destination with all your appendages.

 

I'm a trained chemist, and I could easily do it but guess what, I'm trained.