Father Challenges Little Marco On Guns

Gotta give Marco credit for showing up, at least. That's more guts than most of his colleagues have. But he still put in a mostlly-spineless performance on the harder questions.

I'm glad I'm not a member of the NRA because I'd hate to have Dana Loesch "representing" me. Whatever the opposite of charisma is, she's got lots of it. Feral-eyed, oily, sniping one-note idiot who just kept harping on the same "solution" because she wasn't about to hear anything that might ding gun sales. She's a virus in slacks.

Rubio, oh, Rubio...

Screw the NRA and any politician who takes a dime from them. State legislatures should ban assault style rifles at the state level and Congress has been seriously remiss in allowing the "assault rifle ban" to expire at the federal level... I target shoot with pistols but don't own a long gun and see no reason to since I don't hunt. I can see NO reason to own an assault type rifle.

One measure I would support is to make ANYONE who wants purchase ANY type of gun would be to obtain a state weapons permit (not the same as a concealed permit). Make it more extensive than a simple background check and include a requirement for a firearms safety course.

Of course any law or requirement will be ignored by criminals (they'll just steal what they want or buy stolen weapons) but if additional requirements would somehow prevent even one massacre it would be worth it.

zsomething wrote:Gotta give Marco credit for showing up, at least.  That's more guts than most of his colleagues have.  But he still put in a mostlly-spineless performance on the harder questions.

I'm glad I'm not a member of the NRA because I'd hate to have Dana Loesch "representing" me.  Whatever the opposite of charisma is, she's got lots of it.  Feral-eyed, oily, sniping one-note idiot who just kept harping on the same "solution" because she wasn't about to hear anything that might ding gun sales.  She's a virus in slacks.

Little Marco showed up because he's still hoping to be POTUS someday, maybe even 2028. Ricky Scott has no such high hopes so he can remain hidden under his hard rock. Loesch is pure scum.

gatorfan wrote:Screw the NRA and any politician who takes a dime from them. State legislatures should ban assault style rifles at the state level and Congress has been seriously remiss in allowing the "assault rifle ban" to expire at the federal level... I target shoot with pistols but don't own a long gun and see no reason to since I don't hunt. I can see NO reason to own an assault type rifle.

One measure I would support is to make ANYONE who wants purchase ANY type of gun would be to obtain a state weapons permit (not the same as a concealed permit). Make it more extensive than a simple background check and include a requirement for a firearms safety course.

Of course any law or requirement will be ignored by criminals (they'll just steal what they want or buy stolen weapons) but if additional requirements would somehow prevent even one massacre it would be worth it.

For once, we're on the same page. I just watched a video of a 13-year-old kid who went to the convenience store and was refused the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, then went to a gun show and bought a rifle. Gun shows, if we're going to have them, need the same regulations as retail sales.

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/11/the-nra-placed-big-bets-on-the-2016-election-and-won-almost-all-of-them/

gatorfan wrote:Screw the NRA and any politician who takes a dime from them. State legislatures should ban assault style rifles at the state level and Congress has been seriously remiss in allowing the "assault rifle ban" to expire at the federal level... I target shoot with pistols but don't own a long gun and see no reason to since I don't hunt. I can see NO reason to own an assault type rifle.

One measure I would support is to make ANYONE who wants purchase ANY type of gun would be to obtain a state weapons permit (not the same as a concealed permit). Make it more extensive than a simple background check and include a requirement for a firearms safety course.

Of course any law or requirement will be ignored by criminals (they'll just steal what they want or buy stolen weapons) but if additional requirements would somehow prevent even one massacre it would be worth it.

Cool. We finally agree on something.

I really don't see why any responsible gun owner can't get behind sensible gun control. I like guns... hell, I might even like machine guns, but I sure don't need them. There's no practical civilian purpose for them, other than they're fun to shoot, but being fun to shoot's not worth massacres. Might also be fun to play with hand grenades, but I can see why those aren't sold to the public, either. Sensible gun control does more to ensure that sensible guns are still available.

Hunting is good, target shooting is good, home protection is good, but all of those things can be done with standard firearms. And even those should be kept out of the hands of the irresponsible. If it takes a little longer to buy a shotgun or handgun or whatever, I'm perfectly willing to accept that, since it means some crazy person or criminal will have a harder time laying hands on one. And required firearms safety courses are an excellent idea. People don't get driver's licenses until they prove they can safely drive, so the same should go for guns.

Here's a medical perspective on AR's -- it's not just capacity and speed of firing, the wounds are devastating. Back in the day, "dum-dum" bullets were illegal, and now we get these things...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/what-i-saw-treating-the-victims-from-parkland-should-change-the-debate-on-guns/553937/

zsomething wrote:Here's a medical perspective on AR's -- it's not just capacity and speed of firing, the wounds are devastating.   Back in the day, "dum-dum" bullets were illegal, and now we get these things...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/what-i-saw-treating-the-victims-from-parkland-should-change-the-debate-on-guns/553937/

Excellent, horrifying piece that should be required reading for every elected official in our land -- and not just on the medical issues. For instance, I had to stand up and cheer the following statement from the article:

"I have friends who own AR-15 rifles; they enjoy shooting them at target practice for sport, and fervently defend their right to own them. But I cannot accept that their right to enjoy their hobby supersedes my right to send my own children to school, to a movie theater, or to a concert and to know that they are safe."

It just boggles the mind how such lucidity and logic as demonstrated in this piece can't sway those besotted with the idea of virtually unlimited gun rights and/or with pockets stuffed with NRA cash.

But then, our brilliant fellow Americans also voted for Donald Trump, and continue to support him. So nothing should astonish us again, ever.

RealLindaL wrote:

zsomething wrote:Here's a medical perspective on AR's -- it's not just capacity and speed of firing, the wounds are devastating.   Back in the day, "dum-dum" bullets were illegal, and now we get these things...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/what-i-saw-treating-the-victims-from-parkland-should-change-the-debate-on-guns/553937/

Excellent, horrifying piece that should be required reading for every elected official in our land -- and not just on the medical issues.   For instance, I had to stand up and cheer the following statement from the article:

"I have friends who own AR-15 rifles; they enjoy shooting them at target practice for sport, and fervently defend their right to own them. But I cannot accept that their right to enjoy their hobby supersedes my right to send my own children to school, to a movie theater, or to a concert and to know that they are safe."

It just boggles the mind how such lucidity and logic as demonstrated in this piece can't sway those besotted with the idea of virtually unlimited gun rights and/or with pockets stuffed with NRA cash.

But then, our brilliant fellow Americans also voted for Donald Trump, and continue to support him.   So nothing should astonish us again, ever.

I'd like to think they would change their minds if it was their child with their brains or guts spattered all over the classroom walls but I doubt it I really do. That's why I say we need less butchered American children and more cold dead NRA hands.

Deus X wrote:Here is a list of mass shootings in the U.S. that featured AR-15-style rifles during the last 35 years, courtesy of the Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries and USA TODAY research:

Feb. 24, 1984: Tyrone Mitchell, 28, used an AR-15, a Stoeger 12-gauge shotgun and a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun to kill two and wound 12 at 49th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles before killing himself.

Oct. 7, 2007: Tyler Peterson, 20, used an AR-15 to kill six and injure one at an apartment in Crandon, Wis., before killing himself.

June 20, 2012: James Eagan Holmes, 24, used an AR-15-style .223-caliber Smith and Wesson rifle with a 100-round magazine, a 12-gauge Remington shotgun and two .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistols to kill 12 and injure 58 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

Dec. 14, 2012: Adam Lanza, 20, used an AR-15-style rifle, a .223-caliber Bushmaster, to kill 27 people — his mother, 20 students and six teachers — in Newtown, Conn., before killing himself.

June 7, 2013: John Zawahri, 23, used an AR-15-style .223-caliber rifle and a .44-caliber Remington revolver to kill five and injure three at a home in Santa Monica, Calif., before he was killed.

March 19, 2015: Justin Fowler, 24, used an AR-15 to kill one and injure two on a street in Little Water, N.M., before he was killed.

May 31, 2015: Jeffrey Scott Pitts, 36, used an AR-15 and .45-caliber handgun to kill two and injure two at a store in Conyers, Ga., before he was killed.

Oct. 31, 2015: Noah Jacob Harpham, 33, used an AR-15, a .357-caliber revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol to kill three on a street in Colorado Springs, Colo., before he was killed.

Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwyan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, 28 and 27, used two AR-15-style, .223-caliber Remington rifles and two 9 mm handguns to kill 14 and injure 21 at his workplace in San Bernardino, Calif., before they were killed.

June 12, 2016: Omar Mateen, 29, used an AR-15 style rifle (a Sig Sauer MCX), and a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol to kill 49 people and injure 50 at an Orlando nightclub before he was killed.

Oct. 1, 2017: Stephen Paddock, 64, used a stockpile of guns including an AR-15 to kill 58 people and injure hundreds at a music festival in Las Vegas before he killed himself.

Nov. 5, 2017: Devin Kelley, 26, used an AR-15 style Ruger rifle to kill 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, before he was killed.

Feb. 14, 2018: Police say Nikolas Cruz, 19, used an AR-15-style rifle to kill at least 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/14/ar-15-mass-shootings/339519002/

Madness..madness.