Oregon Shooting

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Our thoughts and prayers should be enough to stop anything bad from happening, in fact so much that we shouldn't even need a military. Thoughts and prayers should repel even the most savage of attacks by the bad guys. I'd go so far as to say that nobody should even need an umbrella to stay dry when it rains. Our thoughts and prayers will keep you dry.

On the other hand. ...perhaps not.

[josephpalazzo]

McGowan told family members that the gunman didn't specifically target Christians but asked them about faith. The shooter, apparently planning to die during the massacre, told students: "I'll see you soon" or "I'll meet you soon."

Gunman in Oregon college shooting didn't specifically target Christians, survivor claims

[SGOS]

Gunman in Oregon college shooting didn't specifically target Christians, survivor claims

Asking about faith before shooting was a macabre twist to the story, but I've wondered what the shooter would have done if a victim identified himself as atheist?

[Cocoa Beware]

I'm thoroughly anti-gun.

But to be perfectly honest, if I lived in the States I would definitely get a gun.

Why? Because every sociopath and criminal living in the States already seems to have one. It takes some batshit circumstances to make such a thing necessary.

[hrdlr110]

I'm thoroughly anti-gun.

But to be perfectly honest, if I lived in the States I would definitely get a gun.

Why? Because every sociopath and criminal living in the States already seems to have one. It takes some batshit circumstances to make such a thing necessary.

So then you're not thoroughly anti gun. You'd become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. And in the US, for every time a gun is used for protection of self or ones family,  it's used 44x against those very people it was meant to protect. In 30 years of mass shootings, the number of times a shooter was neutralized by an armed civilian is zero.

[Johan]

I'm thoroughly anti-gun.

But to be perfectly honest, if I lived in the States I would definitely get a gun.

Why? Because every sociopath and criminal living in the States already seems to have one. It takes some batshit circumstances to make such a thing necessary.

Keyword in this quote: seems. As is often the case, the perception you come away with from reading news reports and/or internet forums is not the same perception you would have if you actually lived here.

I grew up and spent most of my adult life living in a liberal state where guns are difficult to get and almost no one I knew had one. There was and still is lots of gun violence in the cities there, but most of those guns were obtained illegally. I grew up far from any city so I was no more concerned about being a victim of gun violence than I was concerned about being crushed in my bed by a falling asteroid. Which is to say there is always some risk of it, but not enough to lost any sleep over.

Now I live in a much more conservative state. Conservatives love guns and almost everyone I know here has several. To read the press reports, you'd probably think that most of those people I know would be taking out their guns and shooting anyone who pissed them off. Get your order from the drive-through and find out they gave you small fries instead of large? Boom, shot, dead. Neighbor won't rake his leafs so they blow over onto your property? Boom, shot, dead. But just like when I was living where no one had guns, I am no more concerned about being shot than being crushed by an asteroid.

Now if I lived or worked in a neighborhood where 5 of the first 10 people I ran into on the street could sell me crack? Yeah, I'd probably be a bit concerned. But I don't live or work in those places nor do I hang around in them. Its really not something I ever lose sleep over.

[Johan]

In 30 years of mass shootings, the number of times a shooter was neutralized by an armed civilian is zero.

Not true.
http://controversialtimes.com/issues/constitutional-rights/12-times-mass-shootings-were-stopped-by-good-guys-with-guns/

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Not true.
http://controversialtimes.com/issues/constitutional-rights/12-times-mass-shootings-were-stopped-by-good-guys-with-guns/

And 208,000+ people have been killed by mass shooters in the past 30 year. It just don't seem to balance out.

[Baruch]

Too many Americans with Clint Eastwood fantasies ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2TFs0SRWi8

No gun required, just a short distance and the top of a cast iron stove ;-)

[Johan]

And 208,000+ people have been killed by mass shooters in the past 30 year. It just don't seem to balance out.

I did not make the claim that it balances out. I simply showed that the statement in question is false. If you're going to make an argument, tell the truth.

Are you making the claim that its ok to lie/distort facts in order to support your argument so long as the true facts you're distorting/lying about wouldn't solve the problem in question?

[Johan]

Too many Americans with Clint Eastwood fantasies ...

How many gun owners do you actually know personally?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Are you making the claim that its ok to lie/distort facts in order to support your argument so long as the true facts you're distorting/lying about wouldn't solve the problem in question?

That would be YOUR strawman, not mine.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

Is it possible to be a gun owner, one who owns assault weapons no less, to be in favor or reasonable gun control measures, or are we all just crazy bastards to the antigun crowd?

[Shiranu]

Is it possible to be a gun owner, one who owns assault weapons no less, to be in favor or reasonable gun control measures, or are we all just crazy bastards to the antigun crowd?

Member of the anti-gun crowd here; I own several guns and would be considered by some here to be a "rabid anti-gunner", so nah you should be good.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

Member of the anti-gun crowd here; I own several guns and would be considered by some here to be a "rabid anti-gunner", so nah you should be good.

I was asking more or less sarcastically. It seems some anti-gunners like to characterize the gun owners as all crazed lunatics who don't care about gun violence. I see it pop up every time this debate comes up, and it gets highly annoying.