Obama: America must grapple with gun violence
Source: MSNBC
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President Obama on Thursday mourned the shooting deaths of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, saying it rekindled a dark part of our history. He also bluntly tied the massacre to the proliferation of guns in the U.S., saying his time in office has been marked by too many tragedies caused by firearms.
Ive had to make statements like this too many times, Obama said in a televised statement at the White House, Vice President Joe Biden standing by his side.
We do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun, Obama said. But lets be clear: At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesnt happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it.
Thursday marked the 14th time Obama has addressed the nation after gun-related tragedy.
Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-america-must-grapple-gun-violence
closeupready
(29,503 posts)And yet, they don't have people going off like this, in relative terms.
So I'm confused - he says it's in our power to do something ... so, what, exactly?
Everyone would like less gun violence and massacres. Everyone. But the fact that they keep happening is the conundrum. Making a statement is important, but so is suggesting solutions (once the problem is identified).
onehandle
(51,122 posts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland
Additionally, Switzerland doesn't treat guns like a religion. You have to have training, observe tight regulations, and get restrictive permits.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)Thanks.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)samsingh
(17,605 posts)lovemydog
(11,833 posts)and don't injure anyone. Some people smoke and don't get cancer. But in the past thirty years or so, through groups like Mothers Against Driving and Lung Cancer awareness and education, we've significantly reduced drunk driving fatalities and smoking and lung cancer in children.
Where there's a will there's a way.
I think we must work on all fronts. And not criticize any efforts anywhere to reduce gun violence. Try different things in different states. Try federal legislation. Try non-legal avenues. Try seminars. Try marches. Join a church. Join a nondenominational meeting group. Join the southern poverty law center. Try it all. Don't oppose any effort to reduce gun violence in this country. If you oppose gun control, try helping in some other manner with which you feel most comfortable.
Switzerland is a different place. Very different from the USA.
samsingh
(17,605 posts)and no other country has the nra.
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)I would expect every person with some sense of conscience would want to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of racists, hate mongers, fucked up kids, whatever one wants to call them.
I would think that even those who value and cherish the second amendment would want to do everything we can in all sorts of ways and wouldn't discount or diminish any effort anywhere to reduce the violence of people shooting people.
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)Venezuela and Argentina come to mind. They have their own specific problems associated with the Why just as we do here. Certainly there is no shortage of Myths dating to how the West was settled and won. The six gun being way over-hyped and the arrival of women, families and schools failing to be mentioned. I find it curious that NYPD didn't require officers to carry guns until the year after Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show started a several years engagement in New York City.
Was a curious time when the Arizona Territory was setting records for Murder Rates, England was lower than today and places like Boston and New York were much closer to the English rates than the American West.
BeyondGeography
(39,395 posts)We obviously suck at it.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)Maybe you have, but my freedom to speak shouldn't be abridged because, for example, Sarah Palin uses her same freedom irresponsibly.
So, what are our solutions, if any?
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)Starting locally. Every single interaction, be conscious of love. Conscious of peace. Dinner party discussions on peace.
I'm not here to advocate for or against gun control. Just to say that for me everything starts first from within and then expands outward toward our interactions with others, then discussing how to help locally. There are so many great volunteer organizations locally. You can find them if you're so inclined. It's a genuine blessing.
hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)The guns provided by the gov't are kept with the idea of protecting the country from invasion rather than with the idea we may have to overthrow our own gov't like too many here believe.
Also if I am not mistaken you have to have a permit to own most modern firearms.
What we could do here?
I think we could make it harder for people to get guns who are crazy.
You could also make a tax on clips that held over say 8 rounds or maybe on semi autos. Revolvers are fine for self defense and that way if you had to pay a big tax to own guns that are capable of mass shootings less people would have them.
But the bottom line as far as what we could do is something that will never happen. The gun culture could stop pushing paranoia about being attacked or fighting off the government and focus on the sport of hunting and target shooting.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Even ammo is restricted.
lancer78
(1,495 posts)I think each person is allowed 20 rounds max with random checks to make sure none have been used.
calimary
(81,608 posts)cosmicone
(11,014 posts)It already has well-trained staff
DustyJoe
(849 posts)No !
The police need to grapple this waste of oxygens father and arrest his ass for giving his waste of DNA a .45 auto. It was an obvious straw purchase for a person that could not have legally purchased a handgun if he answered the firearms questionairre honestly about his drug use and drug arrests. This father besides moron of the year belongs in a cell besides his son.
Rossi
(56 posts)That would put an end to the most substantial amount of US gun violence.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Rossi
(56 posts)And you know it.
how is violence in the ME linked to inner city violence in Chicago, DC, Philly and every other major city with a high murder rate?
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)As part of the total number of US gun deaths.
e.g. if we stopped doing that, 'gun deaths' would go down drastically.
hack89
(39,171 posts)deathrind
(1,786 posts)This type of event happens on a regular basis and we can't even get loop holes like background checks closed. This is a "right" that has obviously wrong in today's world.
How about some background checks and loop hole closing on US hired mercenaries in the Middle East? That would go a long way toward reducing gun violence.
Doing that and checking local fishing licenses would certainly make an impact....
Beauregard
(376 posts)I am replying to an irrelevant reply to my original post with and equal amount of irrelevance.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)you have compared apples to Volkswagens. Welcome to DU
Rossi
(56 posts).
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)The Likes of the NRA and the Brady Campaign do an excellent job of keeping millions of Americans convinced that the ultimate goal is complete confiscation. Hence any common sense regulation is DOA.
Hulk
(6,699 posts)What did I read?...300,000,000 guns in our society today? In a way, the nra is right; regulations aren't really going to put a dent in our sick society. We are saturated with the damned things, and background checks, and all that other "touchie-feelie" stuff isn't going to stop anything.
Jump all over me if you like, but reality is what it is. We have more guns in our society today that if ANYBODY wants a gun, they can get one. We let this fester too long, and the gun nuts have seen to it that there is no turning back.
If we want to do back ground checks, fine. It won't make a damned bit of difference anymore. You think this lame, racist piece of white trash that murdered the folks in SC wasn't going to get his 21st birthday present from his sick ass father because of a background check? I've got a couple nice bridges for sale.
We are sunk. There is no turning back. We can put a band aid on the cancer if you want, but it is fruitless. The cow has left the barn. Our society is doomed to be filled to the eyeballs with these heinous toys, and kids will kill kids, parents will kill friends and family accidentally, and the mentally challenged will go on rampages and murder who ever comes across their path when their mind snaps.
We just bow our heads and live in fear that everytime a loved one leaves the house, there's a chance they may not come home because of some insane bastard with "his right to bare arms". One sick ass society, passed the point of no return.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)and do something like Australia did in 1996. The sooner we do something, the quicker we'll see results even if it takes decades.
Hulk
(6,699 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)is exactly what needs to be done here, gungeoneers be damned. Gun deaths are an epidemic in this country, and a bunch of armed yahoos do not constitute a "well-regulated militia".
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)would have to be institutionalized or something.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I hope we do before I die, but won't be holding my breath. Buying a car in this country is more difficult than buying a gun.
Gee, last time I bought a car, I didn't have to go through a background check, I plunked down a cashiers check, signed the papers and drove away with it, however, last time I purchased a firearm, I had to go through a background check.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)and get around the background check. If I sell a person a car, they must register it before they can use it. But you can buy and sell guns privately with zero oversight.
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)are sold through an FFL dealer who has to do a BGC, no exceptions.
That's false, unless you plan to drive it on the public roads, you don't have to register it or even have a driver license to drive it on private property.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)How many people buy a car only to drive it on their property? A few thousand farmers maybe? Don't worry, this country will never do anything to regulate your precious murder machines.
Is this the new, oh, never mind.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I have a question- how would you feel if every gun sale in the country had to be recorded by local authorities?
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)and we have something the Aussie's don't, you know, the 2A, which confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)The 2nd Amendment, even the way it is interpreted by gun fanciers, does not require you to love and promote gunz,and pollute society with the dang things. That's a personal, albeit immoral, decision.
You said sordid needs.
Sorry Hoyt, but your not convincing anyone but yourself.
Skittles
(153,310 posts)Beauregard
(376 posts)http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/02/almost-2500-now-killed-covert-us-drone-strikes-obama-inauguration-six-years-ago
Psephos
(8,032 posts)davepc
(3,936 posts)So we wave a wand and make firearms disappear but the anger and hate is still there, then what? Hope these kinds of people can't be bothered to spend 10 mins on goolge to learn how to make an IED?
SansACause
(520 posts)Nobody is going to give a 21-year-old a pipe bomb for his birthday.
If they're going to commit mass murder, they should at least have to work for it. Guns make it easy.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Maybe gun nuts would find a saner outlet for their issues.
Nothing is going to stop all tragedies. But restricting the heck out guns would be a start.
Sorry Hoyt, but with the advent of 3D printers, gun control is now a moot point, however, I think I know why you want to restrict the heck out of guns.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)your multiple gun vaults. I don't think crudely printed, plastic gunz will fulfill your needs.
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)Why don't you tell us the real reason you want to restrict the heck out of guns?
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)I'm fairly well off, I can afford to buy the weapons of my choice, however, I could use a 3D printer to manufacture some of the parts for my farm equipment.
I might just go out and buy one.
There are plenty of good gun owners out there who own firearms (not Uzis or Ak-47s) only to protect their home from criminals and intruders and themselves when they venture out. A lot of people in my old "hood" own firearms due to crime; we take their legally owned guns away and guess what happens - even more violence.
IMO the accessibility of powerful rifles and ammo is the main culprit.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)too many purple states with independent voters to win over.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)hack89
(39,171 posts)on a detailed enough level that I could compare it to the electoral battle field.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)========================
Its time we do something instead of just saying its too difficult or politically dangerous.
hack89
(39,171 posts)GGJohn
(9,951 posts)How well did that work out?
Especially in 2014?