A kid this time eh? Oh well,T&Ps and we are done with this one.

Only five people? That doesn't even warrant national Media coverage.

Often, I hear people say gun laws/regs will only take guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens and not the criminals. OK.

What I would like to know is how do we take guns out of the hands of criminals?

I'm honestly getting sick of hearing about **** like this every time I randomly stumble upon local news

It's literally the reason I don't watch local news anymore. There is practically never anything positive on it. Like ever. I am familiar with almost every location mentioned in the article and it is seriously disturbing to read, knowing I know many who live there and probably know who got shot or who the shooters are, or even got shot themselves...

Honestly, what are the solutions? What will make Danielle Outlaw's job less difficult? What will make the good folk of their communities not feel resigned to the fact that violence is just a part of life. Violence and the clear lack of appreciation for the lives and well being of one another

Seems like the most reasonable answer is to keep doing what we are doing and change nothing.

Meaningful gun control is difficult because of the Second Amendment. Repeal of the Second Amendment is basically impossible because of Republicans. Republicans will consistently oppose gun control because there are a decent number of single-issue gun rights folks on the right. All of that is well known, and makes the problem intractable.

What is less well known is that even among the right, very few elites believe there is any merit to the pro-guns arguments. Everyone knows that as a public safety measure, access to guns is a net negative. But the GOP and the NRA will keep propagating the unsubstantiated "good guy with a gun" myth, and cherry-picked/misleading evidence, because it's good politics.

I don't know what makes me more cynical: that people believe it or that politicians are willing to take advantage of it.

Rest of the world “Let’s elect governments that don’t try to oppress us”, USA #1, “nah, guns”

The desire to own guns seems to be strongly correlated to appalling taste in facial hair, as for the men, well.

Classes canceled at Knoxville school for two days after armed student is killed in encounter with police

Three dead in February (separate incidents), one in March, and now one in April. All of them shot. Three fifteen year olds, one sixteen year old, and I'm not sure how old the most recent one was.

Not much else to say; just immense sadness that this goes on...and on...and on...

Sadness aside, it is also important to be realistic. Gun control or more stringent buyer requirements / background checks will not be some immediate cure to gun violence in the US.

The violent culture will remain and there are far too many guns around for any legislation to solve the issue, though you might see some slow reduction. It will be a long and windy process for more measurable effects to come around.

That isn't an argument to do nothing, but it's an argument to not raise the bar to a level which simply can not be attained, thereby making any passed policy an easy political target.

I think gun laws are a significant contributor to mass incarceration.

The last post makes no sense, literally not understandable.

this is true.

i cant tell you the number of times i got the 18 or 19yr old kid who had a juvie conviction and was later in a car with a gun.(that wasn't his or in his possession/immediate reach) who was being charged with illegal possession of a firearm after criminal adjudication.

and those are easy political wins for your elected so gun=in time was a huge policy when it came to young African American defendants.

if you were rich and white you could fire your shotgun at your neighbors house because their kids were being too loud and get a misdemeanor(this happened).. but if your poor and in a car with a gun that you may not even know about... prison..

but that being true doesn't mean we dont need more common sense gun control legislation.

Agree 100%. And they'll probably not get any kind of even semi-strict gun control passed any time soon anyway. The only hope is to chip away at this and shift attitudes over decades. It's a cultural thing that is just embedded in so many - it's in the constitution, and therefore it's sacrosanct. Change on this, if it happens, will be very slow.

love the bolded. too many have zero qualms about this because they're shortsighted idiots, and that's how we ended up with Billy Bob Hickliterate with his feet up on Pelosi's desk.

well said. no faith in our fellow man, and that's really inverted self-opinion.

I like to shoot up office products and though not recently, enjoy sanctioned competitions.

All the people I have killed is less than one.

Can you not do those things with an air rifle?

And anyway, even if not, does not require you to actually own the weapon and carry it around with you at all times. You don't carry a gun around with a concealed carry permit because you might come across a sanctioned competition.

I might enjoy throwing hand grenades in the river from my balcony, but I have no idea, because I have never tried. Mostly because I have no hand grenades. So, we agree that's a good thing, right?

Owning for sport and carrying are two distinct things. Not sure I understand fully what you are asking.

I am criticising the general culture. My friend over here owns a shotgun for sport. I have no issue with that.

You are muddying the waters by introducing sport into the equation. I mean, hunting too. I would venture, and this is now pure speculation on my part, that the number of firearms currently in circulation in the US which are legitimately used for competition or hunting is less than 1%.

I would think your number (<1%) is low to very low. But I really don't have accurate thumb on the pulse of America.

BTW, shotgun sports are my favorite. Sporting clays>trap>skeet for me.

(I stopped hunting 50 years ago. Thus, I do not own rifles any more.)

edit: you may be correct with your numbers if only talking handguns....but I still think you may be low.

You stopped hunting 50 years ago? There’s a stat I wouldn’t have guessed.

My overarching point is, it's an argument that is often trotted out in opposition to the argument that guns are exclusively used to injure or kill other people, but in reality, in America, only a negligible % of them are actually used for other purposes.

I believe your numbers are low for "law abiding citizens" that own guns.

I like that some are pushing the 2nd amendment right. I am guilty of letting them do the heavy lifting. I don't own guns for 2nd A rights....and all that might mean to them (overthrow govt.....with tanks...... and F15s.......lololololol)

I also think ownership should be pretty tough... like how tough it is to get a Class 3 now.

Biggest thing... and I don't know how to implement... would be to have mental health issues front and center when applying for a license-to-own.

Why can't America do it like every other country? In America, owning a gun is a birth given right, and you have to prove yourself unworthy to have it revoked. In literally every other Western country, owning a gun is a privilege, and you have to prove yourself worthy to have it granted. This model solves every single problem.

Edit: well, not every single problem obviously, but most of them, and certainly the ones I raised in terms of police interactions with civilians.