Liquid Gardens, on 27 December 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:
That I think is the bad presumption that is included in your line of argument here, that, "The law is not nearly as effective as we would like to think.". I don't know who thinks that, I think most people understand the limited effectiveness of our laws. I'm sure you can think of legislation that would be effective eventually in achieving a decline in gun deaths if that was the only issue and objective at hand: outlaw all guns and ammunition, over time I think it's reasonable to assume that will eventually result in less gun deaths. The trick is balancing that draconian measure with the current rights that people have and liberty and so on.
Mandatory training is fine, but I don't think that helps prevent a Newtown-type event. It appears that we are always going to have a subset of people who are mentally ill (not just children), or who are just plain malicious people. Unfortunately in the US, we have so many weapons available that it's honestly no surprise that those violence-prone people are able to get their hands on them, existing laws or not. I don't know how you prevent devices that can kill people with the push of a button from getting in the hands of these people short of putting into place far more strict and penalizing laws than we currently have.
Again, we are very close. Ultimately we must ask the question regarding your last sentence: "Is it even POSSIBLE to prevent dangerous devices (that are protected by the Constitution) out of the hands of the wrong people?"
We have been trying to do that for decades now to no avail, and if you include drugs too, for a century. To no avail.
Who thinks that so many of the various gun control measures have failed? Any disinterested observer who is willing to analyze the empirical evidence as gathered since those measures have been put into place. By any standard you choose to use, the vast majority of gun control laws have failed to stop gun violence. Even in cities like Chicago with very strict laws, a virtual prohibition on ownership or possession, shootings go on all the time. That cannot be denied.
And I hate to say it LG, because I know what you'll say, but it is beginning to appear that the style of story telling and 'press releases' relevant to Sandy Hook is very similar to the style of story telling related to certain other staged events. Yes, it's horrid, and I sure hope I'm wrong, but the similarities are downright spooky.
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