And people say that school shootings are a bad thing.

[Eagle Road]

We'll have 74 more shootings.

True, but it will take EVEN LONGER to fix society.

[TerpEagle]

Then what is your solution to teh problem? Nobody wants armed guards at schools but nobody can ever tell you what their solution is . And please don't come up with, "Just ban all guns".

I've never said ban all guns, but gun culture in this country and the money behind it are a significant part of the problem.

You have open-carry enthusiasts walking around to different restaurants with shotguns and semi-automatic rifles slung from their hips and across their backs that even the NRA says that's a bad move - until of course they get chastised for having the opinion that any rational person would have.

In the United States, there are roughly 90 privately owned guns for every 100 people. That's absurd. And it's not because 90% of the population owns guns, it's because gun owners feel the need to own lots of guns. And those guns end up in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

The "legal" ownership and purchasing of firearms in this country feeds the illegal and dangerous possession of firearms. A quarter of a million guns are smuggled into Mexico from the US annually. That's just to Mexico.

It's ridiculous the amount of guns available to people in the United States. It's far beyond necessary for home protection, hunting, etc.

The NRA and other pro 2nd Amendment groups (that fail to understand the purpose of the 2nd Amendment) continue to promote ownership through spreading fear and a historical myth of what real Americans are/were like. And in doing so, it's likely leading to a more dangerous state - helping to further feed sales.

People who don't acknowledge that gun are actually part of the problem need to wake up first and foremost. But few will even admit that the actual weapons could have ANYTHING to do with the violence they facilitate.

[Eagle In Ohio]

True

True, but it will take EVEN LONGER to fix society.

I have two little girls, one will be entering second grade next year, the other is a year away from kindergarten. I worry every day that I drop my girl off at school, but I take some comfort in the fact that her school is very diligent when it comes to people entering the school. I'm her dad, and I can't come in and walk her to class. I think schools need to stay vigilant with their practices when it comes to letting people enter the building.

[SCREAMIN EAGLE]

I've never said ban all guns, but gun culture in this country and the money behind it are a significant part of the problem.

You have open-carry enthusiasts walking around to different restaurants with shotguns and semi-automatic rifles slung from their hips and across their backs that even the NRA says that's a bad move - until of course they get chastised for having the opinion that any rational person would have.

In the United States, there are roughly 90 privately owned guns for every 100 people. That's absurd. And it's not because 90% of the population owns guns, it's because gun owners feel the need to own lots of guns. And those guns end up in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

The "legal" ownership and purchasing of firearms in this country feeds the illegal and dangerous possession of firearms. A quarter of a million guns are smuggled into Mexico from the US annually. That's just to Mexico.


Thats all well and good, but you never said what
It's ridiculous the amount of guns available to people in the United States. It's far beyond necessary for home protection, hunting, etc.

The NRA and other pro 2nd Amendment groups (that fail to understand the purpose of the 2nd Amendment) continue to promote ownership through spreading fear and a historical myth of what real Americans are/were like. And in doing so, it's likely leading to a more dangerous state - helping to further feed sales.

People who don't acknowledge that gun are actually part of the problem need to wake up first and foremost. But few will even admit that the actual weapons could have ANYTHING to do with the violence they facilitate.

That's all great, but you didn't tell me how to protect schools.

[TerpEagle]

That's all great, but you didn't tell me how to protect schools.

Long term - a shift away from gun lust and excessive and unnecessary gun ownership. Fewer guns available will lead to fewer gun in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

In 2004, 38% of households and 26% of individuals said they owned guns. Nearly half of the gun owners owned 4 or more.

So, reduction in firearm production wouldn't disarm most people that feel they need to own a gun but it could reduce excess. And these numbers don't account for the "legal" purchasing of firearms that occur to provide weapons to criminals and/or people who shouldn't have a deadly weapon readily available to them.

I don't have specific policy solutions, but ownership, purchasing, registration, etc. should be more difficult.

At the present, until excess firearms get filtered and removed from the system, perhaps armed guards and bullet-proof vests are all we can hope for to keep out children safe. How nice. Regardless, perpetuation of the "need to own guns" is going to continue to cause problems.

[Riccardo]

Haha - you are using the global warming deniers gambit

Sure cherry pick shorter time periods and you can show an increasing "trend", just like deniers do when the only look at the last 5 years of climate data. That's why you have to look at as much data as possible. Even going back to 92 isn't enough, should go back at least 10 more years.

[Riccardo]

I've never said ban all guns, but gun culture in this country and the money behind it are a significant part of the problem.

In the United States, there are roughly 90 privately owned guns for every 100 people. That's absurd. And it's not because 90% of the population owns guns, it's because gun owners feel the need to own lots of guns. And those guns end up in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

More misinformation. Most guns that end up in criminals hands come from corrupt dealers and illegal straw purchases, not stolen from law-abiding gun owners.

http://gunvictimsaction.org/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-illegal-gun-trafficking-arms-criminals-and-youth/

[T.D-Bag]

Frontier Wild West Dodge City had stricter gun control

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/02/opinion/l-dodge-city-believed-in-strict-gun-control-237490.html

[TerpEagle]

Sure cherry pick shorter time periods and you can show an increasing "trend", just like deniers do when the only look at the last 5 years of climate data. That's why you have to look at as much data as possible. Even going back to 92 isn't enough, should go back at least 10 more years.

You're making a false comparison. Climate trends cover a much broader scale of time and you have to look at long and short trends to understand how things change. With respect to climate, 10-20 years can be considered a (very) short trend in the overall scheme.

However, school shootings aren't on the same time scale of large climate shift. Changes in policy, laws, political climate, demographics can be considered to affect gun ownership and violence and they happen on much smaller time scales. I don't discount long term trends, but I look at shorter term trends as well and patterns are forming to show that gun violence at schools has risen significantly in recent years.

Regardless, the data you provided from a noted dubious source doesn't even include recent events. So your longer term trends are lacking in relevant data which could shift the numbers away from your conclusion.

[TerpEagle]

More misinformation. Most guns that end up in criminals hands come from corrupt dealers and illegal straw purchases, not stolen from law-abiding gun owners.

http://gunvictimsaction.org/fact-she...als-and-youth/

I didn't say they were stolen from law-abiding gun owners. But many purchases that seem "legal" have an end use that is anything but. The bottom line is that there is an extreme excess of guns and inevitable many of them end up in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

It's a simple numbers game, the more guns there are, the more people that have them. And they're not all good people.

[JDuggernaut]

is who's going to pay for all of the extra security at these schools ? Even if it meant helping to protect our school children, people aren't going to want to pay more taxes.

Reallocate some funds (preferably from some unnecessary national defense measures), raise taxes slightly (I'm talking like $50 a year for each taxpayer, although some would obviously scoff at even that), and use rhetoric about protecting the future and showing appreciation to those who have fought for our country. It may not be easy to do, but I think it could be done. It would also look like a nice alternative to those worried about infringing on the 2nd amendment.

[SCREAMIN EAGLE]

Long term - a shift away from gun lust and excessive and unnecessary gun ownership. Fewer guns available will lead to fewer gun in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

In 2004, 38% of households and 26% of individuals said they owned guns. Nearly half of the gun owners owned 4 or more.

So, reduction in firearm production wouldn't disarm most people that feel they need to own a gun but it could reduce excess. And these numbers don't account for the "legal" purchasing of firearms that occur to provide weapons to criminals and/or people who shouldn't have a deadly weapon readily available to them.

I don't have specific policy solutions, but ownership, purchasing, registration, etc. should be more difficult.

At the present, until excess firearms get filtered and removed from the system, perhaps armed guards and bullet-proof vests are all we can hope for to keep out children safe. How nice. Regardless, perpetuation of the "need to own guns" is going to continue to cause problems.

Hows that going to work? You have approx 350,000,000 guns in circulation. Taking them out of circulation is not an option. I'm not a lawyer but I dont think there is a chance in hell that you would be able to limit how many guns a person can own. I could be wrong but I feel that is unconstituitional. You have to realize this, there are 2 things that Americans love, Cars and Guns and neither one of tehm are going anywhere. Now, if you ask me, I think you would see a dramatic decrease in school shootings if you stop feeding our kids anti depresent drugs such as Prozac and Ritilan.

[Eagle Road]

How about we just go back to NOT giving every kid a gold star for "participation" and they learn how to overcome or live with whatever limitations god has given them.


That way they have a bit tougher skin so that when a girl turns them down (as most/all are young males) or they are told to get a job they don't go all ape shit on everybody because their feelings got hurt.


Maybe people should start looking at the correlation between raising a pampered society, and a raise in this kind of violence?

[SCREAMIN EAGLE]

How about we just go back to NOT giving every kid a gold star for "participation" and they learn how to overcome or live with whatever limitations god has given them.


That way they have a bit tougher skin so that when a girl turns them down (as most/all are young males) or they are told to get a job they don't go all ape shit on everybody because their feelings got hurt.

That would be a terrific idea. I agree. This bullying stuff has gotten out of hand. I realize that some bullying is way over the top, but my god, you can't even say boo to a kid without getting bombarded by the Bully police.

[PackWest]

Cool new invention for locking out the bad guys

http://wqad.com/2014/06/10/muscatine-teachers-invention-could-save-your-childs-life/

“The Sleeve” is a 12-gauge carbon steel case that fits around the door’s closer arm, securing the door from the inside. The Sleeve can withstand more than 550 foot-pounds of force, making it nearly impossible to open from the outside.