Saturday, December 27, 2008

Additional point for Guns = Bad

Police: Pa. man shot for making noise during movie

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA – A man enraged by a noisy family sitting near him in a movie theater on Christmas night shot the father of the family in the arm, police said. Full story here.

So, does anybody else need convincing that most people who carry/own/love guns are basically the LAST people on the planet who should be let near them?

Although, let's be honest. We've all wished we could blow a hole in the noisy idiots in the movie theater.

9 comments:

Tom said...

Of course, there's no reason to believe that this guy was legally allowed to possess a handgun, and every reason to believe he wasn't. So what you're seeing is the sort of thing you're likely to see if lawful gun posession is banned.

Case in point: England banned handguns, and violent crimes (of which this is) went up. IIRC, they're about 4x those of the US.

Anonymous said...

We can ban guns when we ban cars.

Roland Hulme said...

When they can invent a car that gets me to work and does 28mpg, I'll join the NRA, CK.

Anonymous said...

There are approximately 44 MILLION gun owners in the United States. These atrocities you brought up are horrific and a terrible shame. My heart breaks for all of those close to those situations. However, the sheer number of gunowners put up against stories like this paints a different picture than those who are against guns want to portray. Tom made a very good point.

Roland Hulme said...

I don't know Coffee Bean - that kind of thinking means there's an 'acceptable' number of kids who can be killed/injured by irresponsible gun owners.

At what point do 'too many' kids get killed and things have to change?

Because as far as the pro-gun lobby seems to think, that number's never going to be high enough. It doesn't matter how many kids gun owners accidentally kill or maim - their lives are secondary to their right to own guns.

i'm not saying we should ban guns. I'm saying that gun supporters need to get their damn priorities straight.

Anonymous said...

I don't think any loss of life at the hands of someone is acceptable. Guns are simply a tool and it is the person operating that tool that is doing the killing.

I do believe something must be done but I don't believe that something is to take away the right to bear arms. There should be limits on how many guns can be bought in a certain time frame... background checks need to be done... there needs to be a system where the authorities can be alerted to suspect behavior in purchasing guns. A gun permit should only be issued if a class on proper handling is completed... and maybe even a mini psych profile.

Roland Hulme said...

"...it is the person operating that tool that is doing the killing."

But don't you agree that we have a problem when 'trusted' gun owners (the lady in Sam's Club had a state-issued Carry and Conceal Permit, while the kid with the uzi was with a trained instructor) are clearly so irresponsible - and they supposedly represent 'the best' of the community?

Anonymous said...

I think that those who are irresponsible should be prosecuted if they've been criminally negligent... that includes guns gotten ahold of by children in homes where they were not properly stored.

Max-e said...

Interesting debate Roland. I was taught to shoot at the tender age of 5 and have been around guns for the past 51 years, without a mishap. I guess what I am trying to say that guns per se are not bad. Guns in the wrong hands become bad - especially in this country where crime is rife.
I do not think that banning guns will solve the problem - you can buy "terrorist surplus AK 47's for a song.
Everyday you will see an article in the news papers of someone being shot. Sometimes by criminals sometimes an innocent bystander being caught in the cross fire in a cash in transit heist.
It is not generally legal gun owners wo are the problem, but the illegal ones.
To me the problem lies with the justice system and and gun control laws and how it they are administered.
Ban guns and people will find other ways to kill each other. The criminals will still get hold of the guns.
This country has tightened up on the gun laws but the problem has got worse. It is to do with a general moral decay in the fabiric of society....something needs to be done - what I am not sure.
Btw I have chosen not to use firearms any longer - but I do have non lethal means of protection - I have to this is south Africa. Our Government even wants to take that away from us.