Good Man With A Gun
Early Sunday morning a man wearing body armor opened fire with an auto-loading .223 carbine outside a bar in the Oregon district of Dayton, Ohio. Under a minute, some reports say 30 seconds, after the first shot was fired the perpetrator was “neutralized” by police officers. In that time 9 people were murdered and 27 more were wounded.
That was very rapid response to the threat, but 9 people were still murdered. More guns isn’t the answer. The answer is fewer guns available for people who might use them to kill others.
Red Flag laws, the mental health changes that Trump eliminated, and a better and more comprehensive background check system will help, but there are too many auto-loading carbines available, and no necessity for more to be sold. Reinstate the “assault weapons ban”. It worked before; it can work again.
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Mental health red flags would likely be just another reason for some people to avoid contact with our already limited mental health care. Although judging from my experience with that medicalized, drug pushing, pseudo-scientific and money-grubbing system, such lack of contact might be for the best, “treatment” being just as likely to result in increased depression, frustration, and rage.
The biggest benefit of mental health restrictions is a reduction in suicides, not murders. Some of the suicides will be “suicide by cop”, There are people like David Berkowitz [Son of Sam] who claim mental illness, but that isn’t certain. People with mental health issues tend to be more of a danger to themselves rather than others.
Minorities would also be unjustly red-flagged. Let’s just do away with the brush-cutters and see what happens Oh, and lock up access to water towers.
We have a Red Flag law in Florida. It was passed after the Parkland massacre. The guns are taken for two weeks, then there is a court hearing. If the judge doesn’t feel the seizure was justified, the guns are returned. In South Florida the judges are generally Cuban or Black. Water towers have been locked forever and there are suicide watches on certain bridges. If someone wants to die, there are a lot of ways to do it that don’t involve guns, but guns are a factor in too many suicides, and too many gun deaths are suicides. I admit helping a friend clean up after his sister-in-law’s suicide with a shotgun colors my attitude.
What people need for hunting and self defense:
1) Revolvers
2) Break-open and pump action shotguns
3) Bolt-action and lever-action rifles.
Nobody needs 17 rounds or 100 rounds or 500 rounds to deal with a home invader. The Tueller drill says that if in the enclosed space of your home you don’t manage to stop the intruder with your first three shots, he’s going to be on top of you and kill you. Nobody needs a handgun with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. Reality again.
There’s only one purpose for weapons like these murderers used, and that’s to murder other human beings. Not self defense. Not hunting. Not any of that. Now, sometimes that’s useful. I want my military and my cops to be armed with as much firepower as they need to take out the bad guys. But random Joe on the street? He has no goddamn business having that semi-automatic AK-47 with a drum magazine. That’s just bullshit.
Back in the 1970s standard issue in upstate New York was .38 caliber S&W Model 10 and a Remington 870 Bushmaster 12 gauge in the patrol car. Rural departments had deer rifles and the bigger urban departments had a few M-16s and UZIs. With 4 rounds in the tube and one round chambered, a 12 gauge firing 00 buck shot could put out five clusters of 9 .38 caliber lead balls. You carried 6 rounds in your weapon and 12 more in a loop-carrier on your belt. That should be more than enough for anyone to protect themselves.
If you are hunting for food, you can’t beat the accuracy of a good bolt action rifle.
I didn’t like or respect the M-16 when I was in the military, and sure as hell wouldn’t buy a clone now.
It appears that the spree shooters are using AK-47 clones, not AR-15 clones. Probably for the same reason you think the M-16 is junk. Direct-impingment actions just aren’t as reliable even though they can theoretically cycle faster. Which just lets people waste ammunition faster unless you’re a spree shooter firing into a crowd. Hmm. The exception was the Dayton shooter, who was using what appears to be a cut-down short-barrel carbine version of the AR-15. Which gives up the only thing good about the AR-15 — its accuracy — in favor of being easy to hide under your trenchcoat.
None of these rifles have any actual real purpose other than killing large numbers of people, and none of them belong in the hands of civilians, any more than an atom bomb does.
I was trained to hit my chosen target, not spray the neighborhood. I noticed the shooter in El Paso used an AK clone and earphones without body armor and surrendered immediately when confronted by police. Personal guess would be that he wants a public trial to make a political statement.
Dayton was looking to kill/injure as many as possible is the shortest time. He was wearing body armor and didn’t surrender, so there was probably a bit of “suicide by cop” feel to the situation. Now people are coming out of the woodwork to tell the world that the shooter had always been a homicidal maniac.
Hell, BT, the military backed off the M-16 full auto to the burst mode M-4, most of the rounds were threats to birds. If you’re looking for a thrill to kill something, get a .22LR autoloader and head for the town dump and shoot rats.