Northern Illinois shooting

That's just stupid.

 

Murder rate is down in England. Overall crime rate is up.

http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/output/Page40.asp

It's also worth noting that even though our population is 5X the UK's, our murder total is 22X higher.

 

How come you feel that way, Pallie?

 

This was brought up after the Virginia Tech shootings. Now I understand that if something like this happens once, it's one time too many, but these incidents are relatively rare. In a place where thousands of 18-22-year-olds have easy access to alcohol and illegal drugs, adding guns to the mix could make some bad situations worse.
I'm much more worried about that.

 

Thanks for the info.

According to this, the U.S. murder rate has been about the same for the past 7-8 years (and lower than it was prior to that) and the overall crime rate is lower, too.

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

 

jgmacg, that's what I was getting at there. I don't know what effect gun control would have on non-violent crime. I do know that it reduces the number of murders.

Which brings me to pally's retort:

Follow along with me here, because this is going to be about logic and reason, not bullshit.

Gun control = fewer murders.

Thus, no gun control = more murders.

And therefore, if you don't support gun control, you're saying that those lost lives are worth less than the second amendment. What else could you be saying?

Please, explain this to me. Speak slowly, so I can understand.

 

That's really sickening. Goes to show it can happen anywhere.

 

Jones, I respect the hell out of you, but methinks a bit of north-of-the-border smugness is showing.

 

Lyman, I hear you, but I haven't brought up Canada once. Honestly, I'm passionate about this because I like America, I have a lot of American friends, I spend a lot of time in America and so does my family, and I don't want to see any more innocent people killed, and I don't want to have to worry after people I love, that they might be shot in the head while trying on clothes or learning about geometry. This isn't a nationalistic thing for me. It's like watching someone you love doing something you know is hurting her. It's hard to keep silent about it. I hope that makes sense.

 

I don't think banning guns or repealing the Second Amendment is going to solve the problem. Even though I have argued for repealing the Second Amendment in the past...

You could put an entire campus on lockdown and you'd cause new problems.

 

When you say "gun control" what do you mean? Define the term.

Are you talking eliminating private ownership of all firearms? Just pistols? Installing one-year waiting periods for purchases?

 

I getcha. But I also think that train left the station a long time ago, and all it's gonna do now is punish the 99 percent of gun owners who are responsible and not do one whit about things like this.