Just another example of politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths and caring more about staying in power than doing what is good for the majority of their constituency. And it goes for both sides of the aisle and not just the GOP.

Why are people so dead set on blaming an inanimate object.  I have owned firearms for over 55 years.  Some are kept loaded at all times.  None have ever gone out and caused any harm to anyone, nor have they discharged without someone pulling the trigger.

Blame the person who did the killing, not the tool.

@jerry

I'm all for responsible gun ownership and a reasonable conversation on the topic, but being inanimate isn't a defense for being well-regulated.

Also inanimate: butterfly knives, acid, pipe bomb, meth, radioactive waste, tank.

Most would agree not everyone should have access to these inanimate objects, and if they do, should be properly trained to ensure public safety.

Jerry (and other MAGA leaners) - first of all, I have no problem with SANE folks owning a SANE number of guns for personal protection, hunting etc.  Sure, a person - and generally not a very well grounded person has to first pick the gun up and then apply their own ill will, mental illness or evil to carry out any carnage.  Yeah, you get the Einstein Award for pointing out the obvious.

So, you're not part of the seriously demented portion of the population with easy access to firearms (all types).  You're obviously a calm and collected person - not a socio/psychopath.   I guess your parents raised ya good.  

FACT:  guns are just too damned easy for ANYBODY to get.  Can you look me in the eye and tell me that there is NOT a firearm problem in America?  Seriously?  Do you honestly believe that we do not have a problem with twisted individuals accessing guns with ease?  Think about this for as long as you like before answering.

Tighter and more serious restrictions on guns is the only thing that will save us.  Longer waiting periods before purchase, DEEPER (much, much deeper) background checks, psychological counseling (to explain, for instance WHY a person need 26 semi-auto rifles and clip loaded pistols (see the Las Vegas shooter, for example).  Why not also require gun owners to purchase insurance on every firearm that they own?  Don't you think the families and survivors of those gunned down deserve some compensation for their loss?

I have known several relatives who underwent "psychological testing/evaluation" - usually before an elective surgery of some sort - to "prove" that they were "psychologically" fit and aware of the surgery that they were signing off on.  The Doctor (probably got his/her degree from the Sally Struthers School for Hotel/Motel Management and Gun Repair) spent 10 - 15 minutes with these folks to determine that they were mentally sound.  To digress, I've spent nearly 65 years with them and can tell you that a couple of them were certifiably bonkers.  Neither here nor there.

My a$$ was chapped by the Texas Governor's assertion that "there are more people killed in Chicago every week (by guns) than at the Uvalde school".  This heartless jackass lacks the common insight to recognize that both phenomena are symptoms of the exact same disease.  Sick stuff.

In recent years, I have stopped arguing altogether with people who are "pro gun".  Paraphrasing Mark Twain - never argue with a fool because onlookers won't be able to tell who's who.  What I do tell these folks:  mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, theaters, ball games, graduations and even churches are never going to matter to you until YOU OR ONE OF YOUR LOVED ONES ends up in the sightline of the shooter.  I know this sounds like a death wish towards those I disagree with but it is not.  It's the truth as far as I can tell.  I literally pray that it never ever happens, but how are you going to feel if/when your child, spouse or other loved one finds themself in an active situation.  Trust me, there are folks in Parkland who were once anti-gun control.  I hate that it took such an event to sway their thinking.

Congratulations to the JIf Peanut Butter company for pulling a potentially unsafe product BEFORE hospitals started piling up with sick people.  Peanut butter!  Congratulations to Ford Motor Company for taking the exploding Pinto off the market in the late 1970s.  Most every other product that I can think of that presented a a deadly threat to individuals was removed from market.  The only exception to this (that I can think of) are firearms manufacturers.  

Peace.  Seriously.

Posted by: @rusty

Jerry (and other MAGA leaners) - first of all, I have no problem with SANE folks owning a SANE number of guns for personal protection, hunting etc.  Sure, a person - and generally not a very well grounded person has to first pick the gun up and then apply their own ill will, mental illness or evil to carry out any carnage.  Yeah, you get the Einstein Award for pointing out the obvious.

So, you're not part of the seriously demented portion of the population with easy access to firearms (all types).  You're obviously a calm and collected person - not a socio/psychopath.   I guess your parents raised ya good.  

FACT:  guns are just too damned easy for ANYBODY to get.  Can you look me in the eye and tell me that there is NOT a firearm problem in America?  Seriously?  Do you honestly believe that we do not have a problem with twisted individuals accessing guns with ease?  Think about this for as long as you like before answering.

Tighter and more serious restrictions on guns is the only thing that will save us.  Longer waiting periods before purchase, DEEPER (much, much deeper) background checks, psychological counseling (to explain, for instance WHY a person need 26 semi-auto rifles and clip loaded pistols (see the Las Vegas shooter, for example).  Why not also require gun owners to purchase insurance on every firearm that they own?  Don't you think the families and survivors of those gunned down deserve some compensation for their loss?

I have known several relatives who underwent "psychological testing/evaluation" - usually before an elective surgery of some sort - to "prove" that they were "psychologically" fit and aware of the surgery that they were signing off on.  The Doctor (probably got his/her degree from the Sally Struthers School for Hotel/Motel Management and Gun Repair) spent 10 - 15 minutes with these folks to determine that they were mentally sound.  To digress, I've spent nearly 65 years with them and can tell you that a couple of them were certifiably bonkers.  Neither here nor there.

My a$$ was chapped by the Texas Governor's assertion that "there are more people killed in Chicago every week (by guns) than at the Uvalde school".  This heartless jackass lacks the common insight to recognize that both phenomena are symptoms of the exact same disease.  Sick stuff.

In recent years, I have stopped arguing altogether with people who are "pro gun".  Paraphrasing Mark Twain - never argue with a fool because onlookers won't be able to tell who's who.  What I do tell these folks:  mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, theaters, ball games, graduations and even churches are never going to matter to you until YOU OR ONE OF YOUR LOVED ONES ends up in the sightline of the shooter.  I know this sounds like a death wish towards those I disagree with but it is not.  It's the truth as far as I can tell.  I literally pray that it never ever happens, but how are you going to feel if/when your child, spouse or other loved one finds themself in an active situation.  Trust me, there are folks in Parkland who were once anti-gun control.  I hate that it took such an event to sway their thinking.

Congratulations to the JIf Peanut Butter company for pulling a potentially unsafe product BEFORE hospitals started piling up with sick people.  Peanut butter!  Congratulations to Ford Motor Company for taking the exploding Pinto off the market in the late 1970s.  Most every other product that I can think of that presented a a deadly threat to individuals was removed from market.  The only exception to this (that I can think of) are firearms manufacturers.  

Peace.  Seriously.

Great post, Rusty.

A ton of common sense, logic, and fact in your post.

We have more guns than people in the USA & lead the world in gun murders. Before the ink goes dry on another post, how many more gun murders and /or mass shootings will this country experience? Obviously never enough to have GOP politicians give into legislation & controls to protect the citizenry. They view the NRA > life. How many more of our children need to be deprived of life by assault rifles before enough is enough. Shopping centers, malls, concerts, schools, churches, hospitals are all normalized as sites for guns as vehicles & means to take lives for the sake. Sad.

@martind28 The shooter in Tulsa at St. Francis Hospital purchased his guns from a Pawn Shop just an hour or so before he went to the hospital and office of the surgeon who performed back surgery on him, continuing to complain to this surgeon of constant back pain, walked in and shot the doctor, another doctor, the receptionist and a waiting patient then he committed suicide by turning the gun on himself. 

There was no waiting time for this man. 

Last year over 700 murders in Chicago and over 500 in Philadelphia. Those murders are from HANDGUNS!!! 

A man shot a stock broker on a New York City subway with a handgun while OUT ON BAIL FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER!!!! 

STOP DEFUNDING THE POLICE AND GUTTING BAIL BOND LAWS BIG CITY LIBERALS!!!! IT IS NUTS AND DANGEROUS!! 

Someone arrested for ATTEMPTED MURDER should stay IN JAIL until their trail. 

Plus this man has a long rap sheet! Keep them locked up!!!