My red-blooded republican friends always knew I was a little soft on this bullwark of conservatism growing up, so I'm sure my questioning the current state of gun control comes as no surprise to them.
But, I watched stupified as reports from NIU came back that showed the gunman legally had two of his three guns and evidently spent a year locked up for mental illness, due to cutting himself (no violent behavior there), and evidently had not taken his medication for his illness over the last few weeks. So, how does a guy like this legally get guns? I guess at this point, you can tell me, well, he'd a got them anyway, and that's probably true. But so much for the old arguement,though, that it's the illegal owners that cause our gun problems in this country.
I'm all for the safe use and possession of firearms, but you guys have to give me some assurance that every possible precaution is taken to make sure legal guns aren't getting into the wrong hands too.
And what of these kids that bring guns to school (2 in the last few weeks in South Bend)? Sure, it's the parent's fault......but are we going to keep saying that when innocent children are lying in a pool of blood? Sounds more like an NRA cop-out to me than really wanting to deal with the problem. Kinda like it's all about personal responsibility until it becomes personal, then it's time to work together to find a solution. I'd rather find a solution now, than to see this in river city.
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7 comments:
are you an advocate of the use of the Scarlet Letter? Should we put "NJ" on their foreheads? "nut job" In all seriousness this is where the NRA agruement falls apart. The shooter at NIU was in the millitary for 1 month and was booted out? Shouldn't that have been a red flag.....If we are not going to institutionalize the mentally ill then we should at keep better track of their condition and location.
I agree wholly......let's put NJ on their head. Just kidding, but, geesh, what's wrong with this picture? Is it that they can't tell the NJ apart from the right-wing gun toters?
HR
So who says a right wing gun toter isn't a NJ????????????
Who says someone who carries a firearm is "right wing" or "NJ"? Who makes that determination? In this state they have tried to civilly commit sex offenders who have been deemed "irrepairable" and have completed their incarceration time. Of course, this being the land of the "left wingnuts" (professional term), the courts are telling the state "No Go" which is dumping the mentally ill back onto the streets to reoffend.
Just a few weeks ago, a young lady was beaten and stabbed to death in broad daylight in Seattle by an offender with a long history of mental illness. The truly sad part of this story is not only was the guy walking the streets, but no one who witnessed the brutal crime lifted a finger to even call 911 during the assault.
As a Law Enforcement Officer who deals with convicts, I am whole heartedly behind strapping GPS bracelets to their ankles so that their every move is known in real time.
PNW
say PNW it must be strange to live in "left wingnutville" and yet have the hills crawling with right wing militia's....is it the 200 plus cloudy days??????????
It is certainly interesting to say the least. It could have something to do with the weather. Most of the militias crawl in the Idaho hills.
My wife and I are 1973 graduates of NIU and went out to Dekalb, which is on the Lincoln Highway by the way, on Tuesday.
The signing wall and crosses made me feel just as I did at the Vietnam Wall.
I wrote about our experience at
http://downdaroadigo.blogspot.com
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