Quote:
Originally Posted by The0pportunist
I get the whole 'we must protect ourselves against government tyranny' Actually i quite respect it but for goodness sake America tighten your gun controls. The maniac would not have done the same damage if he could only buy hand guns!
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I didn't want to get involved with the gun control mess, but VT shooting was perpetrated with hand guns. 32 dead, in a quite university setting where people could hear him coming and flee the scene. I would imagine a guy walking through a crowd of 22k people during a VERY loud concert with a pistol could make an equally fatal impact. Though, your point is valid when it comes to the massive quantity who were wounded. BUT there are other factors at play that drove those figures up.
To your overall rifle point. On average, there are about 350 or gun deaths per year which are attributed to long guns. (rifles and shotguns) Hand guns are by far and away the most utilized tool when it comes to gun deaths in the US, as they account for about 95% of all firearm homicides.
Banning rifles will not curb gun violence in the US. It seems somewhat obtuse to say this, but in our country, with our constitution, there is very little to stop someone from perpetrating this type of sick, cowardly act. What could make a difference in over all gun violence is mandatory sentencing for people who use guns to commit crimes and those who use guns to murder people and don't plan to commit suicide after the fact. Yes, there are mandatory sentences in place throughout the difference cities & States but they are seldom enforced because the DA uses plea bargaining to reduce those penalties. In some cases allowing cold blooded murderers to serve only single digit years behind bars.
There was a recent murder in Orlando (about 70 miles from me) where the 22 year old perpetrator was caught on surveillance film outside a public library running up behind someone and shooting him in the back. He was eventually picked up from hiding, confessed to the incident claiming he shot the 18 year old boy because he "dissed his rapping" ability on Facebook. In exchange for some type of shitty info on where he acquired the gun, he ended up getting 6 years in prison. When you live day to day where your main concern is defending your rapping honor, 6 years for murder isn't much of a deterrent. It should be noted that the "mandatory" sentence for shooting someone in FL (wounding or killing) is supposed to be 25yrs to Life. If it's murder in the 1st degree, which this example was, the maximum sentence is the Electric Chair.
But they get off regularly with less than the mandatory minimum. I feel that this needs to be addressed first and foremost. But no one talks about it on a political level, ever. It's never brought up when people are campaigning for local, county or state offices. I know our prisons are over crowded, but going to prison is supposed to be a deterrent. If it is, going to prison for a longer time is more of a deterrent. Maybe i don't understand how the DA's office works, but from my point of view, it's utter bullshit.