News Jan 16, 2013 at 4:00 am

Hundreds March for Gun Control in Seattle

Standing her ground. Molly Bauer

Comments

1
So what will people do when this new legislation and series of bans don't prove to work statistically? Just go the Full Monty and take every "weapon" away? This is asinine. Any firearm restrictions are more harmful than helpful when comparing countries that do have guns vs countries that don't when violence is the topic. Liken it to killing people with cars if you will... will they take cars away? Knives? Crossbows? Hell... I had a friend that died after getting hit with a unopened soda can when I was young... maybe we should ban aluminum cans too. Guns keep crazy people in check. Until Washington starts treating the mentally ill and homeless that roam the streets I will always carry my firearm.
2
This guy's comment over on Iheartchaos.com (http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/40695349…) is more of the level headed thinking we need in government:

Rivethead • 3 hours ago

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You have to pass a proficiency test to get your driver's license.
If you're unfit to drive a car, you don't get a license.
If you have a license and demonstrate a lack of responsibility with it, you have it taken away.
Why not do the same with guns?

Make it so you have to pass tests, a background check, and a psyche eval in order to get a license to own guns. Once you have that license, one should be free to purchase guns without having to register them. That way you're keeping them out of the hands of the people who are the most likely to misuse them - just like with anything else which requires a license.

"What if someone steals guns from someone who has a license and commits a crime with them?"
You mean, what if someone gets guns illegally? You mean, like they do now?
Well, you arrest them, prosecute them, and jail them.
A licensed gun owner, however, would be legally obligated to report to the authorities any and all weapons that are stolen from them.
The Sandy Hook shooter acquired his weapons illegally when he murdered his own mother and then stole the weapons. Last time I checked, murder and theft were criminal activities.

"And if his mother was prevented from owning those firearms or was restricted to low-capacity magazines, things would have turned out differently."
Speculation and conjecture. I could just as easily say that the shooter would have acquired them elsewhere through other illegal means.
In regards to the magazines:
Anyone who practices enough can change out a magazine in about 1.5 seconds.
Anyone with sufficient knowledge and access to any set of machines found in junior high school shop class can manufacture their own magazines; they're quite simple devices, really.
The shooter could have also opted to carry more guns and simply dropped them once their magazines were depleted.

"What if someone who is licensed to own a gun gives them to someone who not?"
Then you take away their license, arrest them, prosecute them, and jail them.

"But the gun license you describe would not prevent dangerous criminals and sociopaths from acquiring them."
NOTHING is going to prevent a determined criminal or sociopath from acquiring guns illegally. You could make gun ownership punishable by death, and the Bloods will still be slaughtering innocent 10-year-olds in MS13 territory. That's why these people are criminals - they don't have any respect for the social norms that everyone else does which ensures the safety and security of mutually-interested citizens. Laws do NOT dictate morality. If they did, we never would have survived the Bronze Age where it was law to publicly execute your own child for talking back to you.

You don't blame the car when a teenager gets drunk and turns them self and their 3 friends into highway slurry.
You don't blame the pen for your spelling errors.
You don't blame the roulette wheel for losing your money.

There is a solution to this problem, but punishing the hundreds of millions of responsible citizens for the horrible things done by a handful is not the answer. I'll gladly make concessions for the sake of public safety and to get people to shut the fuck up, but the "solutions" offered by most gun opponents won't do anything to stop gun crimes and they won't do anything to stop criminals from buying guns through criminal channels.

Regulate if you must, but use reason, logic, and and do not remove our rights.
[/Soap Box]
3
Guns are BAAAAAAAAAD!



4
No gun control. No compromise.
5
Gun consciousness is more effective than gun control. And the issue here is really mental health resources. That part is being ignored.
6
I saw that "rally", it was pathetic and entirely populated by people who have never been overburdened by factual information or a real understanding of the world outside of their idealist fantasy bubble. You know, the usual.
7
Big deal.

Looks like they rounded up the usual gang of protesters and gave them signs.
8
I am a proud liberal who abhors the NRA, Glen Beck, and all the rest of that mess. I know from personal experience what it's like to be shot at, what it's like to watch somebody die from bullet wounds, and what it's like when gang members come to your house and try to murder you. I am responsible, law abiding, and I own guns.

If you want to have a frank conversation about guns, you should stop promoting the deliberate misinformation and the polarization. This isn't a conversation that is in any way helped by the constant us vs. them/red vs. blue/"reasonable" vs. "gun nuts" narrative that this article promotes. I do not mistake my perception of "need" for a good basis for legislation of things that I have no interest or working knowledge of and apparently that's the key difference between me and the people who made up the tiny core group of this rally.

And lets be honest, once you disregard the usual collection of homeless people, downtown bus-stop layabouts, and OWS holdouts that your photographer cleverly relegated to the background with a shallow downward angle and some tight framing, this group was indeed tiny. I was there and I can count higher than 100.

I eagerly await the day that the Stranger posts an article about the rest of us, the socially conscious gun owners, written by somebody who is capable of understanding the difference between fun and terrifying. Somebody who can put two sentences about a gun owner together without making their subject sound like a dangerous, unhinged lunatic. I love the stranger, and I am waiting for that article, but deep down I know it'll never happen because as much as you love to rail against conservative news outlets for their biased, fact-lacking narratives you cannot seem to bring yourselves to do any different.
9
I find the narrow minded view of this article and those akin to it insulting. There is no mention of the fact that the weapons used at sandy hook or in the "batman" shooting were illegaly purchaced, unlike the law abiding citizens that will be negatively affected by this law. Also, the fact that the shootings took place in "gun free zones" is never mentioned, nor is the 20+ instances in which gun owners and there children defended there property/family from armed assailants. The simple fact that since banning firearms the UK has seen a %40 rise in violent crimes should ring loud and clear as a warning for all that gun bans serve the exact opposite of the intention. Criminals do not legally purcase there guns for sport/protection, as do the american citizens affected by this law. When this country was foumded gun ownership/rights were the SECOND thing discussed, the main reason was rhe ability to defend yourslef from oppression. This ban is an attack on our freedoms and rights as americans, and i hope ameriva wakes up before its too late.

Adam- Redmond
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No guns! More drones!
11
As a canadian I find the sheer numbers of firearms in the USA astounding and disturbing. I recently read an article where it was stated that there were 300,000,000 firearms in public hands. One for every man woman and child. Shocking and horrifying. So the other day I looked up crime statistics compiled by the FBI for cities of various sizes around the country. Guess which state had some of the safest cities statistically. Quick put up your hand if you thought Texas. Wait isn't that the state where you can wear a six gun strapped to your hip? (or so we like to think. Come on I'm canadian) Needless to say I saw the humour in all this. Has it changed my mind? No; I don't think Joe Q. Public needs to possess an assault weapon and I don't think that is what your founding fathers were thinking of when they wrote the second amendment to the constitution (assault muskets?) I'm not oppossed to individuals owning firearms. People like to hunt, some just like to go to the firing range. I used to love target practice when I was a kid in cadets; but man, there is something wrong when someone feels they need protection every time they leave their home such as the individual making the first comment.
I am not trying to come across as holier than thou. We have shootings in Canada too as many americans know, but I don't think there are a lot of canadians that fear for their lives when they leave their homes. Too many weapons in too many hands is a recipe for disaster. I fear it has gotten out of control and you have my best wishes sorting it out. I have many family members living in the lower 48.
12
@5,you sooo right;I've been thinking that myself (I was a former owner of a handgun).I have shot a "fully" automatic and can assure you the weapon was NOT mentally ill!

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