Violence, gun culture, what can be/should be done.

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Where I live, my guns have helped us many times. Helped our family and pets. Against diseased foxes and racoons, plus security on attempted robbery. I have walked the property many times with night vision and a laser sight. Sure beats a base ball bat.

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I agree, X.
 
If by basis you mean current, I can't give you Canada but I can Australia.
The laws changed after 1996 with a public outcry not dissimilar to what is happening in the US now.
The "Port Arthur Massacre" as it has become known was perpetrated by a madman (I refuse to use his name) killed 35 people (women, men and children) and injured a further 26.
At the time semi auto centre fire weapons (assault rifles) were only available with a special permit for collectors and or those wishing to shoot controlled scenario or drill type range stuff. (assault type rifles were not used to perpetrate the massacre)

Handguns also required a special permit and a individual license for each weapon. Other restrictions applied such as the mandatory membership at a pistol club/range and if my memory serves me a minimum amount of time at that ranges. Other than traveling to and from the destination of usage pistols must have been locked away out of public view.
The only exception was if you required them for your occupation. Home defense has never been a valid reason to own a handgun in my 43 years.

All other sporting, target and hunting firearms required registration and a licensed owner. Licensing required a small tick the box questionnaire after a short course on firearms safety held usually at regional police stations.

After the 1996 massacre mounting public pressure forced gun reform. This took place in a number of ways and areas.

1. State firearm data bases were linked and laws unified
2. Semi Automatic weapons of any kind were placed into a special permit category. This category operated on an exemption basis and if you had a valid excuse to own such weapons then a permit was issued with restrictions. These included specifics on how these are to be used ie if you were permitted for target then hunting with them was illegal etc. Further restraints were put in place such as the logging at your local police station in a local register and spot storage premises inspections.
A buy back scheme was introduced to offset the out of pocket cost to owners, the remuneration was little compensation to most including myself. Firearms now placed on the restricted list included any semi auto rim/centre fires and shot guns and any pump action rifles and shot guns (any fast repeat firing weapon, stupid part is lever actions are still OK). Any weapons procured through the buy back scheme were crimped (destroyed, I watched my XTR pump action trap gun and Ruger varmint rifle folded in half). I qualified for an exemption yet I chose not to have the law on my door step every time someone heard a volley of shots.
3. Penalties were increase substantially to discourage ownership of unregistered or "black market" firearms including jail time.
4. Licensing, testing, cooling off periods and back ground checks all were tightened.

Statistics from the government say that the change in laws have saved 200 lives per year since 1996 with the majority of these being suicides. We still have gun crime committed using legal and illegal weapons albeit may be less yet the wholesale removal of life has not been repeated.

Firearms are part of my "tools of the trade", just as essential as my harness, rope, tractor and livestock. Whether its euthanasing stock, removing feral pests or keeping predators at bay they are essential.
I have never had a requirement for a military type assault weapon nor the exceptable excuse in the laws eyes to own one so I don't miss one.
When I lost 2 firearms in the buy back it was a blow as I admired the workmanship and gunsmithing in both yet purchased 2 legal weapons as replacements that more than suffice.
When I was a young fella I use to hunt and stalk game shoot camel, horses and pigs for a dollar and I never had the requirement for a auto/semi auto weapon as I relied on my accuracy with a bolt or lever (quality not quantity).
 
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Night vision and laser sights for home security? Good idea.

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night vision goggles are not used very much, it's usually outside on my five acres if I hear odd stuff going on and want to see what is going on without scaring them off with a flashlight from a distance.

The lazer sight is usually my Taser.

You see, if someone was breaking into my home, I personally would not want to experience a death by my hand (I have no idea what emotions I would go through), so I bought a taser. It has a built in laser sight and just a red laser light scanning across things should be pretty intimidating. I also carry a gun at the same time, IF the noise or disturbance seems serious, but lead with the taser.
 
TonyK,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

That stinks.

I hope that doesn't happen here. I can't imagine the US citizens would let it happen.

I wouldn't really care if they banned AR-15s and other semi-auto military type rifles.

But if they banned other semi-autos, like the hunting shotgun my Dad willed to me when he died in 2010, I'd be really upset.

I think there is a place for semi-auto shotguns. Mainly bird hunting. Birds that are fast, like dove.
 
Australia's laws are similar to Canada's. We had a gun registry started after a school shooting. Our current gov just disolved the registry at the protest of the police. Next gov will bring it back, who knows. It was alot of money wasted or employment created depending on your angle.
Guns are a commonly needed tool in Canada as well so common sense is involved.

If the Americans would control their handguns I'm sure most Canadians would appreciate that. We've been trading bud for pistolas and AKs at the border for years. Guess what type of people do that? The kind that shouldn't have guns.

Apparently federal law doesn't trump state law in the US. There's a big mountain to climb. What do you think, civil war if they took your handguns? I doubt it.
 
I guess this proves my point. Nobody wants to talk about the medications.

Let's just keep blaming the dog when the cat eats the bird.
 
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TonyK,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

That stinks.

I hope that doesn't happen here. I can't imagine the US citizens would let it happen.

I wouldn't really care if they banned AR-15s and other semi-auto military type rifles.

But if they banned other semi-autos, like the hunting shotgun my Dad willed to me when he died in 2010, I'd be really upset.

I think there is a place for semi-auto shotguns. Mainly bird hunting. Birds that are fast, like dove.

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No problems X,

I don't know how strong the reformist movement are in the US yet it only takes something like the horrible events of CT to strengthen their numbers greatly and raise the volume of their voice. Here in Australia we live in an age of minority rules and those that shout loudest win. It's not a numbers game anymore.

For the record we thought the banning of repeating shotguns in this country was poorly thought through, there is absolutely no comparison to high capacity rifles.
 
I know about the medications, kind of like them. I slipped a cog more than ten years ago, spent about a year and a half useless. Refused to start SSRIs for a couple more years. Stayed on the first one for 3+ years and it made no difference. Pissed my friend off, he told me to change my pills so I did like the doc had been trying get me to do for a while. They added another one to my original perscription and it worked. I'm happy with my situation as soon as I get that wonderful bucket truck I'll be able to stop taking any. I think they helped and there wasn't really any option. I was too wacky to go to work and I enjoy work.

Note, even though I was too wacky for work I still went fishing and hunting, it helped me. Safe and solid out there. More or less.
 
There's a huge difference between the metabolisms of young teenage kids compared to adults.

Since when hasn't being a teen been a hormonally tumultuous time everybody?

Lay out the factual evidence on teens alone going postal while on or coming off of SSRI drugs?

jomoco
 
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I guess this proves my point. Nobody wants to talk about the medications.

Let's just keep blaming the dog when the cat eats the bird.

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G'day NeTree,

It's not that I don't want to discuss medications and drugs it's just that I know little and have read little data suggesting a link to these sorts of crimes.
I agree that drugs legal or illegal, prescription or over the counter pose a huge problem to society and to state and federal governments. The burdens placed on the health system in this country is immense and the social impact devastating.

You have prompted me to dig a little deeper Thanks.

At this moment here in Australia we have an issue in our cities and regional towns with what is now termed as "Alcohol Fuel Violence". Once people use to go out and drink to be social and behavior was moderated but presently a culture of "preloading" and "binge" drinking has scene an explosion in terrible assaults outside popular venues. These usually end in the loss of life or permanent disability. The violent nature is horrific and the streets look like a running small scale European soccer riot after midnight.
In this case a freely available, legal and widely used recreational/social drug is having a contributing effect on a number of today's revelers.
The fact is its not just the drug, its the way its used, the other factors such as the individuals mental stability and capability, cultural background the environment in which the individual has been conditioned in over the formative years of their lives, these all play a significant part in triggering this type of behavior.

I'm sorry but I can't agree or understand your "dog and cat" analogy. If as you say (and I have an open mind on this) medications are the catalyst for psychotic episodes that results in a gun related crime surely then the gun is the tool that facilitates the crime. As such they go hand in hand to produce the end result being the loss of innocent life.

Throughout history we have mitigated risk and hazards through invoking laws and rules, road rules, industry safety rules and the list goes on. These are all to preserve life. It could be argued that most of us are to smart to injure or killed ourselves or others operating without or outside these rules yet statistics show we are not.

Bit off topic, I apologise.
 
The evidence is overwhelming that SSRI's and teens never mixed well.

http://www.drugwatch.com/ssri/

Causing birth defects is a huge clue.

But billions of dollars in profits buys politicians and the media to look only where they're told to look, see?

SSRI medications can be legally prescribed to 8 year old kids to keep them in their school room seats, rather than the rambunctious things 8 year olds have been doing since the Stone Age.

You must conform or be legally medicated little Jonny!

jomoco
 
Thanks jomoco, I'll look into it further.

An interesting link from a totally different perspective. Whilst it wouldn't work in Australia due to our social views as a mass I wonder how it would be received in the US if Grossman's suggestions were implemented.
Some questions I have.
1. Would it deter these types of crimes?
2. Would it reduce the impact or severity
3. Is the answer to put controls in place or is prevention more appropriate
4 Or is a mix of both (control and prevention) required

web page Active-shooters-in-schools-The-enemy-is-denial
 
It's not just teens.

Shane Roso. 23.
Stephen Symonds. 22

Two of my best friends growing up, both lost to suicide. Both were placed on anti-depressants for minor problems only a short time before their deaths.

I saw Steve the morning of his death. He ran up, hugged me, and slapped me on the (grade school joke... You had to have been there...). He was laughing, smiling, and nothing he did or said was unusual or out of character.

By 7:00 that same night, my sister called me in tears. He lived with his wife and two kids in an apartment across from where my parents lived. He was found by another friend of ours in his basement, where he hung himself with his belt. We don't know why.

Shane had been out to a party, where by all accounts, nothing unusual or bad had happened. When he got home, he swallowed over 100 narcotic painkiller pills. He never woke up. We don't know why he did it. I hadn't seen him that week, but his sister told me he seemed happy, and things looked like they were getting better.

I miss my friends every single day. :(
 
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I guess this proves my point. Nobody wants to talk about the medications.

Let's just keep blaming the dog when the cat eats the bird.

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I agree, prescription drugs and mental illness should absolutely be part of this discussion. I think ACCESS to guns should be part of it too. I agree that responsible, qualified citizens should be able to own weapons of their choice but, what we need to figure out is how we can all work together to keep high capacity semi-autos out of the hands of crazies. I'll reiterate my previous point, we need to be more aware of how our individual actions affect those around us. This is clearly beyond a gun problem, it is a societal problem. What are we as individuals doing to affect those around us? What are we doing that makes people feel so alienated? So alienated that they resort to these actions. This is a complicated issue for me, a friend was killed at Virginia Tech, I have a friend going through some serious mental health issues right now, I was one of those kids that was overly prescribed, and I like and respect guns. I'm doing some serious soul searching right now. It's a complicated mash.
 
Access is already severely restricted. So much so, that if you're following the letter of the law, you couldn't actually use one to defend your home.

I think another missing link today is two parent households. We have more kids than ever with visitors instead of fathers, which seems to be another oft-occurring common theme among these psychos.
 
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Access is already severely restricted. So much so, that if you're following the letter of the law, you couldn't actually use one to defend your home.


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That's not an access to guns issue, it's a right to use issue. If you are an upstanding citizen of sound mind who is committed to helping end these massacres what's wrong with a little more patience and red tape to obtain the weapon of your choice? The right to defend is an important one but separate from the issue at hand IMO.
 
How much more red tape do you want?

If its saving lives you're really interested in, why don't we do background checks so drunk drivers can't buy cars?

Where do you draw the line?
 
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