These horrific events call for much stronger responses. Sadly, more people in the general community need to be armed and ready to stop such events quickly in order to save lives. Trained and sworn law enforcement officers carry firearms on and off-duty, but these alone have been demonstrated to be not enough. An adage says, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." Those minutes, as we've seen many times, are crucial.
There are many good people; gun owners, off-duty and former military personnel, and others who can be trained. vetted, and should be allowed to carry concealed firearms in public. Currently, county sheriffs can decline to issue a concealed carry permit to anyone for any reason. I favor a "shall issue" law, requiring county sheriffs to issue concealed carry permits to anyone who can pass the sheriff's legitimate training and vetting process. And, these permits should be expanded to include semi-automatic rifles being carried in proper security containers in motor vehicles. Your can't do much good when you're out at the mall and your gun is at home in the safe.
Gun possession should obviously be denied to felons, drug addicts, and people with diagnosed mental illness. That's been the law for some time. But these mass murderers are often none of the above. We cannot just take the guns away from everyone, and the so-called "common sense" gun control laws being enacted do nothing to curtail these incidents. The news says the assault rifles used in the San Bernardino massacre were legally purchased. Yet, to see them lying on the street in the overhead news video, I see numerous characteristics such as collapsible stocks, pistol grips, forward grips, and 30 round magazines that already make them non-saleable in California. Useless "common sense" laws. Another adage says, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Like it or not, it's true. There is no easy answer as long as we have violent and hate-filled people in our midst.
One final adage, "An armed society is a polite society." Give that one some thought.
David Clemson - 8 years ago
Even if guns were outlawed today, there are millions of guns out there. What are you going to do? Go door to door collecting guns from law abiding gun owners? What i find more concerning than terrorism is that President Obama is absolutely clueless in how to handle this. The terrorists are already here. They are in your neighborhoods, in your work place, teaching in your schools and even in our law enforcement. THEY ARE ALREADY HERE!!! Ask the friends and family members of the 14 dead Americans how concerned they are about climate change. We need a strong leader that we can have confidence in again. This cancer has been ignored for too long and now we are terminal.
Margaret Williams - 8 years ago
Gun ownership is not on my wish list and never will be sinceI have no intention of joining a militia and I have never heard a news story in which a private, law-abiding citizen experienced anything good by being a gun- or assault weapon owner.
Darla Schwarz - 8 years ago
I feel if people who want to carry a concealed gun, should be able to as long as they are registered and have taken a safety class. If people had a gun when these territory attacks happen, they could use it on these terrible people and kill them before they kill so many other people. So many people die because there is no way of stopping them before the police come. That's just crazy. We should have fund for our own protection.
These horrific events call for much stronger responses. Sadly, more people in the general community need to be armed and ready to stop such events quickly in order to save lives. Trained and sworn law enforcement officers carry firearms on and off-duty, but these alone have been demonstrated to be not enough. An adage says, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." Those minutes, as we've seen many times, are crucial.
There are many good people; gun owners, off-duty and former military personnel, and others who can be trained. vetted, and should be allowed to carry concealed firearms in public. Currently, county sheriffs can decline to issue a concealed carry permit to anyone for any reason. I favor a "shall issue" law, requiring county sheriffs to issue concealed carry permits to anyone who can pass the sheriff's legitimate training and vetting process. And, these permits should be expanded to include semi-automatic rifles being carried in proper security containers in motor vehicles. Your can't do much good when you're out at the mall and your gun is at home in the safe.
Gun possession should obviously be denied to felons, drug addicts, and people with diagnosed mental illness. That's been the law for some time. But these mass murderers are often none of the above. We cannot just take the guns away from everyone, and the so-called "common sense" gun control laws being enacted do nothing to curtail these incidents. The news says the assault rifles used in the San Bernardino massacre were legally purchased. Yet, to see them lying on the street in the overhead news video, I see numerous characteristics such as collapsible stocks, pistol grips, forward grips, and 30 round magazines that already make them non-saleable in California. Useless "common sense" laws. Another adage says, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Like it or not, it's true. There is no easy answer as long as we have violent and hate-filled people in our midst.
One final adage, "An armed society is a polite society." Give that one some thought.
Even if guns were outlawed today, there are millions of guns out there. What are you going to do? Go door to door collecting guns from law abiding gun owners? What i find more concerning than terrorism is that President Obama is absolutely clueless in how to handle this. The terrorists are already here. They are in your neighborhoods, in your work place, teaching in your schools and even in our law enforcement. THEY ARE ALREADY HERE!!! Ask the friends and family members of the 14 dead Americans how concerned they are about climate change. We need a strong leader that we can have confidence in again. This cancer has been ignored for too long and now we are terminal.
Gun ownership is not on my wish list and never will be sinceI have no intention of joining a militia and I have never heard a news story in which a private, law-abiding citizen experienced anything good by being a gun- or assault weapon owner.
I feel if people who want to carry a concealed gun, should be able to as long as they are registered and have taken a safety class. If people had a gun when these territory attacks happen, they could use it on these terrible people and kill them before they kill so many other people. So many people die because there is no way of stopping them before the police come. That's just crazy. We should have fund for our own protection.