Help for the Victims

[Malacite]

Since aky asked the thread to be locked before I could post this...

just thought I'd put this out there, for anyone who actually wants to DO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL instead of just crying on the internet resulting in little more than collective misery.



Help for victims of Sandy Hook Shooting - CNN.com



Wouldn't hurt to write your members of congress or Senators either possibly. I say possibly because the NRA has one hell of a stranglehold - there was a foot note on CNN earlier that said "Obama treads lightly on Assault Weapons Ban"

*sigh* Though to be fair, Connecticut has some of the toughest laws in the U.S. with regards to guns. This time around it looks to be more of the fault (and I use the term loosely - I don't actually BLAME anyone here at least not directly) of just people missing the signs or not acting on them. I hate to use this cliche, but really... it's always the quiet ones that snap (Hell I've been tempted a couple of times myself...)


But enough of that, I was just ranting a bit before bed. The main thing here is there's a direct link to support the families if anyone so chooses. Even if it's just moral support, I'm sure they'll appreciate whatever kind words you have to offer.

[Aeni]

Re: Help for the Victims

To be fair, the discussion did veer away from Aky's intent, which I assumed was to both commiserate and to express condolences, maybe even provide updates on the situation. There are previous threads from previous episodes which could easily be "necro'd" and discussions regarding usage and policies concerning guns, mental illness and societal issues stemming from these tragedies could be partaken there.

And out of respect to the family of the victims and of the perp, I'd say, keep this thread clean and solely focused on helping the victims, which I didn't think would have been outside the scope of Aky's thread (if done properly) in the first place.

[Malacite]

Re: Help for the Victims

OK well, unfortunately the link for the evergram isn't working properly or something... stupid idiots -___-'

I'm hoping they fix it soon as I'd like to send them my wishes personally.

[Absentia]

Re: Help for the Victims

What exactly would you like to be done to guns, Mal?

[Malacite]

Re: Help for the Victims

I've ranted about that in other topics, and this thread was mainly just to point out the help link. We should probably have an actual threat dedicated to the debate for those purposes, but as far as gun control goes I just don't think anyone should own anything that isn't strictly intended for Military & Police use - no one needs to have extended magazines, assault weapons, or a .50 anti-material rifle that can punch through a freaking airplane.

Long Rant if you want to see it...

Obama summed it up quite well the other day - banning these weapons & magazines, mandating background checks on all purchases closing the gunshow loopholes (need to stop the sales at secondary markets altogether as well) and setting up proper access to mental care for people; that last point is especially important. So many of these incidents occur because somebody slipped through the cracks of society and either no one knew or did anything about it. There's also the cultural issue, but I'm a bit leery to go after that personally - partly because I like violent games and I'm an avid firearms enthusiast, but I also know that when I'm mowing down people in Battlefield 3, it's just a game. I haven't been desensitised to the violence either; realistic (and real-life violence) gore still churns my stomach. I can handle it in games for the most part but I still can't watch certain scenes in many movies. The stuff happening in Syria makes me sick to the core etc...

My point is I don't necessarily buy the argument that media is responsible (especially when you look at the 80's & 90's when Arnold & Sylvester were at their peaks) though I do firmly believe parents should pay closer attention to what their kids are watching & playing.

The only thing I'm really on the fence over is proper training - I think mandating someone take the proper courses to operate a firearm before purchasing one (or showing a notorized certificate saying you've passed the course) would help ensure there are a lot less idiots out there handling a gun improperly, but the reverse is also true; someone who gets one and later snaps will then be that much more efficient with it...

Still, I do think it's probably for the best. I mean, when I start hearing the nonsense arguments about having more people armed, even the pros don't always get it right as in the recent NY incident where cops killed 8 civies. My friend in the Canadian forces put it another way; suppose he were armed and he shoots the attacker in the hallway. Then someone else hears the shot, takes his or her gun and sees him standing over the body with a weapon - before you know it you've got a chain reaction.


While I personally believe the 2nd amendment pertains to the militia and NOT the average citizen, it just doesn't seem feasible to amend it for clarification at this point and so the only reasonable approach is to try what I stated above. I've been watching Pears Morgan lately and each night this week he's had some very spirited & (mostly) productive discussions, barring a few idiots.