"If it's mental illness, why can't we get legislation to address mental illness? Why can't we get red flag laws, which MIGHT keep guns out of the hands of people who could do harm to others? Why can't we get universal background checks to weed out those who shouldn't be allowed to have access to a gun? "
Agree 100% with this. Banning all semiautomatic weapons? That would take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens - for example, my husband...who has a 9mil - it's not an "assault" weapon and, guess what? It only fires bullets when he pulls the trigger - THAT'S the common denominator. (in response to your comment of the gun being the only common denominator).
It's the mental status of the individual - and you will never convince me that there is not something mentally wrong with any person who decides it's time to take a gun and go kill some people - I blame many things on this - our current society, video games, lack of oversight, etc etc - but the mental aspect, IMO, is more the common denominator - if they have the mindset to carry out the deed, they will. In fact, I've heard a couple recent reports of multiple killings with a knife and a machete.
All the laws in the world are not going to stop guns - there IS truth in the statement "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns". All those laws will do is ensure that good people will get guns illegally. |
