Hogester79

I've got a small problem with the other article that was posted. Does John Lott really think that mentally ill people go to Movie Theaters and Schools because they perceive the risk to be less or because there will be lots of people about and therefore maximum damage? If they are mentally ill then doesn't that imply they aren't thinking that clearly?

JoeyB - I promise I am not trying to be condescending or implying my country is better than yours and if it was coming across that way then I apologize. My question is this - How do you stop what has been happening? KB - this was also what I was trying to imply - if an attitude is "this is the way that it has always been and therefore tough" doesn't necessarily mean it can't be analysed and because its being analysed doesn't mean it has to change. Is it the wrong thing for a nation to look at itself and say this system isn't perfect so what can we do to change it? How do we protect the people that can't protect themselves? This to me is the biggest issue. If this was happening here in Australia, I would certainly hope that we could look at ways to make changes and not always revert back a specific law/ rule/ amendment as the reason that why we don't have to change. Suggest changes, vote on them. If they get voted down so be it. For example Australia is based on a constitution as opposed to a number of Amendments, and these can be changed with majority vote.

This is the exact argument I am making. Crime leads to more crime. He attacked me so I can attack back. If you never draw a line in the sand and say hey how is there a better way we can have guns and make sure innocent people don't get caught out at schools or at the movies or colleges where people go to learn and improve themselves then you'll always have the same problem repeating itself.

JoeyB - Firstly a discussion is where both sides are considered not dismissed outright, by being negative at everything that I said, to me doesn't constitute a discussion all it says is " I am right, you are wrong". Ever been in trouble with the missus and tried to have a proper discussion when she was all heated up? Did you win that one? Just for the record - I am a hunter, I have my licence and I grew up around guns. Do I need a hand gun or a semi auto/ fully automatic to go hunting no. Do I need to protect myself from gun crime? no. Why? Because of a sensible outlook on gun ownership. In Australia - you have a criminal record with any violent behavior noted - no license. Simple. Get brought on on domestic violence charges - even if you haven't been to court yet - guns removed until you they are dismissed. I completely understand that in the USA gun ownership is viewed as a right and not a privilege and that's fine, but sensible and reasonable should also fit into that statement. The role of any government should be to provide for and protect those that can't. Clearly your laws and your system doesn't do that so it needs help. Putting your head in the sand and dismissing any discussion because the 2nd amendment says I can have this or that isn't a discussion its just hiding from fact. Let me ask you this question - If there were more or less guns in the USA what would happen to gun crime?

Being an outsider (Australian) I can tell you what our laws are like here. I know they have been explained but I will do it again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_(Australia) In 1996 we had our own version of what you guys seem to be occurring far too often. Yes the guy had a mental disability and yes it was a huge reason why this happened in the first place. What did we do? We banned the sale of semi automatic weapons to the general public. We saw no reason for anyone to have large capacity magazines and the ability to keep spraying bullets as fast as you can. We took away the ability to modify a weapon you could buy over the counter and turn it fully automatic. So what happened in Australia? We accepted it. We as a nation saw logic and reason. We saw that if we limit the opportunity for this to happen again to this extent then we won't have to mourn the loss of one of our own the same way. In Australia its illegal to own a weapon for self protection and you know what? We have very very little reason for that same reason. What I see as part of the problem about American gun mind set - is the idea that if someone comes onto my property I can shoot them and preferably dead. I am not saying that you don't have the right to defend you or your family at all, what I have a problem with is the mind set that to protect myself I have to have a gun as a deterrent. Do see a bad guy thinking oh they might have a gun so I won't break in and take what I want? Nope they do it anyway and the consequences will be what they will be. Was the "right to bear arms" really meant to mean the right to own a gun no matter what? or was it meant to mean the right to take up arms and protect ourselves from a government or organisation that is attempting to take away the freedoms that you fought for in the Civil War? In Australia we don't have a mind set that a gun will protect us, the UK is exactly the same. The police in England don't even carry a gun on the street, only special divisions within their police force are allowed to carry weapons. They have gun laws, they have private gun owners but they don't have this need or want to end up in the newspapers being displayed as some sort of twisted idol this is repeated again and again. You might say that I have no idea what its like in the USA and therefore I can't comment. If I lived there I would need a gun to feel safe but that is 99% of the problem. The NRA and gun lobbies want to scare you into thinking your rights will be taken away if you have any restrictions on your gun laws. Why can't you guys have a sensible and rational discussion about the best way to prevent the severity of the problem? The easiest thing to say is - mental health. Lets get rid of the loonies and this will never happen again but that's not the real answer is it. If you make it harder to get these weapons then it makes it harder to repeat. Proper background checks, guns that are designed not specifically to kill only people, perhaps smaller magazine capacities. Just because the amendment exists doesn't mean its always right. Just because something was always done a particular way, doesn't mean its right. The true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.