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Sunday, September 22, 2019

The only thing that will really stop mass shootings

 
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     I have noticed that in trying to solve a problem a person's biases tend to cause them to chose a solution that confirms their bias rather than getting at the root of the problem.  That reality seems to exist in the debate on how to stop the mass shootings that seem to be occurring with more frequency.  The mass shootings seem to require a gun that that shoots bullets quickly and a young, white male that has anger and revenge issues.  How do you eliminate one of those two facts?  Let's assume that you can't eliminate young, white males with anger and revenge issues that easily.  "Red flag" laws that require having the ability to identify and monitor every young, white males with anger issues is unrealistic.  Requiring expanded background checks in most of the mass shootings doesn't seem to have prevented the shooter from obtaining the gun.  Often the mass shooter hasn't been diagnosed with a mental illness or some other condition that would have prevented the sale of the gun.
      So what is the common feature to almost all mass shootings?  The shooter purchased the assault weapon within 6 months of the mass shooting.  Ban the sale of assault weapons and after 6 months mass shootings will decrease or possibly stop.  We will still have shootings that kill 3-4 people because there will still be time to get off that many shots before the shooter is contained but 20-30 people being killed will be made difficult.
      When the next mass shooting happens, and it will happen, notice how recently the shooter obtained the assault weapon.

P.S.
     There is a lack of logic and consistency in the argument against banning assault weapons.  We already ban the sale of other weapons of war such as private ownership of tanks, bazookas and machine guns.  Why do we allow the sale to private individuals of assault weapons that have the same potential to kill large numbers of people quickly?

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