1ºRich Favors the term assault weapon is actually a made up term. The weapon you are probably refering to would be an AR-15. They also serve other purposes other than killing people. Hunting is but one. It is no more dangerous than a bolt action or semi auto 30-06. Or a semi auto Ruger 10/22. All are used for hunting as well as large prey removal that endangers herds on farm land.
No worthwhile military in the world uses AR-15's for their military. They aren't powerful or have a high enough rate of fire to be effective. They wouldn't survive in an assault like situation, thus they couldn't be in an assult type category.
I've used all the above weapons to hunt deer, hogs, boar, wolves and coyotes. Except for deer hunting, a semi auto weapon is preferred as the boars can get very big and it takes more than one shot to take them down sometimes. Wolves travel in packs and can be very aggressive. A semi auto rifle makes the difference as you can take them down with one shot and rapidly move on to the next. Coyotes are a little different as they aren't as aggressive towards humans but move a great speeds. Sometimes it requires rapid fire to take them down on the run. All of those weapons are also a great deterent for would be home invaders. They usually watch a house before they attempt to break in. Just stepping outside with on, randomly, can deter would be home invaders without even firing a shot, thus again providing an example of how they have different uses as well.
I explained in another post how knives have been used in killing more than firearms. In a FBI and DOJ review of deaths by weapons, hands and feet killed more people than firearms, followed by edged weapons (swords, knives, axes and such) then blunt objects (bats, rocks and such) and then firearms. The most used firearm wasn't an AR-15, but hand guns (.22, 9m, .38, 44mag and so on)
My point was, they didn't blame the knife in this case, they blamed the person. In most cases where an AR-15 is used, they start calling for gun control. Gun control only hurts law abiding citizens cause criminals don't follow the laws. And if they can't get a gun then they will use something else. This attack proves it.
In all of March, not a single shooting killed more than 3 people and injured 7. Not a single one. The most was 3 deaths and that included the shooter. Most of them involved AR-15 rifles (giving them the "kill people rapidly" options that you attribute to said rifle, but the majority only killed 1 person with tons of rounds left over.
2ºThe idiocy behind all of you commenting in some sort of convoluted way thinking you are tongue in cheek, using the arguments used when the incident involves a gun is insensitive and ignorant. People are always going to do horrible, horrible things. The deaths in this incident are just as terrible no matter what the weapon is. HOWEVER - had this individual had one of your precious guns (you idol worshippers), the body count would have been so much higher. Your argument is flawed and unnecessary. Using a tragic event like this to use a metaphor that falls flat is disgusting. Nice try.
3ºH Sam Wells There are plenty of other countries that have similar mental health issue rates as the U.S., but nowhere near the amount of violent crime, mass shootings or mass stabbings. There's more to the story here regarding our violent, divided culture.
I think a lot comes down to what we consume. Our food is grown on mega-farms in soil that is poisoned, and the animals raised being given hormones and chemical diets. The water we drink is contaminated, and many large cities still use lead pipes. I live in a smaller city of 30,000 people, our water is so contaminated that it's borderline non-consumable. I bought an RO system. Our air is being polluted by all the factories and vehicles. Our medicine/health has been leveraged by the rich who simply want to profit off of keeping Americans sick and unhealthy. It's not far off to think that big pharma has leveraged many of largest food producers through their leveraging of our own Government.
4ºScott Cronan I’m 61, and there have always been murders, assaults, wars, shootings, stabbing, etc., because humans are emotionally unstable creatures. The biggest difference now, it that we not only have 24 hour nationwide, worldwide news, but also countless social media platforms, where people can exploit fears, prejudices, and unstable emotions. Any and every instance of violence anywhere, is instantly forced into our eyeballs. The vast majority of humans, go about their daily lives, boring, predictable, and uneventful.
If you don’t like shootings, then vote against the Party that sanctions and celebrates, the vile gun culture that exists in America.
The vast majority of crime, is caused by addictions and poverty, neither of which can be solved by prison. Don’t vote for the Party that believes that more incarceration is the only answer.
The two greatest investments, that any country can make in its citizens, are education and healthcare. Both are important in eradicating addictions and poverty. Vote against the Party, that always blocks progress in those areas.
We do have one problem that e haven’t had before, and that’s one political Party, that is the antithesis of progress in America- and they revel in that!!
5ºSonny Léa Scopelleti
“List of cities by homicide rate”
Any statics showing the US in any kind of elevated category for violence is purely because democrat run and populated blue cities.
Nazi democrats are hate filled violent thug animals.
Violent democrat cities in the top 50 of the world:
8. New Orleans- hard core democrat city.
17. Baltimore- 100% nazi democrat run/populated.
23. Detroit- all violent democrats.
25. Memphis- thug democrat cess pool.
27. Cleveland- democrats murdering people day and night.
39. Milwaukee- run and populated by feral thug democrats.
41. San Juan- far south violent democrats.
46. Philadelphia- “city of brotherly love”. Only if you love murdering people. 1000% violent democrats again.
https://en.m.wikipedia.or...y_homicide_rate
6ºNathan Neel of course not, but they do happen. They just don't get reported. Near where I live, a man went on a knife killing spree. He attacked his soon to be ex wife in her car, then proceeded to attack others in their cars while everyone was parked at a red light. Killed 3 people and injured 2. Another man attacked people at his workplace with a hatchet and a knife. Killed 6 and injured 4. Another one was a woman who was on drugs and attacked people by the bridge (underneath it is a park) and she ended up killing 2 and injuring 1.
None of these were reported on the major news networks, just the local news. They are still considered mass casualty events by the FBI and DOJ definitions.
Pretty sure if you looked into it you would see a few where you live as well.
7ºThese senseless killings you see now should surprise no one. A woman stabbed on the streets of Chinatown in LA the other day in broad daylight and someone pushed into the train as it approached its' stop in New York. With people being evicted from high rent apartments, food and utilities prices skyrocketing, homeless people living everywhere on the streets of America, there's no surprise that when these people have finally lost hope and faith, they don't have a care in the world. And why should they? The feel their life is meaningless and over. So why not make someone else suffer and feel their pain. It doesn't have to make sense to any of us. That's irrelevant to them. Irrational people don't give a s**t what the rational person thinks of them. Taking an innocent person life to them is like taking a walk in the park to them. It's going to get worse. Trust me. Survival of the fittest.
8ºMichael Teggart Which types of firearms are most commonly used in gun murders in the U.S.?
In 2020, the most recent year for which the FBI has published data, handguns were involved in 59% of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters for which data is available. Rifles – the category that includes guns sometimes referred to as “assault weapons” – were involved in .006% of firearm murders. Shotguns were involved in 1%. The remainder of gun homicides and non-negligent manslaughters (36%) involved other kinds of firearms or those classified as “type not stated.”
It’s important to note that the FBI’s statistics do not capture the details on all gun murders in the U.S. each year. The FBI’s data is based on information voluntarily submitted by police departments around the country, and not all agencies participate or provide complete information each year.
Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Aug. 16, 2019.
https://www.pewresearch.o...ths-in-the-u-s/
9ºMandating the death penalty for crimes like this would save tax payers so much money. The money saved to not house the obvious guilty for life could be used to help those who can be rehabilitated for lesser crimes. This is just my opinion. Edit: I suppose I should have elaborated on the original post. Yes, I am aware that it costs a great deal of money to house death row inmates. There are much faster methods for imposed death sentences, such as firing squad. I doubt that would be reinstated for states that used it prior. Also yes, I am educated. The pretentious comments from those who offered no constructive responses were comical to read. Again, this is just an opinion. There is no right answer here.
10ºNathan Neel there are more knives in America than there are guns. A person can conceal a knife easier than a gun. Knives can be picked up and carried around in Wal-Mart without anyone blinking an eye.
A person needs a little training to use a gun on someone, but anyone can pick up a knife and use it effectively on someone.
This person killed 4 and wounded 7 with a knife. The last big shooting incident the person only killed 2 (one was the shooter) and wounded 8 yet they had 200 rounds. In March of 2024 all the shootings involved (considered mass casualty shootings) only 1 or 2 people (in some cases including the shooter) being killed and 1 or 2 people being injured.