“He was such a nice boy,” said the uncle/aunt/grandparent, who each insisted there’d been absolutely no indication that the young man would go in and shoot up a mall, a church, a school.
At the very least gun insurance. And gun licenses should be handled just like driver's licenses: minimum age, training and a test required, expiration and reapplication every few years. Insurance per gun the way we have it per car might even cut down on the number of guns people own. As for families being held responsible--if someone can be held responsible for buying alcohol for an underaged person, then the it should work the same way for buying a gun for an underaged person.
I look at it the same way. I would see it similar to extremely fast car, It has no business in the hands of a kid. Every gun insured would certainly cut back on ownership. A clear, firm, and meaningful, licensing program would probably absolve families from liability, but nothing should absolve them from not safely storing guns. You cannot leave keys in cars for example. We also need to regulate self loading semiautomatics the same way we handle machine guns. Their is no rational reason for civilian possession.
Your comment reminds me that homeowners are asked if they have a dog when seeking insurance for their property. WHY aren't they asked if they have a gun?
Massachusetts has a nice set of gun laws. They ban assault weapons, require background checks, and regulate gun storage. If parents don't lock up their guns and ammo properly, they can get18 months in prison.
I have never seen this and thank you. I think I watched it looking for answers, but she doesn't have any, either, and that must be awful for her. I cannot imagine her pain, as I cannot imagine the pain of the people her son killed.
The most important thing I took from it is that we can't automatically blame parents for the actions of their kids.
Couple of other big messages were first of all that her son and many other school shooters are motivated by suicidal thoughts. A small but significant percentage of suicides involve homicides as well. She thinks we need to be more aggressive in assessing and caring for mental health problems which include people with persistent suicidal thoughts. And second, she thinks we have to regulate gun purchases. Her family had no guns in the house--somebody helped the two Columbine kids get their guns.
BTW Susan, if you haven't read Columbine by Dave Cullen, I highly recommend it. Just an amazing piece of reporting. One of the things that was impressive was that he was so critical of his own original reporting about the event.
The fact that this 'kid' was able to buy 2 assault weapons and thousands of rounds of ammo is the constant theme in most of these slaughters! I believe it was his uncle who took him to the gun shop to purchase one of the AR's?!? In Texas the pro-gun gQp let by "Ironsides" will do nothing to prevent the next deranged killer from obtaining an AR! As a matter of fact "Ironsides" has not been to ONE funeral in Uvalde - think about that?!?
I liked all of these comments but couldn’t get them to click. So much needs to be done yet these Neanderthal leaders do nothing. I’m sick of hearing about another mass shooting with an assault weapon every few days. And then they say that the kid never shot this weapon before. How much skill does it take to pull the trigger on a weapon of war and kill so many people.
I suppose if I had the blood-gargling NRA lining my pockets and sending me and my family on fabulous vacations, I'd have a hard time hearing the screams of shot children.
I'm lying. I don't think all the fancy crap the NRA buys their bought-and-paid-for politicians can drown out the cries of those children, and their families.
At the very least gun insurance. And gun licenses should be handled just like driver's licenses: minimum age, training and a test required, expiration and reapplication every few years. Insurance per gun the way we have it per car might even cut down on the number of guns people own. As for families being held responsible--if someone can be held responsible for buying alcohol for an underaged person, then the it should work the same way for buying a gun for an underaged person.
I look at it the same way. I would see it similar to extremely fast car, It has no business in the hands of a kid. Every gun insured would certainly cut back on ownership. A clear, firm, and meaningful, licensing program would probably absolve families from liability, but nothing should absolve them from not safely storing guns. You cannot leave keys in cars for example. We also need to regulate self loading semiautomatics the same way we handle machine guns. Their is no rational reason for civilian possession.
Your comment reminds me that homeowners are asked if they have a dog when seeking insurance for their property. WHY aren't they asked if they have a gun?
All this, too.
Absolutely. All of this.
Massachusetts has a nice set of gun laws. They ban assault weapons, require background checks, and regulate gun storage. If parents don't lock up their guns and ammo properly, they can get18 months in prison.
I agree with other posters--holding parents responsible in other ways is pretty tricky. Kids are very crafty about hiding their behaviors. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend Sue Klebold's Ted Talk about this here: https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story
I have never seen this and thank you. I think I watched it looking for answers, but she doesn't have any, either, and that must be awful for her. I cannot imagine her pain, as I cannot imagine the pain of the people her son killed.
The most important thing I took from it is that we can't automatically blame parents for the actions of their kids.
Couple of other big messages were first of all that her son and many other school shooters are motivated by suicidal thoughts. A small but significant percentage of suicides involve homicides as well. She thinks we need to be more aggressive in assessing and caring for mental health problems which include people with persistent suicidal thoughts. And second, she thinks we have to regulate gun purchases. Her family had no guns in the house--somebody helped the two Columbine kids get their guns.
See, I missed most of this because I wanted a quick answer. Maybe I should go back and rewatch it.
BTW Susan, if you haven't read Columbine by Dave Cullen, I highly recommend it. Just an amazing piece of reporting. One of the things that was impressive was that he was so critical of his own original reporting about the event.
Based on your say-so, I will.
(Just ordered it.)
The fact that this 'kid' was able to buy 2 assault weapons and thousands of rounds of ammo is the constant theme in most of these slaughters! I believe it was his uncle who took him to the gun shop to purchase one of the AR's?!? In Texas the pro-gun gQp let by "Ironsides" will do nothing to prevent the next deranged killer from obtaining an AR! As a matter of fact "Ironsides" has not been to ONE funeral in Uvalde - think about that?!?
This is the price we pay for freedom? What does the governor tell himself so he can sleep at night?
I liked all of these comments but couldn’t get them to click. So much needs to be done yet these Neanderthal leaders do nothing. I’m sick of hearing about another mass shooting with an assault weapon every few days. And then they say that the kid never shot this weapon before. How much skill does it take to pull the trigger on a weapon of war and kill so many people.
I suppose if I had the blood-gargling NRA lining my pockets and sending me and my family on fabulous vacations, I'd have a hard time hearing the screams of shot children.
I'm lying. I don't think all the fancy crap the NRA buys their bought-and-paid-for politicians can drown out the cries of those children, and their families.
I think most lawmakers don’t have a taste for this, either. And I admit the option I didn’t include was sell less guns to people.
One thing we know, when all is said and done MORE will be said than done....the killings will continue unchecked:((
More will be said than done. That’s so true.