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Philer wrote:

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katie5445 wrote:

I disagree, you don't have to be "bent" because you have a gun, bent is bent. The movie "Halloween" which I've never seen, I wouldn't use as an example. You cant require every person to take a mental competency test, that goes to the darkside and is not realistic in a population who owns up to 300 million guns at a rate of 44% of the population.

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Jacob Evans, the "Halloween" murderer I referred to, was apparently bent by that film to commit murder but his bent wasn't great enough to get him to kill by using a knife as in the film. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. A gun made it possible apparently because he didn't have be up so close and personal to his sister or mother when shooting them rather than using a knife.

Why wouldn't you use "Halloween" as an example? Various versions of that stupid movie have apparently led to people being murdered.

If we're going to consider mental illness as the reason for gun homicides testing and screening people for it before allowing people to buy a gun makes perfectly good sense.

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Philer wrote:

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I have nothing against testing people with a background check as well as mental competency.
But since they are all still going to have easy access to guns, you can't wait to do the testing.
The war on drugs ensures high drug profits and risks, that ensure a constant supply of easily obtainable firearms.
So if you wait until they try to buy the gun legally, it will be too late in most cases. There is not a single school shooting that happened with a legally purchased gun.
So if you want to catch those who are dangerous, you have to have universal testing. That is the only way to find out who they are before the murders.-Rigby

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There have been school shootings carried out with legally obtained guns, sometimes mistakenly supplied to the shooters by molly coddling parents. But I agree with the need for universal testing. It could happen in schools. Problem kids should be carefully evaluated early on. But locking them up is not the answer. Just keeping guns out of their hands including making it illegal for parents to supply them with them.

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There are some shootings where guns were obtained legally, like with Paddock on Los Vegas, but I doubt testing would have stopped that one either.

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What would have probably stopped that or at least limited the casualties was a ban on bump stocks but of course there was no ban on them in this irrational society.

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I instead would suggest we work more on better socialization in general. Fewer wars, less hysterical headlines, less partisan bickering between congress and president, etc.

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I'm all for those things as well as far fewer films promoting irrational violence like "Halloween."

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katie5445 wrote:

Everything you said sounds like a person willing to give up power/control. I gave suggestions, more extensive background checks, no more straw sales. Or as you have brought up addressing poverty, lack of education, opportunity in ghettos and rural areas. I'm not looking for an overnight solution,, I am looking at the future and my attitude has always been I rather try and fail than not try at all and doing nothing is worse.

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Philer wrote:

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Rigby5 wrote:

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Philer wrote:

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katie5445 wrote:

I disagree, you don't have to be "bent" because you have a gun, bent is bent. The movie "Halloween" which I've never seen, I wouldn't use as an example. You cant require every person to take a mental competency test, that goes to the darkside and is not realistic in a population who owns up to 300 million guns at a rate of 44% of the population.

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Jacob Evans, the "Halloween" murderer I referred to, was apparently bent by that film to commit murder but his bent wasn't great enough to get him to kill by using a knife as in the film. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. A gun made it possible apparently because he didn't have be up so close and personal to his sister or mother when shooting them rather than using a knife.

Why wouldn't you use "Halloween" as an example? Various versions of that stupid movie have apparently led to people being murdered.

If we're going to consider mental illness as the reason for gun homicides testing and screening people for it before allowing people to buy a gun makes perfectly good sense.

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Certainly a gun is more of an amplifier than a knife, and greater distance as well, But a car, crossbow, poison, etc. are all more powerful and distant, The genie is out of the bottle and deadly technology is ubiquitous. Targeting one possible weapons, when there are so many, not only is pointless, but leaves honest people defenseless.
Sure there has to be mental illness involved for these senseless mass murder/suicides. But you can't wait until they try to buy a gun. That would ignore the other weapons or illegal means available. Testing has to be universal and sooner rather than later.

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I have no interest in leaving honest and law-abiding people defenseless. In fact I'm an advocate of women carrying guns and other effective weapons for self-defense. The problem is guns winding up in the hands of criminals who use them to intimidate, harass and murder innocent law-abiding folks.

That needs to be stopped. One way to do that is with technology. Technology can be the answer.

One other point, as I've pointed out mental illness is not a requirement for violent criminal activity. They only need an agenda which involves placing more importance on something the criminal wants than on the victim. Not caring about victims doesn't require mental illness, just a form of stupidity.

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