Houston Texas College Shooting (1 Viewer)

[tdubel]

I am 51 as of today, Love guns but not when nut cases use military grade semi automatic weapons to kill masses of innocent people. To answer the next question of what is considered a military grade type weapon........The .223 Bushmaster with a 30 round clip or 100 round drum style magazine. Any target shooter would be satisfied with a 10 round magazine for the sport of shooting. Killers wanting to take out as many people in the quickest amount of time want the high cap magazines to cut down on reload time. These guns do not have to be capable of firing on fully automatic mode. My M4 rifle in the Army had semi auto and 3 round burst only on it as full auto made it less controllable when fired full out.
These guns firing a very high velocity bullet shot in semi auto are extremely lethal when the shooter places his shots one at a time versus emptying out the magazine in 3 seconds or less.

..........Plain and simple. ^&cool

Sorry, not that plain and simple and I completely disagree with you. When I am on range, I prefer the 30 round clip. Much easier and a helluva lot more fun and challenging. To me, that is what it is about. I am not out there killing anyone with it. And please stop calling them "military grade semi auto weapons", they just AINT THAT! Anyone in the military will tell you that they are crap compared to their weapons.

Also, I would challenge your assumption on reload time. I know plenty of people who can fire more 10 round clips in a minute than I can 100 rounds on a drum via a semi automatic weapon!

All guns are lethal, it is still the individual who is the issue. You can give up your guns in the name of the greater good, I prefer to keep mine right where they are - in the hands of a responsible law abiding citizen.

TD

 

[Desertkiwi]

Thanks TD & Panzer Ace, it's great reading your posts Guys! Many thanks.

 

[tdubel]

Thanks TD & Panzer Ace, it's great reading your posts Guys! Many thanks.

I dont know how informative my posts are, there are a few folks on here who are way more knowledgable than I and they could really "educate" the masses on this subject, but they read more than post! I think it is more therapeutic on the blood pressure that way when it comes to this subject.

As you could see from BL Reed, I understand what he was saying, it is a highly frustrating issue here and most who are gun owners (like him) feel that the politicos are capitalizing on a tragedy to tramp on our rights in order to play to the emotions of potential voters. I hate to say it that way, but that is the sad truth and commentary on our USA system right now!

TD

 

[TomNT]

I will refrain from commenting on opinions from Down Under. I also would be interested in the age of all those commenting on this subject? My guess would be mostly 50 plus, as it is human nature to tell other people what they should be able to do if that hobby/interest has passed you by. Anyone care to post their age and if they still have an interest in guns in general?

I am 45 and if you read my post (# 7) you will see that i am all for private gun ownership but i also believe that high capacity, large calibre semi automatic weapons should not be available to private citizens. I agree with Tom that law abiding citizens should not be penalised because of a few maniacs but unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world and if these high capacity, large calibre semi automatic weapons are readily available to these nut jobs then we must restrict their availability. Perhaps a middle ground could be reached where people already owning these weapons can keep them so long as they pass strict background checks, store them in a very secure area (and is checked regularly by the Police) and are fully licensed. No new licences will be issued for these weapons but people wishing to own a firearm will still be able to buy low capacity, small calibre semi automatic weapons, pump action shot guns, semi automatic pistols etc so long as they pass strict background checks, meet secure storage requirements and are fully licensed. This might mean the end of gun shows and guns being readily available but it might lessen the chance of these nuts getting firearms so easily. No license no gun in other words.
Another idea would be that if people want to fire a high capacity, large calibre semi automatic weapon then they can on a licensed shooting range but the guns must belong to the range and are locked up on the premises and the business must have very secure security and perhaps even monitored by law enforcement or having someone on the range at all times who is in law enforcement.

The authorities must also address mental health and look at finding a way to restrict very violent content on the net, further restricting violent video games and some of these violent programs you see on TV nowadays.

Tom

 

[PanzerAce1944]

Sorry, not that plain and simple and I completely disagree with you. When I am on range, I prefer the 30 round clip. Much easier and a helluva lot more fun and challenging. To me, that is what it is about. I am not out there killing anyone with it. And please stop calling them "military grade semi auto weapons", they just AINT THAT! Anyone in the military will tell you that they are crap compared to their weapons.

Also, I would challenge your assumption on reload time. I know plenty of people who can fire more 10 round clips in a minute than I can 100 rounds on a drum via a semi automatic weapon!

All guns are lethal, it is still the individual who is the issue. You can give up your guns in the name of the greater good, I prefer to keep mine right where they are - in the hands of a responsible law abiding citizen.

TD

Let me back up my experience on weapons, shooting, and anything else related to the topic. I spent 20 straight years active duty in the U.S. Army. Qualified Expert with an M16/M4 version rifle for 19 of those 20 years. Expert means hitting at least 38 out of a possible 40 targets presented at ranges all the way out to 300 Meters with open sights. Graduated from Sniper school in 1998 using an M24 sniper rifle. I have been in several armed conflicts throughout the years and have taken several lives of those at the time being combatants. Yes the .223 Bushmaster is the same weapon of lethality as I used except mine was stamped "Colt" arms. The time it takes an individual to drop a magazine,insert another one and slam the bolt forward to fire is time that the weapon and shooter can possibly be disarmed, while the individual having the 30-100 round capacity firing rate does"NOT" have to stop shooting until that high cap is empty.
This is not about the flag waiving protect my right to bear arms issue here, it is about keeping weapons capable of killing high numbers of people in the least possible amount of time out of the hands of the "Next" would be mass Killer.
Speaking from actual "Experience" I am making no assumptions in the least. Common sense prevails here. Guns don't kill people.....People Kill People. Let's not make it that much more easier for them to do it is all I think that some of us
are trying to say here. Sure a high percentage of Bushmaster, AK, SKS owners are responsible gun owning individuals but if saving 20, 30, 40 lives can be accomplished by making some changes to our countries policies then I ask which is
more important.........having 30 round magazines in your home or seeing 30 people killed in one single incident ?????

 

[Desertkiwi]

I dont know how informative my posts are, there are a few folks on here who are way more knowledgable than I and they could really "educate" the masses on this subject, but they read more than post! I think it is more therapeutic on the blood pressure that way when it comes to this subject.

As you could see from BL Reed, I understand what he was saying, it is a highly frustrating issue here and most who are gun owners (like him) feel that the politicos are capitalizing on a tragedy to tramp on our rights in order to play to the emotions of potential voters. I hate to say it that way, but that is the sad truth and commentary on our USA system right now!

TD

I appreciate what you're saying TD and understand the frustration, however Mr REED could have chosen his words a little better, as for politicains, hey we all know they love to muddy the waters at the best of times.

 

[Desertkiwi]

I'm not sure about the US, but here in NZ to own a working firearm you have to have been issued a Firearms Licence. To get a license you have to go through an indepth vetting process and prove that you are a fit and proper person to own Firearms. The license expires after so many years and needs to be renewed.

The license details are available to police and some other government departments for obvious reasons.

You can of course have the license revoked, for failing to comply with the conditions of the license, or have it suspended for a period of time, for example if you are involved in a 'domestic violence' incident and you hold a firearms license, your license will automaticly be suspended and your firearms seized by the police for safe-keeping until the matter is resolved.

This system works well here, but there is always room for improvement.

I think Australia has similar rules?

Again just some thoughts to ponder.......

 

[tdubel]

Let me back up my experience on weapons, shooting, and anything else related to the topic. I spent 20 straight years active duty in the U.S. Army. Qualified Expert with an M16/M4 version rifle for 19 of those 20 years. Expert means hitting at least 38 out of a possible 40 targets presented at ranges all the way out to 300 Meters with open sights. Graduated from Sniper school in 1998 using an M24 sniper rifle. I have been in several armed conflicts throughout the years and have taken several lives of those at the time being combatants. Yes the .223 Bushmaster is the same weapon of lethality as I used except mine was stamped "Colt" arms. The time it takes an individual to drop a magazine,insert another one and slam the bolt forward to fire is time that the weapon and shooter can possibly be disarmed, while the individual having the 30-100 round capacity firing rate does"NOT" have to stop shooting until that high cap is empty.
This is not about the flag waiving protect my right to bear arms issue here, it is about keeping weapons capable of killing high numbers of people in the least possible amount of time out of the hands of the "Next" would be mass Killer.
Speaking from actual "Experience" I am making no assumptions in the least. Common sense prevails here. Guns don't kill people.....People Kill People. Let's not make it that much more easier for them to do it is all I think that some of us
are trying to say here. Sure a high percentage of Bushmaster, AK, SKS owners are responsible gun owning individuals but if saving 20, 30, 40 lives can be accomplished by making some changes to our countries policies then I ask which is
more important.........having 30 round magazines in your home or seeing 30 people killed in one single incident ?????

This is going to sound very selfish and I am going to say it like it is because a lot of people will not. Sorry guys, I am not giving up any of my rights period, I don't believe that "greater good happy horse manure argument". My giving up my 30 round magazines will Save ZERO lives. The nut case, criminal, etc will still obtain these, will still kill someone, etc. Sorry, but I will continue to unabashedly wave my flag and not lose one moment's sleep over it. What I do is what I do and I will not have my rights trampled, that is just nuts. YOu ask what is more important? To me, my rights are more important and my 30 round mags didn't kill anybody. SO no, I am not planning on giving up that right anytime soon. I view this situation as an old saying someone once said to me - "You wave your Flag, I'll wave mine". IN other words, you do what floats your boat, and if you want to give up your weapons, fine, just don't tread on my rights and expect me to follow you.

TD

 

[Peter Reuss]

Gents...this thread ran under the radar for quite a while.

The debate over gun rights is a passionate one on BOTH sides of the issue. While this discussion has for the most part been civil, it falls under the 'politics' category and thus is out of bounds.

I am shutting the thread down.