One of my problems with your solution is that a high school diploma has nothing to do with gun knowledge and safety. I’d wager economic class has a stronger correlation to propensity to use guns in a crime than whether someone has a high school diploma. Of course those two categories are also correlated. Your proposal would apply to 9% of Americans, but in the case of HS shootings, how many shooters didn’t have a HS diploma or were not on pace to get one? Probably close to zero.
When i was watching the father's arraignment the judge asked him what his education level was. He answered 11th grade with a GED.
I posted earlier about the negative home environment - the facts: 1) The mother periodically absent with drug / alcohol problems. 2) The father unable to cope with raising three children on his own, and also having personal issues. 3) A young teen struggling with learning issues, bullying, and truancy at school, who had few friends and lacked help at home. He immersed himself initially in video games, then radical online sites. Even without access to guns, here was a young teen and his family in an all too familiar crisis. He was bound to act out somehow, likely by lashing out at others or by self-harm. And the ripple effect to that community, the grief and anguish for the dead and injured and those families is immeasurable. Who was to step in to prevent this tragedy? Each entity that was monitoring the family (school, law enforcement, family, social services) felt hampered or limited in some way. No magic wand exists for fixing a bad home environment, or identifying every person with deep-seated emotional problems. Lets get real, and declare once and for all, we have a public health crisis with gun violence, and we need to look it square in the face. Stop fighting amongst ourselves, tone down the internet rhetoric and DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE! Peace to all.
There are already strong correlations between violent crime and lack of education. I'm not certain there's reason to believe that crimes involving firearms are immune to progress that could be made based on improving the general level of education of our society. Either way, I'm not sure what the downside would be. To your question in bold above (bold added), do we honestly know the answer here? We should, and it shouldn't cost any money; for some reason we are worried about respecting the privacy of these shooters...if that's a legal requirement, that should change, in my opinion. It seems reasonable that at least some of these folks that were around destructive forces in their home lives may have let said destructive forces impact their progress towards completing high school. I would be surprised if it was close to zero; at minimum, I would be interested to know if any/many of these children were demonstrating a high level of academic performance. I would support additional higher levels of proof of competency for owning a firearm; I just figured something like requiring the equivalent of a high school diploma would be ground level changes that wouldn't cause a mass panic. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
It absolutely exists in some aspects of life and even government. It's harder to recognize when it comes to issues that folks tend to express the most passion about, particularly when there are competing viewpoints. It exists where we respect one another as individuals that have a right to view things differently. It exists where we want to learn more about why someone thinks about an issue differently than we do. It exists when we are able to communicate with someone who thinks differently than us about what we believe and why we think the way we do. Where it doesn't exist, it's up to each of us to effort towards helping it to exist (let's face it, we are extremely lazy as a society when it comes to genuine participation in all levels of our government, kind of why we got to the point to where two very old politicians are arguing about golf during a Presidential election debate). I don't think it's something worth giving up on so long as we consider ourselves members of the relevant society. And I understand why it's hard to see it; politicians seem to catch more attention when they are promoting division in our society. It is there, and we should want more of it. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
I am reminded of the old saying that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best is today.
I dont think we toss our hands up by any means, but some will often shout the same simplistic solutions when in reality it isnt that simple.
The genie is out of the bottle, the toothpaste is out of the tube. Neither are going back where they came from. We can wax and wane on that issue. It's useless to continue that line of thinking. In no order: -Red Flag laws with a low threshold for authorities being able to take protective action. Instead of filling all the squares before confiscating guns, try maybe the person filled two squares. I'm not a law dog so --I've no idea how that would work. The fact the FBI was called in and nothing happened or this guy wasn't flagged is odd. -All these shooters were bullied, socially ostracized, and had family issues, with substance abuse somewhere in the family unit. -Background checks should include a state check. -Training should be offered. -CC Permit training needs to include the legal aspects of carrying concealed, mandatory liability insurance, weapon training/qualification, safe storage options, and recert every time your permit renews. -Gun owners with kids are required to have safes and bedside rapid-access storage containers. -Repeal open carry. Just asinine imo. People who open carry make spectacles of themselves. I own guns and parading around with them in public is ridiculous. -The legal age for buying an AR should be raised to say 21. Make six-figure liability insurance required for ownership. -A bad family situation, substance abuse issues, bullying at school/socially, and mental issues are not a quick fix. -The gun culture isn't going to go away anytime soon. I think BigCypress said it best; that it's going to take decades to start a real change. It's not going to happen overnight. -The politicians will have you believe it'll all go away overnight. We can start now chipping away. Enforcing some things will be harder than others. I've carried a substantial liability umbrella policy for years. There are no specific guidelines on the policy that can be used for gun-related incidents. I would like to see the insurance people offer specific liability policies for gun owners. Especially those with "military-style weapons"
Perhaps part of the process is identifying whether there are mentally ill family members in the household. Or with a AR-15 maybe not even allow children. Maybe if there are enough hurdles the idiots don’t apply. Nothing is perfect but it may help.
Yes. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans support gun laws. This is why I rail about BOTH sides so much. We dont vote on issues. We vote on sides. So if 4 issues are at stake and my side doesnt support item #1 but supports the other 3. I vote for my side. Thus voting against #1. Then over time #1 seems like a boogyman because my side doesnt support it. Put guns on the ballot. Unattached to party or politician. Referendum style. (The case currently in Tennessee is one to watch).
On the flip side we always get that x may not work because y may happen. Perhaps. But sometimes y doesn’t happen and X works. State like CA generally have less gun crime, due to more gun laws. It isn’t zero but it is lower.
Adding to my post... The Yahoo's in Tennessee are seeking to block a NON BINDING referendum. They know what the people in Memphis will say.
That is a bit like saying "One common feature in mass shootings is oxygen." Other common features: people, schools, children, teachers, guns, bullets, gravity, etc. You can't just wave your hands at the words "mental illness" and pretend that is a solution. What do you want to do about the treatment of mental illnesses, at the diagnosis-level? People provide specifics about what they would like to do about guns. What do people want to do about specific mental illnesses, their diagnoses, their treatments, etc.?
It would be nice if they could have flagged the dads background after the FBI was aware of the kids problems. I am not sure how good those background checks are or what all they use to check them. I have done many but they don't tell you what source they use to check your back ground. I would love to know if the dad has ever been arrested or had drug issues or rehab that a background check missed.
I am fond of mental health coverage but effective mental health care is expensive. I dealt with this with the homeless I worked worth 30 years ago. Freedom I believe includes freedom to be crazy.
