Topic of the Times

[E7]

School shootings are a tragedy that leaves everybody looking for someone, or something to blame.
With the recent Florida school massacre that left 17 dead, people have taken to the streets and to their politicians with desperate cries of outrage over how something like this could have happened.

The easy point of contention is the gun used to commit these heinous crimes. It is easy to blame the guns because it is a single object you can pinpoint, and it cannot fight back.

Losing a loved one is an extremely painful experience one would not wish on anybody, and out of grief can come anger and resentment. However, making the inanimate object a focal point for change and peace is not an optimal avenue for the diminishing of violence that the left claims to seek.

Statistics that have just come to light show that when the human condition is at it's worst, the object used for cruelty is not the issue.

The Daily Wire reported:

“London, lauded by the Left for its strict gun laws and embrace of multiculturalism, is not the haven it’s cracked up to be. In February, the U.K. capital outpaced New York City’s murder rate for the first time in modern history as London experienced a surge in knife attacks.”

Both London and New York City have about the same population, with London now the more dangerous city.
Current murder counts are set to propel London even further in the ratings. At the end of March the Times reported, “By late last night there had been 22 killings in the capital, according to the Metropolitan police, against 21 in the US city.”

Gun control in the United Kingdom began its journey after World War I, where the surplus of firearms was thought to be a potential hazard. In the years following the initial gun control law, events triggered reactionary legislation that took more and more rights away from the citizen. Breitbart reported on the last extreme measure implemented by the United Kingdom:

“When the final stage arrived in 1997, and virtually all handguns were banned via the Firearms Act, the promise was a reduction in crime and greater safety for the British people. But the result was the emergence of Britain as the “most violent country in Europe.””

Individuals were stripped of a way to protect themselves, while criminals ran the streets inflicting harm on defenseless targets. The law abiding citizens will forgo their rights to a gun in order to stay honorable to their country. Those who are living an illegal lifestyle will not be tempted by such moral callings.

Breitbart reported:

“That Britain was “the most violent country in Europe.” They also reported that Britain’s home figures showed “the UK [had] a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and South Africa.””

Murderers have recently been using vicious means of attack in the U.K., such as stabbing and throwing acid on people. While crimes that resulted in death weren’t always indicative of London, trends in recent years show a scary incline that has pursued despite extremely strict gun laws.

The Daily Wire reported:

“Since 2014, excluding victims of terrorism, the number of London murders has risen by a stunning 38%.”

In the United States, we have not seen a death rate increase in decades. In 1990 it was “8.6 deaths per 1,000 population to 8.07 deaths per 1,000 population in 2011”, according to Statista.

Our representatives must be careful to review future repercussions in assessing whether or not to continue focusing on implementing stricter gun laws to fix a problem of violence. The right to bear arms is a privilege granted to us through the strong leadership of early American representation. These men knew the danger of allowing the government to strip the citizen of any means of defense, and personal freedom.

It is not the government’s responsibility to direct the movements of the people, but to invoke restraint when one doesn’t operate within lawful means.

Blame should be placed on the individual committing the crime, not the weapon they chose to act with.
The United Kingdom should be a forewarning to the United States.

Liberals and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and that there is always someone, or something to blame besides themselves for their actions.

[Tom Dempsey]

Liberals and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and that there is always someone, or something to blame besides themselves for their actions.

Now replace the word liberals with the word conservatives in your final thesis statement and discovered it is just as valid a statement. Imagine that.

[up148]

How about some comparisons that liberals and conservatives think the same on this topic.

BH

[E7]

Liberals and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and that there is always someone, or something to blame besides themselves for their actions.

Now replace the word liberals with the word conservatives in your final thesis statement and discovered it is just as valid a statement. Imagine that.

I guess the gun shot all those students by itself.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Liberals and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and that there is always someone, or something to blame besides themselves for their actions.

Now replace the word liberals with the word conservatives in your final thesis statement and discovered it is just as valid a statement. Imagine that.

True. It's always easier to blame others than to actually put forth an original idea to solve a problem.

[HONDO74]

Students returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week for the first time since they organized one of the largest youth-led protests in U.S. History, March For Our Lives.

The students faced strict new security measures at the campus, implemented after the Feb. 14 attack by Nikolas Cruz that killed 14 students and three educators.

"We will have to go through security checkpoints and be given clear backpacks, my school is starting to feel like a prison," MSD student Sarah Chadwick tweeted. In addition to the mandatory clear backpacks, provided by the Broward County School District, students also must wear IDs at all times and will be under an increased security presence on campus.

Congratulations! You made schools safer, and you didn't even need to repeal the 2nd Amendment like you wanted to!

Lesson to be learned young students.. Once you give up a Right, you don't get it back, So much for your 4th Amend.. you chose to give up freedom for safety. Like the saying goes, be very careful of what you wish for, you may just get it.

student Sarah Chadwick also tweeted, do they want us to take off our shoes. Here is the answer for that. The first time some student gets a homemade bomb into a school in their shoes, you will all be taking off your shoes just like we do at the airports.

The last 20 years that I worked in aircraft I wore a badge that was coded to be scanned when you entered or left the facility.

[Mitch]

Liberals and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and that there is always someone, or something to blame besides themselves for their actions.

Now replace the word liberals with the word conservatives in your final thesis statement and discovered it is just as valid a statement. Imagine that.

You gotta be a full blown, dyed in the wool leftist.

Let's try it. "Conservative and the media need to stop giving disgruntled and troubled individuals misguided rhetoric that they are entitled to a certain life, and there is always someone, or something, to blame besides themselves for their actions".

Ok. Conservatives should stop telling folks that they are entitled to freedom, from crime and government; they shouldn't be telling them that they are responsible for their own actions, regardless of conditions? They shouldn't be telling them that just because they grew up in a single parent home, without oversight and guidance, they can do what they want and not be responsible for it? They should stop telling them that Liberty is the cure for the human condition?

Remember Quinn's first law of liberalism. "Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent".

[rogruth]

Many students in many schools have for @ 30 years worn name tags with a photo.
So did teachers. Big deal.

[Tom Dempsey]

I would reply to you Mitch, however, I sense that it would be pointless to open a discussion with a completely closed mind.

[rex desilets]

I would reply to you Mitch, however, I sense that it would be pointless to open a discussion with a completely closed mind.

Pot calls the kettle black.

[E7]

Seems like some here have overlooked one of the main points of the editorial (that outlawing guns in England) has NOT had the desired effect. People who want to carry out violent acts will find a way, and dead is dead, no matter how the deed is accomplished.

It's a PEOPLE problem, and thanks to the media for their detailed reporting giving the next nut cases a blue print for their future acts of terrorism.

Give them their due process (which is more than their victims got) and dispose of the turds who perpetrate these deeds, and by all means give their disposal all the publicity that their acts of terror got.

That might give future terror trainees pause.

[Mitch]

E7, ya can't say it any better! "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"! Bada Bing!

[PRR Man]

guns don't kill people. people with guns kill people.
how many get murdered when someone walks into a school or club with a knife, club or bat?

I'm conservative by nature, but there are too many damn guns in this country. you don't need automatics, bump stocks, or high capacity magazines to exercise your second amendment right.

[chuck]

The amount of misleading information cited in the opening post is pretty astounding. This is not directed at the poster but at the sources he referenced that cited facts that are very much out of context. New York is actually ranked as 51'st in murder rates in the US. The wording implies that the two cities are in a race for "murder capital" of the world. Neither the US nor the UK are the countries with the highest murder rates (and these source lists exclude countries in open conflict). Some of this could be attributed to poor writing/editing but it seems like the sources have something else in mind (again, both sides).

The hard number cited in this instance are for two months and are almost tied (aka statistically insignificant). Even the reporting on what the mayor of London actually said has been cherry picked to boost whatever side of the argument you align yourself. There already are laws in England restricting carrying of knives in public. If you read the entire statement the mayor is actually calling for the police to be more vigorous about enforcing the existing laws (aka search and seizure).

The amount of pure crap "reported" on this is truly astounding. Political groups from both sides of the spectrum and both sides of the pond have cherry picked data and quotes to a) bolster their points of view and b) to sell headlines.

The real NEWS in this case should be how badly this information has been mishandled from the start (probably in support of "b") and how everyone seizes on selected data to back up whatever they believe ("a") and ignore anything that is contradictory.

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The amount of misleading information cited in the opening post is pretty astounding. This is not directed at the poster but at the sources he referenced that cited facts that are very much out of context. New York is actually ranked as 51'st in murder rates in the US. The wording implies that the two cities are in a race for "murder capital" of the world. Neither the US nor the UK are the countries with the highest murder rates (and these source lists exclude countries in open conflict). Some of this could be attributed to poor writing/editing but it seems like the sources have something else in mind (again, both sides).

The hard number cited in this instance are for two months and are almost tied (aka statistically insignificant). Even the reporting on what the mayor of London actually said has been cherry picked to boost whatever side of the argument you align yourself. There already are laws in England restricting carrying of knives in public. If you read the entire statement the mayor is actually calling for the police to be more vigorous about enforcing the existing laws (aka search and seizure).

The amount of pure crap "reported" on this is truly astounding. Political groups from both sides of the spectrum and both sides of the pond have cherry picked data and quotes to a) bolster their points of view and b) to sell headlines.

The real NEWS in this case should be how badly this information has been mishandled from the start (probably in support of "b") and how everyone seizes on selected data to back up whatever they believe ("a") and ignore anything that is contradictory.

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

Nicely stated.