General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"I'm a doctor. I want you to live and thrive. So I want semi-automatic guns banned."
And I do, too . . . so more 15 year olds can't get hold of handguns that can easily wound 16 of their classmates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/10/04/im-a-doctor-i-want-you-to-live-and-thrive-so-i-want-semiautomatic-guns-banned/?utm_term=.a069cb1e52c8
The reality is this: A semiautomatic firearm whether a long gun or a handgun is a weapon of profound destructive capacity. Though semiautomatic (as opposed to automatic) guns require that the trigger be pulled once to discharge each bullet, they still allow a shooter with a quick finger to unleash an avalanche of bullets at a horrifying pace. When unloaded into a densely packed space, the resultant hail of bullets is just as capable of inflicting massive damage. Once fired, each of these projectiles then cuts a path through body, stretching adjacent tissues and so creating a path of destruction the wound cavity that can widen even more as the bullet tumbles and sometimes fragments, creating new smaller missiles each with their own trajectory; more bullets thus mean more punctured lungs, more shattered bones, more lacerated arteries, more severed spines.
In short, semiautomatic weapons are capable of inflicting egregious harm on a large number of people in a very short period, even when wielded by deranged users with no remarkable shooting skills. For instance, Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook massacre, used a semiautomatic rifle to fire 154 rounds and kill 26 individuals in under five minutes, as MSNBC reported; Seung-Hui Cho, responsible for the Virginia Tech massacre, fired 170 rounds with a pair of semiautomatic pistols in only nine minutes, leaving 30 dead, according to The Washington Post. To the extent that anything should be done about the types of guns available in America, we should end the sale (as others have previously argued and as the American College of Physicians suggested in a statement Monday) of all semiautomatic firearms, whether handgun or long gun.
The liberal obsession with assault weapons is thus a colossal mistake. The assault weapons ban identified such firearms by a host of largely cosmetic characteristics that were mostly irrelevant to their lethal potential and had no discernible effect on overall gun deaths. Collapsible stocks, pistol grips, bayonet mounts who cares? Perhaps there is some utility to some of these features in combat settings, but when it comes to a mass shooter in a civilian environment, what matters more than anything is the sheer quantity of terrifying projectiles flying through crowded spaces at thousands of feet per second. To a lesser extent, things like the kinetic energy of a bullet also matter, but this can actually be higher in traditional hunting rifles than so-called assault weapons.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)Semi-Autos are a dime a dozen. There are millions in circulation.
Better to focus on regulating gun owners - the Unorganized Militia. Ownership contingent on fulfilling real responsibilities might weed out the nuts - to the extent that's possible.
PJMcK
(22,048 posts)The U.S. will always have too many guns and there aren't any ways to control that. This is why I'm agnostic about guns: I don't want any but they aren't going away.
One idea I like is not to regulate guns, just the ammunition. I'm not sure how that would work, though.
Response to pnwmom (Original post)
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chumpchange
(48 posts)You really want to go to a public forum with a handy archive and start talking about preparations to kill your fellow Americans?
Bueller?
pnwmom
(108,991 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)It only holds five shells and is a shotgun.
It's articles like this, written by well - intentioned but poorly informed people that gets the NRA crowd riled up.
pnwmom
(108,991 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Limit under the ol'd assault rifle ban. What the author misses is that it's the high capacity magazines that are instruments of war. 30, 50, even 100 rounds. This is where we should focus because it's hard to argue in favor of them.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Alcohol first. Unless it isn't really about deaths at all..
pnwmom
(108,991 posts)And a doctor is an expert on the damage they can do.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Just checked with my (MD) wife. She said guns are cool. Oh well, call it a wash...
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)So a firearm has never been used responsibly to hurt anyone? Ever?
Think about it... then re-qualify (or move the goalposts).
linuxman
(2,337 posts)aikoaiko
(34,183 posts)and be able to defend themselves against people bigger and stronger than them who would do them harm. And that's why they want semi-automatic handguns and rifles.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)On the whole, people don't defend themselves against people that are bigger and stronger who would do them harm. That's a sales pitch.
They're far more likely to use semi-automatic weapons to assault people who are smaller and weaker, like their wives and children. Or someone exactly the same size and strength: themselves.
aikoaiko
(34,183 posts)But speaking of more likely to happen -- the good doctor of the OP chances of being killed from gun violence, let alone injured from gun violence is very small.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Limit them to 10.
And make people get rid of larger ones by a given date.
I would happily trade my larger ones in
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)But you will not until forced to by law.
Something does not sound right.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)I guess I could special order California complient magazine because I do not think any stores in Florida even carries them.
Have not really thought about it.
However, I also think people in my tax bracket should pay a higher tax rate so all Americans can have better things. If I were to overpay my taxes by 20% I would have less money. But Americans would not have better things.
Same with my 2 magazines. I could order 2 California complient ones and throw out my existing ones. But Florida would be no safer. And notice I said 2 magazines. Because I own one handgun and it is currently locked in my safe.
Just because I support a policy does not obligate me to try to shape my life to that policy when it is not yet law.
Your insinuation that I was not being forthright in my post was really uncalled for.
Have a nice evening.
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)But I just comment on what I read, not necessarily what you mean.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)In written language the onus is on the writer to properly convey meaning. I was obviously lazy in my writing.
There are millions of gun owners who would welcome much tighter gun regulations. I am one of them.
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)volunteer to give up your over 10rd mags. But must be forced to do so, even if you are in complete agreement with the policy.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)I would willingly volunteer to give up my Hugh capacity magazines. Me doing so at this time would do nothing to make the nation or my state safer. It would would be an empty expression of self righteousness.
It is apparent that you are not happy I own these magazines. And I would guess you are also not happy I can even own the gun. I really could not care less.
I am in full agreement with the Democratic Party position. Which affirms Americans right to own firearms with reasonable restrictions.
Marengo
(3,477 posts)Doing so eliminates the possibility of recirculation. You wont have control of them forever, and eventually they will re-enter society by one means or another. Im surprised you havent considered this. If you truly believe high cap magazines are a threat, replace with low caps and destroy them. Otherwise, how xan you expect anyone to regard your position seriously?
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)And I disagree with your entire premise.
Marengo
(3,477 posts)Lars39
(26,116 posts)compelling interest by the government to keep its citizens alive? I keep thinking of that phrase of Roe v Wade and wondering wtf it doesnt doesnt apply when guns are involved.
burnbaby
(685 posts)We always had guns and access to guns. This is just the reaction to Raygun's closing of mental health institutions. We have people young and old with issues who are not getting the help they need and it seems their only resolve is to act out and take away lives of others.
Just my opinion