No question in my mind. We're headed toward a lockdown society.

[Joe Fields]

It has become obvious through the years that the gutless bastards in Washington, and in most state legislatures won't address the gun issue, for fear of the wrath of the NRA.

So, I can forsee metal detectors and searches everywhere we go. We will need to present papers on demand by authorities to prove who we are, anytime they ask, and we mustn't be vague in telling them where we are going and what our purpose is.

But, we will be free to go out and buy weapons. Doesn't everybody hunt with semi-automatic 9mm's?

Oh, and if anyone is thinking about buying a gun for protection, just remember, there is just as likely a chance your weapon will either get stolen, or used against you by a loved one, in a fit of rage. Oh, and one more thing, keep in mind that the bogeyman never announces himself when about to rob you. They like to surprise people.

[maxsolomon]

1. notice the banner ad below

"Airsoft Guns". nice irony.

[meldroc]

2. You had me when you said we were headed towards lockdown, but lost me when you blamed it on guns.

The lockdown will likely happen whether guns are easily available or not.

[nannah]

8. ditto that

i posted this earlier on another thread, but got no reply. i believe it is relevant and at the heart of our violence problems.

no guns allowed on campus.

the one thing you can know with certainty, when you smuggle a hand gun or rifle into an area where the carrying of weapons is prohibited, is that no one will be able to stop you, that no one will be able to defend themselves against you, that it will be like shooting ducks in a bathtub.

i'm not advocating increased violence, but think about how helpless is an unarmed citizen when gun ownership is limited to law breakers and those appointed by government agencies (in todays world of winner take all, ruthless self gratification cloaked in the culturally acceptable garb of "competition).


In the paragraph above, i put in the parenthetical qualifier, because i am an advocate of educating people to the true nature of evolutionary survival, which (IMHO) is cooperation, communication, and mutual support, not the "competition" meme that, for most of us, has been shoved down our throats since infancy (can we remember wheaties, the breakfast of champions or the endless list of slogans promoting the virtues of competition and winning above all else. It is this culture of ruthless competition that breeds the violence behind today's shootings and embrace of violence for problem solving.

[Joe Fields]

11. You are entitled to your opinion. I strongly disagree.

The thing is, you never see it coming. And armed vigilantes would only create more innocent deaths. You might get the shooter, but what about Mary Jones who just innocently happened to wander into a sudden kill zone?

[nannah]

18. you mean like in Switzerland?

there, every adult is armed with semi automatic weapons because they are the "militia" of Switzerland. what the swiss have is a culture that doesn't respond to problems by using with violence against people.

as i stated in my earlier message, the issue is that we have been conditioned to deny our basic cooperative nature which was what helped us survive our years as a naked, prey species in exchange for this ruthless competitive persona so embraced by the american culture. one of the outcomes of our winner take all, competitive culure is anguished losers seeking retrubution on all levels from personal to international.

we need to evolve into a cooperative, mutually helpful society in order to avoid blowing ourselves to bits. at least that is how i see this issue.

[Joe Fields]

9. Guns will be used as one of the many excuses.

I see it coming as plain as day. Yet, no move will be made in my lifetime to ban weapons, save those used for hunting.

[tblue]

3. More poverty & debt => more suicides and killings.

The lockdown's already started, and it will increase so slowly most will never even realize it before it's too late.

[Joe Fields]

14. Agree!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. As I've always said,

just as someone has to prove they can handle a car safely before they can get a license, so must someone prove they can handle a gun safely before they can get any.

Sad thing is that there are too many guns in the US--too many that are not registered. If you want to get a gun, it is easy to do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. No it is not due to guns

we live in a society where INTERNAL terrorism is now accepted and NOT admited by the media,

And it is covenient for the fascists

[Monkeyman]

6. Weapons of War Should be banned

I hate having a pistol in the house but wing nuts got my address and phone number. Death wishes to my family makes me have one in the house. I have been trained and will not use unless family in danger. One of the vets started to get the same thing I did. His house was shot up. So Some times until weapons are controlled you need one.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. Right

About 13 years ago, my husband and I were involved in stopping clear cutting in the forest where we lived. I was stalked to and from work, and one opponent to our opinions came by the house with a loaded gun, ready to kill my husband. Luckily, my husband is a good talker, and persuaded the guy to leave. But he would have used the gun if he had had to.

[AndyA]

7. Doesn't Virginia have very lax gun laws?

"Welcome to Virginia. Here's your new driver's license and an Uzi. Take a gun safety class sometime when you get the chance, you might enjoy it..." :eyes:

[davepc]

13. Actually there was a bill to losen up the VA gun laws to allow permit holders to carry on campus

and it died in committee.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

...

Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Some gun owners questioned the university's authority, while the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police came out against the presence of guns on campus.

In June, Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy reiterating its ban on students or employees carrying guns and prohibiting visitors from bringing them into campus facilities.

guess that strategy didn't work to well for VT.

[TahitiNut]

12. A return to feudalism.

Moats. Drawbridges. Security Forces in shining Armorall. We've got the "gated communities." We've got the corporate fortresses. We've got the "Dukester" and Robber Barons and Princes named Bush. We have the pageantry of visting royalty ... visiting OUR 'royalty.' We've got the privileged familes intermarrying.

Can the Dark Ages be far behind?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. Anybody remember the Killeen Luby's cafeteria shooting?

There is a military base in Killeen TX.

Some guy crashed his pickup truck thru the window of the local Luby's and got out and shot a lot of people. One of the women who survived the shooting had a gun in her car. She thought about taking it into the restaurant, but decided not to because it was illegal to take a gun into a restaurant at the time. She said she wished she had taken the gun with her, because the gunman shot both her parents dead, presumably within her sight.

[Joe Fields]

22. I am sorry for her loss. Stories like that are heartbreaking, but

the answer isn't for everyone to be so afraid to go anywhere, be it a restaurant, grocery store, car wash, laundermat or wherever, that they feel the need to pack heat. A society full of vigilantes? Not one I want to live in.

[TnDem]

24. Yeah...

Tell that to the 30+ people that just died...

If this isn't a reason to "pack heat", (as you so eloquently say), I don't know what is.

[Joe Fields]

25. Yeah, let's just have vigilantes blasting away. Who cares what

innocents get in the way of their crossfire? If your answer is more guns, then I couldn't disagree with you more strongly. Handguns are made for killing. They ain't no good for nothin' else.

The only way to solve the problem is to follow the UK's lead on handgun control.

[Sapere aude]

16. The shooter probably violated all the present gun laws. Which new law would have prevented this

tragedy?

I am serious here not trying to insight more flame wars. It seems to me that we could pass more gun control laws and yet someone insane like this shooter would still get a gun and do what he did. I don't really think the answer is more gun laws. We need better enforcement of the ones we have and find a way to have a kinder and more gentler society.

The wing-nut talk show hosts incite hatred and I would like to see them go. Not for their conservatism but for the anti liberal anti Muslim, anti anything talk they spew.

[OneBlueSky]

17. in the future, every person will have his/her own full-time security person . . .

who will accompany him wherever she may go . . .

BushCo will call it "full employment" . . .

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Seems contradictory.

Wouldn't well-intentioned but ineffective gun control be an example of a "lockdown" society? Just more of this trading of liberty for security stuff?

[Joe Fields]

23. There will never be any gun control.

The politicians won't touch it. But, incidents like what happened today will be an excuse by leaders to call for a locking down of society.

[devilgrrl]

20. But but but I'm scared!!!!!

:sarcasm:*

*I get what you're saying

[stirlingsliver]

21. It's Already Like That In Washington, DC

It used to be that you could enter the museums and other public buildings in Washington, DC without going through a metal detector.

NO MORE.

You now have to enter through a metal detector - and show picture ID -- in order to enter most public buildings in Washington, DC.

There are barricades all around the US Capitol.

We are already in the Lockdown Society.