pulse shooting in orlando, FL

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Oh I don't lock my doors because I don't trust my neighbors to rob me. I lock my doors because I don't trust Joshmo who I don't know who saw me in the grocery store twenty minutes to follow me home, break in and rape me. I trust my neighbors (except the ones currently next door but to be fair I'm pretty sure they're drug dealers and they're moving out soon so no worries with them), but it's the people that I don't know that I don't trust. And I want a gun to make sure that if Joshmo does decide to come to my house and rape me, then he will be sure to regret it and I will make sure he either doesn't get another chance to rape someone, or thinks twice before he does. That's the world I have grown up in, the world I face everyday when I wake up, and the world that I cannot escape no matter what solution is thrown at it.

But Joshmo has a gun, what if he shoots you first? xD That's exactly what I meant. I meant neighbours as in everyone around you, not just your literal neighbours that you might actually trust.

Yeah, key words "other countries". You ever noticed how the USA is different than everyone else? That applies here too. You see, it's not part of our culture, it's part of our founding. It is part of the Bill of Rights on the Constitution, and to date, only one Amendment on the Constitution has ever been repealed. Fun fact, it was the one that outlawed alcohol. As a person who has studied the amendment process, I can assure you, the Founders made it very difficult to pass an Amendment, and the only way to override an Amendment is with another Amendment. And say someone just passes a law anyway because screw the Constitution, it's not important or anything, that's what our judicial system is for. And while I understand that PACs like the NRA are paying politicians to prevent an Amendment from ever being passed, let alone presented, you have to stop and take a step back, because it's not entirely the politicians' fault, so you can't really blame them. They're merely responding to the voters, after all, they are elected to represent us, and they'll do just about anything to continue to do so. Given resent events, I can guarantee you that the Congress coming out this November will most likely be a democratic majority. Why? Because democrats are all about getting those guns pulled, and the majority in Congress right now loves their guns. So lets say Hillary Clinton gets in office and we have a democratic majority in Congress. Well, Hillary's useless because she has no influence on this process as the President, so it bubbles down to Congress. So, hypothetically speaking, lets say that Congress somehow gets this repeal the second amendment Amendment passed through Congress, then it has to go through the states, and I'll bet my college funds and life's savings, it would not pass through the states. There's too many that love their guns to ever allow such an Amendment to get passed. On top of that, say this Amendment actually does get passed, do you know what happened during Prohibition. The exact opposite intended effect. More people drank rather than less, because it was cool and rebellious. Well guess what? We're almost to the 100 year anniversary of the roaring 20s, who's to say they don't outlaw guns and then we just get a repeat only worse. In addition, you ever noticed how people respond to the police here? We aren't exactly huge fans of them. In other countries, the police scare you or you respect them. Not here, we don't do either. So if this was even tried to be enforced, there would be riots out the hoo ha all over this country. If anything, this would lead to anarchy and the country as a whole would collapse because gun rights is one of the 10 basic beliefs that makes up our foundation, and do you know what happens to a house that loses part of its foundation? It collapses. In short, your solution won't work here because the USA doesn't fit in the same size band-aids as Australia, or many other countries for that matter, so trying to plaster another country's solution on us will not work.

I'm sure it is a very complex issue because of American history or whatever, and there is obviously no easy solution or they would have done it. I'm just saying until something is done about gun control, this will just keep happening, sadly. :( I don't see why it can't be something like this:

You want a gun, so you apply and they do a background check. If there are ANY red flags (mental health, extremist views, criminal history), you are denied. If you're approved, you go to a gun range and have a mandatory few lessons and receive a gun license. Once you have the license, you are allowed to purchase a gun from a limited range that are suitable for the purpose (self defense, shooting feral animals, whatever). There is a month waiting period before you can pick up your gun.

I don't see how that doesn't solve a whole heap of problems... Everyone sane can still get their gun, but no one can go buy a gun because they're angry right now and want to shoot up some place tomorrow. No one can buy a gun if they have previous criminal history, links to terrorism, questionable mental health etc. Everyone who gets to buy a gun has a license and is trained in how to use it properly. Each gun would be registered to someone, so if a crime is committed, they can see who owns the gun. You need a license to drive a car, so I don't see why you don't need one for a gun. =\ I mean I know this is like one of those arguments that I can never win because it's so ingrained in US culture, so I don't know why I bother. XD But ah well.