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Why gun control laws don't pass Congress, despite majority public support and repeated outrage over mass shootings

22 Comments
By Monika L McDermott and David R Jones

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Should people just 18 be allowed to own and carry semi autos? It says so in 2A. And it saved Kyle Rittenhouse's life. Without KR's AR he would be dead.

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 It says so in 2A. And it saved Kyle Rittenhouse's life. Without KR's AR he would be dead.

Rittenhouse wasn’t part of any well-regulated militia covered by the second amendment. And if he hadn’t been stupid enough to wave a firearm around in the middle of a riot, if he had just stayed at home, his life would never have been in danger and he would have had no occasion to shoot people who thought they were dealing with an active shooter.

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Without KR's AR he would be dead.

You got it wrong, buddy. The 2 people he killed would still be alive.

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Americans need guns but outside gun clubs there needs to be an age limit and a more rigorous psychological check, repeated at yearly intervals, might not go amiss either?

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nishikatToday 07:40 am JST

Should people just 18 be allowed to own and carry semi autos? It says so in 2A. And it saved Kyle Rittenhouse's life. Without KR's AR he would be dead

As one poster already pointed out, two others would be alive. That's not even mentioning the thousands of other victims of mass homicides who would also still be alive. These politicians are spineless and truly don't care.

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The old saying is "live by the sword, die by the sword". That thought applies equally to firearms. For many of us in the United States the 2nd Amendment far from guaranteeing a right has instead become a prison that denies our right to live our lives free from firearm violence. The gun nut whack jobs seem to think everyone should walk around armed and ready to shoot if the situation requires it. To me that is not any way I wish to live. If I feel I need to carry a gun with me everywhere it is time to find another country to call home. Settling scores with firearms is how it is done in places like Afghanistan or Somalia. One hopes Americans are above that but increasingly I see the US turning into another Somalia run by gun toting religious fanatics.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

"For many of us in the United States the 2nd Amendment far from guaranteeing a right has instead become a prison that denies our right to live our lives free from firearm violence. The gun nut whack jobs seem to think everyone should walk around armed and ready to shoot if the situation requires it. To me that is not any way I wish to live. If I feel I need to carry a gun with me everywhere it is time to find another country to call home."

Everyone looks at lady liberty and sees a different face.

For millions of gun lovers around the world who have been oppressed due to the strict and unreasonable guns laws in their own countries (which have done nothing by the way to solve the proliferation of illegal firearms), the US will always be that shining city upon a hill, land of the free home of the brave, a model nation where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution.

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the US will always be that shining city upon a hill, land of the free home of the brave, a model nation where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution.

If that weren’t so pathetic it would be amusing.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

the US will always be that shining city upon a hill, land of the free home of the brave, a model nation where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution.

The only places I have been where non-military/police are carrying guns are third-world countries.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

And if he hadn’t been stupid enough to wave a firearm around in the middle of a riot,

in the middle of a riot

riot

We wouldn't need the 2A if the government didn't just fail to protect the citizens but also tacitly supports anarchy. Remember the current president kneels before the mob that loots burns and murders.

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FOX/Abbot/Tucker/Trump people support Kyle Rittenhouse and that is why they all support 18-year olds with ARs

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We wouldn't need the 2A if the government didn't just fail to protect the citizens but also tacitly supports anarchy.

You've had nearly two and a half centuries to vote yourselves in a government that will do the job you want it to do. How long does it take?

Remember the current president kneels before the mob that loots burns and murders.

And his predecessor told far-right hate groups to 'stand by'.

When are you people going to elect a viable government of the people, by the people, for the people?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Trump/Kyle/Tucker/Hannity/Abbot/NRA people think Trump is still president.

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The question might as well be, how did corporations become so powerful in the US?

Corporations have power because they have money, lots and lots of money, and they spend it to control government.

In the second half of the 19th century, the US Supreme Court decided that corporations are entitled to be treated as "people" under the Constitution. Since then, corporations' powers in society have continued to increase, to the point that they have a lot of control over government.

It would be wonderful if we could say, simply and factually, that in a democracy, the government responds to the will of the people. While governments ignore the will of the people at their peril, the politicians who run government, 140 years since corporations fought and won the argument that they are people in the eyes of the law, dare not ignore the purse strings of the countries wealthiest "people."

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Liberals

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Congress can't pass a law the contradicts the USA constitution? Really?

It seems that most Americans love their second amendment, most Americans believe their constitution is unchangeable and most Americans have the faintest idea what an amendment is.

An amendment is a change and the second amendment is not the only change that has been made to your constitution.

The solution is simple. Make another amendment.

Until you do that most of the world will continue think the US is strange, maybe even crazy.

If black people carried weapons openly, perhaps gun restrictions would become more popular. After all, even Ronald Reagan supported the Mulford Act to control weapons after the Black Panthers openly carried weapons in front of the State Capitol.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  The is an antique that is irrelevant for today. It has been irrelevant for well over a century, if not longer. If we do not militias anymore we do not need guns for those militias. Any sane country would changed or killed the above statement. But the US is not a sane country. The Constitution's "well regulated Militia" run by ghosts.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

We wouldn't need the 2A if the government didn't just fail to protect the citizens but also tacitly supports anarchy. Remember the current president kneels before the mob that loots burns and murders.

This is very true.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

To me that is not any way I wish to live. If I feel I need to carry a gun with me everywhere it is time to find another country to call home.

Most people don't go around with their guns 24/7 when I'm back home, I just would never do that and no reason to. I am so far out in the boondocks, that the only things that I shoot are coyotes, feral pigs, the occasional wolf, and foxes, now If I didn't have a rifle, I would be up the creek for sure.

Settling scores with firearms is how it is done in places like Afghanistan or Somalia.

I have never witnessed such a thing EVER in my life, but I do know in areas where there is heavy gang activity it probably is like that, no doubt about it.

One hopes Americans are above that but increasingly I see the US turning into another Somalia run by gun toting religious fanatics.

Yes, this is what happens when you cut the police force, defund and defang them, restrict them from doing their basic jobs, District attorneys not prosecuting criminals, not filing felony charges, end no cash bail, eliminate profiling, search and seizures, this all will result into a nightmare catastrophe and breakdown of law and order and then you will have a Somalia on your hands, this is what they left voted and pushed for and now they don't like the results, but honestly, what were they thinking? How muddled do you have to mentally be to know what was all a disaster in the making

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We wouldn't need the 2A if the government didn't just fail to protect the citizens but also tacitly supports anarchy. Remember the current president kneels before the mob that loots burns and murders.

This is very true.

Bass4funk, please don't forget your previous president instigated a mob in an attempt to prevent the duly elected president being confirmed.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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