weapons

[notes1]

according to FBI stats for 2017;

-more people were killed with hammers and clubs than by rifles
-'rifle' category includes bolt action, pump action, single shot, semi auto and those commonly called ASSAULT weapons.
-467 people were killed with 'blunt' (including hammers and clubs) objects and 403 by rifles. the total of 403 via rifles, includes assault weapons.
-1591 were killed with knives or cutting instruments

want to save more lives; ban hammers, clubs, knives, cars, alcohol, swimming, motorcycles, etc.

these are the stats, read them closely. better to be informed than simply reacting to a an agenda that wants to ban all guns.

[billryan]

A very flawed subject that perfectly illustrates the old adage- figures don't lie, but liars figure.
What the author of the article doesn't site is that in over 12,000 of the 18,000 gun homicides, the type of weapon isn't listed. Could be a pistol, could be a rifle.
In the week after three mass shootings, why would anyone want to discuss banning hammers?
Day drinking? Evidently it's not just for breakfast anymore.

[Eduardo]

The point isn't merely "to save lives" at the cost of obviously useful items.

If people want to kill, they will kill. This is true. I think you made this argument yourself.

The question is, when people do want to kill, why are we allowing them to do with with items specifically designed to kill a lot of people that serve no other useful purpose?

Again, if someone invented a hammer that couldn't pound in a nail but was marketed as being able to lop off a person's head in a single blow, I believe we should be okay with banning that product without worrying about our "freedom" being taken away. We already ban all sorts of explosives. For some reason, people are obsessed with protecting weapons that have a trigger because they are called a "gun."

Once you get over the fact that the founding fathers didn't intend us to be armed with any weapon imaginable, you will realize that that the AR-15 is that hammer. It was designed to kill a lot of people in war. I'm really glad our soldiers have them. We don't need them in grocery stores in America.

You seem to be in denial that we have an actual problem here. Improving mental health is a good thing. But as you have said, we will always have killers. Let's not make them even more efficient killers. Banning weapons designed to kill mass quantities of people makes you more free, not less free.

[rascal]

I was never more freaked out than I was that day I stood in the hardware store and watched that druggie go crazy with that little hammer. He methodically stalked the aisles, looking for victims. People hit the ground, rolled under tables, and fled for the exits. But it made no difference --- that little hammer was deadly, relentless, unmerciful. Every time the druggie pointed it --- wham! Another victim hit the dirt. We were all defenseless --- human against a hammer, there is simply no way to defend yourself. The only blessing at all, if one existed, was that the hardware store was out of stock on screwdrivers that particular day. Thank the Lord --- think of what a crazed druggie with a screwdriver could do!!

[billryan]

Jesus was the son of a carpenter. Picking on hammers is just further proof of the anti- Christian agenda of the left. Get rid of hammers, you get rid of carpenters. No carpenters, no Carpenters sons.
I'm disgusted that anyone would take a perfectly unhinged rant about nonsense and turn it into Christian bashing.
Know Jesus. Know peace!

[notes1]

-the point of the thread was to present facts. let the reader be informed and decide.
-the FBI is the one who determined what was included in each category.
-yes, stats can be used to promote a particular view point. stats such as NOT pointing out that about 2/3 of all gun deaths are suicide. assisted suicide in now legal in a number of states, mostly liberal.
-the thread was not intended to promote ak's.
-as a non gun owner and largely unfamiliar with gun stats, i was surprised that in a country of more than 300 million, rifle deaths were limited to about 400.

banning/outlawing items can be a slippery slope. will it actually result in the desired goal? is it a merely a feel good reaction to a horrible event? adding bans and rules to purchase weapons, does not solve the real problem, the shooter.

is banning certain weapons just a first step, in a much bigger agenda, to ban all weapons and to make the government even more powerful.

[billryan]

When two thirds of gun deaths are listed as being from unknown types of weapons, claiming rifles account for only 400 of them is disingenuous at best, deceitful in any event.

[billryan]

Last week, the FBI issued a terrorism threat pertaining to radicalized white guys spreading fear, conspiracy theories and disinformation on chat forums.
Looks like they nailed it. As Molotov said, useful idiots are just as effective as true believers when it comes to implementing our policies.

[Casino Knight]

Once you get over the fact that the founding fathers didn't intend us to be armed with any weapon imaginable, you will realize that that the AR-15 is that hammer. It was designed to kill a lot of people in war. I'm really glad our soldiers have them. We don't need them in grocery stores in America.

You seem to be in denial that we have an actual problem here. Improving mental health is a good thing. But as you have said, we will always have killers. Let's not make them even more efficient killers. Banning weapons designed to kill mass quantities of people makes you more free, not less free.

Edwardo,

The AR-15 was never designed to kill a lot of people in War. It is in my humble opinion the best varmint gun on the planet. It was never issued to US troops to engage an enemy. It's a semi-automatic, shoulder fired rifle, with a selector that switches from Safety to Fire.

The M-16 while similar in design to the AR-15 is capable of full automatic firing. A bump stock does not make an AR-15 fully automatic.

Taking away my or anyone else's AR-15 will not make you safer.

CK

[olds442jetaway]

The action in the so called assault rifles is very similar to that in any semi automatic rifle. I can probably fire drop clips and reload abd fire my 45 handgun as fast or faster than a so called assault rifle can shoot. Nobody is ever going to change anybody’s mind here. The country will remain divided at about 50 50. The scales will only get tilted if the free stuff continues to spin out of control. I feel sorry for this country as it appears to be happening before our eyes.