I present the following excerpt from the end of an hours-long "conversation" as to why I do not have much hope for change:
ME: [Pro-gun lady], you keep bringing up the illegal sale of weapons as though that somehow justifies why it's not worth doing anything with regard to the legal sale of firearms because "oh, well, they'll just go get them illegally."
That's like saying people who are going to drive drunk will do it anyway, no matter what rules are in place. Might as well tell bartenders to stop refusing to serve people they've determined are over the limit, since even if they don't serve them that person will go get drunk elsewhere and drive anyway. It is a poor argument to say, "oh well, it will happen anyway" as justification to do NOTHING differently in the hopes you have some small positive effect.
I certainly don't expect everything to be magically better overnight, but as I said earlier - it's the cumulative effect of small changes that make the difference.
Please understand how I am trying to present this: we are only talking about the legal sale of firearms, and whether or not we can honestly say we're doing everything we can to prevent those guns from falling into the wrong hands. Plain and simple, we are not.
Have you read anything about the boy who committed these murders on Wednesday? Explain to me how "better parenting" (he was adopted, his adoptive father died a decade ago, his adoptive mother, with whom he was close, died this past November), "better discipline" (he was emotionally challenged and what I've read alludes to him being diagnosed autistic), "better peers who speak up" (he was bullied at school and generally regarded as a weird kid) were going to help this situation. If you see a child misbehaving, having an outburst, or being sneaky, are you advocating we all alert local authorities to have that kid put on a watch list? He posted pictures of weapons and dead animals on social media... but if he's legally allowed to own those weapons (like you!), no biggie, right? And dead animals, well, I come from a family of hunters and have seen my share of pictures of dead animals. A local FBI office was alerted to his September youtube comment and investigated that, but just because a comment is posted under a name doesn't mean it's so easy to point a finger at a person with that name. Heaven forbid anyone ever starts posting disparaging comments under your name. Innocent until proven guilty, right? Or should they show up to your house and haul you away because something was posted under your name?
Certainly, it feels like something could have been done here. The accumulation of all these things makes it easy to point to ... something? or just feel like something should have happened before now? But what. I am asking you. Since you are unwilling to talk about a possible solution involving gun control, I am asking you for your serious, well-formed answer of what exactly we should have done for this boy before now that would have prevented this from happening.
PRO-GUN LADY: Ive served multiple tours over seas as well and there are a lot more active duty and veterans that agree with me than with you. You seem to think banning one kind of gun is going to something. Tell me what the difference is between a rifle and a handgun, and why you really think a waiting period will help. If some one is determined on harming someone they are going to do it whether your idiotic suggestions go into place or not. I do not like you, and you make me want to be savage, but since you think your smart you can just keep pretending to live in your pretend world outside of reality. I’m hiding notifications because you refuse to concede that nothing you suggested would work in terms of people doing bad things. Like I said, you want highly restricted gun control move to Chicago.
ME: I NEVER SUGGESTED BANNING ANY GUN. As far as semi-automatics go, there is no difference between the firing mechanism of a walther p22 and an AR-15. I know this. I've owned both. I already explained that a waiting period prevents people from making rash decisions. It stops someone who is angry when the leave work from going to buy a gun and coming back to work the very next day and doing something silly. Planning ahead for that waiting process is no different than the planning you have to do to get a passport so you can travel overseas. If you are so scared about someone attacking you during that waiting period, carry a baton.
You are hiding from real conversation by calling people and their suggestions idiots, crazy, naïve.
"Nothing I suggested would work in terms of people doing bad things."
You point to Chicago as to why you believe this.
I point to the REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD as to why I disagree. Will more control solve all of our problems? No. But we can sure as hell do better than we're doing right now.
