Quote Originally Posted by The Storyteller View Post
Most of the guns used in these mass shootings were legally obtained. This particular guy who murdered the firefighters did not steal his, but purchased it from an individual who did purchase it legally. Only one that I know of (the Portland mall shooter) stole or borrowed his from an acquaintance. If these weapons were still banned, they would not have been able to so easily obtain their weapons, stolen or otherwise.

The are tactical weapons of war that only belong in the hands of the military or law enforcement. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.
And there's the rub. It's that pesky gun show, or 'private sale' loophole that enables something like 40% of gun sales to go unregistered, without necessary background checks. If gun control laws were standard, across the board and states, and every sale required registration, it may not totally prevent gun violence like this, but it would make it more difficult. Especially for the neighborhood gang banger who gets his gun from a friend of a friend of a friend. Trace that gun used in a crime back to the last legal owner and this is the guy to go after, along with the perp, if caught. If your gun is stolen, file a report, so if that gun is used in a crime, you are absolved of responsibility. Seems pretty simple to me. No one has to give up their guns. They just have to register every one of them, and record it when they are sold or stolen.


And this 'gun is just a tool' argument is getting pretty tiresome. Yes, a hammer is a tool, but a hammer is not designed to beat up grandmas. A spoon is a tool, but it is not designed to make you fat. A car is a tool, but it is not designed to wreck.
A gun is a weapon with one design. To kill, period. That is it's purpose.
A 1/4 inch drill bit is a tool, but if it was found that 40,000 deaths a year were caused by this tool, you bet your butt it would be banned. 3 kids choke on small parts and a toy is banned!
so trying to reduce a gun to merely a harmless 'tool' is lame, at best.

The gun pushers keep talking in circles. A gun is just a tool....guns don't kill, people do....etc...OK, well, then gun control laws are for PEOPLE. A gun, er, tool, can't drive itself to the courthouse and register itself, but the 'tool' who bought it can. The laws are for PEOPLE who want guns. Close the gun show/private sale loophole where PEOPLE are involved, and you can make it more difficult for the bad guys to get the guns.