CNN reports on the heart-warming story of a humble young hero.
My question is what is so wrong in Georgia that a 14-year-old girl not only has a gun in her possession but threatens other kids with it on the school bus.
What's your opinion? Do you think this has nothing at all to do with the lax gun laws in that state and the general attitude towards guns there? Do you see no connection between the lawful gun owners who fight so hard to keep things the way they are and situations like this?
Please tell us what you think.
You can't blame this one on lax gun laws, because in Chicago where there is a ban on handguns, 16 year old Michael Mario Pace was able to bring a gun onto a bus and kill Blair Holt.
ReplyDeleteNow that you can rule out gun laws, what do these two events have in common? I'm going to guess that both gun wielding youths grew up in fatherless households.
As everyone always says, you keep focusing on the inanimate object (the gun) while ignoring the human factor.
Because we all know that in Brady states like CA and NJ and especially DC, teenagers never get a hold of guns.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this has nothing at all to do with the lax car laws in that state and the general attitude towards cars there?
ReplyDeleteGREENFIELD, Ind. - Greenfield police say a 9-year-old boy led authorities on a half-hour car chase.
Police got a call of a driver swerving on U.S. 40 around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Authorities chased the car into Henry County before the vehicle was finally stopped about two miles west of Knightstown.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-youngdriver-chase,0,1352360.story
Police in the Australian state of New South Wales have reported that they pulled over a 10 year-old child driving his grandmother's car along the Newell Highway in North-Western NSW on Sunday.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/10-year-old_child_takes_grandmother%27s_car_for_85_Km_drive
Once again, you prove my point.
You focus on the "gun" and not the criminal actions of the girl.
She threatened people; what difference does it make if she had used a steak knife, a baseball bat, a pipe bomb or a firearm?
It is against the law to use an object to threaten people.
She broke the law and yet you focus on the gun.
You don't ask what made her threaten people.
You don't discuss what type of parent(s) she has that lets a kid grow up thinking that threatening people is acceptable.
Nope, you focus on the tool.
In what way do you think Georgia gun laws are more lax than the majority of other states?
ReplyDeleteHow do you think this contributed?
Can you find a correlation between gun laws and crime?
This story is a fake.
ReplyDelete16 years olds are not allowed to have a handgun, therefore it must be a fraud.
How can this be the fault of Georgia gun laws? It's illegal on so many levels. Multiple state and federal laws were broken.
ReplyDeleteSevesteen, You know the gun laws better than I do, state by state. Are you saying they're not more lax in Georgia than most other states?
ReplyDeleteThe way this contributes is that lax gun laws make it easier for guns to move from the legal world to the illegal world. Some of them end up in the hands of disturbed 14-year-olds.
AztecRed, Michael Mario Pace probably got his gun from Indiana. Where else would it come from?
ReplyDeleteI agree that broken homes and other factors play a part in this problem. But while we're working towards improving the society, we should also make the guns less available to kids like this.
"Sevesteen, You know the gun laws better than I do, state by state. Are you saying they're not more lax in Georgia than most other states?"
ReplyDeleteThat's what he's sayin'. I'd say the same thing. Why? Because it's true!
According to the Brady campaign, California has the "best" gun laws.
ReplyDeleteAnd Georgia:
Georgia
And because this is the Bradys, clarification is necessary:
Manufacturer Accountability: Preempted by federal law.
Juvenile sale: Federal law prohibits dealer sale to under 21, prohibits all sale to under 18.
Microstamping: Irrelevant to this case, but an example of Brady bias: The microstamping law requires that the system works before it is required, so it is not a requirement.
Since I have taken the time to give an easy reference from a source that you consider reliable, would you please take the time to point out which of the differences would have helped in this case?
My thoughts: a gun is a tool. This young man used his best weapon (his wits) to defuse a situation.
ReplyDeleteA gun might have been useful, or might not.
As far as legality goes, if the person is under the age of 18, they can't legally purchase/own/possess any firearm under Federal and most State law.
Handguns cannot be sold by Federal Firearms License holders to anyone under the age of 21.
Your call--did the laws help, hurt, or not have any effect?
My thoughts--Do we know where she got the gun? was it a clearly legal owner, a "gray zone" owner, or a clearly illegal owner? Was her method of acquisition "gray zone" or illegal? (Borrowing with permission would be "gray zone", buying from a friend would break the above-mentioned laws and be illegal...and the friend's ownership might have been "gray zone" or illegal, stealing would be illegal.)
Until we know all that, we're spitting into the wind and calling it an opinion.
Mike said:
ReplyDelete"The way this contributes is that lax gun laws make it easier for guns to move from the legal world to the illegal world. Some of them end up in the hands of disturbed 14-year-olds."
See here:
http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2009/08/gun_traces.php
Gun trace data to and from WV. Even though it has lax laws, more crime guns came into WV than went out. In fact more WV crime guns came from Califreakinfornia than WV sent to Cali. All those lax laws in Cali contributing to the crime in WV.
"AztecRed, Michael Mario Pace probably got his gun from Indiana. Where else would it come from? "
ReplyDeleteSo why aren't there more shootings in Indiana?
Again, it's not the gun. It's the people. As i've said before, if lax gun laws are truly the problem (or even just a part of the problem), then events like this one and the Blair Holt shooting would be more common in places like Indiana and less common in places like Illinois. Not vice versa.
Weer'd said, "Are you saying they're not more lax in Georgia than most other states?"
ReplyDeleteThat's what he's sayin'. I'd say the same thing. Why? Because it's true!"
Weer'd, I think you better speak for yourself. Sevesteen is not saying that about Georgia at all, in fact he provided me with the link to the Brady ranking of Georgia as tied for number 33.
Sevesteen, as someone else pointed out without knowing where the gun came from and how exactly it got into the hands of this disturbed young girl, it's impossible to say.
And as many people keep pointing out, it's the people it's not the gun. Well, I don't dispute that it's about the people, but I say it's also about the availability of gun.
So that's my answer. The availability of firearms in Georgia may have contributed to this crime. The fact that Georgia has the kinds of gun laws it has, means simply that people who want guns don't have to drive up to N.J. to get them.
Quick question there, MikeB...
ReplyDeleteDoes Georgia have Castle Doctrine in place?
If not, then your "hero" broke the law.
What say you?