Gun control in the USA

[teabab]

Just putting this out there to see if we can get a dialogue going. Any thoughts out there on this subject? How can we make our schools and America safer?
I don't think the banning of guns is the answer. I know when I went to school I felt safe. I never would have dreamed of something as horrible as Sandy Hook happening in our area. I worked in Somerset School District for 14 years and can tell you it was always an open door policy until recently.
How can we as a society fix this mess where you are not even safe going to the grocery store? Do you carry a gun on you? And, do you think anyone should be able to carry a gun? I can't even shoot one, but my husband has his guns and would not part with them.
Do you feel Falls Creek has changed so much that is unsafe now too? I know we never felt the need to lock doors in that town, what about now?

[brucie2000]

As long as Grayson, Wildcat, and Scott have breath.......lock the doors!!!!!!

[teabab]

I guess no one wants to talk on here about anything Bruce. Sad to say, this kind of indifference is what is wrong with this country. Too many people are just willing to sit back and let others fight their battles for them. The problems of this country are everyone's and I would hope the safety of our children would be everyone's concern. I want my grandchildren to be able to have a happy and safe childhood. We need to start somewhere, but where? Mental health issues are a big problem. Hopefully answers are forth coming for everyone's sake.

[brucie2000]

Well I share your sentiments. I remember as well when you didn't have to lock your house doors or cars. Possessions didn't have that much influence as having fun did. Unfortunately rascals like my self and a few others broke in cars at night and stole cigarettes out of peoples cars..No money, nothing else, just cigarettes...We get what we deserve as a country. It is ironic, that all the peace loving folks in the 60s and 70s who were protesting about violence and peace are the parents and grandparents of today's youth. If you had a beef with someone then, you would meet them behind the post office and have a little fisty-cuff session and that would be the end of it....Not any more, too easy to pull a trigger and blame somebody else.. Nobody goes out and plays anymore, everyone sits and texts or plays video games, mostly violent ones. The social skills are practically non-existent, and our younger generation have an entitlement attitude. Everyone is grumpy all the time, and I really noticed the change since I moved south where it is a little less "busy" and folks aren't so grumpy. Oh well, that is my 2 cents. I'm older, but still have fond memories of a friendlier, safer time...With that being said....Go 49ers....

[teabab]

I think you said it all. There is a self entitlement feeling in this country and I don't know how or where it came about. I think a hopeless attitude has taken the place of hard work and people have just resigned themselves to the attitude that someone will take care of them. You see this with the disasters like Katrina and Sandy. Dusting yourself off and picking yourself up doesn't happen anymore, they wait for the Calvary to come and rescue them. I don't pretend to know what these people have gone through, but I know from first hand experience my husband and I would pick ourselves up and move on.
We don't let our children fight their own battles anymore. I think sometimes a kid needs to have a confrontation to learn their place in this world and maybe a smack upside the head will set them straight! Oh, the playground fights! I remember Mrs. Tudor breaking a few of them up at the Falls Creek school. You are right, way too easy to pull out a weapon and let it do the talking for you. Wounding in cyber space, texts and tweets is the norm, no one can look you in the eye anymore and speak what is on their mind. Well Grady, come out of your ground hog hole and chime in here....oh wisest of the wise! Anyone else for that matter, got an opinion on all of this?

[anaidkcep]

Falls Creek is now a sub of Dubois. I need to lock my doors just to make sure noone steals our guns. I don't think the issue is gun control, I think it is mental health. Maybe all of the drug use is catching up to us. I think that because we are not allowed to disicipline our children responsibly, we think that there is a prescription drug for all behavior, and the ease of obtaining a gun contribute to the situation. There should definately be security at the schools.

[teabab]

Interesting anaidkcep. I agree that mental health is our big problem. We lack the understanding of the issue and there is an embarrassment when it occurs in families and a tendency to turn the other cheek. How many times do you hear when a tragedy happens that people knew the person responsible had problems, was a loner, angry or just plain strange?
Is there a lot of crime in Falls Creek? The state police have their hands full here in Somerset, too many drug issues. I saw today they are thinking of making people get liability insurance for their guns...interesting. How is that going to work I wonder?
By the way, I remember sweet little Lori Pringle and Pat Shema from your class and a few others, but who are you? I am much older than you I know that!

[anaidkcep]

My brother is pensrock. Do you know him? I really do not think that there is alot of crime in Falls Creek. I think that having a State Police presence so close is a benefit. They always drive through town. I think that it is important for guns to be registered, and with new gun purchases they could require insurance. Kind of like car registrations. But what is the purpose? Is it to make sure the owner's insurance can be sued if the gun is used in a crime? Even if it is stolen? That takes it right back to the people who are generally responsible for their guns, not the ones who have the issues. Right?

[teabab]

I know Dean, we play Fantasy Football together in the Gunsmoke league! You are Denise, you probably don't remember me, Barb Bukowski the Hack's Corner employee of the decade! Ha ha ha! Seriously the best job I ever had though.
I think the idea of insurance is to make sure there is someone to sue if any of your guns are used in a violent crime and making the owners take responsibility. I think too that it will not hurt the criminals in the least, they are above the law and don't have registered guns anyway, most stolen, and then again....the responsible people get shafted. I am glad to know that Falls Creek is still the safe place I grew up in. The State Police there is a good thing.
I do worry about our schools though, having a granddaughter starting next year. Can every school afford to have a security guard in place? I know our taxes are high enough and that would raise anyone's school taxes I am sure. Is arming teachers the answer? That scares me, as I worked with some crazy teachers for 14 years down here.

[teabab]

I got this in my e-mail today and laughed because this is so true today.
1958-2012

Scenario 1:
Jack goes duck hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck'sgun rack.
1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2012 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again.Counsellors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2012 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.
Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1958 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2012 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The family gets extra money (SSI) from the government because Jeffrey has a disability.
Scenario 4:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2012- Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse,Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.
Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1958 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock.
2012- The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2012 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.
Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1958 - Ants die.
2012 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents - and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2012 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.
This should hit every email inbox to show how stupid we have become!

[anaidkcep]

Is this just simply because people don't bother to get the facts before starting the rumor mill?

And this is Diana, not Denise. I remember you Barb, you are chet's sister.

[teabab]

Diana, I remember you! You were a little cutie too, you had the prettiest smile! Bet you still do too. Back to the gun stuff, I don't know if it is a rumor, probably not, I know Massachusetts wants to do this for sure and it will probably trickle down into other states eventually.
My daughter's daycare is closing one day next week to have a practice shooting drill. I think that is a good thing, but sad they feel they have to even do that.

[brucie2000]

How about the Nittany Lion's BB team? Despite having a 9-18 record, they still managed to whip #2 Michigan. That ought to melt some snow!!!!

[grady]

Been awhile since I've been on here. Well teabab you asked my opinion on gun control, I'll try to give it to you without getting pissed off and swearing. I see nothing wrong with background checks. They can weed out some of the bad eggs that are stupid enough to try to buy a gun with a criminal record. But most of your criminals are not that dumb. They will get there guns illegaly on the streets, through straw buyers,or just plain steal them . What needs to be done with these A--holes ( I Tried) is that if you use a gun in committing a crime you do hard time. Lock em up for a long time with no parole. After awhile they might understand that if you use a gun in a crime there will be major consequences . As for the mentally ill that is a tough one. If family's that have guns know they have an unstable person in the family like in Conn. they should keep the guns away from them ,but that is not always going to be an easy task. How do you determine if a person is unstable and should not have a gun. That is way beyond my burned out brain to figure out. Now as for gun control itself right now I find it ironic that there are more guns then ever in peoples hands because of wanting to ban assault weapons. we need to thank our Democratic leaders for that . Go to a gun store now and you can not find many guns and ammo is really scarce . We have to wonder how many Waco's that may have never bought a assault rifle before has now because they figure they may not get another chance. Also have you noticed that when the news media plasters the air waves when some jerk shoots someone, all of a sudden it happens again not long after. I believe the news propagates the problem. I'm done rambling , now lets talk about---------

[teabab]

Grady, I love your reference to your burned out brain! I think this is hard for anyone to figure out and now we have the Boston Marathon attack to figure out too. Why do we have all of this senseless killing? In any of these events, it always comes back that someone knew something, did nothing and could have prevented the whole mess if they would just have spoken up, or not enabled the person to have weapons in the first place. We all know people who have a short fuse and who we think are unstable and could do something equal to these crimes. What we do with that information and to not be afraid to take it to the police is the key to prevent the escalation of the behaviors that promote these crimes. I do feel the media must cover a story, but they take that coverage overboard sometimes and almost celebritize the perpetrator. We have to live our lives without fear and try to do our best to always keep an eye out for trouble and be brave enough to act if need be. Thanks Grady for your thoughtful reply.