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Charles Clingensmith

Student - A.S. Firearms Repair, Retired - Military

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What Is The True Reason For Mass Murder And Gun Violence?

Gun Violence has many facets. Numbers reporting gun violence from different organizations seem to never closely correlate to one another. How can we as Americans penetrate the rhetoric to have meaningful discussions regarding gun violence and mass murder?

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  • Austin Vasquez

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    Feb 8 2013: Let me first start this off by saying I don't care one way or another about whether we should or shouldn't have guns. I don't own any guns, never will. I don't think banning guns will do anything because much like illegal drugs, these people will find a way to obtain guns no matter the laws in place. At the same time, I do think there is no harm in banning assault rifles or even more specifically, large magazines. What use is there for these? I will say many people have gun hobbies and I respect that, so that would be the only reason why any ban would be difficult for me (on the gun itself, not referring to magazines).

    As for the true reason? I'm not sure. A lot of these people have mental issues but how can you detect that? A lot of the most prolific mass murderers are incredibly intelligent people despite their horrible acts. A lot of the times you hear how, "Well, I would have never expected that to happen! He was a nice kid." So if it is a mental issue, how can it be detected and prevent those from obtaining guns? These mental issues only come up after the fact because, well, it's pretty obvious you have mental issues upon committing an act of this magnitude. Before that, who the hell knows? No mental test will ever work because these guys are extremely smart. Ignoring the issue of mental treatment is moot because everyone sees a majority of these killers as normal people who may just be a little quirky. You don't go out and say "Oh yeah, that guy totally looks like a mass killer. Someone should look into this guy." It's not until after the fact everyone goes pointing fingers with the whole "We need to quit ignoring mental health issues." Sorry, but the problem is the killers themselves who will never speak up on their problems. I doubt there is any fix.

    Fact of the matter is, it's a mental issue with these people. I wouldn't care one way or the other if there was a ban to some extent (not completely) on guns. I just don't see it making much of a difference.

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