Shooting Spree in Arizona

[Faldur]

You've seen way too many movies Faldur. Can you imagine the chaos that would have ensued if everyone drew semi-automatics capable of firing thirty some odd rounds?

Ok, not sure i understand the obsession with a 30 round clip, should we limit them to 15? How about 10? I mean really.. if you wanna carry 30 rounds bring 3 each 10 round clips. Takes nothing to dump a clip and reload. 30 round clips make a weapon bulky and difficult to reload.

Imagine the chaos? No I see no chaos, perfect example: Colorado Spring, December 9, 2007, A madman storms into a Colorado church with enough ammo and weaponry to kill many, many people. Starts firing, when a young lady with a permit to carry a concealed weapon ends his sadistic plot with a clean head shot. Sadly 2 people lost their lives, and 4 others were injured. But thankfully for the young lady that was trained to use a weapon and had the legal right to carry, a tragedy of untold terror was avoided.

When a psychotic madman starts sparing bullets in your general vicinity, you think some stupid law saying "you cannot do that!" is going to save you? Outlaw guns, and only outlaws will have them.

[trish]

Ok, not sure i understand the obsession with a 30 round clip...

I think the official count is about 20 people that Loughner shot. He made good on 2/3 of the bullets in his clip. People were only able to approach and subdue him when he finally emptied the clip and was forced to change magazines. Let's say he only had 10 bullets initially. Two thirds of 10 (rounding up) is 6 wounded people. That's quite a bit fewer than 20. Suppose he only had one bullet. Then he would only have had a 2/3 probability of hitting anyone at all. You see where this is going don't you? Two-thirds of zero is zero dead people.

When a psychotic madman starts sparing bullets...

I think people who sell guns to psychotic madmen should be in jail.

Outlaw guns, and only outlaws will have them.

Of course. But if you outlaw bringing your guns to public events, then we'll be able to arrest the crazies who bring them to public events. And as a bonus, security will have an easier time keeping an eye on remaining bozos who are carrying.

[Faldur]

Of course. But if you outlaw bringing your guns to public events, then we'll be able to arrest the crazies who bring them to public events. And as a bonus, security will have an easier time keeping an eye on remaining bozos who are carrying.

Ya, just as soon as they are done spraying bullets we can run up and say "your under arrest!".

[trish]

Of course. But if you outlaw bringing your guns to public events, then we'll be able to arrest the crazies who bring them to public events. And as a bonus, security will have an easier time keeping an eye on remaining bozos who are carrying.

Ya, just as soon as they are done spraying bullets we can run up and say "your under arrest!".

Why would they do that? With so few targets they can just be taken down with preemptive fire.

Without doubt, reasonable restrictions on who can carry could have prevented the Giffords tragedy. Sure Loughner might have been able to illegally acquire a gun, but the odds against him getting one would have been higher. The odd in favor of Giffords never having been shot at would have been higher.

Without doubt, reasonable restrictions on the clips and the modifications that can be made to a firearm would have spared many people in that Tucson tragedy.

Without doubt, irresponsible politicians and pundits have been calling for second amendment remedies, possible armed revolution and telling people to bring their guns to heated town-meetings and public events.

There were definitely people in that Tucson crowed who were carrying. It's Tucson. I've been there. Everywhere you go there are assholes with guns. Yet, there were no armed heroes in this crowd.

[Mercedes16]

Its a "magazine", not a "clip".

I think people who sell guns to psychotic madmen should be in jail.

Go over the boarder and buy a firearm from a mexican arm's dealer...

[trish]

An individual can do that, but typically it's arms dealers not individuals looking to buy a couple of guns, who cross the boarder; and typically the trade goes from the U.S. into Mexico. There's a lot of attention on laborers who cross from South to North and virtually no attention on the arms going the other direction. Texas and Arizona don't give a shit about those dealing arms to Mexican gangsters across the border. Guns are good! I think arms dealers...including these arms dealers...should be in jail. If that trade were much diminished, it would be harder to find guns across the border...not that anyone in the U.S. these days really needs to cross the border to buy a firearm.

Thanks for clarifying the jargon...I goofed by trying to cover both bases instead of looking it up.

[NYBURBS]

why would anyone but a paranoid person even want to purchase a gun?

Everyone has a right to defend themselves, and past efforts at gun control have shown that it generally only kept law abiding people from obtaining weapons. It really should come down to a personal choice on whether to carry one or not, but people that think the police will arrive in time to rescue them are sadly mistaken more often than not.

[Ben]

Everyone has a right to defend themselves, and past efforts at gun control have shown that it generally only kept law abiding people from obtaining weapons. It really should come down to a personal choice on whether to carry one or not, but people that think the police will arrive in time to rescue them are sadly mistaken more often than not.

OK. But should a clip contain 30 rounds??? Some have argued: Yes. For defending oneself. But, seriously, 30 rounds????

[Ben]

[NYBURBS]

OK. But should a clip contain 30 rounds??? Some have argued: Yes. For defending oneself. But, seriously, 30 rounds????

So how many is the right number? Have you ever fired a weapon? I'm asking not in an attempt to bash you, but rather because many people that have never fired a weapon seem to make somewhat unfounded assumptions about it. I've handled everything from pistols, to semi-automatic assault rifles, machine guns, and shotguns; so I'm not overly impressed with the destructive potential of a 30 round clip. However, many states do restrict high capacity magazines to law enforcement personnel only, so perhaps Arizona should consider doing the same. At some point though you would effectively render the weapon useless for self-defense purposes.