Another mass shooting - largest in a good while, by a few victims

[Jason Harvestdancer]

The M16 is a military (not civilian) rifle. All M16s already have a full automatic capability. It is just a matter of moving the selector switch between safe, semi, and full auto. positions

The civilian version, the AR15, does not have a full automatic capability. The selector switch only has safe and semi options.

Yes the AR15 can easily be converted to full automatic.

It's nothing more than changing out a few parts.

Selector switches can easily be changed.

Have you ever seen what a gunsmith can do?

They can create parts whole. Modify anything.

Bottom line: The more semi-automatics in society the more automatics.

I'm an electrical engineer. Ask me to do a mechanical engineering problem and I say "duh what?" Not because I'm stupid, but because it is outside my field. I'm sure you'd have the same problem trying to figure out how to convert an AR15 since it wasn't covered in your Minority Studies degree.

You make it sound like a large percentage of the population of the US are highly trained gunsmiths.

 

[untermensche]

Yes the AR15 can easily be converted to full automatic.

It's nothing more than changing out a few parts.

Selector switches can easily be changed.

Have you ever seen what a gunsmith can do?

They can create parts whole. Modify anything.

Bottom line: The more semi-automatics in society the more automatics.

I'm an electrical engineer. Ask me to do a mechanical engineering problem and I say "duh what?" Not because I'm stupid, but because it is outside my field. I'm sure you'd have the same problem trying to figure out how to convert an AR15 since it wasn't covered in your Minority Studies degree.

You make it sound like a large percentage of the population of the US are highly trained gunsmiths.

Some find putting on their socks a chore.

It is not difficult. It is something many many people can do.

But it is illegal.

Again, Bottom Line: The more semi-automatics in society = the more automatics.

One being legal is the reason the other is available.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Well there we have it. Gunsmithing and electrical engineering are as hard as putting on socks.

 

[barbos]

No need to have a degree when they sell these kits which let to you convert it to automatic. And you can fire it in automatic like fashion without any modification too.
And in this particular case we have fully automatic weapons whether it's modified or not. Ban did not work this time.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Ban did not work this time.

I guess we need a double ban.

 

[barbos]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

Problem is availability of guns which in turn result of the culture which for some reasons demands said availability.

 

[LordKiran]

Yes the AR15 can easily be converted to full automatic.

It's nothing more than changing out a few parts.

Selector switches can easily be changed.

Have you ever seen what a gunsmith can do?

They can create parts whole. Modify anything.

Bottom line: The more semi-automatics in society the more automatics.

I'm an electrical engineer. Ask me to do a mechanical engineering problem and I say "duh what?" Not because I'm stupid, but because it is outside my field. I'm sure you'd have the same problem trying to figure out how to convert an AR15 since it wasn't covered in your Minority Studies degree.

You make it sound like a large percentage of the population of the US are highly trained gunsmiths.

Gee if only there were a globe-spanning database of knowledge where a person could look for step-by-step instructions on how to do just about anything...

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

 

[untermensche]

Well there we have it. Gunsmithing and electrical engineering are as hard as putting on socks.

Electrical engineering?

Doesn't help one bit.

But any good gunsmith could do it. As easy as putting on their socks.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

And imagine the carnage if

1) silencers were deregulated as the NRA wants and if Pollack used them.

2) if everybody at the concert was carrying a fully automatic weapon.

But of course availability has nothing to do with it.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

Our second amendment gives us "the right to bear arms," which includes nuclear arms because those are arms, too. If everyone had a nuclear weapon on them at this event, none of this would have ever happened, Tom. Why do you hate America?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

And imagine the carnage if

1) silencers were deregulated as the NRA wants and if Pollack used them.

2) if everybody at the concert was carrying a fully automatic weapon.

But of course availability has nothing to do with it.

The american citizen will always have access to guns. Many people really don't care about the loss of life, these being the republicans, Trumpsters and conservatives generally. But I think we can have our guns and still remove the carnage, something that takes intelligence and forward thinking which is lacking in the populace generally.

So I wouldn't waste time and energy over the issue. An addiction to guns is no different than an addiction to drugs. It will be over when its over, you can't make it happen for the addict.

I take a little solace in the fact that at least these addicts can't go out and purchase hand grenades or pick up a couple 88mm mortars with Willie Peter rounds at the local pawn shop, or bring home an M60. The line that divides what Joe Snuffy cannot purchase needs moved on the firearms spectrum to include assault weapons. We as a society seem to accept that there is a line, moving it is the only viable action in this case.

 

[untermensche]

In a society saturated with firearms things like this will continue to happen.

Making guns illegal will not make this go away completely.

Only reduce the incidence.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

In a society saturated with firearms things like this will continue to happen.

Making guns illegal will not make this go away completely.

Only reduce the incidence.

Yes. And that is a sane, rational, safe course to take, knowing that guns will always be legal, of course.

Certain weapons should be illegal, as many already are. That's where we need to get with assault weapons.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

Our second amendment gives us "the right to bear arms," which includes nuclear arms because those are arms, too. If everyone had a nuclear weapon on them at this event, none of this would have ever happened, Tom. Why do you hate America?

I hate America because you're a shitty country filled with morons and run by an idiot.

 

[Elixir]

I hate America because you're a shitty country filled with morons and run by an idiot.

Are you sure it's not filled with idiots and run by a moron?
Precision is important in these things...

 

[Ford]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

I come down on the culture side with a side of availability.

The root of the problem (IMO) is that each and every one of these shooters got it into their heads that the solution to whatever was bothering them was to grab a weapon (or 20) and open fire.

Problem with your boss at the post office? Shoot them. Angry at your Congresswoman? Shoot her. Hate the gays? Head to a gay nightclub and blaze away. Every single one of these people - at Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora, Orlando, Tucson, and now Las Vegas - came to the conclusion that their best course of action was to arm themselves with as much firepower as they could carry and shoot as many people as possible.

Did they all have the exact same mental illness? I find that unlikely. No, the problem is that we've as a society sold firearms (literally and figuratively) as a solution to a problem. Feel unsafe in your home? Gun. Want to protect yourself on the mean streets? Gun. Worried about government tyranny? Gun. Varmints? Gun. No job's too big, no job's to small that you can't handle with your trusty sidearm (or AR-15 you lovingly converted to full auto).

All these people took that idea - that a gun is a solution - and ran with it. And then in the aftermath of each and every one of these shootings, the pro-gun crowd will drown out anyone who points out that maybe we have a problem. Nope. No problem here. Guns are just inanimate objects!

 

[skepticalbip]

Is the problem the availability of guns or is it the culture or something else?

It's the availability of guns. Every society has a certain minute percentage of individuals who go crazy and try to kill people. This universal problem is amplified in America due to the ease in which these individuals can high powered weaponry and significantly up the body count they produce as compared to other places where victims are stabbed with knives or run over with trucks more commonly.

Actually, if he had used a truck or bus he could have killed many more. There were over 20,000 people crammed in shoulder to shoulder with no place to run. From the videos I saw of the area there was nothing in place to stop a large truck, only fences that confined the audience. If he had stolen a large truck and drove through the fence at 50mph, he could have probably killed four or five hundred of them and wounded many more.

 

[Elixir]

If he had stolen a large truck and drove through the fence at 50mph, he could have probably killed four or five hundred of them and wounded many more.

Nope. Think about it. Those people were not packed like sardines. If you've ever been to an open air concert you should know better than to spout that BS.