Posted on 05/25/2022 8:42:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
"In New York," former Gov. Andrew Cuomo bragged on Sunday, "we passed the best (gun control) laws in the nation." Although those laws manifestly did not prevent the mass shooting that killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket on May 14, Cuomo thinks the answer is more legislation of the same sort.
Cuomo mentioned a federal "assault weapon" ban, and other politicians have responded to the Buffalo massacre by calling for expanded background checks and more aggressive enforcement of "red flag" laws that aim to disarm dangerous people. But those policies are fundamentally ill-suited to stopping would-be mass murderers from carrying out their plans.
The Buffalo shooter legally bought the Bushmaster XM-15 rifle he used in the attack from a gun dealer in Endicott, New York. According to the online manifesto that police attributed to the attacker, the rifle did not qualify as an "assault weapon" in New York at that point because it had been fitted with a fixed magazine.
The shooter easily reversed that modification so the gun could accept detachable magazines, and he reportedly used magazines that exceeded New York's 10-round limit. Although that change had practical implications, other workarounds allow New Yorkers to legally buy and own AR-15-style rifles like the Bushmaster XM-15 that are functionally identical to prohibited models.
As long as a rifle has none of the military-style features that New York prohibits (such as a pistol grip, a threaded barrel or a bayonet mount), it is not an "assault weapon," even if it accepts detachable magazines. Such "featureless" rifles are perfectly legal in New York, even though they fire the same ammunition at the same rate with the same muzzle velocity as the banned models.
That is the basic problem with "assault weapon" bans: They define the category based on functionally unimportant features, leaving mass shooters with plenty of equally lethal alternatives, including the handguns they overwhelmingly prefer. While Cuomo thinks a federal ban could be effective if it also covered "large capacity" magazines, which come standard with many guns, millions of such magazines would remain in circulation.
The Buffalo shooter passed a background check when he bought his rifle because he did not have a disqualifying criminal or psychiatric record, which is typically true of mass shooters. According to a recent National Institute of Justice report on public mass shootings from 1966 through 2019, just 13% of the perpetrators obtained weapons through illegal transactions.
Even theoretically, a federal law requiring background checks for private gun transfers, as New York already does, would not pose an obstacle for the vast majority of mass shooters. And in a country where civilians own more than 400 million firearms, a would-be killer with a disqualifying record would not have much trouble finding a source willing to flout that rule, as gun owners routinely do in states that notionally require "universal background checks."
That is the basic problem with "assault weapon" bans: They define the category based on functionally unimportant features, leaving mass shooters with plenty of equally lethal alternatives, including the handguns they overwhelmingly prefer. While Cuomo thinks a federal ban could be effective if it also covered "large capacity" magazines, which come standard with many guns, millions of such magazines would remain in circulation.
The Buffalo shooter passed a background check when he bought his rifle because he did not have a disqualifying criminal or psychiatric record, which is typically true of mass shooters. According to a recent National Institute of Justice report on public mass shootings from 1966 through 2019, just 13% of the perpetrators obtained weapons through illegal transactions.
Even theoretically, a federal law requiring background checks for private gun transfers, as New York already does, would not pose an obstacle for the vast majority of mass shooters. And in a country where civilians own more than 400 million firearms, a would-be killer with a disqualifying record would not have much trouble finding a source willing to flout that rule, as gun owners routinely do in states that notionally require "universal background checks."
Please stop confusing irrational Dems with facts. It just makes them whine even more.
Having a cop in the school, who doesn’t run away, is effective.
Someone ping me when the leftist elites give up their private security that’s all armed with full automatic weapons.
Obviously the guns used in Texas were gifts so no amount of background check is going to weed that out. His social media history and knowledge of his recent behavior should have tipped off someone. It’s another case of what did they know and when did they know it? His “friends” will live with this the rest of their lives.
Maybe we should return to having rifle ranges in the school basements and let the kids bring their rifles to school for target practice? Arming the teachers would also help discourage mass school shootings. The solutions are remembering our past, not more authoritarian restrictions or increased police presence in education.
That will happen after they all go 90% green..as well as take a 50% pay cut.
Lets face it. Dems don’t actually care about guns, its the noise and emotion they want to play on. These events, and the media’s willing cooperation, create an emotionally charged environment that plays with into the hands of “activists”.
When criminals start obeying laws, gun laws will work.
Oakland tech/schools put County sheriffs in the school halls way back 40 years ago. Nuthin much happened after that.
Sometimes very educated people are the stupidest people. We`ve a cat who won`t put his paw back on a hot stove. My cat is smarter than most teachers are. Coyotes used to come near the porch but a couple warning shots and they never come back. Coyotes are smarter than teachers are.
Could stop a good deal of mass murders by stopping false flag operations by the CIA, FIB, ....
To locate and track people like that would require a huge bureau of fed "workers" spying on everyone. Oh...wait...
His “friends” will live with this the rest of their lives.
"See something, say something" has been replaced by "Don't rat them out" and "snitches get found in ditches".
> “In New York,” former Gov. Andrew Cuomo bragged on Sunday, “we passed the best (gun control) laws in the nation.” <
“We were able to accomplish this even though I was spending most of my time harassing women instead of working,” Cuomo added.
Start putting the Insane in Asylums and treat them properly.
That will never happen however because it would deplete the Progressive Left.
Would have been worse if it wasn't for the actions of a brave border patrol officer.
Things that might have made a difference...
WHY school shootings?
What is more precious than our children?
Emotional pull.
Distraction event.
Gun grab event.
D security.
WHY would locals go along w/ such a sick organized event?
[THEY must control local police / school / county officials / etc to work].
WHY?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Federal aid + donations.
These people are SICK.
http:// www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-sandy-hook-shooting-two-years-later-20141214-story.html
Follow the money.
It’s always about the money.
Take COVID for example. Government in league with big pharma came up with an experimental gene therapy that doesn't stop the transmission of COVID. It doesn't stop people contracting COVID. Other solutions, such as masking, social distancing, shuttering businesses and locking people in their homes didn't stop COVID. The problem wasn't solved, but trillions of dollars were spent. Winners and losers were chosen. The economy went to crap. PEOPLE LOST THEIR FREEDOMS.
Government didn't solve any problem. Government only caused an entirely new set of very real problems.
Gun are not the problem in mass shootings or any murder for that matter. Thus, gun control is not the solution to the problem. Any gun control law causes PEOPLE TO LOSE THEIR FREEDOMS. In the process of losing their freedoms, more people die of murder.
Democrats and RINOs are really good at trying to solve the problem of peoples' fear, but they fail every time. The reality is most politicians that favor gun control laws don't give a damn about the people. They concurrently, pass all sorts of laws that weaken law enforcement, eliminating bail, and reduce sentences for violent offenders. Additionally, they do nothing to stem the tide of illegal drugs flowing over our border and all the violence that accompanies that. The want to take away guns so people cannot protect themselves only to make some temporarily unafraid. They will be afraid yet again, and the wrong problems will be solved, yet again. PEOPLE WILL LOSE MORE FREEDOMS.
School mass shootings are almost always at a public school. I think I found one at a private school. None at Catholic schools. This has to be a relevant datum. What’s the deal with public schools?
Schools had armed teachers already here 200 years ago- nuthin` new.SCHOOLS ARE GUN ZONES in 1800
“Children of the present day would be somewhat startled to go to school attended by large dogs, to keep off the bears and other wild animals, to study all day by the crackle of the great fire and back logs, to hear the howling of wolves at rollcall, and see the teacher take from its resting place over the door, a trusty rifle to guard the way home. Such were the first schools in 1800.”‘Periwinkle’, “The Sentinel”, Feb 21, 1874 [”Ticonderoga Sentinel”, Ticonderoga, NY]
Fixed it for them.
Only Gun-Grabbers and hoplophobes refer to them as "shooters."
Prior to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, the single largest mass murder event in US history had no firearms in it.
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