The mass shooter who allegedly killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday reportedly used to keep a “hit list” and a “rape list” while he was in high school.
Good thing our background check system doesn’t do anything invasive like look for character references going back to a 20-something buyer’s history as a teenager, y’know, the age when much of the anti-social behavior that is a red flag for eventual mass murderers starts showing itself.
I always hear you can’t stop all these shootings- no system can stop it.
I say just don’t sell the assault weapons to the public and do a national buy back gun program.
This country does not have an issue with citizens dying from hand grenades. They aren’t sold to the public. This doesn’t seem so hard.
Every amendment has limits- machine guns are not legal but were in the 1930’s.
Can we please all remember that this guy was a totally law abiding citizen, just exercising his god given right to carry any gun that he could, right up the the instant that he started killing people this weekend.
What’s to keep anyone from thinking him a “good guy with a gun” until he pulled the trigger that sprayed the crowd.
Except either the after-the-fact steps taken by New Zealand and Australia or before-the-fact steps taken by every other industrialized country on the planet.
They pretty much stopped in this country when we banned assault weapons. Republicans let it lapse so hit the entire party with this.
Sounds like a real sack of shit. Is he friends with that Covington brat?
“Betts’ clean background as an adult allowed him to purchase his weapon legally.”
Including a 100-round drum…
California, under the “leadership” of part-time Governor and full-time Saint Ronald Reagan, instituted strict gun control laws within a couple of months of a well-known incident at the state capitol.
I’m sure the timing was pure coincidence.
The mass shooter who [allegedly killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio]
and one of the nine was his own sister, Megan.
In circumstances like these, I always remember Molly Ivins’ take on gun violence. If this disturbed, angry kid had had access only to a knife, probably nobody gets killed in Dayton–“at least without a good footrace first,” as Molly put it so well. The big weaponry is about the only thing you can really control for–you can’t arrest people for online hate rants-- so that’s where the emphasis needs to be.
This isn’t about individual disturbed angry guys - this is international.
It’s a real international threat.
I feel we really need to sell the idea that people who are responsible can keep their guns. Take a training course. Carry insurance. Pax a tax (to fund compliance processes). Have every gun registered to an owner. Microstamp ammunition. Prevent private sales, make all sales go through a registered broker. Set reasonable limits on ammunition ownership and number of guns without a more involved collectors license. Mandatory mental evaluation from a health professional licensed by the state. Make liability laws for accidental misuse, unreported theft, etc.
This type of a system would leave people who truly want guns and use them responsibly able to own them. It would mean going through a lot of red tape (better than a waiting period) and would neutralize the concept of “only bad guys would have guns” and would give police the tools they need to disarm people who are misusing firearms. Firearms would quickly become the possession of the well trained and serious enthusiasts and not Bubba trying to impress people that he deserves respect or Cletus wanting to play weekend warrior and shoot “invaders”.
I follow her columns, she’s good, and a former R, which I think gives more credibility.
All of us here probably do more than our fair share of internet surfing. We read a lot of news, from all over the nation. Personally, I have the impression if every school student caught with a “hit list” in their locker, pocket, computer or backpack was detained and made to undergo involuntary confinement and counseling we’d have a couple million kids being analyzed.
Yes indeed. But let’s be clear. As long as the courts and congress stand in the way, these things are not possible.
Which is a silly argument. It is true you can’t stop all violence, but you sure as hell can reduce it. The absence of a complete solution is no reason not to act.
I have to agree here. This only sounds horrible in hindsight. I probably made such lists myself at some point. Fantasizing getting even with tormentors does not make you a criminal.
Can TPM stop referring to him as the “suspect” or the “alleged shooter,” since he was seen shooting and was killed by the police for murdering and wounding innocent people?
He was a mass murderer.
Period.
Full stop.