I’m with you on that one. Someone who is actually disturbed could walk right up, flip the safety, and fire a shot at the ground. So I’d fear for my ears at least.
Knowing that he has PTSD is also disturbing.
This is tragic, but I bring this up as a comparison to what happened this weekend. It took 2 hours to kill 4 people. At least one of the victims was able to fend him off bravely while sustaining injuries.
This is what might happen if we took guns off the street.
4 people in 2 hours, versus 9 in 30 seconds.
A sufficiently determined 12-yr-old child could take that rifle away from him.
It’s the opposite for me because, although I am not thrilled with SWAT guy for various reasons, I can safely assume he has been trained and passed a few sessions of rigorous testing. Open carry nut? Not so much. He carries all the same negatives for me as SWAT guy, plus there is no assumption of safe handling.
Now you wanna tackle the issue of the militarization the police and I’m all for that too.
This guy is even more likely to be killed with his own gun by someone he never even sees.
These people are all living a violence fantasy, yearning for the chance to shoot someone.
NPR had a great interview with a former FBI agent on monday, and was asked about how they handle a situation with dead bodies on the ground and multiple people who are holding weapons running around the scene (active shooter + people like the above guy who think they are “helping”).
The agent said that police in that situation “don’t like confusion” in these circumstances. You can imagine cops that are more than happy to shoot you for holding a cell phone that “might be a gun” in that situation visualizing every person with a gun on the scene as a target.
“Kill them all, let god sort them out.”
Menzo
6607
Really cops just don’t like black guys with guns in those situations. Time and again we see them taking white shooters into custody, while the streets are lined with the bodies of black men and women who may or may not have had a gun.
The fact that this doofus actually thinks he could protect himself or anyone else, when Parkland proved that allegedly trained police officers could not, would be comical if it wasn’t so scary.
Huh? I thought it was because they would not.
I may have missed something with that one.
rowe33
6611
I don’t understand what would prevent another “good guy with a gun” from blowing this guy away, if he didn’t realize Gun Boy was just a fucktard that can only get an erection by carrying his rifle around in public. If I saw this idiot walk into a store with a rifle like that, I’d assume he was there to kill everyone. How do these morons not get jumped by regular citizens looking to protect their families, friends, etc, on a regular basis?
It’s really amusing to think of the reactions from the GOP if a black guy or Muslim started legally walking around with this sort of firepower though.
Yes, in the same way I’d feel threatened if he was carrying a baseball bat with nails in it, or a battle axe. There’s no rational reason to carry a weapon around inside a Starbucks, so he can only be carrying it for irrational reasons, which means, well, who knows? Maybe he’s crazy?
Statistically, an accidental discharge is probably more likely than him becoming an active shooter, but I’d prefer not to have the risk of accidental discharge with my Frappucino either, thank you.
For me I’d be more threatened by someone carrying the baseball bat with nails in it than someone with a slung rifle on their back.
I do think there’s a limit here. Walking down the street holding a rifle with two hands may be legal but is extremely concerning.
Just look at the security camera photo of the El Paso shooter. Hearing protection and the gun at low ready. If I was a wannabe gun-toting hero instead of a coward, I would instantly start shooting when I saw that. Let God sort that one out, etc.
I do too, and a dumbass carrying around a weapon of mass slaughter in a public place is well past it.
If I saw that guy in line I would immediately leave, and if my daughter were with me I would do so while struggling to contain boiling rage and terror. You might think that’s an overreaction, but in light of the fact that there appears to be a mass shooting about every week or two in this country, I would call it pretty proportionate.
rowe33
6615
Oh that’s no overreaction. I’d be out of there immediately too.
Can a private business prohibit a dumbass like this from carrying guns inside? I can’t seem to find a straightforward answer on searching. Maybe it depends on the state?
These are the judgment calls we should all be expected to make as we get our morning lattes?
Liberty!
Timex
6617
The thing which is baffling to me, is that the right wing’s argument is “We can’t ban guns, we just need to make sure that these bad people don’t get them.”
But then when you suggest more in depth background checks, they say you can’t do that.
Or they suggest “Switzerland has a huge gun ownership rate, but low gun violence, so guns must not be the problem!” But they have incredibly restrictive rules on the sales of guns, and do very in depth background checks before you can buy one. If you have any history of anger or violence, you don’t get to have a gun… but we can’t have those things here. But they still use that country as an example.
So… what’s the ACTUAL thing we’re supposed to do? Just thoughts and prayers, eh?
Nesrie
6618
I believe the answer is just die. They don’t want detractors around.
rowe33
6619
Well yeah, of course. I mean what else can we do? Got to spend more time on our knees.
Don’t forget “open carry” is actually total bullshit, because every time a black guy does it, it goes badly.
