Obviously you're not going to be able to identify every nut that's walking around out there but there seemed like more than enough warning signs and incidents with this kid that something should've been done. I was out earlier and saw a grown man in a dragon t-shirt brandishing a wizard staff as he walked down the street. Safe to say the guy wasn't playing with a full deck.
Lots of people talk crazy and make threats and generally act as though they might be a threat. You can't lock them all up under a system that locks almost nobody up for mental health reasons. It takes an act of violence to get somebody committed. They have to be a clear and present danger to public safety. This guy was basically a frustrated adolescent gone wrong. I've probably known a half dozen people in my life who seemed like bigger threats than he was and none of them ever did anything more than act belligerent and oppositional when confronted by authority. Now, once he published that 140 page thing, well that's a different story. But even then what do you do when he says it was just a story he made up?
I can kill you with a spork. (just kidding) Anything can be a weapon. Guns are particularly effective weapons who tend to have people die around them a lot more than other weapons. Knives are a nasty weapon. You get a bunch of people killed with knives each year. You occasionally get multiple murders in one incident with a knife. Clubs are a nasty weapon. People get killed by clubs now and then. Guns are something different. Guns actually get a lot of people killed who would not otherwise have died. They're the great equalizer. You're 5'6" and pissed off because a big guy got in your face? Go home and get your gun. Somebody is going to die tonight.
One of your favorite places to cite is England. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245417/Burglary-victims-attacked-home-30-minutes.html 23,000 people experienced violence during home invasions last year alone, according to the British Crime Survey. (1 every 30 minutes) That's hundreds if not thousands of times more than the entire number of shooting rampages in this country since it came into existence. Now I'm sure you'll move on to gun crimes.
So you're saying that our government shouldn't have armed the cartels? Sidenote: technically you are correct, a person can be killed with a flimsy piece of plastic. Also with one inch of water or a handful of cotton or a pillow. Outlaw them all, I say. As long as you do it in the order of which is most dangerous. Hell, they might be coming off SSRIs, brought to you by your friends at Eli Lilly and Company.
This is pretty much completely off topic but for all the gun control nuts check out the number of gun murders in the country vs the number of DUI related deaths. Where's the outrage and the call to ban cars or alcohol?
Hey man it's the bartender's fault. Or the guy at the liquor store. Or the car salesman. None of those things have to do with 5'6" angry men. Actually, maybe there's an SSRI for Napoleon complex. That would fix everything.
funny, i have had guns in my house for the entire 41 years of my existence and none of them have ever killed a person.
I trust the government more than a lunatic with a gun, but not by much. Show me a smart gun and I'll show you a gun the government can control.
Why would you be concerned about a gun the government can control? Would you rather have the ability to hole up in your house and shoot yourself with it eventually in the event that the government sees fit to besiege you for some reason? There is no weapon you can own that will protect you against a corrupt government trying to persecute you. Maybe there was when you were a rancher in the west and the government was a regional marshal and a small town sheriff but those days are long gone. Uncle Sam brings drones with him these days, or would if he chose to come calling.
hang out in the hospital ER. you will see some gunshot victim every now and then but by a large margin you will see many knife wound victims.
