DiscussMormonism.com

Eighteen school shootings so far in 2018. Republicans fail to extend assault rifle ban. Millions of dollars flow into Republican candidate campaign coffers from the gun lobby.

Mormons are some of the most, if not the most, reliable Republican voters on the planet. And now, for those few of us who live in Florida, the consequences of right wing Republican policies on assault rifles have become all too real. While first responders were handling the mess in Parkland, my wife and I were counting ourselves lucky that our kids live elsewhere.

Then around midnight my wife received a text from one of our granddaughters. One of her close friends, who had recently moved to Parkland, Florida was killed by the 19 year old with a AR-15 in yet another school mass shooting. This beautiful girl was in the ward we used to attend here. No sleep my wife last night and very little for the rest of us.

Don't get me wrong. I'm in favor of responsible firearm ownership. I grew up on a farm with guns and hunted a lot when I was younger. I'm a USMC vet, own several guns, and even have a concealed carry permit. Except for a brief stint as a Boy Scout, I have never belonged to or contributed to the NRA.

I firmly believe that no civilian has any valid use for a assault rifle with a high capacity magazine, especially one with a lightweight little .223 cal round that can be rendered essentially full automatic with a mail order bump stock.

When I see these guys at the gun range with their AR-15s, I try make it a point to ask them if they served in the military. I have yet to meet an AR-15 owner at the range who did. Let's face it. Owning an AR-15 is nothing more than compensation for perceived inadequacies elsewhere.

The stock response of congressional lawmakers that they are praying for those affected by gun violence is wearing very thin indeed.

Time for Mormons to recognize this aspect of the social damage that arises from their unfounded beliefs. Time for Republican lawmakers to show some courage.

40% federal excise tax on guns and ammunition. If we can't do anything about the guns, let's create a fund to pay for the mess our lack of willingness to address this problem creates.

We are the lone country in the developed world with this issue.

Agreed.

We need to repeal laws that shield gun manufacturers from liability. They have special protections that no other industry has. I would like to see them whipped with lawsuits until their lobby crumbles and they are more like today's tobacco industry. Both industries create a health hazard to users and those around them.

We also need to openly acknowledge that some groups are advocating gun ownership as a means to overthrowing the government. Why we don't treat them the same way we do Jihadis is a matter of white Christian privilege. Yes, I used that phrase. Our country has this fantasy about guns making men from that fraud John Wayne and others manufactured by Hollywood. My family is riddled with ignorant wannabe tough guys who don't join the military but want to act and talk tough as long as they have a piece within reach. My father, a veteran of two service branches, quit the NRA in disgust when Wayne LaPierre began the "jackbooted thugs" campaign. I firmly believe that LaPierre, Limbaugh and some others of the 90s had some responsibility for the militia uprisings and the terrorist act at Oklahoma City. This is a deep and ugly strain in America that has always been with us and erupts into virulent force from time to time. We have to confront it.

DrW, I'm sorry to hear how this has affected your family personally. It's a matter of time before all of our families are touched by it. It's getting worse.

There has to be some common sense limitations that can be placed into law, if society has the will to do so. Getting AR-15's out of the hands of troubled teenagers seems to be a good place to start. Why the family let the perpetrator keep the gun in the first place is beyond me, if it indeed was the kid's gun.

Exiled wrote:There has to be some common sense limitations that can be placed into law, if society has the will to do so. Getting AR-15's out of the hands of troubled teenagers seems to be a good place to start. Why the family let the perpetrator keep the gun in the first place is beyond me, if it indeed was the kid's gun.

I would like to know how many AR-15s are already out there. If you tried to do any kind of a sweep of confiscating them you would likely have an uprising on your hands of at least a thousand Tim McVeighs. We are effectively held hostage.

This is tragic, and I'm concerned that nothing, NOTHING, is being done about it. Firearms can be managed constructively. I think political extremists on either side of the this issue, and many other issues, are keeping the tragic status quo. Neither side wants to give an inch in their ideological trench warfare, and the rest of us are stuck in no man's land.

I feel sorry for the loss to you and your family Dr. W. May you find healing.

SteelHead wrote:40% federal excise tax on guns and ammunition. If we can't do anything about the guns, let's create a fund to pay for the mess our lack of willingness to address this problem creates.

We are the lone country in the developed world with this issue.

Make it 80%.

Maksutov wrote:

Exiled wrote:There has to be some common sense limitations that can be placed into law, if society has the will to do so. Getting AR-15's out of the hands of troubled teenagers seems to be a good place to start. Why the family let the perpetrator keep the gun in the first place is beyond me, if it indeed was the kid's gun.

I would like to know how many AR-15s are already out there. If you tried to do any kind of a sweep of confiscating them you would likely have an uprising on your hands of at least a thousand Tim McVeighs. We are effectively held hostage.

I wonder how many AR-15 owners are on benzodiazephines like the Las Vegas Shooter https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/las-vegas-strip-shooter-prescribed-anti-anxiety-drug-in-june/. I wonder what this troubled teen was prescribed? Disarming the public and maybe relying less on prescription drugs seems to be the obvious answer, but money must be made in 'merica.