Even if this situation is only 1% it's the percentage of that 1% at true risk of snapping that is probably the stat too focus on. In the cold, calculated way of saying only 3,000 people died during 9/11 and we ended up starting two wars over it, it is obvious that even a very small statistical occurrence is now powerfully (galactically?) impactful because we have now entered the zero-tolerance zone.
A hand-gun, with a few clips that can be slapped in and out very quickly along with a fire alarm being pulled could easily yield the same horrific result and response around the country because of the chaos and the other failures (law enforcement follow-up; mental illness; bullying; hate-filled culture we now endure in our country). I think the focus on AR-15's, while important, is in many ways in the we gotta' do something category. I'm now seeing Trump being mocked for his recent bump stock order when bump stocks were in the public eye after Vegas. I'd never heard of one before. Now we have people on the Left even questioning the legality of the order (see excerpt from LA Times article below) because it's possible they are still smarting from accusations that Obama illegally used executive orders for political purposes. Ok, so Trump is late on the order if it is even his legal right to do so, but it's SOMETHING and it addresses some of the concerns around rapid-fire (as opposed to the other semantically problematic terms such as automatic or semi-automatic) weapons. The political response to this IN MY OPINION is part of the overall problem.
LA TIMES comment about Trump's order:
"President Trump was right Tuesday in insisting that the federal government ban "bump stocks." But there's less than meets the eye to the directive he sent to the Justice Department to rush through a new regulation, already in the works, that would ban the devices, because sure as shooting there will be a legal challenge that probably will succeed. That's why this problem needs to be addressed by Congress in the form of a more expansive law barring devices crafted by creative gun makers to circumvent the intent of federal gun laws."
bystander say's: It's interesting that they think it needs to be addressed by Congress but I wonder if they agreed when Trump said the Dreamer situation must be addressed by Congress. I always look for the consistency from the media. That's how you ferret out the good-faith arguments from the political.
Last edited: Feb 21, 2018