Again it is for those who understand it....

Equality, respect and love if we are in a relationship

Again I said it was for those who understand it.....

Again it is for someone who understands....

I said it is for those who can understand it

Funches is great and has a good mind on his shoulders....you bet.

The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys
Mass shootings in the US are on the rise—and ordinary citizens with guns don't stop them.

—By Mark Follman
| Fri Dec. 28, 2012 1:11 PM PST
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The gut-wrenching shock of the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14 wasn't just due to the 20 unthinkably young victims. It was also due to the realization that this specific, painfully familiar nightmare was unfolding yet again.

As the scope of the massacre in Newtown became clear, some news accounts suggested that mass shootings in the United States have not increased, based on a broad definition of them. But in fact 2012 has been unprecedented for a particular kind of horror that's been on the rise in recent years, from Virginia Tech to Tucson to Aurora to Oak Creek to Newtown. There have been at least 62 such mass shootings in the last three decades, attacks in which the killer took the lives of four or more people (the FBI's baseline for mass murder) in a public place—a school, a workplace, a mall, a religious building. Seven of them occurred in 2012 alone.

Along with three other similar though less lethal rampages—at a Portland shopping mall, a Milwaukee spa, and a Cleveland high school—2012 has been the worst year for these events in modern US history, with 151 victims injured and killed. More than a quarter of them were young children and teenagers.


See our full special report on gun laws and the rise of mass shootings in America.

The National Rifle Association and its allies would have us believe that the solution to this epidemic, itself but a sliver of America's overall gun violence, is to put firearms in the hands of as many citizens as possible. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," declared the NRA's Wayne LaPierre in a press conference a week after Newtown, the same day bells tolled at the National Cathedral and the devastated town mourned its 28 dead. (That day a gunman in Pennsylvania also murdered three people and wounded a state trooper shortly before LaPierre gave his remarks.) LaPierre explained that it was a travesty for a school principal to face evil unarmed, and he called for gun-wielding security officers to be deployed in every school in America.

As many commentators noted, it was particularly callous of the NRA to double down on its long-standing proposal to fight gun violence with more guns while parents in Newtown were burying their first graders. But more importantly, the NRA's argument is bereft of supporting evidence. A closer look reveals that their case for arming Americans against mass shooters is nothing more than a cynical ideological talking point—one dressed up in appeals to heroism and the defense of constitutional freedom, and wholly reliant on misdirection and half truths. If only Sandy Hook's principal had been packing heat, the argument goes, she could've stopped the mass killer. There's just one little problem with this: Not a single one of the 62 mass shootings we studied in our investigation has been stopped this way—even as the nation has been flooded with millions of additional firearms and a barrage of recent laws has made it easier than ever for ordinary citizens to carry them in public places, including bars, parks, and schools.
Gun rights die-hards claim the Portland mall shooter saw an armed good guy—who ran for cover instead of firing—and promptly shot himself dead. Obviously.

Attempts by armed citizens to stop shooters are rare. At least two such attempts in recent years ended badly, with the would-be good guys gravely wounded or killed. Meanwhile, the five cases most commonly cited as instances of regular folks stopping massacres fall apart under scrutiny: Either they didn't involve ordinary citizens taking action—those who intervened were actually cops, trained security officers, or military personnel—or the citizens took action after the shooting rampages appeared to have already ended. (Or in some cases, both.)

But those facts don't matter to the gun rights die-hards, who never seem to run out of intellectually dishonest ammo. Most recently, they've pointed to the Portland shopping mall rampage earlier in December, in which an armed civilian reportedly drew his gun but thought twice about potentially hurting an innocent bystander and ducked for cover instead of firing. The assailant suddenly got scared of this retreating good guy with the gun, they claim, and promptly shot himself dead. Obviously.

Another favorite tactic is to blame so called "gun-free zones" for the carnage—as if a disturbed kid shoots up a school, or a disgruntled employee executes his coworkers, or a neo-Nazi guns down Sikhs at worship simply because he has identified the safest place to go open fire. All we need to do is make sure lots of citizens have guns in these locations, and voilà, problem solved!

For their part, law enforcement officials overwhelmingly hate the idea of armed civilians getting involved. As a senior FBI agent told me, it would make their jobs more difficult if they had to figure out which of the shooters at an active crime scene was the bad guy. And while they train rigorously for responding in confined and chaotic situations, the danger to innocent bystanders from ordinary civilians whipping out firearms is obvious. Exhibit A: the gun-wielding citizen who admitted to coming within a split second of shooting an innocent person as the Tucson massacre unfolded, after initially mistaking that person for the killer, Jared Loughner.

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The NRA's LaPierre was also eager to blame violent video games and movies for what happened in Newtown, and to demonize the "unknown number of genuine monsters" walking among us. Never mind that the failure to recognize and treat mental health problems is a crucial factor in this dark equation: Of the 62 mass shootings we examined, 36 of them were murder-suicides, while assailants in seven other cases died in police shootouts, widely considered to have been "suicide by cop."

Those who are serious about contending with the problem of mass shootings understand that collecting and studying data is crucial. Since we began our investigation after the attack in Aurora in July, we've heard from numerous academic researchers, legislative aides, and others wanting access to our full data set. We've now published it here.

The question now isn't whether most Americans will take seriously the idea of turning every grammar school in the nation into a citadel. (Here, too, the NRA's argument falls apart; an armed sheriff’s deputy at Columbine and a robust security force at Virginia Tech didn't stop those slaughters from occurring.) Now that we've just witnessed the worst year for mass shootings in memory, including 20 of the most innocent of lives snuffed out, what remains to be seen is whether real reform is finally on the way on Capitol Hill. Despite years of this kind of carnage, next to nothing has been changed in our legal system with respect to how easy it is for a disturbed young man to get his hands on a military-style assault rifle and a stockpile of highly lethal ammunition.

Sen. Diane Feinstein has vowed to introduce a new ban on assault weapons when Congress reconvenes in January. President Obama has signaled that the gun issue will be a real priority going forward. But once the raw emotion of Newtown dissipates there will be the danger of slipping back into the same inertia and political stalemate so successfully cultivated by the pro-gun ideologues. Soon lawmakers will start eyeing their 2014 reelection campaigns and thinking about how much money the NRA has in its coffers to take aim at them with should they dare to dissent. This time, have we finally had enough?
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Mark Follman
Senior Editor

Mark Follman is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him with tips or feedback at mfollman (at) motherjones (dot) com. RSS | Twitter
If You Liked This, You Might Also Like...

Do Armed Civilians Stop Mass Shooters? Actually, No.
Five cases commonly cited as a rationale for arming Americans don't stand up to scrutiny.
More Guns, More Mass Shootings—Coincidence?
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NRA Chief Calls for More Guns Everywhere
Wayne LaPierre, the head of the gun lobby, envisions a paramilitary society.
A Guide to Mass Shootings in America
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Mass Shootings: Maybe What We Need Is a Better Mental-Health Policy
What our in-depth investigation reveals about mental illness and America's mass killings with guns.

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The NRA Myth of Arming the Good Guys




In answer to the final question...hell yea.

This of course is for those who can a: understand it b: appreciate it.

Not trying to change any minds at all here.

Texas man guns down couple over dog poop on his porch
By David Edwards
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 9:30 EST
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Poop from pitbull dog named Selena leads to Dallas shooting
Topics: dallas morning news ♦ Jamie Stafford ♦ Michelle Jackson


Police say a 75-year-old man in Dallas is being charged with Capital Murder after he allegedly shot and killed two neighbors because they had dumped dog feces on his porch.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Chung Kim had repeatedly complained to management at Sable Ridge Apartments that Michelle Jackson and Jamie Stafford, who lived above him, had dumped dog feces on his porch and allowed their dog, Selena, to urinate on the upstairs balcony which dripped down to his patio.

Tension finally boiled over on Monday when Kim was on his patio and shot 31-year-old Jackson multiple times as she stood on the patio above him, police said. He then reportedly went upstairs and shot Stafford, who was also 31, as he was trying to escape. After Stafford fell from the second floor, Kim is accused of going back downstairs and shooting him again.

“I heard about eight or nine gunshots just go off, ‘Bow, bow, bow,’ like three separate times,” resident Michael Issa told KXAS. “It was like, first there was two or three, then there was a pause for like 30 or 40 seconds and then there was another three or four shots, and there was a pause, and a couple more shots.”

“I waited for like three or four minutes and I ain’t hear nothing. I came outside to smoke a cigarette and look upstairs and there’s feet hanging over my head,” he recalled.

Resident Yoland Washington said that three of the couple’s children were away from home at the time of the shooting, but an infant had been in the apartment.

“When they come home today, their mother and their father is gone,” Washington lamented. “Little baby — they call the newborn Little Mama — Little Mama is not going to never know her parents. She’ll never know her parents. Never.”

Neighbors told the Morning News that Jackson had volunteered about 30 hours a week for AmeriCorps VISTA, helping to combat poverty. She also tutored disadvantaged children through the nonprofit Dallas Community Lighthouse.

Local AmeriCorps director Keven Vicknair said that Jackson had been going to school for a degree in education.

“She was really happy she was going back to school,” he explained. “It’s insane that this happened to her [when] everything was looking up. She was great.”

Child Protective Services took temporary custody of the 1-month-old child, but all of the children are now staying with relatives. The couple’s dog is being adopted by a neighbor.

Watch this video from KTVT, broadcast Feb. 4, 2013.

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Yea, it could have been a different story all together, eh?

As to the OP. I respect the grieving, of course and would never yell anything at him but he can be wrong still.

Just being a single parent is of no consequence to determining a person's worth. Some single parents are terrible people, just as some dual parents are.

If they are a good dad, doing the right things and raising their children well, then that is something.

Funches, You may expect too much sometimes....

I have enjoyed reading your thread.

Andy, just as with all your posts, you tell us much of yourself and still are.
You make it personal every post you make, personally you.
I know I understand you and hopefully all the others do to.

Keep up the good work.

Great.

This post as in all others gives us great insights into you and who and what you are...

I have no issues with you expressing yourself to us.

No offense intended but

Nothing. If he is interested in me and available he will make it happen, if not then he is not interested

If president Obama were into banning guns then I guess we would have something to worry about.

As far as I am concerned the president is not as into controlling guns as I would like.

Go back to school so you might could understand me then maybe?

Go back to school and then analyze me.

What I say is for those who can understand it and there are quite a few.

Not a good analysis, go back to school, and then psychoanalyze me.

Until then, just because someone doesn't understand what I say doesn't mean it is not accurate or correct.

Just because you don't understand doesn't mean it is illogical or not accurate...