Debate about Gun Control

[Eric the Green]

(06-16-2016, 03:51 PM)Odin Wrote:

(06-16-2016, 12:23 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The Republican House refuses even to prohibit terrorists, even those on airplanes, from having assault weapons. If you want this lunacy to continue, vote Republican. And the Supreme Court is directly on the ballot in the presidential and senate races.

I thought we progressives were against the Terror Watch List because it was an unconstitutional attack of civil liberties and due process?

Not this progressive. They can't be locked up until they commit a crime. But many terrorists have been intercepted before they committed their crime. They must have been under surveillance. That is needed, and what happened with Mateen is that rules allowed the surveillance to end. That can be changed. Meanwhile certainly anyone on the list can be and should be denied any guns. Republicans on the other hand listen to the evil monsters of the NRA and Gun Owners of America and do their bidding. No Republican should be allowed anywhere near any kind of government position. That's like allowing a drunk to get behind the wheel. Vote them all out.

Meanwhile McCain blames Obama for Orlando because he removed troops from Iraq in the agreement that Bush negotiated. He should be defeated for that statement alone; not even mentioning that he's a Republican-- duh. He's almost as bad as Trump then. It is he and those who supported the Iraq War who have responsibility for the emergence of the Islamic State.

Unlike some "free speech" advocates, I think we are very negligent in allowing the terrorist groups any access to social media. These companies like facebook and you tube do lots of blocking already for what are often unfair reasons; they can certainly block terrorist sites for inciting violence and hate speech. They supposedly have "community standards" against various kinds of abuse and even against uncivil statements; they should be required to take these sites down if they don't do it voluntarily. We are dropping the ball on this terrorism issue in many ways.

It's not that I want to ban all guns, if qualified people want them. But banning assault weapons is another thing, and metaphorically the USA is pursuing the Einstein definition of insanity; doing the same things and expecting different results. So that's why I say that if the USA were an applicant for a gun, it would be denied on the basis of poor mental health.