KY school shooting

[fredtoast]

(01-26-2018, 06:01 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Are we, though? As far as I know, in every part of the country, it's illegal to use a gun to kill someone except in self defense. It's also illegal to use a gun to commit other crimes.

I would think those are the most basic laws that are needed.

Those laws only allow us to punish people AFTER the crime has been committed.  What we need are laws that help address the issue of keeping guns out of the hands of criminals before they can commit a crime.

SSF posted a link to a study that showed that 80% of gun crimes are committed by people who are not the lawful owner of the gun they used in the crime.  We can't keep guns out of the hands of criminals without some basic registration laws.  A person can be openly carrying a stolen gun to go commit a crime and there is nothing a police officer can do to stop him unless the the person is a convicted felon already.  Most guns in the hands of criminals are not reported as stolen so the police have no way of knowing.

(01-26-2018, 06:01 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Well, even WITH those requirements, we're never going to be able to control gun traffic or keep guns out of the hands of criminals. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but can't gun owners be held responsible if their gun is used in a crime to a certain degree and depending on the situation?

We can do a lot better than we are now.  Laws against stealing don't stop people from stealing, but it would be MUCH worse if there was no law against stealing.

I don't know about civil actions but here in Tennessee there is no criminal charge if your gun is used in a crime.  According to the study that SSF posted it seems that when confronted with the fact that their gun was in the possession of a criminal most people just say that it was stolen.  But without registration laws it is very difficult to even determin who the lawful owner of a gun is.

We require licensing and registration for people to drive cars, use explosives, use toxic chemicals, obtain narcotic pain medicine, and many many other things that are public safety concerns.  It does not make any sense to not do the same thing with something as dangerous as a gun.