Posted by meanceprimea on 2/7/2011 9:30:00 PM (view original):
Quote post by antonsirius on 2/7/2011 10:03:00 AM:
1) As far as 'more guns = less shootings" go, I think you're overlooking the 'suicide by cop' scenario - such as the Florida school board meeting situation that swamp used to start his initial thread. If the shooter is looking to be shot, and possibly take some people with them, the presence of guns isn't a deterrent, it's an encouragement.
Certainly that is valid. However,, would say that example is far more infrequent than the typical shooting spree scenario.
I mean, is there a solution that will eliminate violent crime altogether? If not, then I think responsible armed citizenry has far more pros than cons.
2) I don't at all agree with that 'ranged conflict' argument. If you're talking about a sniper in a tower, arming the faculty (or anybody else) won't make any difference at all. And Loughner proved quite clearly that anyone with a handgun can and will open fire from the middle of a crowd.
Sure some people may, but the majority do not.
Do we know if Laughner being in the middle of a crowd was a factor in the inability for any armed person to take him out before he killed and wounded so many?
In other words, were there armed officials there who could not put him down for fear of hitting a member of the crowd?
1) They're both infrequent. I haven't really seen anything to indicate whether one scenario happens more frequently than the other.
I agree that 'responsible armed citizenry' would in all likelihood be a net plus. The real issue for me is the 'responsible' part, and how much of a negative 'irresponsible armed citizenry' would be. That's where the risk/reward analysis gets really dicey.
2) Loughner shot as many people as he did because of the extended magazine on his Glock. My understanding he that he got taken down when he had to try and reload - he dropped his second magazine, someone grabbed it before he could pick it up, and then he got tackled.
It'd only take about half a minute to exhaust one magazine on semi-auto, so I don't think there wouldn't have been a lot of time for return fire, obstructed or otherwise, even if there had been anyone there armed.