Winning?

As of Sunday, the 271st day of 2025, there had been more than 320 mass shootings in the US, according to the non-partisan Gun Violence Archive.

With several happening these past few days alone it's quite dizzying trying to keep up

At least four people were killed and eight others injured after a gunman opened fire at a Mormon church in Michigan and then set the building ablaze, authorities said.

The suspect was later identified by officials as Thomas Jacob Sanford, from the nearby city of Burton. US military records show Sanford was a US Marine from 2004 to 2008 and an Iraq war veteran. 

Next:

In North Carolina, another 40-year-old Marine veteran who served in Iraq was the suspect in a shooting that killed three people and wounded five others less than 14 hours before the Michigan incident.

And then:

In Texas, about 12.15am on Sunday, two people died and five more were injured in a shooting at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle casino in Eagle Pass, near the US-Mexico border, the local news outlet KSAT reported.

And theeeen:

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, on the first block of Bourbon Street, the well-known entertainment thoroughfare, a triple shooting killed one woman, wounded two other women and injured a man, local police said. According to Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana, the slain woman was pronounced dead at the scene while the other three who were wounded were taken to a hospital.

I don't think guns are the problem. I believe humans are. Guns are just tools, just like pencils, etc. 

We have no guns in the Maldives, but murder used to be something that kept the nation awake. Now, it's just "Oh really? Which Island? Hmm.. What's for dinner?" 

Pencils are designed to write. Guns are designed to kill as efficiently as possible. A mentally ill person armed with a pencil can only do so much damage. One armed with a gun on the other hand can murder dozens. 

Hey there Sopdet

Sure. Pencils were desgined with not-killing in mind. Guns weren't. And I think my point is there somewhere although a little hidden. 

Mankind created guns to kill efficiently — whether it is humans or animals is another story. Mankind was killing maybe from day 2. And that exactly is my point — we are the problem. And we'll always find tools to kill whether it be something that was designed to sleep on or .. kill. 

This is the whole "guns don't kill people, people kill people" but yet I've never seen someone wound over 10 people and burn down a church armed with a pencil

Isn’t it true though? I’m not a gun enthusiast, and here in the Maldives we don’t even have access to them. Growing up, the only time I ever saw guns was with soldiers — either firing at bats and crows to "mow the grass" or standing guard at the president’s home. But it's more common now because we are seeing higher murder rates in this little country as well. 

You’re right, a pencil can’t burn down a church or wound ten people. I’ll agree with that. But I still don’t see weapons themselves as the root problem. Humanity has always killed, long before guns existed. Guns were invented to make it more efficient. The intent to harm was already there. And we now have guided bullets in the making because we need to keep on killing for as long as we live. 

Just my 2 cents. 

I have a rather controversial opinion on managing the gun violence issue in this country, that'd probably get me into some hot water with my lefty friends.

I think schools should have gun education. They teach kids about smoking and drinking and drugs, but very little information is given about gun violence. Since guns are so important to Americans, and are arguably enshrined in our second amendment, it's something that really should be touched on during education.

And I'm not just talking listing all of the mass shootings and wagging your fingers, I mean explaining the workings of guns, bringing kids down to a range, have them go through safety training, have them actually firing in a controlled, safe environment. Then, have them educated on the physical effects of being shot, explain the different ways guns can kill, maim or paralyze you. Make it real. Show people the cost that victims pay when someone decides to take deadly force into their own hands.

Guns aren't going away. The right is obsessed with them, and htere's enough of us on the left that are also enthusiasts that the votes will never happen, so instead, go for awareness. 

I mean yeah, the idea you need a person behind a gun or weapon to do any harm isn't really novel. But really the options are "get rid of humanity" or "make sure the crazy harmful people don't have access to military grade weapons" so that really leaves us with one feasible option.

How do you solve the root problem? I think you'll find you can't so we have to deal with symptoms and mitigate risk 

Hey Smilin! 

My point is: Yes people will always try to kill others. But that is a reason to not give them items with which they can do so most effectively. 

If there are 100 crazy people in a big city and they have pencils and pillows and q-tips, they still can try and succeed to kill someone. Maybe they manage to kill 3 people before being caught? 

Now imagine those 100 people having guns. They can easily kill 300 people before being caught!

Having pencils or guns available or not will not influence the number of crazy people. They will always be 100 and will always be a ticking time bomb. What we can change is how successful they can kill. By either giving them access to firearms or not. 

Agreed. If we can't solve the root of the problem, we solve the closest to it. I also agree that guns are quite essential because of the criminals also have access to it. 

Perhaps you're right. We can't get rid of humanity so we tighten some rules around gun access and maybe, if we are lucky, they'll find somwthing better to do. 

Agreed. We need better rules and policies and etc, yeah? Just like we need certain drugs and they are heavily regulated. 

Guns are part of the problem, less guns, less mass murder events!

The other part is humans, yeah? 

But as we age and develop, so does the criminals. Strict regulation MIGHT make things better though and like Jtester said, until we can take humanity out of the equation, the next best solution is regulating. 

Seems to be the most common sense way forward to me, in my line of work oftentimes we'll take a 80% solution and deal with the last 20% of cases later, better than having all 100% still.

The other way is obviously to also reduce the amount of potential shooters, which would typically manifest through strong mental health services.

After the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, clearly demostrated that one person could kill and injure hundreds of people.

2018 Toronto van attack - Wikipedia

How about a van.  Killed 11, 15 injured some critically.

2025 Vancouver car attack - Wikipedia

11 dead, 32 injured.

List of vehicle-ramming attacks - Wikipedia

These are just a short list of vehicle ramming attacks with fatalities.

Where there is a will there is a way.  

Root causes need to be examined.  Not the weapon of choice.

Just look at the Sarin gas attack in Japan in 1995.  13 dead over 5,000 injured.

Ricin is made from the castor bean.  Easyily acquired bean even on Amazon.  Easy to make Ricin.  Easy to use by various delivery methods.

A little of corn fertilizer and nitromethane killed 168 and injured hundreds more in Oklahoma a few years back

Its not the weapon of choice its the mindset.  MICE

MICE includes mental illness.

Even in nations with the most stringint gun laws see home made guns on the streets and used in homicides.