http://www.wbtv.com/story/34057400/dylann-roof-convicted-of-all-counts-in-church-slaughter This thread isn't about anything racist. We all know Roof is guilty and deserves the death penalty. That being said....... I've been a broken record about pointing out that criminals are attracted to "gun free zones" to find their victims. They are concerned for THEIR safety. There is one line in this story that describes the reason for Dylan Roof's choice of location for his crimes. "In Roof's confession to the FBI, the gunman said he carried out the killings after researching "black on white crime" on the internet. He said he chose a church because that setting posed little danger to him." I know this is just one case, but there is no database of criminal motives and choice location factors. I think Roof's reasoning is shared by criminals of all colors and motives. Gun control only controls the law abiding. It's just an advantage to create crime zones. What do you think.
I Agree that gun control has no effect on criminals with evil intent. This is evident by the gun homicide stats broken down by states with the most/least gun control.
I think Roof can be described as a nutter. He is a criminal but not the regular sort of criminal that uses a firearm to facilitate a crime. Roof wasn't going out to mug someone or stick up a liquor store, he was out to kill as many people as he could for his own nutball reasons. Truth is that I don't think any firearms control law would have stopped him. But this is from my perspective where I see firearms laws as being about minimising harm from lawfully owned and used firearms. Criminals of the regular type don't give a rat's arse about those laws but then they're not designed to stop them, the regular criminal law ("you held up a liquor store, here, have 10 years in the slammer") can handle that. There is a bit of a tactic that's used in my state in Australia though. https://www.police.sa.gov.au/services-and-events/firearms-and-weapons Firearms Prohibition Orders Register The Firearms Prohibition Orders Register lists people prohibited from coming into contact with firearms. A person against whom a firearms prohibition order is in force must not acquire,possess or use a firearm, firearm part or ammunition.Maximum penalty in the case of a firearm$75 000 or imprisonment for 15 years;
We have similar laws. For example, a straw purchase is punishable by a $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment. It's just not enforced. Jalita Johnson straw purchases a gun that was used to murder a policewoman. She got probation and a few months of house arrest. Dontray Mills straw purchased dozens of guns that were sold to gang members. He got probation. FBI studies indicate that around 40% of guns used in crimes were acquired through straw purchase. How well does Australia enforce those laws?
There are those who want to go out in a blaze of glory, or want suicide by cops. As with terrorists and psychopaths, they do seek out gun free zones to kill as many as possible----the least path of resistance.
It's already illegal to murder people. Maybe we need to make a law making it illegal to break the current laws?
those laws only effected those that follow the laws, as in ex-fellons that are now law abiding citizens .
Can't speak for the rest but where I am they are red hot on breaches and those orders are used in cases where there are usually outlaw motorcycle gang and organised crime connections.
It doesn't take a professor of criminal law to understand the following 1) people who own guns and have never committed a felony or violent misdemeanor are more likely to obey gun laws than 2) people who have committed violent felonies and intend on committing more 3) gun control tends to impact the law abiding's activities far more than those who disobey the law 4) gun control is thus imposed for the purpose of controlling the law abiding while 5) pretending to control criminals because 6) the people who push gun control tend not to want to upset criminals and those who identify with them but those same gun controllers want to be able to pretend they are doing something about crime
That's why many states are lifting the restrictions on concealed carry in churches. I won't attend a church where I can't legally carry. I won't open carry. I don't carry to draw attention to myself or distract from worship. Guns are never mentioned during services or after for that matter. I've heard of enough church shootings to know they are targets and I even knew one victim of a church shooting in Fort Worth in 1999. You won't find many churches in Texas that don't have somebody armed on every Sunday morning. I typically have 3 or 4 people armed on my pew alone.
Honestly, I believe that as more people realize that they have to be responsible for their own self defense and become armed, that it will be the armed citizen that has the most impact on criminal activity. Here is a way out there proposal for a gun law that would have a major impact on criminal activity. Make it a federal law that all citizens of legal age and with law abiding status be required to open carry a loaded weapon. Be kinda tough to walk into a store with criminal intent and see everyone with a gun.
Was the church where this shooting happened a legally enforced gun free zone? If gun laws were more relaxed in that jurisdiction, does you think there would be lots of people would have chosen to go to church armed? Would you want to live in a place where people felt it was necessary to carry firearms to go to church?
Gun free zones are not aimed at protecting their inhabitants from criminals, and have absolutely no effect on impeding them. They are aimed at protecting the law abiding people from ourselves, at the expense of making us easy targets for criminals. They are willing to risk mass shooters moving unchallenged through the zone, because they see accidental shootings as a larger threat, which is an absurd position.
The church was a legally enforced "gun free zone", but I think that may have since changed. I do live in a place where I would rather carry a gun to church. Before carrying in church was legal in TX, I knew someone killed in a church shooting. Cassie was 14 when she was gunned down for the crime of looking over her pew to see if the shooting was over. She would be about 31 now. I carry everywhere I legally can and it isn't an issue. Nobody has ever seen my gun in public except when I open carried for a couple of days when it became legal in Texas. I've been carrying for 8 years without incident, but since I work at night in high crime areas at times, it's comforting to know that I'm not defenseless.
