Colorado shooting: People want gun control in their mind, not in actions

Not necessarily. Very few people know about about gun laws. Evan amongst gun owners, the 1989 Import Ban is largely unknown.

 

It seems that thinking that incarceration geared toward rehabilitation vs strictly a punitive action seems something akin to the "war on drugs", not really producing desired effects.

 

Doesn't the case that triggered this discussion suggest otherwise? As far as I'm aware, there is no specific testing prior to getting a gun, only check of an existing records. I suspect only the most extreme previously identified issues would get someone on any kind of black-list as far as gun ownership goes.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think you can guarantee to prevent this kind of incident regardless of what you do. I just threw out an instinctive response to a specific question. Is seems possible that a requirement for some kind of psychological check prior to buying guns may have prevented this tragedy (at least playing out in the manner it did). Whether that is legal, practical or acceptable to the (vocal part of) the US public is a different matter.

 

Who would administer this check? How long will it take? Who is going to pay for it? Do you realize that evaluation is a presumption of guilt?

 

Gun control means that I control my gun with two hand as I put two rounds in this bastards chest then one in the head.

 

Those would clearly be difficult questions to address (though not necessarily impossible). The point remains that some form of psychological test requirement may well have prevented this killer (and maybe others) from obtaining firearms. You'd need general agreement on that concept before you start think about how (if at all) it could be applied though.

I see the whole thing as a standard question of striking a working balance between personal freedom and public safety. The only complication is the emotive attachment to the concept of the right to bare arms many Americans seem to have.

 

No, a check would have prevented the shooter from acquiring a firearm at a gun store.

The man booby trapped his house with explosives and used tear gas on the crowd. I do not in any way believe that he would have said to himself "Darn... no gun for me". People like that get what they are looking for.