Nobody seriously considers that all crime will be prevented but the evidence is incontrovertible that gun control prevents a huge proportion of crime and its copycat follow-ons. America now has a fooking tradition of teenagers strolling into schools and killing people. It is a form of established  protest.  

What I find interesting is the absolutist nature of the gun debate where one side is accused of wanting to ban all arms and the other is accused of wanting to keep everything. Surely there is a compromise that respects the constitution and, say, allows handguns and shooting rifles but bans military grade weaponry. Even after Dunblane the UK didn’t ban everything but imposed severe restrictions.

Wot Chuffers said. 

There are more guns per head in Switzerland than anywhere else, but you rarely get these sorts of things. 

They made their choice after Sandy Hook.  They didn't do anything.  They will never do anything.  This is what happens when you can buy semi-automatic weapons, hollow point ammo and body armour in Asda.

I have every sympathy with the victims, obviously, but this is what America wants, and this is what America gets.

I was chatting to an American friend about this once and he said yes, its bad but what about all that knife crime you have over there in London.

yes, its bad but what about all that knife crime you have over there in London.

Literal whataboutery?

Hope you said it was a tribute to the British industrial ethic that our people work bloody hard at their murders, rather than letting a machine do it all.

Heh 

the carnage in our town centres every saturday night with guns added to the mix doesnt stand thinking about.

kinda what sepp tick said.

It's easy to get your gun out of the glove compartment and shoot someone who knocks your wing mirror (this actually happened when I was working in the US in the 1990s). 

It's much harder to get out of your massive car and confront a person face-to-face who talks back to you, during which time any anger may well dissipate or be expended in other ways - a punch in the face is much better than killing someone. To actually stick a knife in someone is direct and far harder than shooting, where there is no physical contact. 

Note to self: avoid Kimmy's wing mirrors.

nobody takes Cruz seriously

just look at his election video youtube link

"nobody takes Cruz seriously" - he keeps being elected to office, I'm not sure how much seriously they can take him.

Cruz also voted against legalisation of abortion so on the one hand, he is pro enabling the means to kill someone, whilst on the other hand depriving someone else of making a decision about whether or not to have an abortion.

I found the whole thing bizarre when I was living in the US. I grew up on a farm and due to my work I am very familiar with firearms. This means I treat them with a great deal of respect. I also have no desire to own one and didn't bother when I was living in the US and that would have been easy. 

When I was there mass shootings seemed to be happening somewhere in the US every day. After one such event in a school a colleague of mine from Texas actually said it would not have happened if the teacher was armed. Like that was the optimal solution. 

One person I worked with had 22 firearms in his one bed apartment (and a big dog). All of them were loaded. My neighbour had a pink Glock. Then using dating apps I'd see ladies posing with guns or wearing NRA jackets.

Say what you like about knives, but it is much harder to kill a bunch of people with a knife than it is with a firearm. If someone has a knife hitting them with a chair is a legit option. Doesn't work when they have an AR15. 

Or a narwhal tusk