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Discussion » Questions » Current Events and News » The Walmart shooter posted on the Internet that he was inspired by the Mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Stu Spelling Bee

The Walmart shooter posted on the Internet that he was inspired by the Mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

According to Slartbartfast, they have "sensible gun laws" down under that prevent this sort of thing. However, shootings still happen. What's up with that? Ya think the wackos bent on pulling these off are going to respect some law and not just go get weapons on the black market?

Posted - August 4, 2019
Tags : None

Responses


  • 1817
    "Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that tracks shootings and their characteristics in the United States, defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people, excluding the perpetrator(s), are shot in one location at roughly the same time"

    even if those guidelines are "loose", you still dont think 5 shootings (four that were fatal) in less than 48 hours isnt a huge deal? AND these aren't drive bys/gang related incidents 
      August 4, 2019 5:36 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    There are some mistakes in the premises of this question.

    Australian gun laws don't completely prevent all gun killings,
    but the statistics before and after the laws show that they greatly reduce the number of gun killings.

    The Australian who committed the massacre of Muslim in New Zealand obtained his weapons in New Zealand.
    New Zealand enacted anti-gun laws immediately after the massacre and the entire nation offered willing cooperation.
      August 4, 2019 11:02 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    The answer to your last query is yes, they certainly could. 

    I can’t claim any expertise on Aussie gun laws, it might be enlightening to compare the differences to US law, what is being done differently and why they have less gun violence

    To me, it’s the access to weapons of war. Assault rifles, particularly. Built and intended for combat.
    Civilians, IMO, should not have them.
    The problem arises that the baddest of the bad do have them. The genie is out of the bottle. The Founding Fathers could not have foreseen the proliferation of these weapons, nor our collective failure to control them.
      August 4, 2019 11:41 AM MDT
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  • 33749
    An AR15 is not used by any miltary in the world....it is not a weapon of war.
      August 4, 2019 8:09 PM MDT
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  • 5391
    Did I single out AR-15s?
    What difference does that make anyway? 
    Hint: wars aren’t only fought by national armies with standard issue weaponry. In combat, we use what’s at hand. But then, as a combat vet myself, it’s fair to question what could YOU know about war? 

    Fact is - The AR-15 assault rifle is a sister model of the M16 (used by the US military IN WAR for decades), and is in most ways IDENTICAL to it.

    Military training instructs soldiers to fire the M-16 in semi-auto mode, which is EXACTLY what an AR-15 is. Same range, accessories, ammo, capacity, and rate of fire. Various mods still exist to convert ARs to auto, as well. 

    A trivial point nonetheless, as AR-15s aren’t the only model of war-ready firearms currently in civilian hands. 
      August 4, 2019 9:34 PM MDT
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  • 33749
    M4 and AR15 are similar but not the same...and there is more differences than just semi v full auto. 
      August 5, 2019 5:20 PM MDT
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  • First, I'm not really sure what you're asking. 

    Do you want legal information?
    Do you want a cultural comparison?
    Do you want a personal reaction?
    Do you want some kind of political argument?

    But besides that, I'm confused by what seems like a numb emptiness toward the the people wounded or killed in these shootings - Not just you and not just here, everywhere.

    When did we all turn so cold and hard? How did it come to this? Can we ever find a way to be better? 

    I don't know. But I don't think mainlining more of the usual political junk will help.
      August 4, 2019 3:05 PM MDT
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  • 13276
    I don't "want" anything in particular - I'm not that invested in the Internet and what others may think, and I certainly don't feel indifferent toward any victims of violence. I am just posing a question to make conversation, and, perhaps, to refute the notion that all violence is somehow Trump's fault, even though it's been happening for ages and long before he was elected. And "we" can't collectively do anything without individual responsibility. This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at August 4, 2019 5:44 PM MDT
      August 4, 2019 5:43 PM MDT
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  • 33749
    Did you know that after Australia banned guns there crimes increased?  This is a fact many love to deny.

    Australia assaults (40%) are up and sexual assaults (20%) are up as as well. Think that has anything to do with disarming victims?

    Homicide has decreased by nine percent since 1990 and armed robbery by one-third since 2001, but recorded assaults and sexual assaults have both increased steadily in the past 10 years by over 40 percent and 20 percent respectively. The rate of aggravated assault appears to have contributed to the marked rise in recorded assault, and for both assault and sexual assault the rate of increase was greater for children aged under 15 years, with increases almost double that of the older age group.

    https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi359

    Notice the source in my link is the Australian government.
      August 4, 2019 8:05 PM MDT
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  • What I know is that you seem to doing it again - Misunderstanding or misrepresenting information and facts that are in plain sight.

    Australia reformed its gun laws in 1996 following a mass shooting in Tasmania that left 35 people dead.You cite a study that reviews crime records from 1990 to 2008. The data is over 10 years old, and averages in statistics from 6 years prior to the ban.

    But even given the probable sampling error, the report in fact does NOT say what you claim it does :

    " Another factor for consideration is the change in weapon use. Since 1989–90, the proportion of homicides committed with a firearm has declined, while the proportion committed with a knife or a blunt instrument has increased. However, only the change in firearm-based homicides is significant (Kendall’s tau = -0.62, p<0.05). The trend in firearm- based homicide correlates positively with overall homicide rates (Kendall’s tau = 0.51, p<0.05), which suggests that differential firearm use is associated with, but not necessarily impacting on, patterns of homicide occurring in Australia over the past 20 years.

    " If homicide is the yardstick by which the level of violence in society is measured, then the belief that violence is increasing in Australia cannot be substantiated. The significant increase in recorded assault and sexual assault potentially contradicts this view, but without supporting evidence from other sources of information, such an interpretation can only remain provisional. Further research will need to examine how much of the increase in recorded violent crime against children relates to current or past events. "
     This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at August 5, 2019 3:01 AM MDT
      August 4, 2019 8:47 PM MDT
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  • 33749
    This report came out in 2008. It states assaults both physical and sexual in increased in the prior 10yrs. (1997-2007) the 10yrs immediately after the 1996 gun ban.
    That is my point...disarming people makes victims. Victims who the criminals know are unable to defend themselves. It is called sitting ducks. 

    Homicide has decreased by nine percent since 1990 and armed robbery by one-third since 2001, but recorded assaults and sexual assaults have both increased steadily in the past 10 years by over 40 percent and 20 percent respectively.
    The source is the AU gov....I do not need antigun media spin. 
      August 4, 2019 9:13 PM MDT
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  • With all respect Madame Moderator, what you need is more honesty and less attitude .

    One more time : This report does not say what claim it does. If you have an opinion defend it some other way . 

    The only spin here are the twists and turns you're making.
      August 5, 2019 2:15 AM MDT
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  • 33749
    I just posted it straight copy and paste....the assaults increased in the first 10ys after the gun ban. That is the facts. People can spin and debate the reason for the increase....but there was a definate increase. I like numbers...no spin to them 2+2=4 always.
      August 5, 2019 6:27 AM MDT
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  • 14795
    No so....what if that two and two procreate and multiply  ......what then ?     :) 
      August 5, 2019 7:12 AM MDT
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  • 33749
    Talking numbers....not people. With people 2 × 2= 6 (assuming no multiple births) with questions of biological fatherhood. 
      August 5, 2019 7:55 AM MDT
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  • But evidently you like arithmetic more than factual conclusions :

    The authors of this 11 year old study wrote clearly in their findings that the incidence of murders committed with firearms DECLINED for the years included . And  they ended their report with a plain and simple statement -

    " If homicide is the yardstick by which the level of violence in society is measured, then the belief that violence is increasing in Australia cannot be substantiated" .

    This doesn't in any way support what you claimed, or continue to argue over, when you referenced the report as proof gun control measures don't work. Your problem seems to be that you dont understand that research like this isn't a salad bar that that you get to pick over to find just what you like. You've got to eat the whole thing. 
      August 5, 2019 10:07 AM MDT
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  • 33749
    Where did I discuss murders? I quoted the study....which states plainly that assaulted increased. 
      August 5, 2019 10:40 AM MDT
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  • 33749
    If you want to discuss murders....yes AU murders did drop after the gun ban. As did the USA murders also drop in the same period....at a time when we actually doubled our firearms.....so how does one reconcile that. 
      August 5, 2019 11:28 AM MDT
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  • Just make up your mind - But please don't pretend you have some "scientific" basis for whatever you think or feel.


      August 5, 2019 1:59 PM MDT
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  • 14795
    Gun are made pesrsificlly to kill other living things ,they serve no other purpose ...in the hands of any humans they are leathal including that otof the police ...
    Im so pleased that the majority of English police are not armed .. How many more dead people would there be if they was .

      August 5, 2019 2:24 PM MDT
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  • 33749
    I gave real data and stats showing my claim.

    It comes down to disarming citizens only disarms the law abiding citizen...putting them in danger from the criminal. The criminal who does not care if something is illegal....that is kind of what makes them a criminal. 
      August 5, 2019 6:13 PM MDT
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  • 16590
    Australia and New Zealand are as different as the USA and Canada. NZ enacted gun laws that make ours look like a picnic AFTER the mosque massacre. The shooter acquired his weapons there, not here.

    Black market weapons are VERY expensive and by its very nature the black market is clandestine - the kind of wack jobs tat go on shooting sprees by and large can't afford them and have little to no access to the market.

    Jim Jefferies says it better than I can (warning: very explicit language)

    This post was edited by my2cents at August 5, 2019 6:22 AM MDT
      August 5, 2019 1:25 AM MDT
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  • 14795
    He's one funny guy.....he got bashed up live on stage once for upsetting some half wit guy in the audience....
    Why do people go to shows knowing what his amazing sense of humour is like..
    Jim Jefferries takes no prisoners...lol
      August 5, 2019 2:38 AM MDT
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  • 14795
    Awesome video of a Genuis .......Why not ask him to be president of America if you want the gun laws changed....
    Every word he says is so true..... 
      August 5, 2019 2:58 AM MDT
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  • 46117

    NOW we are going to seriously CARE why?  NOW?

    WE KNOW WHY.  I don't care if he said OBAMA made him do it.


    WE ALL KNOW WHAT FUELED THIS MANIAC. THE MANIAC IN THE OVAL OFFICE.  THAT IS WHOM.  

      August 5, 2019 10:42 AM MDT
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