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The first point I am trying to make is the outrage is disproportionate to the actual number of deaths. I think this is due to the talking heads. Is murder acceptable, no. Is the number of people murdered per year by assault weapons significant, no.

The second point I am trying to make is our constitutional freedoms must not be decreased because it seems to be expedient. Again, I think the talking heads are at fault. They have created paranoia where it shouldn't exist.

As to Victors point, yes a few murders are acceptable when thinking in terms of our constitutional rights and our freedom. Especially when statistically speaking those murders account for 0% of the deaths per year in the USA. Many patriots have died to protect our freedom.

And yes Huck, I am very much a constitutionalist. Nor do I buy into the argument that they could not have imagined the world today. I think the constitution functions as it was intended to.

Frank, that is how the constitution is supposed to work. 2/3 of the House and the Senate ratify the amendment. Then 3/4 of the states ratify it. I am very comfortable with this.

What's the reason there isn't a lot of data about gun violence ? The NRA supported legislation that banned the federal govt. (the CDC) from spending money studying the phenomenon, in 1996.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/02/gun-violence-public-health/553430/

I have been preserving my amateur azz status so I can compete in the Olympics...

If you read the entire article, an honest assessment was the bill's purpose was to prevent the CDC from doing research on gun violence, not to advocate for gun control, but that quote was effective to ensure its passage. Read the last paragraph of the article, to clear up any confusion about research/advocacy.

Sorry but I ignored the article. I prefer to go straight to the source instead of relying on someone's opinion.

Easy to fool some people by calling something it is not...think "middle class tax cut"

From page 245 of the text of the law
DISEASE CONTROL, RESEARCH, AND TRAINING
To carry out titles II, III, VII, XI, XV, XVII, and XIX of the
Public Health Service Act, sections 101, 102, 103, 201, 202, 203,
301, and 501 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977,
and sections 20, 21 and 22 of the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970, title IV of the Immigration and Nationality Act and
section 501 of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980; including
insurance of official motor vehicles in foreign countries; and
hire, maintenance, and operation of aircraft, $2,262,698,000, of
which $30,553,000 shall remain available until expended for equipment
and construction and renovation of facilities, and of which
$32,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 1998 for
mine safety and health activities, and in addition, such sums as
may be derived from authorized user fees, which shall be credited
to this account: Provided, That in addition to amounts provided
herein, up to $48,400,000 shall be available from amounts available
under section 241 of the Public Health Service Act, to carry out
the National Center for Health Statistics surveys: Provided further,
That none of the funds made available for injury prevention and
control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may
be used to advocate or promote gun control: Provided further, That
the Director may redirect the total amount made available under
authority of Public Law 101–502, section 3, dated November 3,
1990, to activities the Director may so designate: Provided further,
That the Congress is to be notified promptly of any such transfer:
Provided further, That the functions described in clause (1) of
the first proviso under the subheading ‘‘mines and minerals’’ under
the heading ‘‘Bureau of Mines’’ in the text of title I of the Department
of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
1996, as enacted by section 101 (c) of the Omnibus Consolidated
Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–134),
are hereby transferred to, and vested in, the Secretary of Health
30 USC 1 note.
110 STAT. 3009–245 PUBLIC LAW 104–208—SEPT. 30, 1996
and Human Services, subject to section 1531 of title 31, United
States Code: Provided further, That of the amount provided,
$23,000,000 is designated by Congress as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended.
In addition, $41,000,000, to be derived from the Violent Crime
Reduction Trust Fund, for carrying out sections 40151 and 40261
of Public Law 103–322.
NATIONAL

From your own article:

"...As a result, the CDC stopped funding gun-control research..."

Isn't that the exact same words used in the Dickey amendment?

Isn't the Washington Post considered very left-leaning?

Why would someone quote a very left-leaning opinion if they weren't left-leaning? ....and the narrative continues.

I do agree with you, but for different reasons. When I was going to high school many of my peers and I had loaded weapons in our vehicles. Many of us hunted in the AM on the way to school as well as in the afternoons after school, yet school shootings were virtually unheard of.

If one is truly interested in preventing school shootings, then one needs to determine the cause and treat it. One would not expect a doctor to put a band-aid on a cancer lesion would they? But, that is in essence what the gun control lobby is trying to do.

So what is different now that we have gun-free zones and are jailing numerous people for violations of recently passed gun laws. For one, kids back in may day actually payed outside with their peers. Hell, one summer my best friend and I moved dozens of yards of dirt with few Tonka trucks. One summer we built each of us a bike from parts we scrounged up out of ditches and the landfill. At least once a week we had a neighborhood softball game. When it rained one of the neighborhood kids would pull the rest of us through the mud on a piece of plywood tied to the back of a motorcycle. At least 6 of us from my neighborhood broke bones jumping home made ramps with home made bicycles. We rode our bikes to the Tastee Freeze and bought ice cream cones.

That isn't happening today. Kids today spend months locked up in their room playing hyper violent video games. Seems like every week another gory movie opens at the box office.

Like I said, if one really is interested in solving the school shooting epidemic, one needs to get past the "let's pass more common sense gun legislation" mentality of politics to the "let's figure this thing out not matter what industry is effected" mentality. Because only when until politics are put aside will real change be made.

Huck I grew up in south Louisiana. From the time I was about 6 years old I had access to a firearm. My first was a .22 bolt action rifle. I used it to shoot birds out of my grand parents' fig trees. Santa brought me a single shot .410 shotgun for my eighth Christmas. I got a .30-30 for my 12th birthday. Most of the males and some females I grew up with had similar arsenals. Since then I've acquired a few more. In fact, if you ever make it to a Mississippi Fish-Herf I'll let you shoot an AR-15 I hand built.

My point is millions and millions of kids grow up around firearms, yet only a handful of shoot students at school.
Exactly. It only takes one crazy kid. If he can get a gun, and it isn't hard, we have a school shooting.

So is the problem the guns? Or is it something else? Though those in favor of more gun control brush it aside as hyperbole, it's the same as restricting access to automobiles to save lives. In fact, way more students are killed each year riding in automobiles than those that are shot at school.

Your solution is, "Let's see if this works." My solution is let's find the real problem, design a treatment plan and pass laws specifically targeting the cure. I too want a real solution, but arbitrary bans aren't in the cards for me.

... I think also that gun enthusiasts have more to lose by making it a zero sum kind of game. If they're smart they'll show flexibility and win.