I’m getting this off my chest as a parent and citizen. I grew up around guns and those that favor them as a thing to own.
1. Getting help for mental issues should not make people, especially men, feel ostracized.
2. These services should be abundant and readily available.
3. No one should say “not my problem” when introduced to individuals who visibly need help.
4. Assault rifles are unnecessary for civilians. This is 2012, not the 1700’s. The tyranny of any government is a self-induced fantasy.
5. The argument that we need guns to protect us from our democratically elected government is absurd. Even an assault rifle is useless against jets, missiles, rockets, etc. You might as well argue we should be able to strap those to our trucks, cause you know THE EVIL GOVERNMENT.
6. You’re right, signs don’t stop criminals from doing crazy things. Neither does gun locks, the cost of bullets, gun laws or a society that encourages violence and fear to perpetuate the celebrity of asshats that do stuff like this.
7. You know what does help? Removing access to portable metal contraptions whose sole purpose is the killing of living things. Make it as hard as PHYSICALLY possible for people.
8. You know you don’t need that gun. You just want it to be cool and live out some lame male Rambo fantasy of being a badass – knowing, of course, that truthfully our lives are more safe and predictable than any other time in human history.