
What I Saw Treating the Victims from Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns - helloworld
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/what-i-saw-treating-the-victims-from-parkland-should-change-the-debate-on-guns/553937/?single_page=true
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IntronExon
I’m for gun control, but it is important to realize that the wounds he
describes could equally be made by a hunting rifle. The nature of terminal
ballistics in this case is a function of the muzzle velocity of the round.
This doctor is familiar it seems with handguns, which are generally no more
than 1500fps. By contrast a hunting rifle will tend to be around 3000fps. For
comparison, a shotgun shooting slugs with a heavy load might be 2200fps, but
with more mass being moved. A .45 handgun will generally be less than 1000fps.

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js2
It's the combination of high muzzle velocity with a semi-automatic weapon that
is particularly lethal. If we restricted semi-automatic weapons larger than 22
caliber, that would likely greatly reduce the number of fatal injuries in
these mass shooting events. It's going to slow the shooter down having to
reload each shot.

But: most gun homicides in America happen with handguns. So you'd be banning
an entire class of weapons in order to save a relatively small number of
lives.

Obviously we've drawn some lines where we consider some weapons too lethal: no
one gets to own fully automatic weapons. Or hand grenades. So we'd be deciding
that semi-automatic high velocity weapons fall into the "too lethal" category.
It wouldn't prevent mass shootings - but it would make events like Las Vegas
less lethal. (Of course, there's the separate problem of preventing the newly
banned weapons still in circulation from ending up in the hands of would-be
mass shooters.)

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na85
Are Americans more homicidal in nature than the rest of the developed world,
or is it perhaps that Canada, Britain, France, Germany, et al have gun control
laws?

I see no third explanation.

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trixie_
It's a cultural thing tool. Many Americans are very individualistic, mean,
self-centered, and lack compassion. I say this as an American. Look at our
president and the millions that support him. These people just have an angry
personality. The people on the left aren't much better. Even these kids after
the shooting protested, "You're either with us or against us." That is the
American mentality.

As a country we lack compassion.

* Health care - Get cancer, go broke.

* Education - Teachers paid nothing. Go to college, go broke.

* Social System - Poor handling of the mentally ill, homeless and veterans.

* Correctional system - A hell on earth.

This is the result of a selfish "I got mine jack" society. We worship power,
guns, and strength. Isn't a mass shooting just those three attributes
incarnate? You don't have to be crazy. It's already in our blood.

