Great "the Gun, not my son"

[USAF_Vet]

The man just lost his son. Give him a break.

Why, is he giving 80,000,000 law abiding gun owners a break? No?

I know you think his son (and apparently the the father, too) is a scum bag. but however you cut it, his son is dead, and parents aren't supposed to lose their children.

So his grief justifies spreading BS?

How do you think you would feel if your child died (in any manner)?

I'd grieve, naturally. But I wouldn't seek out the closest media organization who's more than willing to stick me in front of a camera and a microphone to spread ignorant leftist propaganda.

And furthermore, if my child does something atrocious like this, I'm not going to BLAME THE GUN. If my child turns out to be a psychotic SOB, I'll accept that, accept my share of the blame for not doing more. I'm not going to deflect my kids behavior onto some inanimate object.

Try and have some basic human empathy, and if you can't do that, try and focus on the victims.

Like the victims that do not support gun control, even after watching peers murdered? Like the Army vet who charged into gun fire to try and stop this freak? Or the armed vets off campus who were not allowed to intervene by the local cops? What about how the liberal media is lightening the photos of the half black perp making him out to look white (why are they not interviewing his black parent?) and a right wing extremist?

This entire event stinks of distraction while US agenda in Syria fails miserably and the Russians are now leading the way, for their agenda.

Why did these people become victims in the first place, and why did the media and POTUS immediately jump into this seemingly pre-scripted rant?

So no, I have zero sympathy or empathy for political puppets like Mr. Mercer.

 

[langss]

The man just lost his son. Give him a break.

I know you think his son (and apparently the the father, too) is a scum bag. but however you cut it, his son is dead, and parents aren't supposed to lose their children.

How do you think you would feel if your child died (in any manner)?

Try and have some basic human empathy, and if you can't do that, try and focus on the victims.

I lost a stepson on my 12th wedding anniversary. I did not blame the Mfg of the car he was riding in, nor the agency that rented the car, nor the gas station that sold the gas. He would have been 26 that year, but he is gone and I will never see him again. Fixing blame is nothing but an excuse for one's own irresponsibility.

 

[AStone]

^ That's an excellent point.

PS: Langss, welcome to THR. Nice first post.

 

[Red Wind]

The father of the Oregon shooter is blaming the easy availability of guns, not his son's mental illness. "If he didn't have the guns, this wouldn't have happened.

This is the mantra that is the most aggravating. Isn't it vastly more difficult for a law abiding citizen to acquire a firearm today than in the not so distant past? Certainly it was easier before the GCA of 1968 and all the asinine restrictions that came along with that monstrous piece of Legislation.

Millions of Americans bought firearms from in and out of state sporting goods stores through the mail for decades, that were then delivered directly to their own homes, with hardly any negative results. The murder rate from 1950 to 1965 was among the lowest in our history.

And certainly, through all the 1950's and into the early '60's , a 13 or 14 year old teenager could buy a 22LR off the shelf at a local Western Auto or other hardware store without a parent in sight.

The media manufactured "awash in guns and "easy availability" tripe is just more liberal propaganda foisted onto a USA public which generally has little or no actual knowledge of the true facts: Guns are a highly regulated product today and not at all simple to acquire under honest, lawful means.

 

[AStone]

And certainly, through all the 1950's and into the early '60's , a 13 or 14 year old teenager could buy
a 22LR off the shelf at a local Western Auto or other hardware store without a parent in sight.

In the early 60's, at age 14 or 15, I remember shouldering my Remington 16 ga and walking up Main St in my hometown (TN) to my hunting ground.

Around 11 am, I'd return with it shouldered -- walking on the sidewalk -- along with a couple of field dressed gray squirrels.

If I did that today, I'd be confronted by SWAT.

What changed?

 

[Red Wind]

What changed?

Society. Like you, at the age 11 in the summer of 1953, I was killing groundhogs on my Granddad's New Jersey farm and my Uncles larger spread across the border in New York with my trusty Winchester .22LR.

Today, Granddad and Uncle would be in the local lockup and I'd be undergoing examinations by a team of shrinks. PETA and the Humane Society might also have gotten into the act.

The assassinations of the '60's, the Viet Nam War, student riots, Watts, Detroit, Miami burning to the ground, changed the whole culture and attitude towards firearms. By the '70's, the anti-gun movement was getting into its stride.

 

[AStone]

The assainations of the '60's, the Viet Nam War, student riots, Watts, Detroit, Miami...
changed the whole culture and attitude towards firearms. By the '70's,
the anti-gun movement was getting into its stride.

Yeah.

"Beyond a certain point all dangers are equal."

Yeah.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Well said, Red Wind!

 

[12131]

The man just lost his son. Give him a break.

I know you think his son (and apparently the the father, too) is a scum bag. but however you cut it, his son is dead, and parents aren't supposed to lose their children.

How do you think you would feel if your child died (in any manner)?

Try and have some basic human empathy, and if you can't do that, try and focus on the victims.

You don't give liars and half-truth tellers a break. You meet them head on and expose them for what they are.

 

[MEHavey]

"Gun free zones" are by definition, insane and retarded.

Wrong.
Gun-Free Zones are in fact, Killing Fields.
Proved now time & again.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Wrong.
Gun-Free Zones are in fact, Killing Fields.
Proved now time & again.

Put differently, thats pretty much what I said. So we agree.
The idea of a posted sign being a deterrent to deviant shenanigans is... Behind the curve.
And that the idea is promoted time and time again, in the face of facts that prove it to be a bad idea... Is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Most, if not all mass shootings couldve been prevented or effectively mitigated...by a generally armed populace, and more specifically; armed staff.

 

[GAF]

A sign saying no guns allowed stops gun crime like a speed limit sigh stops speeding.........

 

[el indio]

I should be for knife control. My son was stabbed in the back in 1992 and died. He wasn't armed. If he had been, he might have been able to take the murderer with him. This happened in Fl and he plea bargained to 2nd degree murder. He received 20 yrs and served 85% of his sentence. My son was 22 yrs old. To keep myself calm about it, I hoped that when was released, he had been a girlfriend while in prison. If you know what I mean.

 

[buck460XVR]

While I feel sympathy for the father and the family, I feel more sympathy for the families of the victims. What I see coming from this father is what I see coming from many parents of the students of the High School I work at. Continuously making excuses for their child's behavior. Heck, it's never really Little Johnny's fault.

"That isn't his dope, he was only holding it for a friend." "He didn't steal that I-Phone, he found it in the cafeteria last week and just forgot to take it to the office." "He didn't get his homework done because he was depressed his girlfriend broke up with him, so you must let him play in the football game tonight."

These kids grow up, never once having to accept the consequences of their actions, while their parents refuse to accept the fact that their kids may have a problem. This is why these kids show no remorse or guilt, because they have been conditioned to not accept it. What is going to hurt us gun owners more than the shooting itself, is the fact that the mother was an avid gun owner and hoarded guns because of fear of confiscation one day. Like many folks here, she openly boasted about it online. She is one of us, and look what her son did. http://www.salon.com/2015/10/05/ore..._stockpiled_weapons_for_fear_of_confiscation/

 

[DaisyCutter]

The problem was the parents. They raised a mass murderer.

Per the media, parents married in 1989, separated in 1990. Shooter was 26. Do the math.

Raised by single mother. No father figure.

Ban single mothers.

 

[LKLive13]

Anyone think about what would be going on right now if guns could talk? The anti gun folks would be labeled as bigots for discriminating the masses for the action of one gun. Oh wait, they are inanimate objects that have no control how they are being used. If guns kill people then how do thousands of police carrying guns survive a long day of work or how can you go to a gun show and walk out alive???

 

[GEM]

I saw a victim's mom say that they should have been able to have guns to defend themselves. Guess she won't be going to the White House.

I respect private grief and not getting on the tube to rant. I understand the denial process but I don't respect these parents. The guy who was ranted after his reporter daughter was killed, disgusted me. I have sympathy for his loss but saying that he will change the debate and telling Obama that this dad will have his back - was simple posturing.

I understand why, but don't respect him.

 

[wally]

I saw a victim's mom say that they should have been able to have guns to defend themselves.

Good to see that someone understands! Its a start, its basically how Texas got concealed carry after a survivor of the Luby's massacre started lobbying for it.

 

[Yo Mama]

The assassinations of the '60's, the Viet Nam War, student riots, Watts, Detroit, Miami burning to the ground, changed the whole culture and attitude towards firearms. By the '70's, the anti-gun movement was getting into its stride.

US gun control started way back though, and was focused on discriminating against minorities. Going back through the 1800s:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/02/gun-control-was-historically-about-represssing-blacks.html

 

[OpticsPlanet]

He sounds just like the mother of the guy who died from putting a mortar/firework on his head...

guess its typical of a grieving parent to shift blame anywhere they can

I would cut them a break if they weren't trying to hold me/us accountable for their child's actions and if MSM didn't broadcast that warped opinion like its a reasonable request that we should accommodate in the aftermath of this tragedy to soothe the affected...

So while I wouldn't personally attack him in his time of grief, I do not tolerate his viewpoint on 2A issues

-Matt S.

 

[Red Wind]

US gun control started way back though, and was focused on discriminating against minorities. Going back through the 1800s

True. But Jim Crow was primarily a regional attitude. Beginning in the late 1960's and through the '70's it exploded into a national attitude.
Pete Shields founded Handgun Control,Inc in 1975 with the prime object of banning all handguns from "civilians", and the anti-gun march began its real serious roll which continues to the present day.

 

[Midwest]

He should be placing the blame on gun free zones and the lack of security at the college.
If the teachers and the staff were armed, we would not be having this conversation.
.

 

[stonecutter2]

The man just lost his son. Give him a break.

I know you think his son (and apparently the the father, too) is a scum bag. but however you cut it, his son is dead, and parents aren't supposed to lose their children.

How do you think you would feel if your child died (in any manner)?

Try and have some basic human empathy, and if you can't do that, try and focus on the victims.

Exactly. The man is not able to scold his son and hold him accountable...he's gone. All he can do is grieve publicly (thanks to our salivating media) and the only thing he can come to emotionally is that if the guns weren't there, it wouldn't have happened.

Cut the guy some slack.

It's an emotional situation for everyone involved, with cameras stuck in their faces, and things are going to get said. Maybe the guy believes what he said, I don't know, but this is all way too recent to be putting much stock into what's being said or not said.

 

[stonecutter2]

This entire event stinks of distraction while US agenda in Syria fails miserably and the Russians are now leading the way, for their agenda.

Why did these people become victims in the first place, and why did the media and POTUS immediately jump into this seemingly pre-scripted rant?

So no, I have zero sympathy or empathy for political puppets like Mr. Mercer.

Political puppets? Seemingly pre-scripted? Huh, what?

Sometimes things happen in the world. It doesn't all have to happen for a reason, or to benefit Obama.

 

[TomJ]

When I think back to the guys I grew up with as well as the kids I arrested as a LEO, there was a pattern that emerged. We all got into some type of trouble, but the difference in what we did going forward was the way our parents handled those situations. Those of us with parents who were there and cared were immediately disciplined, and the odds that we turned out okay may not have been 100%, but they went up substantially. Those with absentee parents, parents who didn't care or parents that simply could not believe that their kid would do something wrong had a harder time learning that bad behavior has consequences.

As an LEO, we knew that when we arrested a juvenile and their parents showed up angry with us for "harassing" their kid, as opposed to being upset with their their kid for what they did, we'd probably be arresting that kid again. We were usually right. I wasn't present in this families home so I don't know what happened, but I have a hard time believing that he went from being a well behaved young man to someone who shot multiple people because they were Christians. I can all but guarantee you that there were warning signs, and his parents fell into one of the negative categories mentioned above. That being said, maybe if I were that colossal of a failure as a parent and my son did something that barbaric, I'd be looking to blame someone or something else also.