UPDATE2: This type of mass murder doesn't happen in other "advanced countries". At least not at this magnitude. Is this a true statement?

2015-06-18T12:30:15-04:00

President Obama addresses America about the reckless, ignorant shooting at the Charleston Carolina Church. I really am glad he addressed what is going on, and I think in a very positive way...

What happened there at that Church, Ugh I hate it! It's dumb and pathetic. Prayers to those involved! Senseless!! I'm glad they caught the SOB so they can have some justice. Those idiots usually go out the cowardly way!

However, POTUS Obama states that the people who are getting these weapons to do these kinds of acts, well it's too easy. I agree that people that are deemed mentally Ill, yes, it just might be. But SANE people don't do these things.

POTUS: "At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency."

What I can't get over and/or don't know how to perceive this, is that he thinks this type of mass murder doesn't happen anywhere else. Or not in this magnitude...

When I think about what goes on in Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq... I am left wondering HUH??? No I don't believe what he said. LOL

Do you agree??

I included my most FAV Democrats so that we might have an adult discussion. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6siu-WLOPKI&feature=player_embedded
In my opinion, this kiddo gets it.

God Bless, South Carolina.

The shooting of 9 innocent churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina was a senseless tragedy but leave it up to our President to politicize and discount the ...

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 12:42 PM

2015-06-18T12:42:41-04:00

Education, and taking care of our nation's mental health.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 12:54 PM

2015-06-18T12:54:57-04:00

The guy hated black people and committed an act of terror against that demographic... this sort of violence happens all around the world. It's just more common here than most places in the Western world.

We should also remember that it used to be far more common than it is today.

Response by Sgt Mark Ramos made Jun 18 at 2015 12:56 PM

2015-06-18T12:56:02-04:00

I agree with you not POTUS. He politicizes just about everything. He takes Rahm Emanuel's advice of never letting a crisis go to waste a little too seriously.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 12:56 PM

2015-06-18T12:56:30-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member Preach sister! I agree President Obama's words and actions get worse and worse as time goes by. The Obama administration is like a liberal parade of horrible's...one bad decision after another. Just when you think the horrible thing you just saw was bad... it gets worse.

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made Jun 18 at 2015 12:58 PM

2015-06-18T12:58:17-04:00

It does not happen with this sort of regularity in any other developed nation. We are, by far, the most violent of the countries that are supposed to be above this sort of thing.

It happens all the damn time in failed states and conflict zones, but that's not typically something we think about that often or consider when speaking. Saying we're better than Somalia isn't exactly a notable point.

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Jun 18 at 2015 1:00 PM

2015-06-18T13:00:18-04:00

I'm not your favorite dem!! sniff.... what happens in palestine, iran and iraq is a bit different, thats done on a scale more inclined to small armies but it does make the point of what happens when anyone can get a firearm at anytime and do what they want with it. We also have to take into consideration population, there isn't a country in Europe that has our population, this matters because it makes more probability that there are going to be more psychos out there. Other countries that are larger like china and russia are more harsh in punishment then we are, they dont have multiple appeals for a murder conviction like we do, they also do not have free press like we do. Russia is sort of a messed up country in that sense, so much of it is out in the milddle of nowhere, no one truely is in charge of some of those regions.

Response by LTC Ed Ross made Jun 18 at 2015 1:00 PM

2015-06-18T13:00:36-04:00

I agree, murder, mayhem and slaughter happen routinely in countries throughout the ME and Africa. Kidnappings, which often end in murder, are rampant in many Latin American countries. China executes between 4,000 and 5,000 people a year. There are plenty examples of a Chinese snapping and killing other people. It's time for the President and the left to stop harping on gun control and come to grips with the lousy mental health system in the U.S. Tens of thousands of deranged people roam the streets in American with no way to do anything about the mass murders they commit until after they do them. The left created this problem when the threw open the doors to the asylums, but they want to blame the right and the 2nd amendment for all the blood spilled.

An attempted mass murder in another church was prevented by a woman with a gun. "Matthew Murray, carrying two handguns, a rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition killed two teenaged girls in a church parking lot in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and then entered the church where he began shooting. "The potential for disaster was incredible. There were 7,000 people on the church grounds at the time." Jeanne Assam, a former Minneapolis police officer and volunteer church security guard with a license to carry a gun stepped forward, identified herself and then "engaged him and took him down."

You can read the entire article here:http://ewross.com/the_lesson_we_should_learn_from_the_norway_shootings.htm

THE LESSON WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE NORWAY SHOOTINGS - EWRoss.com

Every time there’s a mass shooting, whether it takes place in the United States or in a foreign country, like the one at Norway’s Utøya youth camp, it sparks a debate among Americans over guns and the Second Amendment. gun-control advocates’ principal argument is a familiar one. Shooters access to and use of firearms are prima facie evidence of the need for stricter gun-control laws. The lesson we should learn from the Norway shootings,...

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 18 at 2015 1:12 PM

2015-06-18T13:12:09-04:00

I think it happens all over it's just that other countries don't have the media outlets we have so you know about it 3 minutes later. There's that mess in Africa with the kidnapped girls, there have been shootings in England, the sarin gas in Japan a few years back. Then again were each so broiled in our own domestic messes, would any county's media play up something that happened elsewhere unless it was really big?

PS: Veronica, I don't self identify as adult. but thanks :-) I generally rate about extreme adolescent at best.

Response by Sgt Jay Jones made Jun 18 at 2015 1:39 PM

2015-06-18T13:39:26-04:00

SGT Veronica Fulgham-Blais, in my humble opinion. I view President Obama's lack of mentioning other countries is because he is not the President of those countries. He does not have any input into their laws concerning weapons.

I also feel that he only wants responsible gun ownership in this country. I honestly do not feel he against the second amendment, but he wants to see it applied with some sense civility.

The Governor here in Texas just signed the Open Carry Law and well as the Campus Carry Law. Quite honestly these two laws scare me. It scars me as an average citizen and it scares me as a supporter of the 2nd Amendment.

There are people out here who do not have the discipline to handle "Open Carry". What is going to happen when diverse groups come in conflict with one another. I truly fear what will happen.

We see examples in the news everyday of fist fights, road rage, and just plain old thuggish activities from various groups. All of these people will be able to carry guns. Do you really want that?

Oh, and SGT Veronica Fulgham - Blais, I can't tell you how much it hurts me that I am not one of your FAV Democrats! :-(

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jun 18 at 2015 1:42 PM

2015-06-18T13:42:06-04:00

Not true.

Response by SSG Leonard Johnson made Jun 18 at 2015 1:44 PM

2015-06-18T13:44:53-04:00

Ummmmm Nazi Germany when they banned guns... communist Russia....middle east

Response by CDR Terry Boles made Jun 18 at 2015 1:46 PM

2015-06-18T13:46:54-04:00

I have to wonder if the frequency of shootings in this nation is a byproduct of news media sensationalization. The days of the media reporting “just the facts please” have long disappeared and now they slant their news to what meets their agenda. As such, the media can up play any violent action, the perpetrator, and their agenda thus it may well pique the interest of another person to do something similar, especially so if there is a mental health issue. It’s a sad state of affairs these days with our news media, could they be a part of the problem with the violence in this country?

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jun 18 at 2015 3:13 PM

2015-06-18T15:13:20-04:00

I believe the government chooses to ignore the mental health issue. We are the first internet generation and there is no better way to convince the world that the sky is falling than to use fear to further whatever agenda has the strongest following. This is not a gun failure, it is a mental health failure. Our nation is awesome because it promotes freedom of the individual. The downsize is that it prevents the government from doing many preventive measures to protect the public from the scores of people who are ticking timebombs. Blame the gun. It is a great political platform to further your cause. You can get elected by demonizing the weapon as the culprit, but you also score big points by defending the constitutional right to bear arms. Meanwhile, millions of law abiding citizens are at risk for the actions of others, and the government's inability to deal with the mental health issues.
Let's really piss people off and make alcohol illegal. Many more people die from being victim to drunk drivers. The jails are full of people who did stupid stuff when they were drunk out of their skulls. (Prohibition. Yeah, that worked out great.) Attack the issue logically, not emotionally. In the psychology world, they do not focus on the act that brought the patient into the office. They look to get to the root cause of the problem and try to fix the past issue that made the thinking irrational. Anyone go or try to go to sniper school? What was the first hurdle that had to be passed before the government trained you to be a sniper? They got inside your brain at the mental health office and made sure you weren't a psycho like this jagoff. I want everyone to be safe, but not at the expense of the 99.9% who are law abiding. Attack the issue logically, not emotionally.

POTUS's statement should be given the hairy eyeball and laughed at. Looking forward to 2016.

Response by CSM David Heidke made Jun 18 at 2015 3:13 PM

2015-06-18T15:13:48-04:00

No, it doesn't happen in any other country.

Instead of getting shot, ISIS beheads 50 Coptic Christians on a beach...

Yeah, we're the barbarians.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jun 18 at 2015 3:17 PM

2015-06-18T15:17:53-04:00

When I heard that this morning, I asked in a low voice, "So what happened in France" and France is a modern country; not a third world country. Similar incidents have happened in Russia and again, Russia is a modern country.

Response by SFC Jeff L. made Jun 18 at 2015 4:18 PM

2015-06-18T16:18:55-04:00

Oslo, Norway, Nigeria, Sudan. This kind of thing is not exclusive to the USA. It gets more press because it furthers an agenda to report it.

1. It's a white suspect and black victims. Fits the race division agenda.
2. It was committed using firearms. Fits a gun-control agenda.
3. It furthers the blame America agenda. We're such a violent society.

Prosecute the individual. Don't presume to declare guilt by association that white people are all racist, gun owners are dangerous, America is the great satan, yada yada yada.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 4:27 PM

2015-06-18T16:27:26-04:00

It's insanely false and typically ignorant of this particular individual.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Jun 18 at 2015 4:41 PM

2015-06-18T16:41:12-04:00

SGT F-B,
- I disagree on several points.
- Mass murder does not happen in any other country. Proveably false statement. Mass murder does occur in other countries both on individual (Japan, Norway) and on systemic basis (Nazis, ISIS, Stalin) both currently and in the recent past.
- Sane people don't do these things. Again, proveably false statement. First, there is a difference between legal and medical insanity. Second, people like MAJ Hasan are not insane. They are just criminals. We create an automatic circumstance of extenuation and mitigation if we automatically chalk up these acts to "people being insane" plus we can not properly solve a problem if we do not properly define and assess a problem. Saying that mass murders are insane means we automatically need a medical solution vice a criminal justice system.
- In terms of gun control, this goes to properly assessing the problem that leads to developing feasible, acceptable, and suitable solutions to the problem. So is the problem that guns are too easibly obtainable, that current laws are not being enforced, or that we should enable arming of law abiding citizens versus disarming law abiding citizens while the criminals remain armed illegally?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 4:50 PM

2015-06-18T16:50:53-04:00

No. It is an outright Lie. There is gun violence in every country on this planet. The gun laws of this country make it easier for criminals to get firearms.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Jun 18 at 2015 5:13 PM

2015-06-18T17:13:09-04:00

Tragic event that perhaps could have been avoided, a) if the intent of the idiot was known and b) not possible for him to obtain any weapon.

I dislike President Obama and those that disagree with the 2nd Amendment playing the blame game. Stop demonizing those that are lawful gun owners and live by the law, we did nothing wrong. If you don't like the 2nd Amendment, put together the 2/3 to repeal it. Sadly liberals want to get to 50% +1 and tell lawful gun owners to shove it.

Why not move forward on areas we agree:
1) Mental Health has never been funded, it is a State and County issue and could be discussed at a federal level with model standards and improved
2) When a hate group or member does this hold them accountable.

Stats show we have more gun deaths than most nations, but if we cracked down on illegal gun use or gang violence in inter-city that is more than half.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/19/u-s-has-more-guns-and-gun-deaths-than-any-other-country-study-finds/

U.S. Has More Guns - And Gun Deaths - Than Any Other Country, Study Finds

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Jun 18 at 2015 5:16 PM

2015-06-18T17:16:35-04:00

What about Mexico. Juarez isn't called the murder capital of the World for nothing.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 5:52 PM

2015-06-18T17:52:35-04:00

It's a false narrative to say it doesn't happen elsewhere. When isis executes a bunch of non-muslims isn't it the exact same thing? A radical extremist(s) commits mass murder, i personally don't see a difference. They are both mentally unstable people committing atrocious crimes.

Response by LTC Ed Ross made Jun 18 at 2015 6:15 PM

2015-06-18T18:15:48-04:00

Gun control activists are largely ignorant about semi-automatic pistols and rifles and have an irrational fear of them.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Jun 18 at 2015 6:34 PM

2015-06-18T18:34:00-04:00

My daughter was on a vacation to Guatemala and took a picture of a sign outside a church that said "no guns". We all laughed. That's what we've become a place where people can't even be safe when they worship. Sad for America today.

Response by TSgt Kenneth Ellis made Jun 18 at 2015 6:49 PM

2015-06-18T18:49:45-04:00

I wonder who writes or even proof reads Obama speeches. And he makes an assanine remark that these things only happen here. Christians are being pulled out of there churches and homes and are being beheaded by followers of Islam. In France a shop owner was gunned down because he was Jewish. And I could go on but I hate long drawn out post. And for Obama to make a cry for more gun control. Give me a break. Chicago Illinois has the most stringent gun laws an so does DC. And they have the highest murder and crime rate. look at the Govenor of SC and compare her address compared to Ibama.

Response by Maj Mike Sciales made Jun 18 at 2015 8:01 PM

2015-06-18T20:01:57-04:00

This happens everywhere - even Canada. Even Norway. Doesn't happen much in Africa because they have Boko Haram running rampant -- same for the Middle East. Serial killers, mass murderers, nothing new really. Richard Speck killed 8 nurses in Chicago in the 60s. Charles Whitman climbed into a bell tower in Texas and started sniping students (one cop with a pistol took him down). A young women opened fired on a school yard full of kids because "She hated Mondays." We had the DC snipers with no motivation. We have 330,000,000 people in America. We have social media hurling vile invectives everywhere. Politicians put materials out with a gun sight reticule on an opposing politician and some nutjob takes it as a sign and shoots Gabby Giffords and kills a Federal Judge in Tuscon. Why wasn't he in a mental facility? Why wasn't that crazy guy in Colorado identified earlier -- somebody had to have noticed him. We need to invest more money in identification and treatment of these people. I think they represent a much greater risk to the American public than Al-Qada or ISIS or any of those other groups.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 8:26 PM

2015-06-18T20:26:27-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member, No ma'am it's not true. I found a link from a source who has information about this happening in other countries.

http://thefederalist.com/2015/06/18/actually-president-obama-mass-killings-arent-uncommon-in-other-countries/

Actually, President Obama, Mass Killings Aren't Uncommon In Other Countries

President Barack Obama responded to the horrific shooting at a historically black church in Charleston that left nine dead with an earnest statement—well, other than that contention that was completely untrue.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 8:28 PM

2015-06-18T20:28:20-04:00

Depending on the source, Latin America is the most violent with murder rates. But according to the huffington post, Honduras is number 1 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/worlds-highest-murder-rates_n_5125188.html). Sadly, this kind of thing does happen in other countries. The bottom line is if someone is going to do this type of thing they will find a way to do it. Having more gun control laws does NOT stop criminals, murderers, etc from killing. They will steal them, buy them on the black market, find a different weapon, etc. Gun control laws only make it harder for the average law-abiding.

Response by SPC Ei McS made Jun 18 at 2015 8:42 PM

2015-06-18T20:42:56-04:00

I lived almost twenty years in different places in Western, Central and Southern Europe and I can say with certainty that the amount of shooters and the amount of mass murder like that is unique to our country!

Pay attention: I didn't say there have been no shooters/mass murders like that (racially motivated) ever in Western Europe/Southern Europe/Southern Europe! But never ever to the extent as here!

I may not be one of your favorites, but I will still add my answer! This, also because the places I got to live in in Europe are considered to be advanced countries.

Response by CPO Joseph Grant made Jun 18 at 2015 8:49 PM

2015-06-18T20:49:37-04:00

It happens all over the world. Hate me if you wish, but this administration is trying desperately to start a race war and limit 2nd amendment rights. Any incident that can be made newsworthy gets spun to Inflame the masses.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 18 at 2015 8:55 PM

2015-06-18T20:55:49-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member, et all, My feelings about what the POTUS said, are this. He is so determined, for what unknown agenda , to shove this tragedy down the throats of the anti gun populous. He has to think if this killer was a legal gun owner or not. That's my guess, it's not fact. Killers like him can get a weapon on any street corner. For him to sit there for an hour, listening to the word of God, then getup and start killing, tells me he's not insane, he's a cold blooded killer. He planned this because he is a racist, and wanted to kill Afro Americans. He must have a lot of money to purchase that much ammunition to reload five times. I think about this a lot at my church. It would be so easy for someone to walk in off the street and start shooting. I'm constantly alert and watching the doors as I'm in church. I'm not supposed to carry in church, but I do. I'm an usher so I'm always at the entrance, watching. That's a terrible thing to do, but in this day and age, anything can and will happen.

Response by SSG Roger Ayscue made Jun 18 at 2015 9:59 PM

2015-06-18T21:59:57-04:00

NO, this is NOT a true statement.

The Youth Camp in Iceland, and god forbid he draw attention to the beheadings in all the mid-east.

He is only trying to use this tragic event to try to push through his gun control agenda. He uses the key tactic to never let a tragedy go to waste.

Remember, TYRANTS LOVE unarmed Subjects.

A person who is armed is a Citizen, and one who is unarmed is a subject.

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Jun 18 at 2015 11:05 PM

2015-06-18T23:05:11-04:00

Ummm no. Mass murder is happening at a far greater scope in several other countries -- in the public eye.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 18 at 2015 11:26 PM

2015-06-18T23:26:13-04:00

The #1 cause of death in the US as of 2010 (I could not find more recent statistics that didn't seem biased in some way) is heart disease with 611,105 deaths.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

Firearm deaths for the same year per the CDC was 16,121

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm

Conversely, as of 2011 Honduras lead the world in firearm related deaths/homicides with what looks to be over 60,000 deaths.

http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Homicide-rates-across-all-countries.jpeg

http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.org/2014/03/comparing-murder-rates-across-countries/

These last 2 references also claim that the US has the highest amount of gun ownership, at 88.8 guns per 100 people.

So in my opinion it is not the relatively easy availability of guns in America that is the problem, therefore increased legislation and anti-gun laws are not, in my opinion, the answer.

The answer is simply increased access to things like medical records (yes I understand about HIPAA) but only to see if a person has mental health issues that would make gun ownership for them not such a great idea. In Arizona for instance (and I don't know if this is a federal or state law they're going off of), a person is prohibited from owning guns if they were committed to a mental health ward against their will but are NOT restricted from ownership if they are self-committed.

Also easier access to other lists (as I believe other posters have already mentioned) such as people convicted of domestic violence and other types of offenses/convictions that prohibit gun ownership.

SGT Private RallyPoint Member, if I missed the point of your post I apologize, but when I see what I perceive as an excuse to make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to own guns I go on the attack. The Second Amendment is something I hold very near and dear.

FastStats

FastStats is an official application from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and puts access to topic-specific statistics at your fingertips.

Response by SSgt Robert Jorgensen made Jun 18 at 2015 11:27 PM

2015-06-18T23:27:08-04:00

It happens anywhere when someone is hell bent on killing someone. Today a guy stabbed a cop in the neck in NY, he could have taken his weapon and gone on to kill someone he was really pissed at. I'm sorry but if someone wants a gun, there is no law going to stop them from find one, one way or another. It does not matter if the weapon is from a civilian or through black market military. By definition a criminal does not care what law is broken to achieve their desire. Not to cast stones politically, BUT both Republican and Democrat groups have good things and bad things that they believe in. The pastor of the church was such a politician that is Pro anti-gun and by SC law the guy that could have allowed a person to carry a weapon in the church to defend everyone. BUT the law abiding followers did not carry and the criminal did what he wanted to do!

Unfortunately the news media in the United States can only sell, achieve ratings by putting what interests the consumers - tragic events - good news does not sell. The same holds true for international news that is allowed to be witnessed by media reporters. There is a lot more going on everywhere, we seem to be more willing to air our dirty laundry out compared to other countries.The big boys with initials know what goes on around the world but politics dictates what is released under national security and the political agenda.

Response by SSgt Ron Kilpatrick made Jun 18 at 2015 11:33 PM

2015-06-18T23:33:39-04:00

No, not true. Denmark, France, Spain, Turkey and a hand full of other countries have all had mass killings in the last two years, not to mention the countries at war, were large amounts of non combatants were killed. Remember France just has that one, a few months ago.

Response by SSgt Everett Jones made Jun 18 at 2015 11:43 PM

2015-06-18T23:43:01-04:00

It happens, but the media in other countries don't give the criminals their year of fame by always shoving it in everyone's face day after day for months on end. It does not happen as often as the media is trying to lead everyone to believe, but, when you have an agenda to push or ratings to grab.....

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Jun 19 at 2015 12:34 AM

2015-06-19T00:34:23-04:00

SGT Veronica Fulgham - Blais, the gun was a birthday gift in April from his father. In the countries you mentioned there are active conflicts among different groups, which is what he was trying to provoke here in the US.

Response by SSG John Erny made Jun 19 at 2015 9:51 AM

2015-06-19T09:51:03-04:00

I man in China killed a bunch of children with a Knife a couple of years ago. There was also a man in Norway that shot and killed a large number of people. The UK is plagued by what they call "Knife Crime"

Probably the worst attack other than the Oklahoma Bombing was done by a man who put explosives in a school and blew it it up. This took place 1927.

Idiots and crazy people will find a way to do hard to other with or without a firearm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Bath_School_disaster

Bath School disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bath School disaster was a series of violent attacks perpetrated by Andrew Kehoe on May 18, 1927, in Bath Township, Michigan, that killed 38 elementary school children and six adults and injured at least 58 other people.[Note 1] Kehoe first killed his wife, firebombed his farm, and detonated a major explosion in the Bath Consolidated School, before committing suicide by detonating a final explosion in his truck. It is currently the...

Response by SFC Jeff Stevenson made Jun 19 at 2015 9:51 AM

2015-06-19T09:51:31-04:00

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html
I did some research and this is just one of the sites I located. Funny that most of the countries that outright ban weapons (IE guns/rifles) seem to not do so well against someone with a weapon. Laws only apply to those who follow them.

A Timeline of Recent U.S. School Shootings

The following table lists the worldwide school shootings from 1996 to the present. Find the date, location, and a short description of each incident.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jun 19 at 2015 9:59 AM

2015-06-19T09:59:25-04:00

No that is not true. He knows it is not a true statement but he has never been about the truth.

It is tragic and sad, but it is just as tragic and sad that people are using this to further their agenda.

Response by LCDR Bruce Cooley made Jun 19 at 2015 10:21 AM

2015-06-19T10:21:27-04:00

No. Unfortunately the President is being disingenuous in his remarks. Now, in comparing this with "Developed Countries" he is technically correct, they do not have many 'handgun' related violence because weapon ownership is either illegal or extremely to obtain. Worldwide however, and not just in war zones or '3rd world countries', there are more examples of even more heinous crimes committed. The MAJOR point that he, and other 'anti-gun' agitators refuse to admit is, IF conceal and carry were allowed this probably would not have happened. The City of Portland during the '90's allowed a very loose permitting of conceal and carry permits and the following year violent 'gun' crime dropped almost 90%. "Bad Actors" do not prey on populations where they might get hurt or killed. They only prey on the defenseless.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 11:20 AM

2015-06-19T11:20:18-04:00

Respond to original question…The President is out of touch with reality and so are the rest of the white house. Syria, Iraq, (anywhere ISIS is) Nigeria, Somalia, Do I need to go on. The problem is just like they will not say radical islam they want to blame anybody or everybody but the person who comited the crime. Because a few bad apples do bad does not justify slapping every law abiding citizen. Sticking your collective heads in the sand just makes you a stationary target of oppertunity.

Response by SGT Edward Thomas made Jun 19 at 2015 11:22 AM

2015-06-19T11:22:31-04:00

I believe it does happen and that it just doesn't get publicity like here.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Jun 19 at 2015 11:23 AM

2015-06-19T11:23:30-04:00

So .. this is now posted in the "Shooting Sport" area?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 11:46 AM

2015-06-19T11:46:56-04:00

Great. Let's turn this into another "Obama said this... Obama said that". I don't agree with a lot of things that comes out as "statements" but instead of expressing my ill disgust, realize that nine people were killed BECAUSE THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN. I'm not even pondering worldwide statistics right now. What I ponder and reflect on as of now (06/19/205) is how those nine may have been my mother, sister, grandmother, father, brother, friends, etc. it's only been two days and we're making it a political bandwagon to bash Obama? So what? I get it: BLACK people die all over the world because the color of their skin. SMH

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 11:50 AM

2015-06-19T11:50:52-04:00

It happens all over the globe, I would say the Charlie Hebdo victims would be the first to argue the President's statement if they were available for comment. I would also note that other nations don't seem to be as racially divisive as the US or have professional race baiters fanning flames every chance they get.

Response by PO2 Richard Fournier made Jun 19 at 2015 11:58 AM

2015-06-19T11:58:59-04:00

As long as humans occupy this planet, there will be death and destruction in every stretch of land in the world. Whether by bombs, guns, knives, or even a rock. People will kill. As far as the U.S. being the worst, I highly doubt it, you can't believe everything a politician, the news, or even "statistics" say. I dont doubt that it happens here a lot more than many countrys, but not the most. Everything that is fed to us is fabricated in one way or another, in large and small ways, to fit someone's agenda. It's an absolute tragedy what happened in SC, and why someone would attack a church of all places, blows my mind. What baffles me more though, is why people aren't this concerned or outraged when we hear about dozens if not 100's being massacred and beheaded, on a regular basis now. Woman and children, completly defenseless. As far as them getting guns, sometimes it can be too easy, but I guarantee you this, make it harder to get guns, and they will still get them, they will come up with new ways and go to further lengths to get them, and the people that would commit these type of unthinkable acts, will still do so, no matter what the law is. Hell, make guns completely illegial in our country, they will still break the law and obtain them one way or another, last time I checked, murder is illegial right? But that's the exact thing they aim for anyways, regardless of law. Meanwhile, the honest, law abiding people that just want to protect themselves and there familes, won't be able to, and it will only make these types of acts, and murders altogether happen much more often.

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made Jun 19 at 2015 12:10 PM

2015-06-19T12:10:11-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member, as I read through the comments, I'm noting a problem that originates with your original question - No one actually listened to him or read the transcript, so they don't realize your question doesn't actually reflect what he said accurately.

"At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency."

The key words are "advanced" and "frequency." He is clearly not referring to places like Nigeria, Iraq or even Mexico and he is talking about how often rather than how bad the shootings are.

He is right. Yes, there are worse places, but if we start saying "well, we're better than Afghanistan!" it only serves to demonstrate just how much of an idiot the person saying it is. Seriously? Is that our measure now?

Response by SGT William Howell made Jun 19 at 2015 1:29 PM

2015-06-19T13:29:07-04:00

So here is the real problem. Our country is consumed with Catlin or Bruce or whatever the hell it is this week. It is on the cover of every other magazine. We here on RP have posted hundreds of times about this. Yet we as a country we choose to ignore that there are seriously mentally ill people that are not being taken care of. When that is on every magazine and newspaper cover then this will be addressed.

Response by Maj Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 2:19 PM

2015-06-19T14:19:40-04:00

The only thing that I really disagree with here, is that "SANE people don't do these things." I think that sane people absolutely can and do do such things, they just rationalize it, and pure hatred often serves as a good motivator. Just look at ISIS as a contemporary example. It is extraordinarily unlikely that every one of them is insane. Given their impressive ability to organize, plan, react, and otherwise remain dominant on an extremely dynamic battlefield, I would wager they are very sane. Serial killers are also typically not just very sane, but pretty intelligent.

Perfectly sane, mentally healthy people are capable of incomprehensible acts of violence, and it is sane people who commit violent acts at significantly higher rates than mentally ill people. Mentally ill people actually have pretty low rates of violence. (Citations at bottom) This is why I do not think it is good for us to dismiss such incidents by attributing them to "some crazy guy" or mental illness or whatever, because it prevents us from addressing what the real issues are that cause people to act this way. Personally, I think blind hatred is a big one, and that it may be related to the fact that we do not teach critical thinking/philosophy or research methods in school (until college). This is just one facet, but I think it's very important that people be taught how to use reason; and since we are in the internet age, understanding sound research techniques will help people recognize and avoid misinformation. Perhaps these would reduce the ease with which people succumb to extremist ideas of all stripes.

http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/ViolenceandMentalIllnessTheFacts.pdf
http://psychcentral.com/archives/violence.htm

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 2:56 PM

2015-06-19T14:56:38-04:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6siu-WLOPKI&feature=player_embedded

God Bless, South Carolina.

The shooting of 9 innocent churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina was a senseless tragedy but leave it up to our President to politicize and discount the ...

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 3:21 PM

2015-06-19T15:21:30-04:00

Put him in office

Response by Cpl Eric Witzel made Jun 19 at 2015 4:50 PM

2015-06-19T16:50:55-04:00

The POTUS Has is blinders on and chooses the reality that he acknowledges. Kind of convenient when you want to push your own agenda...

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 4:54 PM

2015-06-19T16:54:39-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member, Here's another update. This one tugs at my heartstrings.

VICTIMS' FAMILIES ‘FORGIVE’ ROOF
Representatives for the nine people killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina told the man accused of killing their loved ones that they forgive him. "I will never talk to her again," a family representative for Ethel Lance said. "I will never hold her again. ... You hurt me, you hurt our people, let God forgive you, and I forgive you." A representatives for Myra Thompson said he also forgives Dylann Roof. Survivor Felicia Sanders, whose son Tywanza was killed, invited Roof back to the church. "We invite you to our Bible study at 8 p.m. Wednesday," she said, adding, "May God have mercy on you." Judge James B. Gosnell set the bond for Roof at $1 million. Before the families spoke, Gosnell praised Charleston law enforcement and said Roof's family are "victims" because of his alleged crimes.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 19 at 2015 5:40 PM

2015-06-19T17:40:12-04:00

It happens in the ME all the time.

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made Jun 19 at 2015 5:48 PM

2015-06-19T17:48:15-04:00

Last I checked Norway was an industrialized western country, and not a third world backwater.
"The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential lone wolf terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF)-run summer camp in the Oslo region on 22 July 2011, claiming a total of 77 lives.". With an additional 319 injured.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks

Response by SPC Don Stringer made Jun 19 at 2015 6:38 PM

2015-06-19T18:38:55-04:00

Of course what he said was B S. It is cherry picking facts by eliminating a host of other mass killings by lumping them in as terrorism and war deaths.
Remember, this is from the man who thought the FT Hood killer Private Nidal Hasan.
( I know he was a major, but I rightfully demoted him as a Prisoner should be) was a work place act of violence.
The President himself is fanning the flames of racial discord by his words and actions, over and over.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 6:52 PM

2015-06-19T18:52:11-04:00

IMHO I would say no it is not a true statement. It does happen in other countries.

Parlez vous Hebdo, two gunmen entered the office of a satirical magazine in France with an assortment of guns and murdered 11 people (and injured 11 more). After leaving, they killed a police officer. And in a marketplace catering to Jews another five were murdered and 11 wounded.

In 2011, a deranged Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people by setting off a van bomb in Oslo Norway, before going on to murder 69 more people, mostly children, at a summer camp. This is the single worst shooting spree incident in history.

It takes only a rudimentary search to find out that mentally unstable killers can be found anywhere. In February of this year, nine people were killed in Czech Republic killing spree. In Erfurt, Germany, a couple of years ago, an expelled student murdered 13 teachers, 2 students and a policeman. That same year, in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča, a gunman shot and killed 14 people—many of them his own relatives— and a Russia gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle killing six people. A couple of years before that, in England, a lone gunman killed 12 people and injured 11. In 2013 a mentally unstable man in Rio de Janeiro killed 12 children and seriously wounded another 12.

Evil is everywhere and evil is the root of the problem. Until the hearts and minds are changed in these evil people the carnage will continue.

Response by CDR Michael Goldschmidt made Jun 19 at 2015 7:05 PM

2015-06-19T19:05:58-04:00

https://www.facebook.com/mises.institute/photos/a [login to see] 34 [login to see] 6893934/ [login to see] 488935/?type=1&theater

Response by SPC Thomas Baldwin made Jun 19 at 2015 8:47 PM

2015-06-19T20:47:43-04:00

This is nearly a dally occurrence in Mexico and many other country's Haiti is another with the drug cartels and gangs. I travel the world as a Flight Paramedic, responding to the victims of such things. When people where involved truly in there community. Not just trying to get a video for you tube or "Wold Star" and stop the unjust and calm the situation. this is the effect of "it's none of my business", if its occurring in the public eye they have made it your business. Your actions or inaction directly affect the kind of neighborhood you get. I am not talking about being vigilantist or putting your self in harms way, but nothing is preventing you from making a call. Think about it.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Jun 19 at 2015 9:46 PM

2015-06-19T21:46:12-04:00

77 people in Norway in 2011 would disagree it only happens in the US.

Response by SPC Makissa Lewis made Jun 19 at 2015 10:13 PM

2015-06-19T22:13:26-04:00

I feel it does happen in other countries. It is just not televised. That is a bad thing, because the victims and their families don't get no true closure. It is also a good thing, because the country, in question, comes across looking good. Take the Dominican Republic. They are engaging in ethnic cleansing Haitians out of their country. If it isn't televised is it really happening?

By the way it is please check the links out below:

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/14/1393198/-Dominican-Republic-to-be-Socially-Cleaned-in-two-days?utm_content=buffer15d03&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-ethnic-cleansing-1.fb49?source=s.fb&r_by=8209322

Dominican Republic to be 'Socially Cleaned' in two days

In two days about a quarter of a million people will be made stateless. They will have no homes, no passports, and...

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 19 at 2015 10:38 PM

2015-06-19T22:38:58-04:00

False. It happens everywhere. Not that Wikipedia is a truly reliable source but check it out to jog your memory of some of the incidents like the one in Norway a few years ago where the kid killed 75 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rampage_killers

List of rampage killers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the tables that follow, the "W" column indicates the weapon, or weapons, used. Details are listed in the Annotation section.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jun 19 at 2015 10:54 PM

2015-06-19T22:54:58-04:00

Happens many places.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26402367

China mass stabbing: Deadly knife attack in Kunming - BBC News

An attack by knife-wielding men at a railway station in Kunming, south-west China, has left at least 29 people dead, the state news agency says.

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Jun 20 at 2015 3:19 AM

2015-06-20T03:19:17-04:00

"Now there you go again." (R.Reagan) Once again a politician (and Barry is really good at it) speaks his opinion with little or no factual base.

The Nigerians kill each other by the hundreds, sometimes thousands, each year in the ongoing conflict between Christians and Muslims. They use guns, machetes, clubs, bombs, grenades, whatever. But, we in the USA are a violent nation. So many are killed each year in Mexico that I stopped keeping track. But, we are a violent nation. Pick another example and add it below.

Response by SGT Herbert Joseph made Jun 20 at 2015 8:24 AM

2015-06-20T08:24:13-04:00

I agree with you. Listen or watch the BBC channel africa is out of control. POTUS don't have cable in the white house that might be the problem, lol

Response by Cpl Dennis F. made Jun 20 at 2015 10:52 AM

2015-06-20T10:52:36-04:00

I am dumbfounded by this incredibly inaccurate statement.
Does the WH have a news black out on Iraq/Syria etc,? Just because ISIS etc. have an unfounded military status does not make them any less mass murderers. On top of that, the US is indirectly responsible for arming them by supplying badly vetted rebel groups and the inept Iraqi army. Liberal anti-gun propaganda to further a controlling, repressive agenda.

Response by SPC Leisel Luman made Jun 20 at 2015 11:02 AM

2015-06-20T11:02:36-04:00

The statement that this magnitude of murder does not happen in any other country is false. Unfortunately a lot Americans outside of the military community live in a sheltered bubble nieve of the atrocities that happen globally. The sheltered bubble the our military provides to protect our way of life. The young mans video was a honest heart felt response from his frame of reference.

Response by CPL Steve Brady made Jun 20 at 2015 12:31 PM

2015-06-20T12:31:15-04:00

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Jun 20 at 2015 12:40 PM

2015-06-20T12:40:01-04:00

"Is this a true statement?"
Well of course not, and any rational and even marginally honest person knows its a lie.
But this is an expected and common tact this administration takes. Say what ever supports the position.. truth means nothing.
If caught, walk it back, say you were misquoted or taken out of context.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 20 at 2015 2:29 PM

2015-06-20T14:29:47-04:00

The world is cruel and dark, which is why so many people suffer around the world. People in this country, who have had very nice and comfortable lives, seem to forget that. Somehow some Americans think this country is like living in the dark ages. The terrible things that happen here are no less terrible because of that, but these people that preach how horrible this country dont know what they are talking about.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Jun 20 at 2015 3:23 PM

2015-06-20T15:23:35-04:00

Not even close to the truth.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 20 at 2015 11:03 PM

2015-06-20T23:03:50-04:00

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 20 at 2015 11:18 PM

2015-06-20T23:18:37-04:00

Look at the recent shootings in France at the Charlie Hebdo office. There were 12 killed and 11 wounded. Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 and wounded 151 in Utya Island, Norway in 2011. Woo Bum-Kon killed 57 and wounded 35 in Sang-Namdo, South Korea in 1983. Martin Bryant killed 57 and wounded 21 in Port Arthur, Australia in 1996. Campo Delgado killed 30 and wounded 15 in Bogota, Columbia in 1986. It's not just us. It's everyone and it's everywhere.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 21 at 2015 12:10 AM

2015-06-21T00:10:42-04:00

These kinds of mass shootings don't occur anywhere else, eh? Someone should let Norway know.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world/europe/23oslo.html

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jun 21 at 2015 12:50 AM

2015-06-21T00:50:17-04:00

SGT Private RallyPoint Member No, it is not true. This stuff, unfortunately, happens many places... But, things in the US are most newsworthy. You can research mass shootings, school shootings, terrorist attacks, etc... and the lists will be long and go back hundreds of years. I believe the mass media makes it worse on many levels. CSM David Heidke States, this happens all over....

I think if you research it, you will (A) find that these horrific crimes happen everywhere, and in many ways. (B) You will find many are less reported and known they events that happened here. (C) These events are not new. (D) The is not the per capita leader in these types of crimes.

Statistics, as you know, can be manipulated in many ways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rampage_killers

List of rampage killers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the tables that follow, the "W" column indicates the weapon, or weapons, used. Details are listed in the Annotation section.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 21 at 2015 5:29 AM

2015-06-21T05:29:45-04:00

PoTUS is an idiot. This kind of killing happens all over the world. The killings is a very sad tragedy but I hate that it is being politicized for gun control. The man used a 1911 pistol. I know not everyone is religious and I am not wishing to push it on anyone but as we leave our Judeo-Christian basis for law and morality, we will see more events like this.

Response by Sgt Ron Danielowski made Jun 21 at 2015 9:51 AM

2015-06-21T09:51:49-04:00

How quickly we forget...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks: (2011) 32-year old kills 77 in Norway

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnenden_school_shooting: (2009) 17-year old kills 15 in Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokela_school_shooting: (2007)18-year old kills 8 in Finland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mdantsane: (Feb 2002) 29-year old kills 11 in South Africa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_massacre: (April 2002) 19-year old kills 16 in Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zug_massacre: (2001) 15-year old kills 14 in parliament, Switzerland

The list could go on, but it makes the point. Violence can happen anywhere.

Of course the pro-gun centralist believe the problem is the easy access to guns - not the shooter who has is given carte blanche with his 'legally' disarmed victims.

Winnenden school shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at a secondary school in Winnenden, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen.[1][5] The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school one year earlier.[1] He also injured nine people during the incident.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Jun 21 at 2015 6:38 PM

2015-06-21T18:38:05-04:00

Is this even a serious question? Syria, Iran, Iraq, Bosnia, Africa....

...are you kidding me? They come in HUNDREDS, thousands, WEEKLY. Your question is almost farcical in nature.

Response by SPC George Rudenko made Jun 22 at 2015 4:34 AM

2015-06-22T04:34:34-04:00

Aum Shinrikyu developed a liquified nerve agent. Had they aerosolized, they would have killed hundreds in the subqway attack. Norway had its mass killer. Britain had issues back when it fought the IRA. Weapons may difer, but the attacks happen nearly everywhere.... oh don't forget Mexico.

Response by SGT Lawrence Corser made Jun 22 at 2015 10:45 AM

2015-06-22T10:45:37-04:00

are we not counting the most of Africa or the Middle East? heck even parts of Asia are rough like this.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 22 at 2015 11:45 AM

2015-06-22T11:45:21-04:00

I think we should hear from the Mayer of Charleston instead.

The President ends up cherry picking the incidents he weighs in on and IMO makes him seem like an opportunist. I would rather hear about matters of national importance. In the case of race relations, I would like to know how he is going to tackle this problem. Al Sharpton's visits to the White House don't seem to be working.

Response by SFC(P) Aaron Fore made Jun 22 at 2015 11:54 AM

2015-06-22T11:54:42-04:00

I guess these figures are of a lesser magnitude.

1. German Empire during First World War plans to annex up to 35,000 square kilometers of pre-war Congress Poland and ethnically cleanse between 2 to 3 million Poles and Jews out of these territories to make room for German settlers. Year: 1900-1910
2. The Bolshevik regime killed or deported an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Don Cossacks during the Russian Civil War, in 1919–1920.
3. During 1920-21, The Greek army in the Yalova-Gemlik Peninsula burned dozens of Turkish/Muslim villages with large scale violence and ethnic cleansing.
4. the Imperial Japanese Army invaded China in the 1930s. Millions of Chinese were killed, civilians and military personnel alike.
5. Italian authorities committed ethnic cleansing in the Cyrenaica region of Libya by forcibly removing and relocating 100,000 people of the Cyrenaican indigenous population from their valuable land property that was slated to be given to Italian settlers.
6. On the orders of Josef Stalin that involved widespread ethnic cleansing of ethnic Ukrainians in Soviet Ukraine. Food and grain were forcibly seized from villages (1932-1933) an estimated 2.5 to 8 million Ukrainians were exterminated in the famine.
7. In 1971 the military of Pakistan carried out genocide killing between 100,000 to 3 million people and around 10 million Bengalis, mainly Hindus, fled the country. Furthermore, many intellectuals and other religious minorities were targeted by death squads and razakars. Thousands of temples were desecrated and hundreds of women were raped.
8. In 1984, the ruling party Indian National Congress supporters formed large mobs and killed around 3000 Sikhs.
9. In 1988 the Iraqi government Massacred 100,000 to 182,000 non-combatant civilians including women and children;, and destroyed about 4,000 villages (out of 4,655) in Iraqi Kurdistan
10. In 1991, Kuwait conducted a campaign of expulsion against the Palestinians living in the country, who before the war had numbered 400,000. Some 200,000 who had fled during the Iraqi occupation were banned from returning, while the remaining 200,000 were pressured into leaving by the authorities, who conducted a campaign of terror, violence, and economic pressure to get them to leave.
11. The 1994 massacre of nearly 1,000,000 Tutsis by Hutus, known as the Rwandan Genocide
12. Around 1991 Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir to a Muslim state. Since that time, over 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus have either been murdered or forced from their homes.
13. Since the mid-1990s the central government of Botswana has been trying to move Bushmen out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. As of October 2005, the government has resumed its policy of forcing all Bushmen off their lands in the Game Reserve, using armed police and threats of violence or death.
14. Since 2003, Sudan has been accused of carrying out a campaign against several black ethnic groups in Darfur, in response to a rebellion by Africans alleging mistreatment. Sudanese irregular militia known as the Janjaweed and Sudanese military and police forces have killed an estimated 450,000, expelled around two million, and burned 800 villages
15. 2011-present, entire neighborhoods in Baghdad are being ethnically cleansed by Shia and Sunni militias.
16. 2010 members of the Azusa 13 gang, associated with the Mexican Mafia, were accused of attempting a racial cleansing of African Americans in Azusa, California.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Jun 22 at 2015 4:00 PM

2015-06-22T16:00:53-04:00

Let's be clear. The President's assertion has nothing to do with the problem of violent crime. He is the chief law enforcement officer. He should enforce it. More importantly, he should support those who do enforce it. Sadly, he doesn't. In every incident since his election, his knee-jerk reaction has been to side with the perpetrator.

Today, we see cops being gunned down, assaulted by "innocent" bystanders, and reviled in the communities they seek to serve and protect. In Baltimore, they hide in their precinct houses and wait for the smoke to clear.

The President and other elected and non-elected leaders have created this environment. They have given permission to the mob to attack law enforcement. They have even led the way.

The gun issue is totally separate. Threats to repeal or not recognize our 2nd Amendment Rights are purely an effort to control our behavior. That is the ideology of the Left. They cannot create the "better" society they envision so long as individuals have the freedom to behave as they see fit. Individual liberty is an impediment to social order. Individuality is an anathema to the Left. Most importantly, an armed citizenry cannot be controlled making the 2nd Amendment the greatest impediment to the goals of the Left.

The press is populated largely with Leftists thus explaining their unwillingness to report news of individuals successfully defending themselves or otherwise averting crimes by virtue of the fact that they were armed. At least two instances of legitimately armed citizens averting an armed assault of a church have been largely covered up by the press while they broadcast the incident in Charleston with great gusto.

The Left isn't saddened by tragedy. Their tears are quickly lost in their race to deny our individual liberties.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 22 at 2015 5:00 PM

2015-06-22T17:00:17-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/deadliest-mass-shootings_n_1688820.html Please take a look at this. I remembered reading this article in 2012 and I looked it up for this reply. I think we are isolated. It's not that these and other crimes do not happen it's that we don't pay attention to international news. The tendency is to only pay attention to the things that affect us.

The Deadliest Mass Shootings Around The World

-- Some of world's worst mass shootings:__ July 20, 2012: At least 12 people are killed when a gunman enters an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, releases a canister of gas and then opens fire during o

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Jun 22 at 2015 5:52 PM

2015-06-22T17:52:22-04:00

Two comments here: (1) Racism is still alive here in the US, though this incident should not have convinced us of this, if we didn't believe it before. We should have already been well aware that racism still exists, as disgusting as it is. (2) Guns don't kill people.

Response by Sgt Jerami Ballard made Jun 22 at 2015 6:07 PM

2015-06-22T18:07:27-04:00

Completely fictitious statement, and an insult to both his own and the average Americans intelligence. "Massacres" like this happen all of the time in Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-China regions. Many are religious, some are ethnic, and others are merely because they received aid supplies. In first world countries in general, you do not see many mass killings, what you do see however is substantially more depraved and disgusting avenues of murder, desecration, and genocide. Our country is number 1 in gun ownership and only 43rd in murder rate and we only number ~323 million people (4.5% of the world population.) Legal gun ownerships is in no way a problem here.

What is the problem here is certain state "habits" not being reigned in and culled for blatant illegality and unconstitutional practices. (I.e. a state capitol flying an unauthorized ensign that is not sanctioned at any level.)

Response by SGT John W Lugo made Jun 22 at 2015 9:43 PM

2015-06-22T21:43:31-04:00

Nice topic of discussion, Unfortunately we have members in Congress that only think that solving the real problem is to give a opinion that is usually generated from the other side of what they consider a brain. As I've said before guns don't kill people without the effects or actions behind the trigger, if Congress is so concerned about gun control why do they allow gun sales at gun shows without a background check, if a criminal steals a gun from a family member to commit a crime, did gun control prevent it probably not.

Response by Col Stan VanderWerf made Jun 22 at 2015 10:19 PM

2015-06-22T22:19:11-04:00

False statement. Based on number of guns owned, we have one of the lowest death rates caused by guns anywhere. It's not guns you should focus on, it's why the person wants to kill people. It's about destroying families, removing Christianity from the public square, and making people dependent on the government. We are teaching the wrong social skills and replacing community social skills (which typically provide behavior control) with government largesse.

Response by MSgt C Madd made Jun 23 at 2015 8:50 AM

2015-06-23T08:50:42-04:00

In China they use knives to mass murder people, want to ban knives now too. Psycho's will always find a way to kill people, it's not the guns.

Response by SPC Don Stringer made Jun 23 at 2015 9:07 AM

2015-06-23T09:07:19-04:00

I will add this... Every situation that presented itself, for the President to unite us or divide us, he chose to divide. Each situation presented and opportunity for him to speak on how far we come and our common strengths, he instead chose to take a partisan position and divide the country along racial lines, class lines, political lines, sexual orientation lines, religious lines. He single handely set back race relations and damaged relations among more groups than any post civil war President. We may never recover from the harm he has inflicted.

Response by SSG Stacy Carter made Jun 23 at 2015 9:56 AM

2015-06-23T09:56:48-04:00

This is definitely not a true statement. Case in point The Charlie Hebdo murders. I hate it when people conveniently forget the facts so that they may support some agenda that they have. Gun control is not the answer to our problems as a country.

In my opinion the solution lies in parenting, personal responsibility and accountability. The family unit in the USA has become a relic from the past. We are dysfunctional because of our fast food mentality. We expect everything right now and do not want to work hard or work at all to get the things we want or need. The current trend is that we as a society are getting divorced faster than we are getting married. When children are raised in single parent homes they miss out on a lot of learned behaviors and nurturing that two parent families have. (yes I know not all two parent families are great, just like not all single parent families are horrid)

Another thing that is hurting us is the everyone is a winner BS.. This does not do anyone justice. Teaching children that there is no loser creates people that are unsuited to function in a normal society where there are winners and losers on a daily basis. It teaches the child that they do not have to work to get a trophy and makes the child who did work to earn their trophy question why they worked so hard if everyone gets the same thing! Thirty and Forty years ago when a child was doing bad in school the teacher would call in the parents for a conference to discuss the issue with them. The discussion centered on little Johnny or Jane and what they were doing.. Today that conversation is now centered on the teacher. The child is no longer held accountable for his/her actions. I have witnessed countless incidences where I have seen children at a playground being bullied by another child. I always step in and stop the action. I usually take the offending child/children back to their parents and inform them of their child's actions. The response I usually get is "hey, it's just kids being kids". By not punishing their child for the misdeed they are reinforcing the actions.

So lets hold this sick individual accountable for this heinous act, and anyone that assisted him and make an example out of them. Set a standard and hold everyone to that standard.

Response by SrA Johnathan Kropke made Jun 23 at 2015 11:32 AM

2015-06-23T11:32:59-04:00

This happens in every country, it usually happens on even greater scales as well.

Now I am willing to be analytical first, so let's analyze his statement of this doesn't happen in advanced countries.....
Venezuela, South Africa, Mexico, Nigeria, India, and Brazil are all higher murder rates than the U.S and if we go below the U.S for count of murders for countries like Russia and China, their rate is 9.2 and 7.7, much higher than America's 4.7.

Response by SFC Maury Gonzalez made Jun 23 at 2015 11:57 AM

2015-06-23T11:57:19-04:00

So I guess, Hamas blowing up a bus full of children in Israel dont count

Response by SPC Don Stringer made Jun 23 at 2015 4:31 PM

2015-06-23T16:31:49-04:00

I wish this kid was the media speaker who comments on the Presidents address. He is far more knowledgeable than any of those lying talking heads. In fact, id vote for him if he ran for office. I love hearing young people who can speak intellectually and with common sense.

Response by CPL Larry Truax made Jun 25 at 2015 12:14 PM

2015-06-25T12:14:20-04:00

Not a true statement. Do the research. One example 2011 Norway.

Response by Col Stan VanderWerf made Jun 25 at 2015 2:03 PM

2015-06-25T14:03:21-04:00

Every advanced country has experience with mass murder events. Some have many. And when you compare the number of mass murder events with the number of guns owned by private citizens in that country, we have the lowest rate of events per 100,000 guns owned by far. These other countries that restrict gun ownership actually have higher mass murder events with guns because people who want to do this get a gun illegally and know their risk of getting shot back is very low. The locations where we have mass murder are typically where gun wearing is NOT permitted, like in schools, movie theaters, and churches. Again, these are targets for these bad people with bad intentions. So I say again, it is NOT about the gun, but about the person.

Response by SFC Maury Gonzalez made Jun 28 at 2015 8:50 AM

2015-06-28T08:50:09-04:00

The president only watches the Obama news networks (cnn, msnbc ),so he has no clue about what's going on around the world.

Response by SSG James Arlington made Jul 20 at 2015 4:03 PM

2015-07-20T16:03:59-04:00

He said in other, "Advanced countries." Israel is the only advanced country you sited, but they have a very unique situation, as anyone might know. He was referring to countries like Germany, France, UK etc. Although they have had events from time to time, nothing compared to us and certainly not to the degree of frequency. The "kid" in Charleston had predetermined mental issues and should not have been allowed to purchase a firearm. I can be insane, have a criminal record, and can buy a gun in many states where there is no background check. I actually own five guns, but belieave in common sense and reasonableness.

Response by Col Stan VanderWerf made Jul 23 at 2015 1:10 PM

2015-07-23T13:10:34-04:00

It's time to stop discussing guns. This path leads to government engagement to eliminate cars, and houses (the place where most injuries occur), and everything else that could be dangerous. It's time to discuss the mental state of people that would use guns, or knives, or baseball bats to kill other people. This is the issue....and the only issue. We need to defeat ISIS with our ideology. Start the planning and op-orders there.

Response by SFC Jim Ruether made Aug 30 at 2017 4:49 PM

2017-08-30T16:49:19-04:00

I guess SGT Fulgham-Blais it depends on what your weapon of choice is. In France terrorists attacked offices and shot to death people there and we all watched the execution of the police officer pleading for his life up until the moment the terrorist pulled the trigger on his gun. A few of these modern day terrorists were neither residents nor had travel visas they had simply arrived in country.

In Africa Rwandan Genocide was carried out by Machete, club or guns with over 1 million being killed because of ethnic, religious or social status differences.

Turkey has recently admitted to mass killings of nearly 200,000 by warring factions in their country and specifically in the city of Cizre. They simply held prisoners in basements until they ran out of food and water and resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Then armed individuals went into the basements and executed the ones that were left.

To be clear the number of shootings in these United States are inexcusable but individual shooting numbered approximately 34,000 in 2013 compared to the number killed in mass shootings at 40 are headline grabbers and usually affect the most innocent of our population namely woman and children.

Guns are to easily gotten and not by legitimate purchases. They are stolen in burglaries, bought in back alleys etc.

Response by SFC Jim Ruether made Aug 30 at 2017 5:45 PM

2017-08-30T17:45:57-04:00

The young man in the video said it all when he said guns don't kill people.....people kill people! I know this is a lame excuse when it happens to be your loved one lying in the street or gunned down at a party. We already have gun laws that are in place to prevent criminals from owning or possessing guns but you need two other more important things and they are, respect for not only the letter of the law, you need respect for life.

UPDATE2: This type of mass murder doesn't happen in other "advanced countries". *At least not at this magnitude*. Is this a true statement?

UPDATE2: This type of mass murder doesn't happen in other "advanced countries". *At least not at this magnitude*. Is this a true statement?

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UPDATE2: This type of mass murder doesn't happen in other "advanced countries". At least not at this magnitude. Is this a true statement?

UPDATE2: This type of mass murder doesn't happen in other "advanced countries". At least not at this magnitude. Is this a true statement?