BerniePragle

I agree with one qualifier. That this would be funded not by additional debt on the middle class, but instead by the endless corporate handouts from our federal government.

When I saw this, it reminded me of the old National Enquirer. They always had those ridiculous headlines... Woman Reports "I was abducted by aliens and gave birth to an alien baby". Always accompanied by "photographic evidence". Sad how easily these people are manipulated.

One of my ORIGINAL sayings fits here: There are a lot of people for whom logic is not a close friend. Not even a casual acquaintance. ORIGINAL, as opposed to regurgitating the same worn out crap you hear from somewhere, especially that which you find appealing because it fits your preconceived notions. This pseudo-soliciting of ideas could be best described by a phrase I remember from my youth... dry humping. It will be just about as productive. Any suggestion even slightly outside the box will will be met with ridicule and the old "you don't know what you're talking about", because you don't know an AN-97 from a BX-603, or whatever?? On the other hand, any of the decades old ideas the "idea solicitors" are better prepared for will be met with using the NRA's well rehearsed playbook. To sum up... What changes could be made to reduce gun violence, as long as nothing changes? Might as well watch a bunch of monkeys trying to f@%$ a football. (Assuming they had previously seen other monkeys trying to f@%$ a football, otherwise they wouldn't have a clue.)

I learned so many things from watching the Stooges. Center of Gravity, Inertia/Momentum, Action/Reaction, Circuit Analysis, Conservation of Energy, Thermodynamics/Heat Flow, Fluid Dynamics All from falling off ladders, hitting each other with a maul, getting zapped by electrical outlets, encounters with steam irons and fire hoses. Those guys were geniuses.

Still the best Physics teachers I ever had.

Especially if he takes out a couple more on the way down. Maybe I've been watching too much Three Stooges. Strike that, no such thing as too much Stooges.

"Just one more thing, Sir..." -W. K. N. Columbo

I'm not sure who'll last longer, Willie or Trigger. Maybe a photo finish. Saw him at a private concert for a company I worked for about 30 years ago. Unforgettable. Kris Kristofferson, what a lyricist. And "two other guys".

Just remember, I knew you when you were nobody.

In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. And, the federal government still pays them billions to drill. Good work if you can get it.

Amazing. What a geetar. Must take a week to tune it, lol.

I gotta chill down a little here.

After listening to this I have a big flat spot on my forehead and a hole in my sheetrock. I'm blaming you.

No. That was his cousin, Portland Cement.

Thank you for the kind words! I try to be pragmatic, open minded and think for myself. You and I don't agree on everything, but we agree much more than disagree, I think. At the very least, there is a lot of "common ground", and mutual respect. That's what's important. By way of explanation... My education was 95+% a matter of me trying to prepare myself for solving the most difficult of technical problems. Even though I attended a couple of quite liberal schools during very tumultuous times in America's history, I had no time for that BS. Having said that, I truly cannot understand the fomented distrust of higher education in America. A lot of the technology we use in modern life started in our Universities. As my wife and I say, left to their own devices a lot of these people would still be wearing fig leaves and riding donkeys. "At the time we were all convinced that we had to speak, write, and publish as quickly as possible and as much as possible and that this was necessary for the good of mankind. Thousands of us published and wrote in an effort to teach others, all the while disclaiming and abusing one another. Without taking note of the fact that we knew nothing, that we did not know the answer to the simplest question of life, the question of what is right and what is wrong, we all went on talking without listening to one another." — Leo Tolstoy A Confession As a matter of reference for those who have not been "indoctrinated by the educational system", this was written 140+ years ago. Some things never change.

Grip strength did have its advantages.

The real intellectuals debate ad nauseam the definition of "assult rifle" using only the tools provided to them by the ones making money selling them. Carry on, good soldier.

Funny you can qualify me as a "leftist" based on my two somewhat out-of-the-box suggestions on one of the dog whistles used by our political parties to separate the vast majority of the electorate for monetary gain. Oh, and probably because I communicate on this matter using words and phrases that are not in the vocabulary that has so carefully been chosen for you. As always, we've reached that magical moment when I'm accused of "questioning someone's intellect rather than addressing the issues". (Quotes for my benefit not yours.) A nickle's worth of free advice from an old man before I leave you... When you play any sport or any game, you will never be much better than, maybe, a little better than the people you play with. The same is true of being intelligent. If you want to be smart, hang around and converse with smart people. I know, what a concept. In my opinion, this board is a very good place to start/continue. There are a lot of very smart cookies on here. People whose thought process is not limited to what they've seen someone else say on TV or social media. People who know a lot more than one side of the Big Three "issues" that have been chosen for us. Don't burn any more bridges on here and you may learn something about the world. Or maybe not...

I suggest you read my original two "suggestions" before you say I'm regurgitating something I've heard. Your "constitution, tread on my rights, liberty" I've heard countless times. You should take pride in doing it well though. I've had more original thoughts in the last 5 minutes than you've had in your lifetime.

Oops, I forgot that one. Another "conservative" genius regurgitating more blather.

Ah, you have a dog in the fight. I wish you had added the qualifier "What would you like to see happen to prevent gun violence?", as long as nothing changes. It would have saved some thinking and some typing on my part. Congratulations are in order though. You do an excellent job of regurgitating the talking points you've absorbed... The gun doesn't shoot anybody, a person does. We already have all the laws we need, we just need to enforce them. My pappy carried his gun to school and didn't shoot anybody. Did I miss anything? Fool me once...

All of that said nothing constructive. You asked for suggestions, I offered two. You danced around both with the usual jargon.

The NRA (I'm assuming by following the money) puts a bunch of data and references out there with the specific purpose of the pro-gun faction (incorrectly) inferring things from the data. Allow me to change things up a little and see what we can infer from this data: At a rate of about 50 million people dying each year since 1945, there have been about 3.8 billion people died in those subsequent 77 years. On August 6 and 9, 1945 approx 355,000 people died from atomic weapons. 355,000 ÷ 3,800,000,000 = .009% chance of dying by atomic weapon in 77 years. Yet, I very clearly remember getting under my desk in air raid drills in the early 60s to protect myself from an atomic bomb. Cool, huh? I will add that all of those deaths were in only two cities, 77 years ago. (A reference to your subsequent post about pockets of gun deaths.) Should we not have been concerned with atomic weapons, especially with them getting in the wrong hands? Did we need to cure cancer and solve poor nutrition before we could address atomic weapons? Should we have endless argued the semantics of atomic weapon, fission bomb, hydrogen bomb, etc such that nothing ever got done)?

If the #1 way the "bad guys" get guns is through straw purchases, why do you suppose nothing is done about that? I'm curious what your answer is. I'll give you mine... ultimately it's still a sale for manufacturers and dealers. There's a demand, they'll fill it and replenish the supply. You asked for suggestions. Neither of my suggestions place any burden on the tried and true "law abiding gun owner". Correct? Again and again, why is nothing done? Plain and simple, money. It has absolutely nothing to do with freedom, law abiding gun owners, etc, etc. An outsized influence by the NRA and gun manufacturers on our political and legal system.