If the friend or mom had controlled better the gun used by shooter…one of them reportedly took gun away from him couple of weeks ago after he went on drunken racial rant, but gave it back to him or he stole it back from them…then yes better gun control might have stopped shooting. In place gun laws didn’t prevent shooting and I doubt any new laws would have helped either. Roof seemingly side=stepped laws by using dad as strawman for buying gun, or Roof bought gun from gun dealer illegally and his app wasn’t flagged him facing felony charges already. Roof shouldn’t have had a gun, but he did. He knew too killing people would mean death for him…suicide, shot by cops, or eventual execution in prison by executioner or other inmates. Laws don’t always stop crazies…he would have got gun one way or another or used other means for his murdering.
In short, no. A better mental health treatment program on the other hand…
At the UU church in Knoxville, the shooter was tackled and taken down by unarmed people after, I think, two shots. He did not, IIRC, make a speech or give any warning.
There certainly were a few people at the Bible study who theoretically could have tackled Roof. Who knows why they didn’t or couldn’t. No one really knows how they or anyone else will react in such a situation.
BTW, I haven’t read anything that says he made his statement after puling the gun but before starting to shoot, which would potentially have given them time to react. Maybe I’ve read the wrong things.
@tom1944 If relatives or friends had indications he was likely to commit a gun crime, a gun violence restraining order might have helped: http://smartgunlaws.org/californias-new-gun-violence-restraining-order-law-2/
"So is killing with a carpentry hammer, a kitchen knife, a car, a… "
No it’s not. For instance, the guy in the movie theater who killed the guy next to him because he was texting. If he didn’t have a gun do you believe he would have killed him?
How many children & adults at Sandy Hook would have been killed if the shooter had a hammer or a knife instead?
Do you believe Dylann Roof could have killed those nine people in the bible study group with a hammer or a kitchen knife? I surmise someone could have tackled him because there was no gun to worry about being shot with. Might he have managed to kill one or more of the people? Perhaps - but all nine.
How do I know? If he had a carpentry hammer on him because he expected to fix an errant carpet tack in the theater, or a knife to trim his shoelaces, maybe. People do ludicrous things when they lose control of their temper.
Ynotgo- but that law exists already and it depends on the action of other people. So there is no guarantee it would stop these acts
Oh yes, I am sure many, many theater goers bring hammers with them to the movies. /sacasm off.
Can you supply a list of the public mass murders is the US where the weapon was a hammer, a kitchen knife, a baseball bat or a car?
And you also didn’t answer my question about Sandy Hook & the murders this week in Charleston? Do you believe they would have occurred if the perpetrators used a hammer, a kitchen knife, or a baseball bat?
Individual killings might be easy; mass killings with a hammer, etc, not so much.
Emily all the gun control discussed after Sandy Hook would have had no impact on what Lanza did. The guns were legally purchased.
Roof didn’t need a gun, he could have used a jug of gasoline and a Bic lighter like Billy Ferry used to kill five people in a Winn-Dixie grocery. Billy was crazy and is now in prison for life.
If anything, making all guns illegal could increase it. Since when have drugs being illegal ever stopped people from using them?
I don’t get Americans love affair with guns. Seems infantile to me.
But hey…we are number 1!
This just in:
Fatal car crash on crowd in Austrian city of Graz
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33211479
There are many common tools deranged people can use to commit mass murder.
@emilybee Try not to digress. I answered a very specific statement you made and now you want to add all sorts of additional qualifications.
Well people are just gun nuts and justify it with the second amendment. Very similar to the homosexuality argument. But outlawing guns could cause Civil War Ii (even though it never really was a “civil war”) just like how outlawing alcohol in the 20’s only made the problem worse.
Making high-capacity magazines illegal would make a difference. As would only allowing the public to own weapons that have one shot per trigger pull.
This is interesting, and once again shows how you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the paper (or on the internet ). On June 18 The Washington Post (a trusted news source, right?) reported that
[quote]
According to his uncle, Roof received a .45-caliber pistol from his father in April for his birthday,/quote. The Post also reported:
So, according to the Washington Post, Roof should not have been able to purchase a gun legally, due to his pending felony charges.
This morning in our Charlotte Observer, I read that Roof had been charged with misdemeanor (not felony) drug charges, and in South Carolina, concerning a misdemeanor,
So his gun was probably purchased legally, by him.
Stricter gun control laws probably won't prevent a determined individual from obtaining a gun, legally or otherwise.
And when gasoline and Bic lighters are used to commit murder on a regular basis you will see regulations controlling their sale.
I would think physically stabbing or beating someone would harder to do from a psychological standpoint.
what about deliberately driving a car into a crowd?