Just when I was thinking of selling my T-34

[eppie]

I like to put people into three categories; sheep, wolves, and sheep dogs. Sheep being the normal law abiding citizen, wolves being the violent people that want to hurt you, and sheep dogs being those that are trained to protect the normal citizens.

Nice American oversimplification this. Completely useless to solve anything if you honestly believe this is true.

One problem that I run into when it comes to people that need psychiatric help is the complete lack of it. On many occasions I have brought a person that I truly felt needed some serious mental help to the local ER so that they could be evaluated by MHMR, as this is my only option. 99 times out of 100 they will turn the person away, pinky swear that they are okay, and send them home no matter how I may have come to have to encounter them. Family members that have to deal with these kinds of individuals come to me at the end of their rope because they can't find any kind of help. More often as not these people don't get the kind of mental help they need and end up slipping through the cracks. I would like to see more funding and incentives for mental help professionals and institutions to help people out that need mental treatment.

All nice and well, but how does the weapon industry benefit from this?
(yes this is sarcastic)

I have recently looked into getting some additional credentials as a mental health counselor myself since I make contact with these people so often. Maybe then I could make a bigger impact or help recognize certain signs that could prevent something bad from happening.

These are true and great words, I fully agree and support you here.
What I actually think that in the US (and this is the same in other countries like the Netherlands were it is allowed to own a gun if you for example are member of a shooting club) right now the population that owns a gun has a larger percentage of potential violent loonies than the population that doesn't own a gun.

(as a connected sidenote.....in Holland to do something against football stadium violence they introduced a club card in order to keep track of hooligans......but what you see is that less 'normal' people decide to visit matches while among the ones that do there is a concentration of actual hooligans)

I do think that if the media would be more responsible / respectful of the victims, the families of the victims, and the communities that surround these people; we may see a drop in these incidents. These people want to be remembered as monsters and the media plays into that by making "news" out of it across the entire country.

You are thinking about the type Charles MAnson.....the guy in Newtown had no interest in being remembered in anyway...asnd this is the case most of the time because (as you said yourself) these things usually end with the gunman being killed...so here you are totally wrong.

Also for that small possibility that some nut may decide to open fire at Target while I'm shopping there...again, a law isn't going to stop that guy, only a sheepdog or a sheep will.

But with as main difference that the chance of this happening in your Target is much higher than the chance of this happening in my local H&M store. Because your division into sheep and wolves might give you a good nights rest, it just isn't as simple as that....and people change.
And how would this work on your local kindergarten? Go for the NRA's solution? Let's employ 200.000 armed guards and put them in front of every school in the US....but wait...what if one of those guards flips out???

A gun is a tool. Yes that tool was designed to maim and kill. In the hands of a sheep or a sheep dog that weapon is of no threat to anyone. The tool then is used for hunting, protection, and recreational shooting. In the hands of a wolf it can do terrible things. Would I feel safer if guns regulated...absolutely not. Because the bottom line is if a wolf wants an AR-15 or AK-47, that wolf will do whatever is needed to obtain the instrument of destruction that they desire.

And here is the big point. I allready explained this in a previous thread about the connection between having the right to be able to defend yourself with a gun and the right of being as safe as possible.
I indeed believe you would feel safer when there is little regulation (you personally as someone who uses guns often probably are safer although that is specualtion) but on average as a whole society you are less safe. Because there are more shootings , most wolves shoot better than most sheep, there happen more accidents etc.

So I fully respect your position here because I understand your right of feeling safe, but your society as a whole will be less safe.

Thsi directly makes the discussion a bit obsolete because you cannot weigh feelings against facts. And the righst of the individual against teh stastical well being of a population.

(buy a Hummer to drive around.....change of dying in it almost zero.......so personally a very good choice.....but if everyone does the same teh death toll amongs bikers and pedestrians will skyrocket.)

My main concern about this gun control uproar is the government over stepping its bounds and setting a bad precedent that could further infringe on our second amendment rights later down the road.

As a population you don't have much issues with taking away rights from citizens. When you talk about guns everyone screams second amandement, but when it comes to gay marriage, drugs, listening to swear words on TV, death penalty, abortion etc everyone is perfectly fine with the government telling you what to do.

I do not want my loved ones to not have the ability to protect their lives with deadly force with a tool that is just as effective as what could possibly be used against them. As a citizen or law enforcement, I hope that If I have to face a bad guy carrying an assault weapon that I have a weapon just as good available to me so that I can stop that threat. If a person decides to exercise their right not to own a weapon then that is their choice and I hope that everything turns out okay for them because by the time a sheep dog gets there to help them the wolf has probably achieved his objective and fled the scene.

Again, I fully respect and understand your sentiment here, but for me it is simple.
If the chance of anyone shooting my child in the streets can be made smaller in any way I am in favour.....it is all fine and dandy to 'HAVE THE RIGHT' and ''FEEL SAFE''.....but please realise that not everyone is as good a shot as you.....most under 10 aren't for example.