Texas School shooting 19 children and 2 adults murdered

They were banned once. They can be banned again.

I think BC is speaking from a US perspective, which is fine since we're talking about a shooting in the US and US laws.

I'm not an expert on US laws so apologies if I am incorrect here but, as far as I understand, a big list of specific brands of semi-auto rifles was created and new sales of those weren't allowed. Semi-auto rifles in general weren't banned, only certain specific named brands.

You are correct though, new sales can be banned although that is unlikely given the versatility of those rifles. But what do they do about the 20,000,000 AR15's and countless other makes and models of centrefire semi-auto rifles already in private ownership?

Yeah, while I don't want to see guns banned, any guns, I do think there should be some some hoops to jump through, in the US I'm talking about. Not everyone should have access to a gun and I fully acknowledge that.

Yep, I was talking about it from a US persopective. Thanks.

True, but when was this - 1994? And the ban was very restricted then - pistol stocks/grenade launcher(!)/bayonet lug.

A lot has changed. So can the description and what's banned. It's a matter of will.

The simple solution would be to ban semi automatic guns of any description, along with a caliber ban. Which would cover handguns as well.

What you are suggesting is far from simple and is as likely to happen as World Peace.

The problem with that is you'll find that vanilla ar-15s are actually really small calibre. We have a calibre restriction in Ireland and all it has really managed 5o eo is make rifles from the 1870s more restricted than many modern precision rifles.

You'd have a ban on any calibers below say 6mm, which is a reasonable cut off for precision shooting and hunting.

100% this. They soupf end the debate if they were just honest and said something to the effect of: guns are great craic, and dead children in schools and dead people in shopping centres and accidents where people get shot, is a price I'm willing to pay for the freedom to play with guns. I can't fault the logic. But the arguments about militias and protection are complete bullshyte. They like guns because they're fun to play with.

Naturally I wouldn't want that to be the case in Ireland, but I'd that's what America wants for itself, let them at it. Its not really any of my business. But it would be good if they were honest about it.

Not sure the US is having massive recruitment issues. Usually goes up during economic downturns

Mostly those worries are paranoia and any real worries are probably caused by people having access to guns. These issues could be sorted by effective gun control and mental health services. Neither are likely to be forthcoming as there is too much of a love for guns and a loathing to pay for services for others through taxation.

It all depends on what you mean by effective gun control. The only effective way to stop these shootings is by banning and confiscating all guns, but that is an impossibility in the US so there's no point going down that avenue. 400,000,000 guns can't be taken back out of circulation. Ain't happening.

At best, you might get some traction with background checks, red flag laws, mandatory waiting periods etc. but even that won't make much difference on its own.

What also needs to happen is to figure out why there are so many mass shootings in the US. Yes, there are more guns than anywhere else, but many countries have lots of guns and nowhere near the amount of mass shootings. What makes so many in the US think that it's a good idea to go into a workplace/school etc. and shoot a pile of people?

I've come around to thinking that the only effective way is to repeal the 2d amendment and let Congress legislate. As we see in Ireland, you can accommodate gun owners safely with legislation. Banning and confiscating 400+ million (that are known about) guns in the US won't happen and really is kind of an 'argument ad absurdum' or whatever they call it: "The ONLY thing you can do is this absurdly impossible thing so there's nothing you can do."

Not accusing you of such, but I think you're falling into a trap here.

There are so many shootings for a few reasons but the main one is access to guns. Other countries have access to guns but nowhere near the amount of weapons for various reasons. It’s like a fetish for many people. Your falling into the fallacy of it being too difficult to do so let’s do the minimum. It doesn’t matter how long it’s for or takes, if things done now save lives in 50 years then it’s a road worth going down. The gun sales go up if anything is threatened to happen gets trotted out regularly, I say fine let them grab their last few guns it has to be a long term project.

I'll agree with your first paragraph.

You're a bit off with your second paragraph though.