I've wanted to post about this for a while.
I'm in a really weird spot on this, because I'm a liberal and I'm also a martial arts instructor with 20+ years of experience, as well as some armed security and personal protection work, and most of the left (my side) has little to no clue about guns, how they work, how violence plays out, how gunfights or self defense situations play out, etc.
So a lot of people on the right mentally check out when the people on the left talk about things that aren't real, like "high capacity assault magazine clips", etc. If you can't talk their language, they aren't going to be into having a debate. Both sides need to budge on this, and both pro-gun and anti-gun sides are planting their feet firmly in the stand. It's frustrating as fukk.
I heard they're banning bump stocks? Great. Good start. However, the weird thing about bump stocks is that they aren't that effective at killing lots of people. That may sound ridiculous because the Vegas shooter killed a ton of people with them. But ask any professional shooter, and they will tell you that he would've caused more mayhem and death if he had aimed and shot one shot at a time. Fully automatic gunfire (holding down the trigger/machine gun fire) is rarely used in military situations, and when it is it is used as "suppressing fire" which basically keeps the enemy's heads down while your team advances/retreats position with more safety. The best gunfighters in the world shoot one shot at a time and they laugh at gimmicky shyt like bump stocks.
This whole thing is tough. Most of the gun control measures suggested won't do much to genuinely help. I can expand on any specific questions of anyone has any.
I think it should be way more difficult than it is to procure firearms. I think it should be like getting a pilot's license, and I think you should have to qualify regularly to be able to keep it.
This is going to be a long and tough, drawn out conversation, and these mass shootings sadly aren't going to stop anytime soon. I don't like the idea of metal detectors and armed guards in schools, and it probably sounds batshyt crazy to anti-gunners, but speaking from someone with 20+ years in self defense, martial arts, firearms, and how mass shooters think, and how violent encounters play out...I honestly it's not a terrible idea at this point...at least as an interim option.
People on the left (my people), please: If you want to win this conversation against the gun crowd, take an hour or two and try to learn more about firearms. You may have a dozen valid points but if you try to tell a pro-gunner that no one should be able to buy a semi-automatic rifle that can spray bullets by holding down the trigger (not a possible thing) then they're not going to listen to anything else you have to say. Go to a shooting range and shoot. Figure out how guns work. Look into FBI stats on gun violence. Try to figure out what gun control measures would help and what measures would not.
Get your kids into martial arts. Teach them what to do in dangerous situations. Teach them to spot warning signs in troubled individuals. Teach them to walk upright, alert, and paying attention. I know guns are scary but you need knowledge for the debate, and it's going to make you better equipped to have these arguments with people that love guns and don't want to let them go.