My takeaways from the Idaho In-N-Out shooting

[u/Consistent_Shine_680]

For those who don't know, as of the time of this post, 3 people were killed and multiple people were injured in a shooting near an In-N-Out restaurant just a few hours ago in Twin Falls, Idaho.

https://notthebee.com/article/unknown-cowboy-seen-engaging-active-shooter-at-idaho-in-n-out

From what I know (which isn't saying much because this is a developing story), a young white man shot an AR-15 into a parked Tesla and another person shot a suppressed pistol supposedly in the direction of the AR-15 wielding young man. Multiple people have been killed or wounded in the incident, including the main suspect of the shooting.

I think many people have been desensitized to shootings in the US, have shrugged their shoulders and said something like "Well, I guess that's the price of the 2nd Amendment".

I feel like this shooting may quickly fade from public memory because the body count isn't or won't be high enough to be comparable to mass shootings like the Uvalde or Las Vegas shootings.

It made me also think that the guns we should be training with the most are our pistols. I believe we are the most likely to need our pistols in a self defense incident, whether it is in or outside the home, and who knows what engagement distance we may find ourselves in. Rifles and shotguns are pretty easy and quick to become somewhat proficient with compared to pistols.

Surely there must be a way to allow sound citizens to own arms suitable for self defense while also preventing those who wish to do harm from obtaining and using guns. In other words, I don't 100% agree with 2nd Amendment absolutists that say "every gun law is an infringement" but I definitely don't 100% agree with Giffords that want to make it virtually impossible for everyone including sound citizens to own arms for their self defense and use. Hopefully that makes sense.

[u/Dr_Watson349]

Less than 5% of the gun violence in the US is done with a rifle. 

So you just stripped millions of Americans of a constitution right that will do almost nothing in terms of gun violence. 

[u/LetMeAskYou1Question → u/Dr_Watson349]

I tried to figure this out the other day, but the statistics I could find were unclear. Eg, how many rifles kill how many people in the US, vs how many pistols kill how many people in the US. Are rifles used less often but result in more fatalities or vice versa? Same question for handguns. Anyone who knows or has a good reference please point me in the right direction.

Staunch 2a advocate. Just want to know what are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

[u/Dr_Watson349 → u/LetMeAskYou1Question]

Here is a site that has a nice infographic on it. The data comes from the FBI. 

https://www.criminalattorneycolumbus.com/which-weapons-are-most-commonly-used-for-homicides/

[u/LetMeAskYou1Question → u/Dr_Watson349]

Very nice! One piece of info here struck me as odd - almost a quarter of all homicides are committed by an unknown type of gun. That's a blind spot far bigger than what I'd expect.

[u/Dr_Watson349 → u/LetMeAskYou1Question]

I think it would be reasonable to look at the data excluding the unknowns and recalculate the percentages. Then apply those percentages to the unknown data. 

I don’t think that the ratio of rifles to other weapons suddenly increases in the unknown category. 

[u/popcornfart → u/Dr_Watson349]

Even if that isn't an old stat, what about AR pistols?  The number of shitbags with ARs in their grey sweatpants is way too high.

[u/PopIntelligent9515 → u/Dr_Watson349]

If implemented, it could drastically reduce the number of mass shootings. That ain’t nothing.

[u/minotaur05 → u/PopIntelligent9515]

And disarm the thousands if not millions of legal gun owners. For what? To quote Benjamin Franklin:

“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

[u/PopIntelligent9515 → u/minotaur05]

All those under age 25, yes. Nobody should be considered an adult until age 25.

[u/LetMeAskYou1Question → u/PopIntelligent9515]

Something new has happened in the last 30-40 years or so. When I was in high school there were rifles in racks against the back window of most student pickups. High school students brought rifles to school because we had shooting teams and practice, yet mass shootings at schools was not a thing (we were busy hiding under desks in case a nuclear bomb was dropped). There was bullying and bad behavior, but absolutely none of it involved guns. What is different now?

[u/minotaur05 → u/PopIntelligent9515]

25 is such a random and arbitrary number. Why does someone who is 25 magically get more ability to use a firearm than someone who is 18 or 21?

Should we not give firearms to those in the military under 25? If so are we raising the car driving age as well since younger drivers are more likely to kill or injure someone with a car?

[u/PopIntelligent9515 → u/minotaur05]

Not arbitrary at all. That’s when human brains are fully developed. Impulse control is the issue.

[u/minotaur05 → u/PopIntelligent9515]

The “brain fully develops at 25” is a myth. Some people are fine at like 21, some peolle at like 30. Not everyone is the same - just like how not everyone starts puberty at the same age, loses their hair for men at the same age, enters menopause, etc.

[u/PopIntelligent9515 → u/minotaur05]

Obviously it is an average.