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but first and foremost Arizona gun laws need to be seriously addressed. The suspect had serious mental health issues as well as a criminal history yet was still allowed to purchase a firearm, no questions asked.
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While I do understand this sentiment, stricter gun laws won't change anything. Over the years States and the Feds have passed hundreds of gun laws and crimes committed with guns continue to stay the same or increase.
Anybody who wants a gun can get one regardless of legislation. I can walk out my door and get a gun in half an hour. I will be buying the gun on the street, not in a gun shop. Gun laws are for law abiding citizens. Criminals/extemists don't give a shit about the laws and they have access to guns on the street.
Legislating who can have a weapon based on mental status is a huge ass problem. You can't just blanket say if you are mentally ill you cannot own a gun. It ain't that easy. I would venture that half of the folks on this site could not buy a weapon if mental illness was an exclusion criteria.
What MUST be addressed is the climate of hate and fear being created by extremists who continue to get a bully pulpit from the mainstream media. I know Walter Cronkite is rolling in his grave. His kind of journalism seems to be gone.