Some might view the strong push for the defense of the 2nd Amendment to be admirable, but I opine that it's been ultimately counter-productive and shortsighted not to see that as a result we've created an environment with more guns. While we can't blame gun owners for acts of nutjobs, their strong preoccupation with their rights has helped to facilitate the too many guns culture that we now unfortunately have to live with.

 

I don’t want to go back and forth either but I don’t agree with this logic. Simply saying there is too much of something doesn’t make it bad. Again, millions of gun owners didn’t harm anyone this weekend. You are saying that the 1% of guns are problem, I’m showing that the other 99% aren’t.

I listened in passing to an interview of the County Sheriff this morning in the car.

 

He said that its seems the Killer's "Ex- Inlaws" are attendees or members of the church. They were not there on Sunday however.

 

I go back to what I said yesterday. His rage focused on the family of his ex wife and took it out one those innocent people at the church.

 

I've been reading that some of his former classmates and friends said he was "a militant atheist who ranted on Facebook about "stupid" religious people". One said "He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism". Could religion be why he committed this act?

If your point is there should be more outrage and talk about the Chicago killing situation, I agree with you.

 

Yes and thank you.

I've been reading that some of his former classmates and friends said he was "a militant atheist who ranted on Facebook about "stupid" religious people". One said "He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism". Could religion be why he committed this act?

The same classmate above described him as an "outcast but not a loner."

 

On the subject of the massacre, she said: "It's not something I expected from him."

 

Another former classmate said that he "always creeped me out and was different."

.

 

This is his high school yearbook photo. I know it's hard to get a "feel" for someone from just one picture, but he looks like a really troubled kid in that picture.

Two ex-girlfriends told NBC News that Kelley's behavior became disturbing — even violent — after they broke up with him.

 

"Years after dating me he would try to bribe me to hang out with him," former girlfriend Katy Landry told NBC News in a Facebook message. "He ended up assaulting me. He would stalk me by repeatedly calling me — even prank calling me saying really weird stuff.

 

"That was another thing about him — he was very sick in the head...He would tell me very sick strange things," she said, without providing details.

 

Brittany Adcock, 22, said she dated Kelley for two months when she was 13 and he was 18.

 

"At the time I didn’t think much into it being so young but now I realize that there’s something off about someone who is 18 with someone who is 13," she said.

 

When she broke it off, he continued to harass her, she said.

 

"He somehow would always find out my number although none of my friends talked to him and he would constantly call me until I blocked his number," she said. "Then I’d get calls from an unknown number so I’ve had to change my number quite a bit.

 

"He would offer me money to hang out with him quite a bit. There has been one point that I called the police because he was just calling me so much I wanted to report harassment," Adcock said, adding that she tried to make a police report about the situation.

 

"One time he told me I should move in with him and his wife and that he would take care of me as long as I walked around topless. Not long after, his wife messaged me and asked why I’m talking to her husband and I told her what he was saying and sent her screenshots and she then apologized and then I was blocked from speaking to her."

 

A search of criminal records in Comal County, where Kelley lived, yielded only minor violations — driving with an expired registration, speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving without insurance.

 

Who Is Devin Kelley, the Texas Church Shooter?

One report I heard is that the perpetrator tried to get a concealed carry permit and it was denied. However he was still able to purchase guns. It seems like there should be something in the system that would red flag a situation like that. I am assuming there was a concern raised in the concealed carry permit process and that is why he was denied.

 

The concern was his assault charge that led to his court martial in the navy.

I've been reading that some of his former classmates and friends said he was "a militant atheist who ranted on Facebook about "stupid" religious people". One said "He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism". Could religion be why he committed this act?

 

Some of the article I posted on the other page stated this militant atheist discussion was a hoax. Take it for what it's worth.

Some of the article I posted on the other page stated this militant atheist discussion was a hoax. Take it for what it's worth.

 

Thanks. It's a shame people post false things in these situations. I don't understand what anyone would get out of doing that.

I don’t want to go back and forth either but I don’t agree with this logic. Simply saying there is too much of something doesn’t make it bad. Again, millions of gun owners didn’t harm anyone this weekend. You are saying that the 1% of guns are problem, I’m showing that the other 99% aren’t.

 

I really don't how many ways or how many times that I can say it, but while not blaming gun owners for the acts of nutjobs, the push from the "me and my rights" proponents have helped to facilitate a more gun preoccupied and obsessed culture that while maybe the majority of gun owners are responsible people, the strong push for gun rights has as an adverse effect created more problems than they have helped. You don't have to agree with that assessment, but this indeed is my assessment.

What do you propose we do? Seriously. How do we regulate a sick mind? How do we know who is going to snap?

 

Here's a hypothetical question on a macro level.

 

Would the world be safer if everyone had as many nukes as they wanted to stockpile?

Maybe its the ones trying push the agenda to take away guns that are creating the terrible culture?

I know a lot of folks who purchased a weapon for the first time just because they were afraid they were not going to be able to in the future.

 

Chicken Little syndrome.

One report I heard is that the perpetrator tried to get a concealed carry permit and it was denied. However he was still able to purchase guns. It seems like there should be something in the system that would red flag a situation like that. I am assuming there was a concern raised in the concealed carry permit process and that is why he was denied.

 

Most states concealed carry approvals are more stringent than purchasing requirements set forth by the Federal Government. I think the way he left the military and his possibly domestic violence convictions there kept him from getting a concealed carry permit.

I'm not sure but I read somewhere that he purchased the firearm years ago before his issues involved with leaving the military. If true then he would have had a clear record when he bought it.

Regardless of whether one is for or against enacting new gun legislation, what if we leave that alone for a bit and discuss what other things we might change to stem the flow of this deadly violence?

 

That's just a TB&G idea, not a mod request.

 

I wish I had answers. I'll just say that whatever reduces the availability of weapons available to people who have no business owning them - I'm on board.

There are people in each of our towns capable of doing this. I know a couple of them.