[DoulaLC]

I've no doubt that it will be helpful in the healing process. It should be an amazing event (I should have gotten tickets through work when I had the chance); the tribute planned will be bittersweet. I hope you and your friends find some peace and comfort.

[smoothy]

Why does someone need to own an assault rifle?

Why do the police need automatic weapons and armoured personnel carriers?

We have a 2nd Amendment right to have arms to protect us from an out of control government, and ours inches closer to that every day.

Ever notice all these mass shootings were in gun free zones... that meant the gunman had free reign to do his will before police could be called and have time to arrive.

If anything, this proves why gun free zones are a bad idea and why more people should have concealed carry permits.

If even one or two people there did and were armed, There would have been significantly fewer victims.

Damned autocorrect on these mobile devices, on one in Europe right now.

[smoothy]

Then I'll be specific. Why does someone need to own an AR-15 or an AK-47?

Let me chime in here, J_9 knows the answer to this and probibly even catonsville too.
An AR-15 is a .223 caliber rifle, or 5,56 mm it's not that big a bullet, it's also a semi automatic like many shotguns and other sporting riflesmare. The military uses a M-16 which is a elect firemweapon, three round bursts or fully automatic, it's also a Class 3 firearm and significantly more difficult to purchase and license, Yes a class 3 weapon is handled very differently, and having watched the news, most if not all reporters are idiots that don't know the difference between a B-B gun and a Howitzer.

And an AK-47 DESPITE all the claims by equally clueless people is a Class 3 firearm as the semiautomatic version carries a different name. They are not common or everywhere and just anyone can not walk in and buy one.

It is a 7.62x39 round.

And why do the police need them, why do they need armoured personnel carriers? What illegal act are they preparing for?

Look at Chicagos crime statistics as proof of how worthless banning guns are, only the criminals are armed, and everyone else is defenseless.

The police protect nobody, they nearly always show up after everything is over. You are responsible for your own protection.

[cdad]

With respect to Oliver I think that if we want to discuss weapons and their applications we might want to start a thread on the gun board. I don't believe it was the intent of the OP to start a thread on gun debate and virtues. This thread is more about feelings and perceptions.

[Oliver2011]

What a weekend. The Tampa Rays game tribute to Orlando was incredibly moving. The Rays wore old Orlando Rays baseball caps for the whole game. That was their farm team from 1999-2003. Everyone got a “We Are Orlando” shirt. And the whole crowd was very respectful during the moment of silence as the scoreboard went through the names of the victims.

At the Orlando City soccer game Saturday night, both teams paused at the 49 minute mark to honor the victims. I heard there were many tributes at that game.

Sunday as a family we went to the makeshift memorial which is about a mile from the Pulse nightclub downtown. Each of us laid a white rose and paid our respects. It was at the memorial that I realized Adam and I knew one of the people killed. The press had been reporting his name as Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz. He was 22. Adam and I get our mail delivered at our local UPS store and Peter was our guy. He goes by Peter Ommy and I didn't realize it was him until I saw his face downtown at the memorial. Peter always knew your name and was just the friendliest guy. I have his business card in my wallet even today.

There are just so many good stories to come out of this. I encourage you to read about the Grandmother who came down to bury her grandson and she flew down on JetBlue. Also read about the mother who was at the club with her son dancing. She threw herself in front of her son when the gunman opened fire. Her son survived. She did not. That selfless act got her a free ticket to heaven I am sure.

[talaniman]

The outpouring of support from all over the country, and indeed the world is a very hopeful sign and maybe, just maybe our lawmakers can at least start to address the issues the PEOPLE care about in regards to such traumatic events that have plagued us ALL, for far too long.

[ScottGem]

And why do the police need them, why do they need armoured personnel carriers? What illegal act are they preparing for?

One of the main arguments of the gun lobby is that laws only inhibit law abiding citizens from getting guns, that criminals can get the weapons. So if you take that argument, it explains why LEOs feel they need to be armed against such weaponry.

As I've said before, the only purpose of such weapons is to be able to indiscriminately fire a hail of bullets at a fast pace.

[Oliver2011]

The outpouring of support from all over has been incredible and helped with the healing. I can't tell you how good it feels to see people from Australia and many parts of the world holding up signs that say “We Are Orlando”. This event will not define Orlando. The aftermath of goodness from the first responders, to the hospitals keeping no more from dying, to the people on that JetBlue flight, to baseball and soccer games, to the Chick-fila's opening on a Sunday, to the 50,000 who went to the vigil downtown last night, and so many more acts of kindness will define Orlando.

I didn't write the original post to turn on a debate about guns. There's a time and a place for that. I wrote it because of the anger I was feeling towards that horrible cowardly pathetic excuse of a man. I wrote it because I was hurt and my city was hurt. When we went through the three hurricanes in 2004 we all in Orlando were in pretty bad moods. But it was nothing like this. I haven't seen this town so down since September 11, 2001. I wrote to help make sense of someone ambushing unsuspecting people. Adam and I are a part of the LGBT community although we don't practice anything that is related. We are just normal people raising a semi-normal family. No group should ever be ambushed.

I am feeling and will feel better. Some people won't, I get that. Some people will struggle with what happened to them forever, and that is sad. Others in other towns will be ambushed and that is very sad to me. I don't care which God you pray to because it is your choice to pray to whatever God. But there is not a viable God that would promote hate and violence that Orlando saw just 8 days ago. I think the plane hijackers were educated on that as soon as they crashed those planes. I also know Omar Mateen met God last Sunday morning and I'm quite sure that didn't go well for him.

The outpouring of support from all over the country, and indeed the world is a very hopeful sign and maybe, just maybe our lawmakers can at least start to address the issues the PEOPLE care about in regards to such traumatic events that have plagued us ALL, for far too long.