Why are kids shooting other kids at school?

[iverglas]

108. I'm in Canada

So I really do know about "reasonable" firearms regulation. I support all the regulation of firearms we have in Canada, and more. (E.g. I vehemently oppose the dismantling of the long gun registry by our present far right-wing Conservative federal government, and I advocate that those who are currently allowed to possess handguns - at present, that means sports shooters and collectors only, and only for those purposes - be required to store them at a secure third-party facility, such as the club where a sports shooter must go, in any event, to use their handgun.)

I gather that when you said "Actually, I'm suggesting firearms should be banned", you meant "some firearms should be banned", so it's probably worthwhile to specify that. Otherwise, your post will be saved away and brought up next time a firearms control advocate says something along the line of "you know, nobody is actually advocating that firearms be banned".

I guess the werewolves in Europe didn't make it to Canada. Farmers and ranchers here tend to use long guns against coyotes and wolves and the like attacking their livestock, I think. And people who live in the North and other rural areas often find it handy to have something to protect themselves with against, oh, bears. As well, there are remote communities in Canada that depend on outfitting and guiding hunters for a significant part of their economy.

Problems come with all of those situations, the incidence of spousal violence against women by men with firearms (from intimidation up to murder) in rural communities being one of them. As in all public policy areas, the goal is to reduce the risk of harm being caused with firearms. That harm is no more likely to be eliminated in the next few lifetimes, no matter what policies are instituted, than any other kind of harm in society is.

Societal tolerance of unsafe/insecure firearms storage (as well as totally inadequate regulation of firearms transfers in the US) is obviously a huge factor in children getting access to firearms and using them in situations like this. All sorts of things could be done to reduce the risk of children getting access to firearms. Gun militants don't like any of them because (allegedly) those measures would inconvenience them. What they care about, and don't care about, is pretty obvious.