lopri
Elite Member
- Jul 27, 2002
- 13,221
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It isn't fatalism, though I can understand why you think of it that way. It's that the changes required to substantially reduce the likelihood of these kinds of events would either 1) not work, or 2) might work but are unacceptable for other reasons.
It's too late for gun control in this country. There are hundreds of millions of guns out there among citizens. What would you have us do? The ATF goes out and collects all of them? How many deaths do you think would result from that process alone, which BTW wouldn't succeed in getting but a fraction of them?
The same applies with other "solutions." Perhaps if we censor all violence out of TV, movies and video games, that would have some effect in reducing it. It isn't, however, acceptable for reasons too numerous to bother articulating here.
We have more violence here than some other first world countries for cultural reasons. If you doubt it's cultural, you should think about Canada where they really aren't that much more restrictive than we are here but gun violence is way lower there.
We aren't going to change the culture here without heavy handed social engineering which goes against the grain of everything this country stands for. Maybe the culture will change for better or worse over the long haul, but it isn't something we can force in the short term in any way that is either practical or acceptable.
What a refreshing post. Thank you, woolfe9999. Guns are simply ingrained in our history and culture - starting with the massacre of native Indians, the image of western cowboys, the civil war, to James bond and modern day Hollywood. No wonder people get confused it is some sacred right that was bestowed upon them by the founders. The High court's "finding" of such a right after some 200+ years certainly doesn't help. Scapegoating psychiatrists or mentally unstable is likewise misguided. People will not accept that doctors are the guardians of gun "rights." (let alone there will be a serious equal protection problem)
One way that we could address this issue at this time is starting at the level of local communities, IMO. Maybe at the level of city/township. Sit down with your neighbors.. wait, no need for that in 2012. There is the Internet. Speak to your neighbors, find a common ground, try to persuade. Then write your (your town's) own gun ordinance. If you guys want to have guns, or decide that guns are necessary for whatever reason (e.g. there is a genuine need for self-defense, recreational hunting, or maybe most of them simply believe having guns are for the greater good), then let it be. If you can come up with alternatives, try to build a consensus by persuasion. (that's what freedom of speech is for) If that doesn't work, you may well consider leaving the town.
In other words, make your own rules for where you live. By way of democracy. I know that's easier said than done, but for once I'll pretend to be optimistic.
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