but, with due respect, 19 dead children and 2 dead adults at robb elementary, 20 dead children and 6 dead adults at sandy hook, etc. is the price society pays so that you (plural) can have a gun, right?
so, on some level, it's more important that those people died and americans have guns than they lived and americans don't?
alasdair
I think that's a little unfair... it's not a black and white thing. Someone thinking we should be able to have guns doesn't mean they also think school shootings are an acceptable price to pay. The situation in other countries that allow guns to citizens suggests that the mass shooting problem we have has its roots in something other than gun ownership. Certainly the easy availability of large magazine, fast shooting rifles increases the death tolls in these incidents, but removing the sale of them wouldn't stop it. Nor do I believe that people suddenly wouldn't be able to get them. As drug prohibition has shown, prohibition doesn't work.
At this point the cat is out of the bag, there are too many guns to stop people who want guns from having them. There are more guns than there are humans in America. Perhaps if our gun culture and availability was totally different from the start... but that isn't the case.
I think we need to enforce measures already in place, and strengthen said measures, like background checks and sale delays (like a 10 day waiting period to help prevent impulsive purchases while people are enraged or having a moment)... largely increased background checks... many of the mass shooters we come to find out had been openly stating their plans on social media ahead of time. It would be a simple matter to check that stuff before making a sale and I think it would make a big difference.
The other important thing (even more important) is addressing the reasons why so many angry young men are deciding they want to commit mass shootings.
So I’m a little confused how anyone who is pro-legalization/anti-prohibition can turn around and say “a whole population of people shouldn’t have rights because sometimes people die.” Yeah, people die from drugs too you know, far more than from guns. And I 100% believe drugs don’t kill people, people kill people. No one ODs on ‘accident’ for the most part, they know the risks they’re taking with their life and they ignore them.
I agree with the stuff you were saying by and large, except that these days, there are tons of accidental ODs, because of fentanyl, especially fentanyl in cocaine/etc, but also fentanyl sold as heroin and oxys. The same bag can have hot spots, so one time you're fine, and the next time you overdose. Of course, legalization and regulation would solve that problem.
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