The F*cking Gun Control Thread

[abalene]

But it does work. Look at Japan, look at Australia, look at Germany, look at the UK, hell look at China. Stricter gun laws prevent mass killings. Just as stricter vehicle safety standards make driving safer.

Yes, there needs to be a change in people. But the way that people create change in society is through their government. That is why it is there.

while i do agree it isn't just about guns, it does seem like it is the most realistic/obvious place to start.

[thanatos]

I think a first step is to start to understand what the real issue is. I'm not a gun nut. But, you have to realize that in many countries and societies people are armed - in some cases with assault weapons. Yet, these types of massacres don't happen with regularity.

Guns should be regulated, access restricted, and in some cases guns should be removed from the household. Mental health counseling and real therapy should be easily available without stigma. To me, these are some very reasonable first steps. But, ultimately we need to have a REAL discussion about what American society truly is and what we think it is.

[Keef Riffers]

But it does work. Look at Japan, look at Australia, look at Germany, look at the UK, hell look at China. Stricter gun laws prevent mass killings. Just as stricter vehicle safety standards make driving safer.

Yes, there needs to be a change in people. But the way that people create change in society is through their government. That is why it is there.

I wonder if those countries have the same apocalyptic "ambient tone" like a nice chunk
Of the body political carries here?

We have to address the source of the thing tha allows sham-mans and fear peddlers to drop parasites into these people's brains.

This very discussion is being enveloped in the perverse anti-logic of the thing and being converted into dark energy.

Liberals need to do something "different" for a change. Every body's on their "x" right on script so far...

[jeffx]

i feel like this latest mass shooting (and many of the others) is more about the pitiful state of national mental health care than gun control. that said, if it takes something like this to finally have a real dialogue about gun control, as opposed to the thousands of gun-related deaths per year that are basically ignored by the media (because they don't all happen at once, and because they mostly happen to poor and minority people), then so be it.

that won't happen, however, because it didn't happen after columbine. or fort hood. or fort worth. or virginia tech. or meridian. or aurora. or tucson. or any of the other 60+ mass shootings since 1999.

[zulu]

while i do agree it isn't just about guns, it does seem like it is the most realistic/obvious place to start.
...

I sort of wish we would start with mental health instead. We throw away too many lives and too many resources simply because nobody wants to talk about mental health care. If we made a fundamental shift in the way we think about mental health, the positive effects on our civilization would be enormous. Mental health issues lie at the root of numerous difficult, seemingly intractable problems in this country. Those problems remain intractable because everyone wants to pretend mental health isn't really a serious issue, that it's just a weakness or an excuse. You know, it's not uncommon for an individual with a mental illness or disorder to resist acknowledging that they have the problem at all. Of course, failure to acknowledge the problem makes addressing it nearly impossible. We as a nation are suffering from the same effects of our collective denial. If we would just hold still and begin to talk about it seriously, however, we could begin to make
real progress.

[Rocky Hillian]

I started a separate thread.

These two issues are intertwined, but they are separate. Steps can be taken for each to help people, and to save lives.

[abalene]

oh, i have no problem believing we need to deal with the mental health issues just as much.
deal with the guns.
deal with the mental health issues.
stop pretending like it's going to go away or can be ignored.

[Rocky Hillian]

Interestingly, the NRA has gone silent on Twitter and Facebook since Friday.

[Michael]

Lastly, in order to purchase and register a gun, you must provide proof of insurance. Let the actuaries at the insurance companies decide what it costs, covers and such. Enact stiff penalties with regards to not following these laws.

Yep. Let the private sector's invisible hand work with this. It might turn out that ownership comes at too high a price for some.

Of course, all this would do is create the same climate we have with automobiles, where people are cited with a slap on the wrist when they fail to prove financial responsibility. It's not as if that's actually keeping very many people from driving while uninsured.
~m.

[Hayduke]

What downtown drinking establishments disallow guns? I must have forgotten that this stupidity actually passed and I haven't been looking for the signs, so I couldn't swear there are any.

DG&B is reported to be emphatically in favor of armed drunks.