Are Citizen-Owned-Guns a Problem?
A better question is: Is it possible that in the next 205 years the government in the USA could become so corrupt that it tries to oppress a people group???
Because 205 years could pass with 34,000 dying per year by guns, and the loss of life will still be less than when an out of control government starts murdering and mass exterminating its citizens.
I got started down this rabbit hole when another Steemian shared a summary of a Guardian piece about US gun violence and the world's perception.
Below is a more or less copy and paste of some numbers I gave for perpective.
"In 2012, 64% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides."(wikipedia)
"By 2016, suicide rates (In Japan) had reached a 22-year low of 21,764"(wikipedia)
This 22 year LOW is still a whopping 1.79% of all deaths in Japan in 2016. And while they have less than 10 gun related deaths per year, they STILL have over 21,000 suicides!!!
In the USA in 2014 the number of suicides was 42,773, or 1.62% of deaths.
Motor vehicle deaths in Japan in 2016 had "dropped to 3,904 deaths"(wikipedia)
In the USA in 2016, the number of Motor Vehicle deaths was 37,461.(wikipedia)
The number of drug overdose deaths in the US were over 65,000 in 2016.(New York Times)
The average yearly gun related deaths in the USA from 2011-2015 was 33,900.(CDC)
Are we ready to vilify and giveup automobiles?
Are we ready to make drugs illegal and take them away? Oh...wait. They have been illegal for 40+ years. The USA War on drugs began in the 1970's. Looks like the US Government is doing an amazing job at that and we should trust them to stop gun violence.
(Maybe some of those drug overdoses were prescription...it didn't say. Do we giveup every single take home medicinal prescription? Go in daily or twice daily to the doctors office for our prescription dose?)
I am not saying that there is not a problem. There is a horrible problem.
I just haven't heard anything close to a reasonable solution yet. And I am not going to giveup my freedoms just to try "any solution is better than no solution".
Want some more numbers?
Over 7 million Jews, Christians and Blacks were murdered by the Nazis leading up to and during WWII. Would this have been possible if all the citizens, including the Jews were armed with Assault rifles? Hell no!
(But what would have happened instead? No one can know.)
"Few citizens owned, or were entitled to own firearms in Germany in the 1930s.[1] The Weimar Republic had strict gun control laws.[7] When the Third Reich gained power, some aspects of gun regulation were loosened, such as allowing ownership for Nazi party members and the military.[4]:672 The laws were tightened in other ways. Nazi laws disarmed "unreliable" persons, especially Jews, but relaxed restrictions for "ordinary" German citizens.[4]:670,676 The policies were later expanded to include the confiscation of arms in occupied countries."(Wikipedia)
Over 7 MILLION people died in Germany and surrounding countries in World War II.
.... 34,000 gun related deaths in the USA per year.
7,000,000÷34,000=205
Q: Is it possible that in the next 205 years the government in the USA could become so corrupt that it tries to oppress a people group??? Because 205 years could pass with 34,000 dying per year by guns, and the loss of life will still be less than when an out of control government starts murdering and mass exterminating its citizens.
I don't have the answers. If gun control works for now in Australia and England, great! Ya'll stick with it. But don't come telling me that I have to giveup any gun, knife or automobile! If you really care and want to do something to help, go spend a year in Obama's backyard in Chicago and find a solution to stop black men from shooting black men in all black neighborhoods ON A DAILY BASIS!!
If you can solve that problem, you will have the solution to ending 1/4 or more of all gun related deaths in the USA. (And at that point, the solution will have nothing to do with skin color.... My point is: if, even socially-similarly-identifiable groups, have no problem killing each other, how do we even begin to solve the larger(or is it the smaller) problem???)
Oh.... And what if there was no such things as "gun free zones"? Have any of the USA's mass shootings, where 8 or more people were killed(and no robery or side crime was happening), taken place in an a location where every adult concealed carry holder was permitted to carry their firearm?
Maybe 2 or 3 in the last 20 years. While the majority have taken place in schools, churches, theaters, clubs and other locations where guns are prohibited, socially un-acceptable, or severly limited.
What if EVERY able-bodied adult was trained in safe efficient firearm use, and then encouraged to purchase a pistol and carry concealed. Maybe gun related crimes, and maybe all crime in general, would be at record lows. Because anyone stupid enough to open fire in a public place would themselves get shot down in a matter of seconds. These insane people don't want a quick end. They want their 5 minutes of fame. They want to go down in a blaze of glory.
I digress
And Yeah, I know. This post ain't pretty. I refuse to put lipstick on a pig. If the numbers can't speak for themselves, no amount of makeup is going to bring the point home.
And if you took into account that the government either a. knew the shooter b. supported the shooter c. trained the shooter or d. all of the above when there is a "terrorist" activity in the US, you would account for another big chunk of killings. There is no bigger "terrorist" than an out of control government, and the US government has been out of control for years. And people who support taking away weapons from the people should use their head for something besides a hat rack.
Thanks for posting those numbers. I didn't realize how big the percentage of gun deaths were suicide.
Gang related shootings have always been a significant portion of the gun related deaths. And, of course, it doesn't help that cops are shooting more people for very little reason than they used to.
The cops are not "shooting more people for very little reason than they used to." You need to check stats and see for yourself that law enforcement shootings have decreased. On the flip side, more police officers than ever before are being assaulted and killed.
I think you are right. This has been a big media blitz over last 12months. Over half of the glamorized shootings seem to be "at that moment" justified.
I do think there is a growing citizen-v-lawEnforcement problem. Just like there is a growing "race" problem.
and I think they are both engineered problems that are being done with a dark endgame in mind.
Ever watch Mike the Cop on YouTube. He is 80% or better GOOD on his way of explaining things, and I believe his motivation and heart are 100% in the right place.
And even more sadly....a majority of the suicides are veterans....Either over 50 or just back from Afganastan and Iraq within the last 3 years. War is such an ugly thing. I wish we(the USA) would take a break for a decade or two to lick our wounds.
Great post! I love it when people actually do a little research and put some thought into their articles!
Most gun violence is a direct result of the war on drugs. Gangs fighting other gangs for territory.
Yeah, I was doing all of the research for just a comment on somebody else's post, and I decided I should go ahead and make it my own post! Thank you!
You are welcome
Yeah, I also don't know what the solution is. I think something is unreal about all these biggest shootings, but I truly hope it isn't some government or corporate plot. That would make my stomach turn worse than the shootings themselves make me sad!
Those numbers are staggering!!
When it comes to gun control and policy, I doubt people and politicians will EVER agree.
As for the suicide numbers, that is leaving me speechless.
The thing is, people are going to kill themselves regardless of whether firearms are available or not. My father in-law used a horse tranquilizer to kill himself. Texas has one of the most armed number of citizens and research has shown that armed citizens are some of the most law abiding people.
Well.... Yes, as the Japan #'s testify.
I truly believe it is a cutural-morals, and ultimately but more-so, a faith issue.
You can't tell people "any and all behaviour is fine(ie looking at porn)." Then tell them in the next breath that grabbing ass is bad. They are both bad. But when the culture tries to say "Fine" then "not fine", their is a struggle there.... In conscience and Truth. They, in their current cultural form, are not reconcilable.
My "porn/sexualHarrassment" example is just one of a plethora that post-modern or post-post-modern culture have tried to present and reconcile......when, they are not reconcilable.
This leads to significantly increased drug use(pharma and street) AND ultimatly, suicide. Drug use to numb the brain against this fight for Truth. Suicide for when the answer is "life, as it is, sucks; and I haven't found or can't accept what would make it right(ie faith in God)"
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