The BIGGEST Problem is American Gun Culture [dTube]
Common sense gun reform measures like universal background checks and high capacity magazine limits will continue to get roadblocked by firearm fetishists who think more guns are always the solution to mass shootings
The real problem is the culture around guns in the US, and that's tough to change
What are your thoughts?
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Thank you, for this, @davidpakman. Living in Florida, I’m watching the coverage of latest highschool shooting with a mounting sense of frustration/ impotence.
Incredible that it seems sane to talk about arming teachers and having more drills at school, instead of banning assault weapons, finally!
When did we decide that our right to bear arms was more important than protecting the lives of our children? Something must be rotten in the Divided States of America that children are mimicking adults this way and taking the war to schools.
I know this would not be tolerated if it were immigrants or Muslims behind this. How much longer, as a public, will we continue to defend the indefensible, how many more innocent deaths?!
Heartening at least to see the courageous student movement, daring to speak truth to corrupt power. Enough with the NRA already and the national insecurity about protecting ourselves!
Here’s a post of mine where I explore the spiritual dimension of America’s gun problem:
And I would say that the right to bear arms is not being threatened at all. 97% of the U.S. population supports restrictions on assault weapons. No one needs those. Not deer hunters, not people protecting their homes. Get them off the streets. And keep the second amendment as well. The first amendment has plenty of such restrictions. It's common sense.
I agree with you @donkeypong
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Give a little smile (Save the children)
Thank you, @donkeypong for that truly heartening statistic! I did not realize so many Americans support restrictions on assault weapons (truly relieved to hear it). You're absolutely right about no one needing those—we're not at war, here, why turn streets/schools into battlefields? I do hope that sanity will prevail, this time, and that the Will of the American People will be heard re: restrictions.
People can literally build these guns at home, you know that right? This is 1950's technology we're talking about, and the same guns in the hands of Governments have been used to kill millions. Maybe They are the ones you should consider disarming.
"When did we decide that our right to bear arms was more important than protecting the lives of our children?"
@yahialababidi, we have the right to bear arms so we can protect our children – against mass shooters, invasions from hostile forces, and tyrannical governments.
I understand some people think a society without guns will be a utopia. That's just not true. People who want to kill others will find a way (read: mass bombings).
Should everyone have a gun?
No.
Owning a gun is a responsibility to yourself and others, and anyone who wants one should be properly trained first.
Most people who say "assault weapons should be banned" are irrationally fearful of these types of weapons, and have little to no training in how violence situations unfold and how to handle them.
Guns are guns.
Killers don't need assault rifles to go on a killings spree. A single action rifle can kill just as many people as an assault rifle (and the shooter will be more accurate with a single action than with an assault rifle).
I don't even like guns. I wish everyone just got along and loved one another.
But since we're not living in an ideal world, it's important that those of us who want to protect ourselves (and others) are able to do so.
And those who don't want to protect themselves take the time to get educated on the realities of violence. Then they'l be able to understand that there are good people (your neighbors and fellow human beings) who own assault weapons because they want to protect people like you when you're unable to protect yourself.
You consider freedom and rights a disease? Someone drank the kool-aid...
The biggest problem is thinking that guns will solve your problems. This error of thought appears to infests too many Americans in their private lives, but it is also a fundamental underpinning of US law enforcement and, so tragically for millions, in US foreign policy. This error of thought appears to infests too many Americans in their private lives, but it is also a fundamental underpinning of US law enforcement and, so tragically for millions, in US foreign policy.
yes, that's a basic part of the cultural problem I describe
It's a fundamental underpinning of the entire founding of the country.
It would not be a Republic today if it weren't for private firearm ownership.
@blakemiles84 exactly.
I think things have been so safe & peaceful (relatively) for so long, that many people don't see a need to protect themselves anymore.
Yep, 200 years of shooting people.
Many people are focused on banning semi-automatic weapons & high-capacity magazines.
Even if these gun options are banned, killers will continue to use single action guns to kill people.
Single action guns can be just as deadly since the killer doesn't have to deal with the recoil from the previous shot. This increases accuracy... which can lead to less missed shots... which can lead to more people getting shot.
The focus should be on that laws that allow people to get guns in the first place. Before someone can get a gun, they should have to complete ALL of the following:
The last one, "weapon training ", isn't something I hear a lot about. This training should teach:
(Note: these are the first things that popped into my head. Much more should be added to this training.)
It should also require the gun owner to pass a written test & performance text – with a 100% passing grade required before the person is able to purchase a gun.
the bans aren't THE SOLUTION but I think they should be part of the broader solution.
I couldn't agree more besides the part that law could ever compel performance or a sovereign could ever take orders from their housekeeper, all I want to add is that indeed more guns are the solution to mass shootings, the punchline is sagacious by it's testament of time, these shootings don't happen where there's armed guards.
People talk about "mental health evaluation" yet the mental health is determined by a psychopathically controlled system where the list of disorders is only eclipsed by the 2 million statues they expect out of their citizenry, who clamor for privileges to buy property as if ever in the history of man the laws apply to criminals. If everyone is carrying what's the incentive to massacre? 2 people? 3 ?
Yes, right. There's a real gun culture in US, like people still live in the Wild West not in a civilized country.
Now they start to talk about arming the teachers with guns, never heard something more crazy in my life!
Would you send your kids to a school where teachers with guns stand in front of them???
That means you are teaching the little kids it's normal and important to carry guns with you.
The effect would only increase the profit of the gun manufacturing industry and destroy the normal view on of the kids on our world.
But that's what Trump want, make America great again?
No, he only wants to make the profit great again, nothing more.
We can wait for the next bigger war, the biggest profit machine ever.
Crazy World!
Zanoni, the sad squid
Agreed, it is depressing.
@gfy6 has just downvoted my comment. I got this reminder from ginabot on discord.
But when I search for @gfy6 on Steemit I get no results.
Do you @davidpakman have any idea who is it?
I see other comments here are downvoted, too
just found him, no post until now, but start flagging, nice one
Remember the pilot who crashed thw plane on purpose, I picture a fed up teacher, fed up of bad behaving kids, fed up of bad pay, fed up of harrassment by some patents, no support type person taking that same gun and doing a school shooting. No doubt it will be very unusual and rare but statistically not impossible.
The BIGGEST problem is people who claim there is one single BIG problem causing all the rest.
Guns are neccesary. Imagine you go to Bronx with no gun... you've got not a chance to survive if anything goes wrong.
that's the type of thinking that will lead to no solution, ever
@davidpakman, we haven't fully fleshed out what @luiggih means by that statement.
If we automatically assume that she means "everyone should have a gun just to have a gun", then we're not taking the time to really understand the nuances of what she means by "Guns are neccesary. Imagine you go to Bronx with no gun... you've got not a chance to survive if anything goes wrong."
I think it's better to start a dialogue when general statements are made, because they help us (as well as them) flesh out what their core beliefs are on the subject.
This leads to understanding, which can lead to harmony and solutions.
You said I'm wrong yet you couldn't deny my statement.
That's exactly this wrong thinking, I live in Thailand, I was many times in Bangkok, there you can walk everywhere 24 hours without any fear and without a gun of course.
This problem has only America, we speak about civilized countries with a normal standard!
Only in America!
I ask you why???
Do you have an answer?
I agree that more guns don't equate to more peace, but as you said, guns are part of our culture, and I also have to side with the argument that banning certain kinds of weapons, which makes enough sense, wouldn't stop these mass shootings.
It really does boil down to culture.
Americans like to blow shit up, and shoot shit, and we like to watch other people do it on tv and social media, and we think it's awesome. Celebrities totter about in their sad, Sarah Mclachlan commercials talking about how sad gun violence is, and then accept a cool few mil to be toting around a gun in their next movie or music video. What a ridiculous form of hypocrisy that is seemingly never ending in American culture. I don't think people should really have access to anything other than a handgun or maybe a single shot rifle, if they also have a hunting license, but I have got to say that I don't think limiting the guns will change much. Our society is too ingrained with gun culture. It's not something we can really fix right now, and society is so desperate for an answer, that we are all kind of grasping at straws for solutions, but don't necessarily want ones that will trample on freedoms. (I am not a gun clutcher type, I have never owned one nor do I really want to, but just for the sake of the argument here, I still don't think that will solve our problems.)
Americans are a different breed. The British found that out the hard way.
FACT: The solution to mass shootings, literally is… more guns.
Your thought experiment about gun regulation is magical-thinking. Do you think if we banned all smoking paraphernalia in this country everyone would stop getting high? Would you be willing to bet your life on it? Murder is already illegal. So someone willing to commit an act of terror isn't going to be stymied by the law. Even if you could magically make people respect the law, people can lawfully make their own guns via printing and milling. They don't even need to register, or seek a permit (or permission).
If someone is hell bent on killing a bunch of random soft targets, then the single and only solution is to create an environment whereby more people are hard to kill. It's not ideal that anyone should have to defend themselves to the death, but this is the jungle. It might be made of concrete, maybe you can take the city out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the city. History has proven that there is a criminal element that persists despite the thin veneer of safety that civilization attempts to provide. Rape happens, murder happens, robbery happens, kidnapping happens.
I wish the news would focus less on making mass shooters celebrities, and provide more of a spotlight to idiots that get slain while attempting to commit a crime. Also if every time a gunman shoots up a school, the school is demolished, that kind of bullshit is only going to serve to motivate more crazy people to snap. Just imagine an unstable mind, who hates school, and everyone who attends it. A person who hates the world, and themself. Then they start noticing that every time there is a mass shooting, the school is demolished.
In their mind, they would probably love to be the person responsible for destroying the symbol of what they hate. We're collectively making too many bad decisions in these areas, we need to do smart fixes. Everything has been bassackwards for the longest time. Hopefully Trump will implement some realistic fixes that address the problem in smart ways. Enough of the magical-thinking, we need to get real!
ghostgunner.net
Find a solution other than the government having sole access to firearms.
Anyone who won't let me have unfettered access to flamethrowers, RPGs, uzis, and infinite ammo is ANTI FREEDUMB!
Sounds awesome