RE: The Gun Debate - A Challenge to Conservatives
I always say politics is a hot potato issue, you're sure to get burned. But I'l entertain it for a moment. The US Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms. This law was created to ensure that Americans can defend the homeland and defend their freedoms. Maybe these laws are outdated maybe these laws are not but with gun freedom come gun consequences, good and bad. The bad is mass shootings by troubled people, gang members, terrorists etc. The good is a person who can defend themselves as happens many times everyday. I think about what it means the power of the gun in a persons hand, and can they be trusted. In my country Switzerland we have probably more guns than in most countries except ofcourse the USA. It used to be simple to buy a gun up until the law was changed. It is still simple but now you need a backgroundcheck etc.
We never had a school shooting, however we did have a few mass killing type events. 1 was against a regional parliament, and another was a gov official who walked through his office killing his co workers who allegedly used to talk bad about him regularly(This man was incarcerated for about 10 years, now he is free and anonymous!)
If you read about the US founding fathers you would understand that gun rights were not about hunting. For them it was about personal freedom and protection. It was a different time. I do know this an armed American population can never be enslaved, never be mass killed by the government. Yes murders happen but they will happen regardless, ofcourse the ease of pulling a guns trigger makes a would be murderer more likely to carry out the murder. It would a deterent if they actually had to use a knife or axe to kill let's say 10 people who would obviously be fighting back. If the US Congress bans guns you will see a civil war in America. Right, wrong, righteous or not it will happen.
One recurring thing with mass shooters is usually that people knew they were troubled. There should be a reporting mechanism to stop these people from buying guns. Ofcourse the illegal gun market is big in the USA. You can buy a gun illegally for $200, so I doubt that a 100%intentioned murderer can innfact be kept away from a gun even with such laws.
The defense against the government issue is probably the best reason, but also in many ways the silliest.
We have drones that can blow up your house from so far away you can't even see them. Not to mention more conventional weapons like tanks, high powered sniper rifles, mortars... basically if the military were turned against our own people we'd be fucked no matter how many guns we have because the military has better, bigger and more advanced weaponry.
I believe there are reporting mechanisms but they don't result in an inability to buy guns, they just get watched by the police or FBI... who in this case fucked up and didn't follow procedure.
But more importantly: I don't think Republicans in this country would even allow your suggestion. They'd claim it steps on their gun rights and that false reporting would be used to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.
That's why I challenged conservatives to come up with something. They won't accept anything liberals propose, so it's on them to fix it.
I also never see any effort from them to try and fix it.