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If you think that mansplaining about "not assault weapons" and "assault weapons" in light of today's events in Las Vegas is going to be helpful in discussing the huge gun violence problem the USA has, you are the problem.
50+ dead, 400+ taken to hospitals.
Save us all the wisdom you need to share about the bullshit you believe.
This is how these guys handle everything - by dragging us out into the weeds of the mansplains rather than actually addressing the issues.
Don't be a dick.
50+ dead, 400+ taken to hospitals.
Save us all the wisdom you need to share about the bullshit you believe.
This is how these guys handle everything - by dragging us out into the weeds of the mansplains rather than actually addressing the issues.
Don't be a dick.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 18:14 (UTC)Well, I am sure Colbert is sincere, but what exactly should we do? Let's see the plan that will make mass shootings a thing of the past, then I will let you know if doing nothing is cowardice, or prudence. There are already a lot of laws on the books regulating the sale and ownership of firearms in the US, most of them are quite sensible and I don't think very many gun owners begrudge them for a minute. But gun owners aren't fooled. The laws we follow aren't written with us in mind. But the targets of these laws, don't follow laws. By definition.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 19:00 (UTC)Yes, "do something". You said it yourself - we're not the experts in US law here. You seem to be. Which is why I do not presume to have a better proposal than you. You first. Go ahead, propose... "something".
Recognising a problem as a problem is the first step. And you don't seem willing to do even that.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 20:38 (UTC)It is hard to take you seriously when you are so wrong on the facts. The US ranks around 15th to 20th depending on how you calculate it. Since 2/3rds of firearms deaths in the US are suicides, you'd be better off arguing for more suicide prevention. Not for nothing, the US does have a staggering number of guns, far, far more than any other country. We have so many more it calls into question, for me, why our rate of gun violence and death isn't far higher. If guns are the cause of this problem, then why doesn't the exponential increase in gun ownership track with an increase in gun violence. We have never had more guns per capita in the US than we do now, and the percentage seems to be growing every year. And yet, gun violence and violent crime in general is at some of its lowest rates in a generation, and seems to keep falling. How do we reconcile this?
Look, don't take my word for it. Nate Silver's crew did a deep dive on US firearm fatalities and the effect of increased gun control on gun violence. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths-mass-shootings/
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:06 (UTC)"The US ranks around 15th to 20th depending on how you calculate it."
Yes, how do YOU calculate it? Because the way I see it, the US is grouped together with such nice places like Honduras, Venezuela, Swaziland, Colombia and South Africa.
Which other developed nation comes even close to those gun-related fatality rates, pray tell?
And you are telling me about being taken seriously?
I'm sick and tired of people like yourself telling me how this problem is not really a problem.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:22 (UTC)Who should be taken seriously now?
(no subject)
Date: 5/10/17 06:57 (UTC)Do you think someone priding themselves about ranking above Colombia and Afghanistan in terms of violence levels should be taken seriously? But honestly.
(no subject)
Date: 6/10/17 05:55 (UTC)https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-27/map-here-are-countries-worlds-highest-murder-rates
The story told there is, the US has more gun crime, but isn't a much more violent place in general.
On the other hand, the scale on that chart you're looking at bottoms out at 4.9, which is not informative. The city of New York alone has 8.5 million people living in it, and a murder rate of 3.9 per 100,000 (2016). Compare that to London, with 8.7 million people and a murder rate of 1.3 per 100,000 (2015).
In relative terms, the murder rate in New York is TRIPLE that of London. In absolute terms, that's not much of a difference. Approximately a 0.0039% chance versus a 0.0012% chance of being murdered in a given year.
That is a not exactly convincing evidence that the US is a fundamentally different place in terms of violence.
(no subject)
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Date: 4/10/17 19:12 (UTC)https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/23/gun-control-violence-what-works-what-doesnt
Conversely, you could take a few lessons from Australia.
https://www.vox.com/2017/10/3/16411676/the-weeds-australia-america-gun-violence
But of course that won't happen, will it.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 20:41 (UTC)As for Australia, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths-mass-shootings/
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:08 (UTC)Is it that hard to have sensible gun control in schools?
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:18 (UTC)I think shootings like at Columbine or Newtown might have been prevented with better mental health screenings, more active mental health interventions. But the shooters in those cases stole the guns they used, so all gun control laws were rendered moot.
As for gun control in schools, I have friends who went to school every day during duck season with a 12 gauge shotgun. They'd drop it off at the vice principal's office on the way to homeroom. No one thought anything about it. As it is, I think almost every school in the US is now a "Gun Free Zone." That might be a reason they become an attractive target. No one will shoot back at you. If just some on the staff of the Newtown elementary school had been armed, maybe they could have controlled the situation with a gun. We'll never know.
(no subject)
Date: 5/10/17 06:59 (UTC)Isn't there security in those schools? Where have I said that security staff shouldn't be armed? And *I* am trolling you now?
(no subject)
Date: 6/10/17 06:06 (UTC)Missouri has an early youth portion of their deer hunting season.
http://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/outdoors/2015/10/21/youth-early-hunting-opportunities/74262026/
Let that sink in a bit. This is really a different culture. And their possession and use of firearms does not move the needle on their murder rate one bit. Murder is almost entirely a big city problem, like it is everywhere else in the world.
(no subject)
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Date: 4/10/17 19:13 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 20:58 (UTC)What the NRA's membership does do is vote. They are motivated voters who will come out and support candidates who support gun rights and they will vote against those who do not. If that gives them "immense" power, well that is what voting is supposed to do for citizens. Removing the right of NRA members to vote might prove problematical.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:11 (UTC)Removing voting rights!? What the fuck are you talking about?
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:20 (UTC)They vote.
That gives them influence.
Does that seem unfair or illegal to you?
(no subject)
Date: 5/10/17 07:02 (UTC)Or are you saying the majority of the GOP base are gun nuts? Because somehow I can't believe this.
(no subject)
Date: 5/10/17 20:59 (UTC)NRA = Gun nuts? Great argument.
(no subject)
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Date: 4/10/17 19:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 20:59 (UTC)When you don't have a satisfactory solution, doing nothing is absolutely more prudent.
(no subject)
Date: 4/10/17 21:13 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/10/17 06:09 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/10/17 06:14 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/10/17 06:38 (UTC)We need to get it all together, like in a little backpack or something, and bury it somewhere.
I'm hot for my electronic solution. Digital scan-based trigger locks that cannot be removed, mandated by law for any new weapon sold. If a criminal gets it, it's bricked. Then we go on a full-scale hunt for the chop-shop bastards who will spring up to subvert the bricking, and throw them each into a dark hole for eternity. If it's good enough to protect our credit cards and party photos, it's good enough to wire into a gun.