[above image] : Abortion rights advocates protested the Supreme Court’s attack on women’s rights when it ended Roe. The Court is expected to intensify its attacks on democracy in the new term. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
[above image] : Abortion rights advocates protested the Supreme Court’s attack on women’s rights when it ended Roe. The Court is expected to intensify its attacks on democracy in the new term. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
The militias are a protection for a free state, just as it says. Not “the government” but a set of institutions that are built by the people, that work to preserve their liberty, that exist only so long as they continue that mission in good faith. “The government” may or may not be a part of that equation, many would argue, including people that are on your side of the spectrum politically, that the government no longer represents the people or protects their freedom at all, so protecting them would not serve the goal of preserving a free state.
Either way, regular people being armed with guns don’t realistically stand a chance in an armed rebellion against the most bloated military and police force in the history of humanity and having a gun makes you MORE likely to be the victim of government tyranny in the form of police murdering you (especially if you’re black), so the point is moot.
OK, well, maybe. if they’re so harmless in the face of a standing army then why not let them have their guns?
Because their guns are extremely harmful to themselves and their fellow people. Gun violence is the number one cause of death in children and it’s way up there for adults too.
I’ve looked at those stats and I’m not really convinced.
Half of gun deaths are suicides. In those cases, a desire to die is the cause of death. Something is deeply wrong in our society if children want to kill themselves in epidemic numbers, and we need to figure out what that is and fix it.
Out of the rest, it’s almost entirely violence from organized crime. That violence doesn’t go away if you ban guns, at best other weapons get used, at worst criminals just don’t obey the gun laws. When two rival groups are fighting over a crack dealing monopoly in a neighborhood, if you blame the result of that on the tools used you’re ignoring another real problem. Why is America so addicted to drugs. Just like with suicide, I think we need to figure out what’s driving that.
Something in our society is very very wrong, our society is sick and the symptoms are teen suicide (and veteran suicide and suicide as a result of divorce…) and widespread drug addiction. Guns show up in those dynamics simply because there are a lot of guns in America.
Big surprise there 🙄
A gun is one of if not THE quickest and easiest ways to do it and, in the case of more difficult and lengthier methods, people can and surprisingly often WILL change their minds before it’s too late. No such opportunity with a bullet to the brain and thus an abundance of guns DOES contribute significantly to the number of suicides.
True, but that doesn’t mean that making it easier for them to act on that despair isn’t a bad idea.
I’m gonna need a source on that.
Other weapons are less effective for easily killing, so their use in stead would significantly reduce the number of deaths.
As for criminals not obeying gun laws, the overabundance of (at first) legally produced and sold for personal use guns makes it much easier for them to illegally aquire and use guns than it is in countries with stricter regulations.
The tools used makes it easier to kill and thus makes them more likely to kill. To ignore that means excess deaths.
Drug abuse is mostly about genetic predisposition towards addiction, using the drugs to self-medicate or ignore other problems, or frequently both.
The main problems connected to drug abuse and drug dealing are societal issues such as poverty, lack of opportunity and an oppressive society not giving some people any other options.
So close! There being a lot of guns exacerbates those “dynamics” dramatically, so the logical approach is to deal with the root causes AND the aggravating factors such as guns.
In summary, more guns equal more deaths and thus common sense regulations are needed to save lives.
You’re going to need a source on the claim that most violent crime is in the furtherance of other profitable crime? You ever heard a phrase such as “if weed were legal then people wouldn’t kill each other selling weed”? I thought this was settled science. Is it so outlandish an idea that most people who kill do it because it is profitable for them to do so that you want me to google it for you?
Alright, so let me ask you, what does “common sense” gun control look like?