At 1/20/13 09:40 PM, LemonCrush wrote:
I think, he should focus on fixing availability of guns, to people of unstable minds. Or better yet, try to figure out why there are so many crazy kids out there killing people.
Have you had a look at what his plan is? He has multiple Executive Orders that address just that. In fact, most them in one way shape or form address this:
- Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
- Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
- Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
- Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
What do you think he is focused on instead? To me, it seems pretty clear that his main goal isn't a door-to-door search of homes to confiscate guns, but is instead focusing on tying up loose ends within the laws which are currently on the books while encouraging a dialogue about mental health. It actually sounds pretty good to me, and I have to be honest, I'm pleasantly surprised.
Now, we can absolutely have a discussion about how effective those measures may be, how those measures would be implemented, and even other ideas which may be more effective at trying to solve the problems you mentioned. But you can't claim that this isn't part of his focus, because the bulk of the items he proposed directly or tangentially address the problems you stated.
The issue is not guns themselves. In nations where gun control is loose, there is no gun violence.
Honestly, I have no idea! I've seen studies that support this, and I've seen studies that don't. I think the issue is way too complex for us to understand completely, and we haven't really figured out a way to get strong conclusive data. It's an extraordinarily complex issue which involves tons of other complex issues in and of themselves like culture, poverty, healthcare and psychology just to name a few.
I mean, I could sit here all day and shit out studies that have different methodologies which would back any opinion I have about the root causes of gun violence, but you could do the same as well. That doesn't really get us anywhere. But you're right, the issue is not guns themselves. Nor is the issue not-not being guns, either. The issue is realizing that there is no one issue. It's not going to be 100% this or 100% that.
Hell, even in the US, we did not have mass shootings until fairly recently.
That's not really true. From looking at the list it seems things started to happen more often during the 90s, but I have no idea what happened in 2012. Stress? The economy? Media coverage?
It's a problem with people, and if I was a betting man, I'd say it has to do with the food/water or over-medication of Americans
What food, what water, and what medication? Because if you're talking about fluoridated water, well, we've been doing that for 65 some-odd years now. How do you explain the delay? The food? Well, sure, we're a pretty unhealthy country. But TV dinners and fast food have been around since the 50s. Again, why now? Medication? Interesting, and the most likely out of the things you mentioned here, but don't you think that's putting the cart before the horse? Is it that SSRIs make people more likely to shoot up innocent people, or is it that people who are more likely to shoot up innocent people are more likely to be on SSRIs? That's something you'd have to demonstrate.
Let's assume for a moment, that availability of guns is the issue. Don't you think we should be banning "dangerous" guns, based on...caliber, or rate of fire, or something, instead of how they look?
Sure! However, no matter what, I ultimately believe that guns bans will always be an arbitrary endeavor. But how would you feel if that actually came to fruition? Would you value your right to bear arms more heavily than stopping gun related crime?