The Gun Debate - A Challenge to Conservatives
Honestly, I'm so tired of the gun debate. Conservatives will shout about liberals wanting to take their guns, liberals will post facts and statistics... I've been there. I've done that more times than I can count. Two or three mass shootings ago I just got sick of the debate. It's the same argument every time.
I was going to go through each claim and write the response in this post just so I could link to it, or repost it, in the future and save time... but then a friend invited me out for drinks.
So... well, one of the points conservatives use, the more reasonable ones anyway, is that the people trying to write gun control laws don't really like guns and so don't know them.
Yeah, that's true. Definitely.
But... that's also a fucking pussy ass excuse.
See, it's the Democrats that mostly try to create gun laws because the GOP has been bought by the NRA.
And yeah, Democrats aren't big fans of guns. They mostly live in cities, where hunting and such isn't even possible.
So here's my challenge: Conservatives, stop the mass shootings.
That's it. Create sensible laws for guns that make mass shootings significantly less common. I mean, on average they happen weekly so it shouldn't be that hard. Bi-weekly would be a significant improvement. Right?
I know sensible gun laws are possible, and the reality is that, despite what Trump and the GOP tell you, liberals do not want to take away your guns.
Liberals want mass shootings to stop.
Pressure your chosen politicians to make that happen. There are plenty of options for sensible gun laws that let you keep your guns while making mass shootings less frequent. I promise you that if these tragedies stop, you won't hear liberals calling for stricter gun laws.
You've currently got control of the House, Senate, Presidency and Supreme Court.
It's on you.
I've seen this show too many times.
Another good take on the situation.
"I'll post a disclaimer before writing this. My formatting is terrible so if this ends up looking like a massive blocky rant, bear with me.
During my early years I've always been a "sensitive" kid. Empathetic, compassionate, supportive. This has landed me in more situations where people have manipulated said emotions to their advantage than I can count which resulted into me repressing them. Being more "stoic", yes? No. Fuck no. That's not what stoicism is. I've come to realize only very recently that repressing these emotions gives you little(or big) outbursts of someone-please-fucking-make-me-feel. This in result causes you to be a slave to the first person, be it man; woman or dog, that gives you some type of emotional tingle. It's the worst thing one can possibly do and at the end of the day collides against a semi popular TRP endorsed theory, Carl Jung's "shadow self". If you don't know what it is, please look it up.
Now, to get to the point. We've all been told to "suck it up" or "stop being a pussy". These statements are not wrong but have been misinterpreted. A lot of people who have been emotionally weak like myself turn cynical and close off completely which is, as mentioned above, a terrible idea. Emotional strength is not an absence of emotion, it's the ability to see and interact with your emotions without letting them cloud your judgement, affect your life and hold you slave to them. They are very, very important to your growth and development. They make you human. If you keep them locked away, they drag everything else that's enjoyable with them. Sadness is out the door? Well, so is euphoria. I know I'll sound like a hippie when I say this but you need to be in tune with your emotions.
Before you misunderstand, no, I don't mean go around crying at the sunset or baw your eyes out when you see a cute little kitten by itself on the street eating leftovers. Do not let people step over your emotions. This is done by keeping them under your control. Do you feel sad about that one girl that rejected you in high school? That's OK. Embrace it, let it sink in and move on. Don't lock it away nor mull over it. The middle is the perfect balance.
Meditation, exercise, a good environment and a drive to understand your feelings helps you control them.
Treat your emotions like a pitbull. Keep them in a cage long enough and they turn rabid. Some people who see them will kick the cage or rattle it knowing full well there's nothing that it'll do. Walk it with you on a leash, let it see the world and train it enough, however, and people will admire your dedication and how disciplined your best pal is.
Apologies if I didn't make much sense but this is the best way I can convey this topic."
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/7xxpxq/keep_your_emotions_on_a_leash_not_in_a_cage/
That all sounds like good advice in general... I just don't see what it has to do with reducing mass shootings?
I have a few hardliner conservative friends and they use the most ridiculous arguments against passing gun control laws and dredge up very suspect "studies" that say gun laws have little/no impact on public safety. At this point, it is willful and deliberate denial of the problem that lax gun laws allow for.
Even more frustrating is the snide comments about schools being gun free zones and "this wouldn't have happened if a good guy with a gun was there"....
I'm all for gun ownership, but with requirements on par with owning a car or motorcycle.
-the individual must be trained, competent in its use, and of sound mind.
-the owner must be licensed and have the license renewed ever so often.
-the guns must be registered and sales recorded.
-if the gun is stolen, it must be reported immediately or the owner is liable for crimes committed with it.
In this case there was an armed guard: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/armed-guard-florida-school-encountered-rampaging-gunman-article-1.3822777
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.
This post has received a 39.90 % upvote from @morwhale thanks to: @telos.
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One smart idea would be to encourage the media to cover these shootings in a way that would be less encouraging to a potential active shooter. Also, if they keep demolishing every school that suffers from a mass shooter event. It might motivate a would-be shooter to try it, just so that they can be responsible for having their school destroyed.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to have PR experts meet with psychologists devoted to coming up with strategies to discourage this outcome. I think the active shooter drills, are probably harmful. I wouldn't doubt that it's probably seeding the minds of unwell persons to do unwell things.
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