Saturday, December 15, 2012

Another twist on American exceptionalism ... by gimleteye

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does anybody really believe that “gun control” will stop the type of killings we saw yesterday? It will never happen.

Every time there is a useless killing the first liberal contention is to take away the guns. And that is where their ideas and conversation ends.

But for me, it is much more complex than that. My question is “what would make anyone, no matter age commit useless killings, or any killings for that matter, such as happened in Connecticut?” I firmly believe that is where the search for solutions should begin. For example, if you are angry with your mother for whatever reason and kill her, what would make you go to a school and murder innocent children then take your own life?

Further, if you are planning to take your own life anyway, why use innocent children to make your point? Can this be a rational person?

These people kill for other reasons than because they have access to a gun. If not a gun, they will find be something else. What about starting with the phycology of why these people, especially young people kill? The Connecticut killings were especially brutal, first shooting his mother in her face and then going on to the school to continue his ruthless actions.

There needs to be a serious conversation about these types of killings that have to have a mental/psychology component. Bring in experienced, educated professional psychologists to start looking at these options because most of us are not convinced guns are the reason.

And no presidential executive solution can stop this, not by this president or any other. No, we need people who understand the complex deviations of the mind to become involved.

If it is concluded that psychology plays a major role, much bigger than “guns,” then we can begin looking at real solutions.

Is this irrational behavior is caused because of guns? Not a chance. There is something else that comes before the gun and I suggest that mental health will prove to be a major reason.


Stan said...

In Switzerland, gun ownership is mandatory. There are 2 million guns with the population of 6 million people. The number of gun deaths is so low, they don't keep statistics. It's not about the guns.

Anonymous said...

The US accounts for approximately 40% of civilian firearm ownership in the world. Since it's regularly claimed that guns cause crime, one would then expect the US to have 40% of the worlds firearm homicides or deaths. In fact, we are under 40%.

Anonymous said...

Why does anyone legitimately need an assault weapon? They don't. Any weapon that can fire multiple rounds in quick succession should be banned. That's the first step and it should be done immediately, by executive order if necessary. Second step is to prosecute any gun seller who does not strictly comply with the laws as they now exist. Third step, review the laws as they now exist.

Geniusofdespair said...

We are apparently getting NRA Trolls. Don't bother trolls we are onto you.

Anonymous said...

Not that I disagree with your position but question because I am curious. Is everyone who disagrees with your viewpoint a troll? Second question: What is the total population of those other countries versus USA? USA is an extremely large country as say compared to Great Britain. Really just curious.

Chauncey said...

Gun control laws helped the Nazis suppress political dissidents and round up German Jews for extermination. If the population of Eastern Europe were as well armed as the average American, the Nazis would have lost much of their military capacity attempting to implement the Holocaust.

k said...

MYTH: If we ban all guns, nobody would have them
FACT: Great idea! Let's make heroin & cocaine illegal too, then there won't be any drug problem. You CAN'T get rid of guns. Period. They are here to stay, folks. You make all the laws you want, there are always going to be guns, and they are ALWAYS going to find their way into the hands of criminals. This is an inarguable, indisputable FACT, like it or not.

MYTH: The 2nd amendment said "Militia". Last time I checked, you weren't in a militia
FACT: If you own a gun and you commit yourself to defending yourself and your neighbors from all enemies, foreign & domestic, you just became the militia.

MYTH: Guns have only one purpose: To kill
FACT: Cars have the purpose of transportation, yet they manage to kill ten times as many people as guns do. If your kid was hit by a car and killed, are you going to feel better knowing that killing wasn't the cars PRIMARY purpose? But yes, the purpose of a gun is to kill. That's why we own & carry them. Because we just might need to kill the son of a bitch that's trying to kill YOU, or ME, or our neighbors, or worse, our children. Deal with it.

MYTH: People don't need Assault Weapons or Automatic Rifles.
FACT: The entire purpose of the 2nd amendment is to give us a way to combat our government if the need ever arises. Sorry, that means automatic weapons and assault rifles. By the way, the most recent school shooting utilized handguns. The "Assault rifle" was semi-automatic, and he left it in the car.

MYTH: Guns cause violence
FACT: Which is why you hear about so many killings at gun ranges, and why you hear about school shootings in towns like Kennesaw, GA, or places in Texas where teachers are allowed to be armed.

MYTH: An armed adult wouldn't have stopped this shooter
FACT: Really? Then how come you never hear about them storming police stations or gun stores or shooting ranges or gun shows?

MYTH: We need tougher gun laws.
FACT: Connecticut has some of the worst, most stringent gun control laws in the country. Funny how the areas with less gun control have less violence.

Anonymous said...

And that is what someone who cannot respond to a coherent logical argument resorts to.

Sometimes the least common denominator is not the answer. unfortunately some Humans are complicated creatures that are capable of incomprehensible, disgusting, immoral and horrible things. tools by which these atrocitiest are carried out will always be available to those who are determined get them. Whether the tool is a weapon or a keyboard having the resources and mechanisms to identify those who would use these things to carry out their actions should be of concern too.

Anonymous said...

The numbers are skewed because there is no population comparison. The US is still way ahead, but a percentage would have made more sense to the mathematician in me. Number exaggeration does not help the cause.

Anonymous said...

"Stan said: In Switzerland, gun ownership is mandatory. There are 2 million guns with the population of 6 million people. The number of gun deaths is so low, they don't keep statistics."
Correction to Stan: There are 8 Million people and most guns are the military issue automatic riffles taken home for the duration of a active duty military service cycle lasting from about 20 to 50 Years old. lately there where calls to deposit said riffles in military barracks between service stints, because, yeas, increased miss use of said riffles by the mostly urban apartment dwellers.
Non military gun ownership is especially widespread among antique lovers.
Young man and woman from age 16 can participate in the training and gun safety at municipal shooting ranges. I don't know about today, but 50 Years ago these 16 Year old could take the training carabine home sans ammunition.
Every body was made to understand the fact that a gun had to be handled responsibly, was not a toy, or else serious consequences.
Hunting riffles not so prevalent since hunting was a past time of mostly nobility or well to do, often on they're own land.

Anonymous said...

We need to act now and not wait for the next one. How many persons need to die before we actually do something about asault weapons? It doesn't get worse than killing precious innocent children

Anonymous said...

The NRA lobbyists and/or gun manufacturers are all over this site.

Anonymous said...

I am a regular reader and love that I can get information that is not skewed or altered in anyway. By showing this poster that is so inaccurate, you are taking the path of the people that you attack so often on this site. As I sent to you before, which you did not print, you need to compare populations when talking about deaths. On top of that, this poster is about handguns. If you start to include deaths from rifles, these figures go much higher.
Please, please stop using inaccurate numbers to prove your point. Please don't use statistic that you have not checked. This site hasn't done it before. stop doing it now. There are better ways to fight this fight than outright manipulation of statistics.

Anonymous said...

Dear NRA troll(s):

You say, "USA is an extremely large country as say compared to Great Britain," implying the number of handgun deaths in the US will only be proportionately higher based on the population . You're full of shit and I'll tell you why. Look at the per capita death rate by handguns for GB versus the US for whatever year these figures represent. In GB the rate is 0.13 deaths by handgun per million persons. In the US it's 34.17 per million. That means the US handgun death rate is approximately 263 times the GB rate. I think it's safe to say that difference would be a statistically significant one. More lunatics per capita in the US versus GB? Doubtful. Lax gun laws in the US versus GB? Demonstrably so. What, then, should be the conclusion?

Anonymous said...

http://csgv2.blogspot.com/2011/03/truth-about-guns-in-switzerland.html