Originally posted by lbus9168
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In the US, gun violence receives a disproportionate amount of media attention because it is part of a larger political agenda.
In the US it is also more difficult to "control" guns because it is a Constitutionally protected right, just like free speech. People can dislike it all they want, but the forefathers who drafted the Constitution were very intelligent in knowing that one side of the aisle was going to always go after the firearms first, which they have, since nearly the advent of the protected right. They were also observant enough to understand human nature and behavior and they were all VERY clear that their intent was to preserve liberty and not to create "safety" which is really just control anyway.
Now to the other facets of the issue.
1) We have more stabbing deaths in the US than we do gun deaths. Not only are they more prevalent, but they are often more violent due to the nature of having to stab someone vs shoot them.
That isn't to say anything about the other modes of death in the US which are all more prevalent. Blunt force trauma (baseball bats, rocks, furniture) accounts for a higher % of US murders than guns as well. In fact, if you remove suicides from the equation, guns fall to a pretty distant spot on the list. Interestingly, gun crimes are predominantly executed with hand guns and not the "assault rifles" that have become such a social controversy.
2) The majority of "gun crime" in the US is minority on minority gun crime.
3) The majority of gun convictions and crimes are conducted by people who aren't even legal allowed to own a gun. (Approximately 70% of gun deaths are related to a convicted felon, which in the US precludes you from legal gun ownership). How do gun laws prevent someone who already owns a gun illegally from owning a gun? They don't. Everybody knows it, which is why they don't talk about it.
Thinks Bloods vs Crips and other gang related violence.
4) These mass shootings are absolutely tragic. But until the conversation focuses more on mental health issues, accessibility to information about mental health problems and the accessibility of that information to agencies that can prevent gun sales to such individuals it isn't going to go anywhere. The left wants to unilaterally ban guns and punish/remove rights from over 100 million legal gun owners to stop .000001% of the population that really needs mental health screening to prevent these types of tragedies.
5) There is still denial in the US that "gun control" is going to eliminate the problem, even though in reality, it won't be eliminated because people intent on doing harm to large groups will simply use other means, as they did the in the Boston bombing and as you are increasingly seeing in Europe where gun laws are stricter. Subway bombs, station bombs, etc.
6) None of this acknowledges the fact that as the US has tightened gun laws in certain areas (California, Chicago, Washington DC) the gun crimes in those areas have actually RISEN. Why? Because criminals don't follow laws, and that INCLUDES gun laws.
So eliminate the guns right? Well, in reality, just like the gun trade, as soon as we remove access to firearms here, there is an instant demand for cartel imports. Just like with marijuana, methampetamines (which were imported increasingly by the cartels as we made access to pseudoephedrine harder) and now guns.
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