Alas, we pivot to politics today, because the latest school massacre in Texas requires our sober attention.
My Thoughts On The American Problem Of Mass Gun Shootings
At the outset, I will note that I try to steer clear of controversial political topics because they are bound to upset many readers – it is not good for business. Even so, sometimes I feel called to use my platform to articulate what is weighing my heart, and today I do that concerning guns in America.
Mass gun shootings are so common in the United States of America that they no longer cause surprise. In a land of immense wealth and opportunity, we have become accustomed to breaking news alerts on our phones about the latest mass killing. This week, 19 school children and two adults were gunned down in Texas. Last week, black Americans were viciously targeted in a grocery store attack in Buffalo, NY, with 10 losing their lives. Land of the free, home of the gunned down…
Our Practical Problem
The way I see it, the problem is on two levels. First, there is the practical issue of access to guns. What makes the USA different than other western nations or flourishing democracies? Everyone should acknowledge that a big contributing factor is access to guns–the statistics are clear.
Consider in Japan that citizens can bear arms, but there are restrictions including:
- attending an all-day safety class
- passing a written test
- achieving at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test
- passing a mental-health evaluation
- passing a background check
- this includes not only a criminal record check, but an interview of friends, family, and neighbors
- classes and exams must be retaken every three years
- new magazines can only be purchased by turning in old ones
The result? Despite a nation of 127 million souls, Japan rarely see more than 10 gun deaths per year. Mass gun shootings are practically unheard of.
Consider also Australia. In 1995 there was a horrific mass shooting in Tasmania, killing 35 and injuring 23. Australia’s gun laws were fairly similar to the USA at that point. But Australia banned many weapons and introduced a mandatory buyback program (those who held illegal weapons were not prosecuted for turning them in). That program resulted in the Australian government buying back 640,000 guns.
This has virtually eliminated mass shootings (there have been three, two with illegal weapons). Furthermore, suicides and domestic violence incidents have also plummeted, with areas that had more guns returned showing a correspondingly larger decrease in such deaths. Even with a consistent rate of suicide attempts and domestic violence, such incidents are far less likely to end in death because there are less guns within easy reach.
I point that out not to suggest that Japan or even Australia is model for the USA, but to note that the correlation between gun control and gun deaths are statistically significant.
Compare that to the USA, where I was offered an unlicensed weapon in the parking lot of a gun show when I was 22 years old (I attended the show for a research paper I was writing…it’s all too common, though). It is laughably easy to buy a gun in this country.
There is a middle way; a starting point. Pew polling demonstrates a majority of Americans support:
- background checks (81%)
- assault-weapons ban (63%)
- high-capacity ammunition magazines ban (64%)
There’s a huge difference between gun ownership and unbridled gun ownership which make mass gun shootings far more likely.
The problem is not public support, but the Senate filibuster which allows a minority to block majoritarian priorities. The Senate was designed to be a deliberative body, but it is a tough stretch to say that the Framers’ intended the current filibuster rules to allow broad consensus to be thwarted by a minority of states in a body that already gives immense additional power to smaller states by giving every state two Senators. Fundamental rights should not be put up for a vote, but defining the limits of such ambiguous rights is perfectly appropriate in a representative republic.
Our Moral Problem
But gun reform alone is not enough. Nor is access to mental health services or even a more careful monitoring of social media postings, though all would help the problem. Second, there is a deeper moral problem that transcends any gun laws. This is harder to articulate. It gets to the heart of the “give me liberty or give me death” American spirit. I believe we must acknowledge that our culture glorifies violence in a unique way that leads to more mass shootings. In our culturally Christian nation, many killers have twisted and perverted that faith to justify murder. And pragmatically, Pandora’s Box has been opened. Even with reasonable gun reform, there are still so many guns out there that we cannot even approach a European or Canadian model if we wanted to. It’s also not so far-fetched to believe that if guns were restricted, the depraved human heart would find other devices of mass extermination. Even so, our answer must not be to give up all hope.
While we start with a more dangerous system, we can address this problem via the principal of subsidiarity. It starts at home. It starts with being involved in the lives of our children, especially the young men who seem most prone to attack. Laws restricting or confiscating guns may not be realistically plausible, but certainly we can choose whether to have arms in our own homes. And from a very early age we can discuss with our boys about the value and dignity of all human life created in the image of God and worthy of protection.
In my house, I have chosen not to have guns. While I may risk being unable to respond to an intruder, I have peace of mind knowing that my inquisitive children cannot find a cache of guns and accidentally discharge one. I weigh my risks and have chosen accordingly. And from a very early age I have been speaking to my son about guns, not to scare him, but to help him recognize that these devices have the power to kill and as such, should never been seen as a toy or a trivial device.
Revisiting Second Amendment Jurisprudence
That may be the ultimate solution, but that doesn’t mean common-sense, broadly-backed gun reform should be off the table. Consensus-based reforms should start at the state level and I hope at some future point the U.S. Supreme Court will re-examine its Second Amendment jurisprudence.
In law school, I studied under Carl T. Bogus, a preeminent U.S. Second Amendment scholar. He reasons that James Madison drafted the Second Amendment to assure his constituents in Virginia (and the South generally) that the federal government could not disarm the state militia, on which the South relied for slave control. As such, I think Justice Stevens made the stronger argument than Justice Scalia in the District of Columbia v. Heller decision, which held the Second Amendment protects the individual right to bear arms, unconnected with service in a state militia.
History is made not so often slowly over time, but in brief windows of progress. After the Civil War, the “Radical Republicans” pushed through three constitutional amendments and set the groundwork for equal opportunity in a short Reconstruction period that ended with the Hayes-Tilden Compromise in 1876. Imperialism and a pair of World Wars united the country again, but to the exclusion of many minorities, who would not see even the hope of equal opportunity until a series of legislative and judicial moves in the 1960s which again marked a brief window of progress.
I hope for a day in which even recalcitrant gun advocates recognize that the loss of life in this country is simply unacceptable and a bandaid approach of gun reform may not be the ultimate solution, but will ultimately lead to fewer incidents. It’s a compromise. We are a nation of compromises.
CONCLUSION
Persistence, determination, and the right timing can lead to monumental reforms and reduce mass gun shootings. I pray that happens here and think that a number of reforms will help lessen the risk for more mass killings. But I recognize that gun reform alone will not solve the problem: people of goodwill must realize that we all are all responsible for those entrusted to us and we must be ever-more vigilant about those in our circle of influence. That will require work, but that work will save lives and lead to human flourishing.
Welp…..Obama says our thoughts should be elsewhere. Think about that.
Grow up.
It appears, from your stupid comment, that you don’t have children.
God help them if you do.
This country is a festering mess of greed and corruption and you seem to be perfectly okay with that.
Shame on you.
It has nothing to do with having children idiot. It has to do with his tweet yesterday. Are you sure your name really isn’t Karen?…..because you remind me of a Karen.
Lol
If most of us had to choose who racist between the 2 of you, most people wouldn’t be choosing Liz…
Definitely need more laws banning guns. I mean, there’s no gun violence in Chicago, NYCity or anywhere in Mexico, right?
Sort of hard for Chicago to limit gun deaths when people can drive right over the border to Indiana where there are virtually no restrictions, buy guns, and then drive back. Same with NY and PA. Matthew this is a moving post and I have to wonder how the first three comments in response immediately jump to frothing at the mouth over Obama, Democrats, and NYC & Chicago. Compromise definitely needs to happen, I think most people are tired of being held captive by a small minority of extremists who refuse to budge one inch when clearly the entire country is begging them to stop posturing and contribute to solving this problem through reasonable, meaningful gun law reform.
Dan, I was referring to his tweet yesterday. I’m embarrassed to say that I too voted for him…..twice
The point is, there are GUN LAWS in Chicago. They obviously aren’t doing any good. So if you think having the same gun laws in Indiana would put a stop to all the gun violence in Chicago, you’re either not too bright or you’re very dishonest and/or naive. Either way, if you seriously think making more laws to make gun violence illegal, you’re not adding anything substantive to the issue.
It won’t stop all gun deaths, it’s an unrealistic goal. But yes, making it more difficult to get guns in all states will definitely help reduce the number of people killed by guns each year.
How about Mexico, Dan? Guns are basically illegal there – and you can get 5 years for having one. Yet those who gun down scores of victims every day somehow have no issue obtaining them.
Blaming guns is as absurd as blaming Ford for building the SUV that a black racist used to mow down 60 innocent people at a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last November. Though I literally saw headlines saying “SUV mows down dozens at parade”. If you don’t remember that slaughter, I don’t blame you; it wasn’t “white supremacy” nor were “guns” the issue – it was a black guy who abhorred white people. So the media has ghosted that story. My point is that the USA has too many mentally ill people, not helped by a pandemic of drug use. Which fosters mental illness, broken families and a toxic culture. Japan doesn’t have that, for example.
Actually, there are plenty of articles about that incident in Wisconsin. The man had issues and should be rightfully locked up (this guy ran over the mother of his own child after punching her in the face). So no, the media didn’t “ghost” the story.
Also, how many people are mowed down each year by SUV’s versus how many are mowed down shooting? You attempt to deflect and divert the conversation is a good one, I will give you that.
RAISE BAIL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL GUNS….DOUBLE THE BAIL FOR ASSAULT RIFLES!! (Really meana ArmaLite)
Drugs are banned. The war on drugs has existed for 60 years. I guess drugs are unavailable in the U.S. It’s not like criminals won’t follow laws.
Marijuana usage has gone up in states where it has been legalized compared to before legalization. Banning drugs doesn’t prevent all drug use, but it clearly cuts down drug usage significantly. Stricter gun control and background check laws wouldn’t end gun violence in this country, but it would go a long way towards saving a lot of lives that would be lost to guns whether violently or through suicide.
If you remove the five most dangerous cities in the USA (you know which ones – all Democrat run, crime infested cesspools) then the USA has the third lowest per capita murder rate in the world. We have a CRIME problem and a mental health crisis. Don’t blame inanimate objects. the triggers don’t pull themselves. Do you think the number of murders in Chicago this weekend will exceed the Texas tragedy? probably. And the Chicago killings happen every weekend.
This claim has been floating around the internet for nearly a decade, and it has been proven to be abjectly false.
It’s crazy how much misinformation is paraded around by the right. Every other country in the world has their fair share of mentally ill people and yet, virtually no gun deaths or mass shootings. I wonder what the difference is…hmm…
Actually, it’s been proven to be 100% correct—FYI
Link?
There’s no link other than the one to PolitiFact that classifies it as “pants on fire”
@KJ & rjb – Prove it.
“No Way to Prevent This”, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.
That’s funny….
But unfortunately, the Republicans have successfully romanticized guns (not to mention war) and continue to push the ridiculous and sick idea that the answer to violence like we witnessed this week (as well as last week) is more violence. Even today at the gun convention in Texas, Trump, Cruz & Abbott continued to push the false narrative that the only way to fight mental health violence is with ‘good’ violence. Google it if you don’t believe me.
These politicians, as well as the people who support them are cowards. As is anyone who believes that they need a weapon of war to either ‘hunt’ or ‘protect themselves’. The fallacy of these cowards and the bs that they have been pushing and supporting was proven this week as the we learn more about really happened Tuesday in Texas. All those guns with all those officers and none of them had the balls to enter the classroom and protect dozens of children. Not one…. there was no plan….no ideas….just guns and cowardice and how’d that work out for Texas?
Just read the comments posted here…..people trying to change the narrative to an Obama Tweet…..or attack inner cities….anything but addressing the issue at hand. That’s all Republican and their sick supporters know how to do is ‘pivot’. No ideas….no leadership….just a bunch of whining and spinning. Good job guys……
Of the 10 states with the highest murder rates, 8 have Republican governors.
The top five states for mortality death bases on per capita based from the CDC are:
MS (29 per 100K residents), LA (28 per 100K residents) , WY (25.9 per 100K residents), MO (23.9 per 100K residents), and AL (23.6 per 100K residents). As an FYI, CA is 41 out of 50 with 8.5 deaths per every 100K residents). It is all in the way you spin the numbers. The state with the highest number of deaths by guns is Texas – 4,164, followed by CA 3,449, FL 3,041, and GA 1,897. The statistics are from 2020.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
Let’s understand the root cause. It is us, all of us -the electorate and body politic. This became unrecoverable when in 2016 the electorate and the body politic made the choice that Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are the best we can come up with to lead this nation, along with their fellow like-minded politicians we chose. It is a direct proxy and reflection for what we as American citizens have become. Whether it is guns, mass-killings, climate, the wealth-gap, etc. – we will forever struggle by virtue of these choices.
We are a people that resisted mask mandates, restrictions and closures and let a million people die from coronavirus in the process. As a nation we chose liberty over life and treated it as dichotomy. How do we expect anything different with gun policies?
For those same people fighting abortion rights in the name of prolife to be against any measure to reduce gun violence in the name of liberty, it’s the ultimate hypocrisy. All of sudden life doesn’t matter any more?
Very well articulated. As you point out – we need to look in the mirror and think.
If people were at high risk of dying from COVID, they should have gotten vaccinated and remained isolated.
You don’t have to rely on other people to stay safe. How is being pro=life the ultimate hypocrisy for people pursing liberty? You don’t seem to understand the central idea of the pro-life argument which is that the fetus is human life which ought to be respected and be allowed to naturally develop. There’s nothing more fundamental to liberty than the right to be alive/ to be born.
Al, I understand why the hypocrisy of the pro-life supporters is a hard concept for you to get.
We all know what you believe in Al. It’s obvious.
You are pro-life, because children’ should not be un-naturally deprived of life.
You strongly support gun control laws, because children should not be un-naturally deprived of life
You strongly support funding for public mental health services, for the same reason
You strongly support government provided health care for poor children, because children should not be un-naturally deprived of life
You vote for higher taxes to pay for children’s health programs, and prenatal care programs because children should not be un-naturally deprived of life
You strongly advocate for the humane treatment of children brought to the US illegally, because ALL children should be treated equally
You strongly believe that when the life of another human is at stake, the government should be able to force people to do certain things with their bodies: like wear a mask, or receive a vaccination, or carry a pregnancy resulting from rape to term.
Not all of the pro-life supporters are like you, Al. I know, it’s surprising to hear this, but of all the things I just listed above, a lot of pro-life supporters only support being pro-life.
As a country we must Accept and embrace mass shootings as just another minor inconvenience.
Mass shootings are as American as apple pie and baseball.
It will NEVER change.
I accept your premise, but I do not accept that it has to accelerate and get exponentially worse. You apparently think that having this cultural certitude migrate into more and more grade schools as just part of the new normal. Is this the new America you now accept and normalize?
I think its time we call in Kamala Harris and have her look for the root cause.
I agree with much of the article. Popular checks/restrictions should be enacted, but the same time, these types of reforms are unlikely to dramatically decrease these mass shootings because these issues go far beyond guns to the sick and evil individuals who use them. And with all the moral and spiritual shambles our society is in, I can only predict that these kinds of shootings will become more frequent. You cite Japan as a nation of radially different gun control laws, but it also has a radically different, homogenous culture which likely has a far stronger influence in limiting violence in society.
I hate when those pesky guns go and shoot ppl all by themselves!
Madison had many reasons for how he authored the Constitution – none of which were necessarily Bogus. Why should I trust the opinion of your lawyer, when history tell us only one lawyer was ever called honest and a Democrat sympathizer murdered that lawyer in cold blood?
In law school, I studied under Carl T. Bogus, a preeminent U.S. Second Amendment scholar. He reasons that James Madison drafted the Second Amendment to assure his constituents in Virginia (and the South generally) that the federal government could not disarm the state militia, on which the South relied for slave control.
In the 18th century a militia meant ‘the adult male citizenry’ (and without male, that’s still a legal definition though not the commonplace use of the term). And ‘well-regulated’ meant ‘well-functioning’. So the preamble to the amendment said since it’s important for adult citizens to have guns, the government couldn’t stop this.
This is certainly something we can revisit but it’s a canard to say the document itself didn’t intend to protect an individual right to firearm ownership. And the notion that this was driven by the South to ensure its state militias could enforce slavery has very very little scholarly basis, with apologies to your professor.
It’s a completely different question what restrictions that do not substantially burden ownership are permissible, as well as which specific weapons must be allowed.
I am not a gun owner and have no particular brief for guns. I would love to see a discussion of what rea world policy options there are that would make a meaningful difference in preventing school shootings, in a country that already has ~ 400 million guns. But within the confines of our constitution as it is, Heller was rightly decided.
With respect, I think you are far too quick to dismiss Justice Steven’s dissent, which argues not against an individual right to bear arms (which is clear) but reasons (logically) about the scope of that right.
With respect, I think you are far too quick to run with the lefty talking points about needing to “do something” and to appear as if you care so much more about little children’s lives than those evil conservatives. Get over yourself. We have laws against murder. They still happen. We have evil, sick people in the world who won’t be stopped by ANY law. What exactly do you mean by “do something”? Be specific. Take away everyone’s guns? That pretty much guarantees the bad guys will create exponentially more death and mayhem. Stop the knee-jerk politics of “evil right” and “caring left”. That only serves to divide and create more ill will in our already fractionized culture. Be better.
Did you read what I wrote in my story? I pointed to three things we can at least try – let’s see if it makes a difference. It will hardly infringe on the right to bear arms. Maybe it won’t make a difference, but worth a try.
I found this piece today quite thought provoking:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/26/conservative-scapegoat-mass-shootings-culture/
What are your thoughts on it?
It can’t be that we are so much more vile (or so much more religious) than other nations. I don’t think it is so controversial to conclude that some common-sense restrictions make sense and can withhold constitutional scrutiny.
The talk of banning “assault weapons” is rooted in utter ignorance of the reality of gun violence in the US. Deaths by rifles number fewer than 500 a year. Automatic weapons are already restricted and the vast majority of deaths involve handguns. Far more children die annually from drowning than from school shootings. Why don’t we ban swimming pools? Swimming is for rich white folx anyway. What do you think will be accomplished by banning “assault weapons?” How many Ruby Ridges and Wacos would you like to see? As for majoritarian rule, if the majority of the citizenry supported slavery, would that justify enacting as the law of the land? More important than being armed for self-defense against other citizens is the ability to defend ourselves from the state.
Right, we should do nothing. You probably have no loved ones so no risk of anyone you care about being gunned down. Simple for you, not so simple for people with kids that don’t want them gunned down at school
This is simply incorrect. Why is it that for over two centuries was it widely understood by courts, Congress, and constitutional scholars that the 2nd Amendment did not guarantee an individual right to gun ownership. It was only in 2008 when Scalia and the other conservative activist judges overturned centuries of 2nd amendment jurisprudence in Heller that a court said there was a mostly inviolable right to gun ownership and really only since the 1960’s, when the NRA radicalized did anyone even attempt to make the argument that the 2nd amendment did so.
That senator was correct in saying that “only in America that this happens”. Other countries actually do something about it. I’ve said this before that the US has completely lost its morals. Biden said it well that US has no backbone and has not had any for quite some time. People in the US don’t care and this is evident during the pandemic in which you see selfish, self-centered white America refusing to wear masks. Anyways I digress, regarding the gun situation, there will be no solution to this and gun violence will increasingly get worse and worse. Good luck America. I hope I don’t get shot.
George Floyd held a pregnant woman at gunpoint while the police officer may have gone too far why not blame the black salesperson who narced hime him out for a 20 dollar bill . Now blm scam artists made millions and live I’m the whitest neighbourhoods possible.As if the blm sign will protect you and the angel of death will move on .
Thanks for bringing in your low key racism into this discussion.
As someone who does not own a gun, as someone who has no interest in owning a gun and as someone who would never be able to use one, I am not some pro-gun conservative, but I have always understood laws regarding weapons to keep the honest people honest.
Not that it should matter, but I am a center left voter, campaigned and voted for Joe Biden and generally prefer Democrat principles to Republican ones.
IMHO it would just drive guns to the black market, increasing their costs and ensuring that while John Q Public follows all the rules, a bad actor goes and buys an illegal weapon and goes on a shooting spree.
There is no good answer here, be it gun control or not, there has got to be a reason why mass shootings are thing in the USA and not the rest of the world.
I am a gun owner. I hold a decent number of conservative views.
I believe that there is an incredible amount that can be done in terms of gun laws to make these events less likely, yet we do nothing. I will support any candidate who stands up to the gun lobby.
It might not stop the number of mass shooting but it could decrease them. Think about that.
The mass shootings of black folx by other black folx is the real crisis in the US. No one wants to live in fear that their children might fall victim to some crazed shooter, but we are fine with young black folx dying in our blue cities. Chicago averaged more than two homicides a day last year and had 3,561 shooting incidents. Why doesn’t Lori Lightfoot care about black people? If we’d only have stricter gun laws, these black shooters wouldn’t be able to enact white supremacy on each other.
It’s sadly ironic. The time and effort spent on debating the need to protect a child’s life while in utero, while living children don’t get to live. Surely both needn’t be mutually exclusive ?
Guns don’t kill people. Ranting, misanthropic, #^(&ing @$$holes who should not have uncontrolled access to guns kill people.
Very well said, Matt. However, I have little faith that any meaningful change will come. The division occurring in our nation seems to only be worsening, even within the two major political parties. @Interested Traveler also brings up a good point, something we’re already seeing happening with marijuana in California where, as I’m sure you know, legal, regulated dispensaries are struggling thanks to the black market. That’s not to say that something shouldn’t be done, but we need to be able to have very thorough, constructive discussions. And that doesn’t appear to be possible in the current political climate.
There’s another difference. In Japan, they control their temper better. All the background checks in the world do not screen for a hot temper.
I believe there are 2 reasonable interpretations to the 2nd Amendment.
1. No restrictions at all. Anthrax, machine guns, anything allowed. This isn’t followed in the U.S.
2. The right to bear arms is only if connected with a well regulated militia. It doesn’t have to be a state militia. It could be a county militia. I don’t think a militia consisting of one person’s house qualifies. This isn’t followed in the U.S.
Matthew, you’ve gone off the deep end. Banning a means of self defense only keeps guns in the hands of rapists and violent criminals and cops and out of the hands of regular civilians. It doesn’t stop deaths. The U.K. Is an island where gun control is more possible and murder rates are the same as they were in 1966. You seem to support state sanctioned violence against gun owners and citizens who want a means to defend themselves because that’s what gun control is: state sanctioned violence by police and agents of the government. I thought you opposed violence?
Government deciding who can and can’t have guns (a means of self defense and defense against government tyranny) is exactly the attack on freedom that warrants a pushback through any and all means. The government deciding who can’t have guns has an obvious result; they’ll always ban those who support actual freedom. The government asking for subjective opinions of neighbors is ludicrous. Democracy does not mean what you think it means. Democracy means 51% enslaving 49% in a system not consented to. If we want to discuss this through a Christian lens, look at what Jesus said when he commanded his disciplines to “sell their cloaks and buy a sword” for self defense against false arrest by Roman soldiers; Jesus Christ the son of God commanded a right of self defense not just against common criminals but agents of government tyranny.
What differentiates the U.S. from a lot of Western countries is a demographic that commits 60% of the violent crime and murders despite being 13% of the population. What differentiates the U.S. is a bunch of different groups forced together in schools who share no culture, customs, language, ideology, religion, disposition, and physical facial structure. The concept of schools in the modern era needs to be rethought.
The revenue you earn from this post is not worth being forever publicly outed as someone who opposes the fundamental right to self defense which is only possible through gun ownership. Any state sanctioned violence on gun owners will always be to curtail freedom and not further it. You made a bad choice in this post and it can’t be undone.
“What differentiates the U.S. is a bunch of different groups forced together in schools who share no culture, customs, language, ideology, religion, disposition, and physical facial structure. The concept of schools in the modern era needs to be rethought”
This is such a disgusting statement that is incredibly anti-American. We are a country founded on immigration and mixing of cultures. Yes, a lot of white supremacists would like to change that, but they are wrong. I have a strong feeling you share a lot of beliefs with the Buffalo mass shooter.
It’s a disgusting anti American statement to say our kids should be victims of social engineering that denies the natural order of mankind. Forcing kids together in a box 7 hours a day 5 days a week isn’t healthy when a bunch of different cultures, religions, ideologies, and races all prevent cohesion. The American school system is not healthy. A lot of these shootings are a product of that. School can be a very unhappy place.
Kids don’t care about those differences. Only inbred hicks like you do
What’s hard for me to understand in all of this is how you come to like air travel enough to read a blog about air travel.
When you’re not thinking about things like racial purity and prepping for race wars, do you also enjoy things like air travel, airport lounges, and loyalty programs?
It seems like air travel would be inherently against your belief system. Flying through the air in a metal tube can’t be part of the natural order of mankind, can it? I hate to tell you this, but when you finally manage to make it onto an airplane, you’re going to find out that for the most part the airlines let anyone who pays for a ticket fly on a plane– it’ll be a bunch of different religions, races, facial structure, pronouns, and who knows what else all mixed into one confined space for a period of time.
Well, I’m rambling on here, let’s get you back to what you do best– hating just about everything that exists in the world.
He usually wins the award for “Most Asinine Post of the Day”. Today is no different.
Not too surprising that a racist white supremacist would misinterpret the words of Jesus. He was talking about fulfilling a prophecy and, by the way, concluded by saying that “two swords would be enough.” Jesus (the Prince of Peace) told his followers to turn the other cheek and that the meek would inherit the earth. You’re ignorant as well as hateful.
I think you fail to see Jesus was being sarcastic when he said turn the other cheek and do nothing as someone hits you.
Great sermon on this, Jackson:
I thought you said no more links in the comments, Matthew.
Yada yada yada. Just have the balls to say you approve of kids being killed. Don’t they have a right to live? Stupid russkie troll.
My two cents to control gun violence and stimulate economic activity –
1. Have two fully armed Private Security Contractors in every Public School. States should pay for this by taxing the Gun/Ammo Sales.
2. Mandate Private Marketplace Liability Insurance for Gun Owners. Just like every car owner needs car insurance with rates dependent on how responsible the driver is; likewise every gun owner needs to maintain Insurance. The Private Marketplace will determine rates dependent on how responsible the gun owner is and what his mental state is. This Insurance Provide will be liable to pay significant compensation to victims of gun violence.
No direct government involvement in either of these – Only Private Security Contractors and Private Insurance – and fully paid by taxes and insurance.
Every white Republican male i don’t know says that he would never talk about gun control if all his kids were shot to pieces. So, all you mentally ill people, please be a little picky next time, so we do not unnecessarily politicize this gun control issue.
Something that needs to be said is ALL CONSERVATIVES support gun control for non conservatives. Non conservatives should not own or be allowed to own any means of self defense, including guns. It’s something people on the right and the left can agree on. Conservatives only should be advocating for their self interest and benefit. Non conservatives having guns is unhelpful to freedom and the conservative cause. Our issue is not cops arresting non conservatives for gun control as long as they know they can’t arrest conservatives for any reason whatsoever. Conservatives support democracy for non conservatives where government forces on them what 51% want. As long as Conservatives have freedom, it’s not a problem.
Thank you for attempting to generate productive dialogue. I have reposted your link on social media for my many friends across the political spectrum who share a unified zeal for addressing the massacre of innocence. Worldwide we are the leading country in guns per capita by a wide margin (source: Wikipedia’s Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country) with the Falkland Islands being a distant second and nearly 4X the number in most other developed countries. We have learned over the years how to decrease cigarette consumption (and resultant lung cancer deaths). Perhaps we can learn from that how to decrease gun deaths.
Have you seen the social media accounts of that lunatic? How come the liberal platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.. can block anything people write that is not in accordance to their political view but cannot flag a mentality disturbed maniac that had all red flags possible way before he acted?
Yes, gun laws need to be revised for sure but nobody is paying attention to the most alarming pandemic this country has ever had: mental health illness!!
As a professional school counselor for many years, I agree with you that mental illness is part of a very complex problem; I entered the field with the goal of preventing exactly this kind of nightmare scenario. The schools have their hands tied as a result of a law sponsored by Sen Orrin Hatch in 1978. Public schools are prohibited from asking a student, without written parental permission, anything regarding (a) mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and the student’s family; (b) anything regarding Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; (c) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships; and numerous other categories. You can look it up under 20 U.S. Code § 1232h – Protection of pupil rights. The Uvalde shooter revealed his intentions, as I understand it, through social media via a PRIVATE message to a friend in Europe. The greater point is that there are mentally ill people in all countries but the U.S. is the leader by far in mass shootings, so early identification AND restricted access to those deemed mentally ill might be progress. Some states are having success with red flag laws that allow a family member to turn in for evaluation by the police a family member who is exhibiting strange behavior.
Great self reflection. Now go seek help for your mental issues
Ah yes, the “mental health” canard. That may be part of the issue, but if we made it harder for people to access deadly firearms, especially for those who display disturbing mental health symptoms, those mentally I’ll people wouldn’t be able to obtain weapons that make their attacks exponentially more deadly than if they didn’t have a gun.
Also, if it’s so important, why aren’t Republicans/pro-gun people doing anything to make it easier for people to access mental health treatment? They only seem to want to make it harder for people to get insurance or Medicaid, or to require that those services cover comprehensive mental health services. If pro gun people really were acting in good faith they would be pushing for greater access to mental healthcare and also pushing for wildly popular, common-sense gun control laws that would make it harder for mentally I’ll people to obtain guns in the first place, even if it made it slightly more difficult for non-dangerous people to obtain guns as well. They don’t care about human life, they only care about selling more guns and making it as easy as possible to get them.
Well written article, thank you Matthew. To all the people arguing that it isn’t uncontrolled gun access, explain how gun control works in every other Western democracy?
And unless you are a deranged criminal, what are you afraid of? No one wants to take your guns away. We have drivers licenses, car insurance and registration but we can’t regulate guns. Mind blowing.
That’s a lie. The left want to take away guns from all people who support freedom and would actually fight for it. The left considers anyone who supports free speech a terrorist. The left considers anyone who uses traditional pronouns a terrorist. Gun control does one thing: keeps guns in the hands of criminals (who won’t follow gun laws) and cops and out of the hands of normal citizens who will be defenseless against dangerous criminals and government tyranny. The war on drugs has done nothing to stop drug access. Gun control does nothing to stop Tyrone in Chicago from having a gun but persecutes the normal citizens who want to keep their families safe and have a means to do it.
Drivers Licenses do nothing to stop tens of millions of horrible drivers on the road. It’s very dangerous to give the government power over who has a means to defend themselves and who doesn’t. Politicians have security details armed with guns. Normal Citizens ought to have the same.
Now do Darrell Brooks
I don’t know what to say. I guess the earth is flat, right?
You’re a stupid [redacted]
New York State has a ‘assault weapons’ ban, yet the Buffalo shooter had an AR15
The kid in Texas was a walking red flag – this kid’s parents, teachers, friends and the cops all knew he had ‘problems’ – chronic truancy, self harm, broken home, a terrible mother, first-person shooter video games (this never gets talked about enough), not to mention being a confused queer trans-wannabe
You voted for Biden? His sorry ass has been around almost 2 years now – and he’s accomplished nothing – you wanna blame someone – blame him and the democrats he rolls with
I’m out. This blog ceased being about travel.
Wow. I guess you missed the other three stories today on the blog. Or the disclaimer at the start of this particular post. What a shame you don’t even want to think about this issue. I guess it’s okay that large groups of school children are murdered every few years?
No thanks. No laws, no restrictions. I’ll keep my ARs and pistols and “high capacity magazines”. I’ll continue to be able to buy them in 20 minutes or less, and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do to stop me.
And that makes me feel very satisfied.
Good for you, Matthew. This was bold. And I appreciate that you use the term “Gun Reform.” The use of “Gun Control” as terminology is antiquated and at the root of the problem, whereby right wing gun advocates can use those two words to promote the talking points of “control and freedom.” No one wants to “come for your guns.” What we want are sensible ownership laws, background checks, proper age restrictions, continuing education on gun ownership, and the question of whether automatic weapons designed for war, and specifically to kill as many people possible in the shortest time, are really necessary in the hands of everyday people.
Even further to this now are the reports and videos coming out that while this 18 year old was actively shooting, local police, instead of going in to attempt to save children, were instead outside the school yelling and aggressively holding back parents who, naturally, in the face of nothing happening by law enforcement, were trying to rush in to save their own children. So to make it all the more heart wrenching and disgusting, a “boy” could have a gun and walk right in a school and start shooting while the police who properly have weapons for community protection stood outside and did nothing. We have reached a complete breakdown in our society in America and it is disgusting.
All the while Republicans spend the majority of their time enacting laws on abortion and attempting to end Roe vs Wade at a time that our nation has so many far deeper and pressing issues. Apparently they believe that saving children in the womb is the only time to protect a child. Once born, “You are on your own now, kid.”
The abortion rate for black birthing persons is five times that of white birthing persons. Why do you hate black folx, Stuart? Why does the state subsidize the breakup of black families? Why does it want to have young black men grow up without fathers? Who is the one making black boys be on their own? Thank LBJ and the War on Poverty.
As you can see from the comments there is no such thing as “Common Sense”, it’s not “common”. I’m very familiar with Uvalde and my heart breaks for them. Photos of that horrible criminal make my blood boil however… he just used a powerful tool to kill people. Those guns did not kill anyone on their own. He was violent, guns are violent on their own. Guns with black stocks or flashlights attached don’t make them any more deadly or “assaulting”. It’s all just spin.
I can appreciate your reverence for Carl Bogus. Many of us are influenced for better or worse by educators in our lives but his attempt to tie slave ownership to the 2nd amendment is not accurate. It’s just a thesis from someone that is against second amendment rights. It would be like saying that the first amendment was only created to allow slave owners in the south the ability to argue in public forums in favor of owning slaves. It’s just playing the race card to prop up a debate point and I can’t believe we have to waste our time defending a constitutional right. I would take up my guns and fight to the death in our streets for his right to say those things but it doesn’t make it accurate. Polls shouldn’t influence our rights. The same Pew folks you quote also have polls that show 48% of Americans are in favor of restricting online speech and 40% favor changes to the first amendment.
As far as restrictions on gun ownership, I think we already have plenty of laws on that topic. Criminals will get guns regardless of laws. Would it slow down criminals or make it harder? Sure, maybe. Should we regulate 3D printers? One of the latest gun control attempts to circumvent our rights is the new “Ghost” gun law in Illinois. No one can possess an unserialized gun or they will be charged with a class A misdemeanor on the first offense with up to a year in jail and it as a felon on additional charges. Sounds like “common” sense however the vast majority of people in Illinois who own and possess so-called “Ghost” guns hadn’t been criminals until this was signed into law. When the governor signed that bill into law it instantly made tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens in Illinois into criminals. It put them on the other side of the law in an already strict gun law state where it requires a person to undergo a background check to obtain a FOID card to even purchase BB guns. The new Illinois law was mostly a political stunt in an election year to make things even worse, much like Mr. Beto’s circus stunt in Texas. Using the blood of our children to push his wavering political view on gun ownership.
Our second amendment rights aren’t in place to protect hunting rifles or to protect persons who want to own a weapon for self-defense. They are in place to protect us from an oppressive government and for the defense of our country as well as our unique rights (Freedom). It is the point of the constitution.
This isn’t Japan. People like to hold up their “model” of gun ownership. Basically, their law says that “no one is allowed to possess a gun or sword”. They have extremely strict controls over who can own a shotgun or air rifle. There is no path to handgun ownership and they revoked rifle ownership in 1971 except for those that already had a permit to own a rifle. Their heirs have to turn them into the police. Those same police officers don’t have any restrictions on unreasonable searches or seizures. We are fortunate that our fourth amendment protects us from such activity. The stats on murder by firearm in Japan are not much different than those same stats in Switzerland which has very liberal gun ownership laws. It hasn’t even had a major impact on gun suicides either. Those are different cultures. People choose to be criminals. You would think that we would have learned from Switzerland where those rights helped secure that country through various wars or even from Ukraine where citizens had to pick up arms to defend their country.
Let us not allow criminals to dictate our constitutional rights. Let’s not allow politicians to dictate what our rights are.
What does a school shooting have to do with Aviation? Nothing….no you have to jump on and give people uour 2 cents… How about this..we protect our schools like we protect AIRPORTS or politicians
I’m for that too! Sounds like this school in Texas did not have its act together at all.
The protection and security theater that our airports and politicians have isn’t good enough for our schools. As someone who works as a risk consultant with schools, most have weak security. It only takes one person to let someone in and it’s over. Liberal districts want to arm teachers with tasers so they can bring a taser to a gunfight but will restrict the right of qualified teachers to have guns at school. Local laws make schools “gun-free” zones so they become soft targets and then won’t allow “run, hide fight drills”. We can do better but it has little to do with political gun control.
My goodness isn’t this a travel blog??? You’re free to have your political views, but we don’t come to this blog to read about them.
I like your perspectives, Matthew. Overall, I think humans are horrible at risk assessment. The USA trails many advanced nations in mass shooting frequency and death. Because we are bad at assessment and analytics, we don’t perceive that. We may even believe it to be false. As noted on the Foundation of Economic Education:
“Yet in a nation of 320 million, people die senselessly with jarring frequency. About 10 people drown every single day. Ten times that many die daily in motor vehicle accidents. As science writer Neil deGrasse Tyson pointed out, we lose 500 people to medical errors and 300 people to flu every 48 hours.
“Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data,” he tweeted.
We should strive to better understand why people are increasingly seeking to unleash mass violence, but even as we do so we must keep mass shootings in perspective. In reality, the odds of dying in a mass shooting are extremely low, not much higher than being killed by a random blast of lightning, which claims about 44 American lives annually.”
If we were to aggregate how many people have been slaughtered due to purely bad ideas, the number would dwarf anything else. For example:
Great Leap Forward: socialism
Khmer Rouge: socialism
Shining Path: socialism
North Korea: socialism
Third Reich: socialism
Venezuela: socialism
Sri Lanka: socialism
Idi Amin: socialism
Stalin: socialism
Cuba: socialism
But that is all rather beside the point.
Americans exist in a nation of failed families. A nation which sacrifices the unborn for convenience. It’s a nation of shattered homes, and of nuclear families ripped asunder, where they even existed in the first place. A nation where commitment and lifelong together-goals are scorned and derided as superstitious relics of a bygone era.
It’s a nation where children are raised without loving, male and female role models, with people making do as best they can, or else substituting the unnatural in its place: a demiqueer throuple here, a male “mom” there. A nation where children watch their parents move from failed relationship and abuse to failed relationship and abuse, calming their existential angst with the chemical neutering of the mind and soul. A nation where they’re taught of their sexual value at an early age, being little more than meat to feed the depraved maws around them.
A nation where they are robbed through inflation and poor stewardship of fiscal resources. A nation where they will put in taxes that they know will never come back to benefit them, as that house of cards is set to collapse. A nation where they’re told they have to go into lifelong monetary slavery to get a degree which doesn’t pay, or else they’ll be considered redneck trash; ignorant fools fit to be mocked as innumerate and illiterate.
A nation which rejects anything supernatural. A nation which tells children, “There is nothing beyond cause and effect. There is no free will—that is a mere illusion. You are a biological machine, and the realm of the spiritual is a belief held only by those little more intelligent than molluscs. You, child, are no more responsible for the state of your mind than you are for the state of your height. You, human, are merely the outcome of random chance, destined for the same oblivion from whence you came.”
“You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”
—Dr. Francis Crick, Human Genome Project
“Free will is an illusion. Our wills are simply not of our own making…We do not have the freedom we think we have.”
—Dr. Sam Harris, “Free Will”
Children are raised in a nation where their leaders are known perverts and liars, and yet they watch as the adults around them scream and let spittle fly to vote for the liar on their side. A nation where they have seemingly only one choice: be used and molested, and choose the one who will be most gentle when doing it.
They are raised in a nation that embraces a horror peculiar to modern man, declaring, “Because man is nothing when he dies, he is nothing when he lives.” A nation which says that the only purpose in life is whatever you happen to make of it, and it’s a shame that Hitler did it so effectively. A nation where the underlying reality, though the populace dares not speak it, is that there is no point to any of this. Not the murder of children, not the joy of childbirth, not anything. It is all pointless indifference and molecules fizzing in an uncaring world, destined to be forgotten in the heat death of the universe. A nation which does not actually dare believe that one can even intend to do something, because that would be to say that there is a spirit inside you. No, there is no intentionality, no free will, no good, no evil. There is merely what happens, so with any luck, you get the pleasure you can until chance extinguishes your mind.
It is a nation of nihilism. One of abject horror. One led by monsters, and suffused with evil, anguish, suffering, and malice. One where school shooters had no choice in the matter, as there is no spirit; no freedom of action or thought. The rapist is as innocent as the hero is noble: neither had agency of action. Indeed, your anger or your inspiration means nothing, being the unavoidable outcome of a grand math equation set off by the physics involved in the Big Bang. None of it matters.
And so I see the two options spread out horribly before me:
“Man: his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave…only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”
-Bertrand Russel
or
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do every good work, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
-Apostle Paul
In a world of broken families, strewn about as so much dry tinder, ready to be set ablaze by the spark of despair, I know which one I embrace for my family.
May God be with us all.
Absolutely nothing will change. the NRA is too strong and a source of financing for the Republican Party and the brainless MAGA people.
Next week we will not remember Texas, because nothing better than a new mass murder to make another mass murder forget.
I can appreciate your point of view, but, I feel there is 1 thing in common with 99.9% of these mass shooting cases; see something say something.
Your personal experience at 22 years, did you say something or turn it in to the appropriate authorities in real time?
In each of these mass shooting, incidents you initially hear from family members/friends, “He/she was so nice. This isn’t like him/her at all. He/she was liked by everyone etc.” Then you later find out they really weren’t the person portrayed by family/friends. Then you come to find out the same people making these claims weren’t so honest.
In the Uvalde case didn’t his family mention early on how he good he was, no issues? Then after he was looked into he had troubles? So much so that his mum sent him to live with his grands? Co-workers and fellow classmates speak out after the fact that he was a troubled individual? He made a choice to live as if rules don’t apply to himself, flaunting the law. How so? He didn’t have a driver license, yet, had access to a vehicle and guaging how comfortable he was it wasn’t the first time. Where were the parents?
Yes, it comes down to the culture created and allowed by parents, accepted by society. I say this as a parent that refused to allow my son to have any sort of video games. Yes I know quite boring, but, his freinds did and they sit behind the tele playing games that harbor violence. This in turn desensitizes children and the parents fail to take charge in their rightful roles. I’m certain many will disagree and that’s your prerogative, you do you. It’s the parents responsibility to train, discipline, and love your children. Train them to be morally upright which merely means knowing good from bad and why the best course is always the good course. Discipline with a view toward consistency and by your own example to be productive members of the society you’ll be sending them into. Love them, letting them know that you’ll be there for them in any and all cases, but, you know that they’re not always the innocent lil person you expect. Let them know that you’ll be there to help them work through the rough patches of this thing called life. Stop making excuses for them.
No, it doesn’t take a village as many say today. Yes, it takes parents being parents to their kids, not viewing them as paychecks.
Great piece Matt. Also I agree with your law professor and Justice Stevens about Heller. If I had one comment it would be that Japan is probably not the best comparison. A more apt comparison would be Australia, which is far more similar culturally, politically, and demographically to the US.
In 1995 there was a horrific mass shooting in Tasmania where 35 were killed and 23 others were injured. Australia’s gun laws were pretty similar to the US at that point (although ours have gotten more extremely pro-gun since Heller). Despite that Australia managed to ban certain of the most deadly types of guns like self loading rifles and shotguns and instituted a wildly successful mandatory buyback program (including not prosecuting those returning illegal guns, but also not compensating those people) in which 640,000 guns were bought back by the Australian government. As a result there have been only there “mass shootings” (two of those had only four victims) since the buyback program was initiated and most were commuted with illegally obtained guns. Even more notably, suicides and domestic violence incidents resulting in have also plummeted, with areas that had more guns returned showing a correspondingly larger decrease in such deaths. This isn’t because Australia has a smaller rate of suicide attempts or domestic violence incidents as the US, it’s due to the fact that suicide attempts and domestic violence are far more likely to end in death when guns are involved and guns are more likely to be involved when people have easier access to guns.
People are still allowed to own guns in Australia, and people in the more rural areas and hunters are still allowed to own guns that are effective for protection and hunting. It’s just that now not as many people do. And yes it’s true that guns don’t kill people and people kill people, but it’s just as true that the Uvalde killer probably wouldn’t have been able to murder 19 children and others as easily if he didn’t have access to such a deadly gun (at the very least the police might not have waited an hour or more to engage out of fear for their safety). The same goes for suicides since those who use a gun to commit suicide are far more likely to die than those who try other methods like cutting or pills or asphyxiation. The takeaway from the Australia situation is that the actions taken by the government there to make it harder to own guns saved countless lives. Furthermore, nothing Australia did would violate the Second Amendment if we went back to the way it was nearly universally interpreted in the US for over TWO CENTURIES before the activist conservative majority in Heller decided to essentially rewrite the Constitution. We don’t have to accept this culture of death just because a minority of the population’s obsession with unfettered access to deadly weapons wants us to.
Very insightful. Thanks for your comment.
Australia demonstrating that it is willing to return to its former status as a prison state is why a populace should be armed. The people need to be able to defend themselves against the state.
Matthew, the filibuster has changed over time. Readers can read about it here; https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture/overview.htm
The filibuster currently doesn’t apply to everything (budget reconciliation, voting on executive appointees, judges (including supreme court judges now).
To be clarify on one point, the people that voted for the state conventions which voted to approve the constitution absolutely understand that each state would have 2 Senate Seats and this would balance out power to states with larger populations. This was the core discussion between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. This isn’t a bug, this is a feature of the republic.
Indeed (I have minor in U.S. history) – and unlike some, I love that about our system. But the filibuster in its current form strikes me as a rather draconian check on majoritarianism, and I’m not sure that is helpful.
The filibuster has gotten less strict over time. From the link above:
“In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds of senators voting to three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn, or 60 of the current 100 senators. Today, filibusters remain a part of Senate practice, although only on legislation. The Senate adopted new precedents in the 2010s to allow a simple majority to end debate on nominations.”
It does give the US the added advantage of not changing significant federal policies every time there is a swing in power. The political theory is that it is supposed to limit federal power and give more power to the states (whether that happens or not in the current administrative state which has seen the federal government increase in power since the Wilson administration is another question….) However, it’s supposed to build consensus. Both parties often don’t want incremental change or view small wins as as giving the other party a win. However, the way to change that is for people to vote for more candidates that want to get to consensus. There is an election in November where candidates can run on a platform for incremental change to get to consensus. Mitt Romney and Joe Manchin are two senators that run on this platform, so it isn’t totally out of the question.
“At the outset, I will note that I try to steer clear of controversial political topics because they are bound to upset many readers” – and here lies the problem. We’re a nation of children unable to deal with even the thought of something we might not like. Most adults can not think logically and let their emotions drive their lives. I was born in the UK but have been an American for over 20 years. The one thing I have never, ever understood is this obsession with guns and some vague passage in a constitution written by some dudes over 200 years ago in a very different world. Just like anything else, it needs to be modernized to keep up with the world as it changes. This isn’t going to be some wall of text about how some political fig leaf measure like background checks. You know what would have prevented this and most other mass shooting events? How about if the shooter wasn’t able to buy anything more than a single shot shotgun with bird shot or a target shooting pistol with tiny ammo. The civilized world does just fine without the unrestricted ability to buy guns. It’s time we grew a collective pair and confronted the loud minority that thinks the right to buy a military grade weapon is a religious duty because the other places that’s as important have names that usually end with “stan”. Sure, the politics are broken so we can’t pass anything but there’s nothing in the constitution than says people have a right to buy ammo. Just ban the sale of anything other than bird shot in the states that can get it done (representing >75% of the economy and a majority of the population) and dare anyone to do anything about it.
The AR-15s the left fears so much are NOT “military-grade.” They are NOT automatic. Get your facts straight. The US, unlike the UK, has a written constitution.
“Obama”, “democrats”, “republicans”, “amendment”, “guns don’t kill”, “state lines” etc etc
Those 19 kids, and many more before, won’t get a chance to grow up.
It seems to me that those who have had an opportunity to grow up need to do just that, grow up, stop the pathetic denial, blaming and finger pointing, accept that there is a problem and work together to address it.
“Gun’s don’t kill people; people kill people.”
just like
Cars don’t kill people – drivers do. Planes don’t kill people – people making mistakes do.
To operate potentially lethal machinery people need training; checks; tests; licences.
At the risk of sounding facetious, how about a “donate a gun to Ukraine” campaign? It would reduce the guns in circulation….
Well said Matthew. The success of other countries in drastically reducing gun related deaths after putting in reasonable restrictions in place is illustrative. The very large country I grew up in has not had a single gun massacre in 50-100 years. I believe it is due to reasonable limitations placed on the ownership of guns. I currently live in a red state in the US and have chosen not to own a gun for the same reason – anger/kids etc. can make for a dangerous situation.
Nobody comes here for your political opinions that everyone here is capable of having on their own. You bring nothing to the discussion and help nobody. Stick to what brought you the audience.
Respectfully disagree with your comment the USA is a “culturally Christian nation.” Most fruit we’re seeing, and not just in the area of mass-shootings, suggests the USA is a culturally Pagan nation. We are reaping, culturally, what has been sown over the past 40 years.
I mean mostly by self-identification.