Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
Most of my friends and family are anti-gun. This is what I posted on FB today:
I'm going to lift my personal ban on FB political speech for a day with this statement: There is a difference between fighting gun culture and fighting gun violence, and until the American left stops using guns as a proxy in their culture wars, nothing will be done.
It seems that those on the left envision American gun culture as a small, isolated group of wingnuts. And they're baffled when this seemingly small group defeats their efforts repeatedly. They chalk this up to the 'power of the NRA', and move on to trying the same thing over and over again. But American gun culture is not small. Its as American as apple pie. You're not trying to remove a mole, you're cutting at the toughest sinews of American culture with a butter knife. Shouting 'ban guns' is like shouting 'ban the Ford Mustang'. And every time you do it, more money flows into the coffers of the pro-gun lobby. You are the perfect foil. You are the dragon that they use to rally their troops. The NRA doesn't hate the American left. They love you.
So as a thought experiment, what would you do if you knew that the existing background check system would never be expanded, and 'assault weapons' will never be banned? Is your answer, 'I'd throw my hands up in despair, take my marbles and go home'? I doubt it. Regardless of your viewpoint, I think everyone knows that gun violence can be reduced. And it can be reduced without onerous new laws and expansions of Federal power. But it requires getting beyond slogans, being able to have honest conversations about HIPPA, and the rights of both parties in domestic abuse situations, and race, and economic disparities. When we can be honest enough with ourselves as a people to recognize that gang members in south chicago killing one another is not the same problem as a schizophrenic 20 something shooting up a school, we will finally make progress.
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This is a really good start in the right direction, IMO.
Certainly here in Canada people are again pointing fingers at the entire USA and saying "ban guns, haven't you got the message yet?". I've long argued that gun control won't solve anything, whether it's here or there, because the people obeying the law aren't the problem. The problem is much, much worse than that, and much more ingrained, IMO.
You're right when you refer to it as a gun culture. I would take that a step further and argue that America is a violent culture - violence is in your DNA, and it has been throughout its history.
I get that mine is an outsider's viewpoint, which has it's pros and cons, and I don't mean to be disrespectful. But the US murder rate, incarceration rate, violent crime rate, etc. is the highest of all first-world countries - the rates are up there with such lovely places as Rwanda, Yemen and Niger. Until steps are taken to change the culture of violence in the US, these kinds of massacres will continue. True, it doesn't help that there are over 300 million firearms in circulation in the country - that makes getting ones hands on them WAY easier than would be the case here, but that's only a symptom of the problem, not the root.