Also American society needs serious unfucking at all levels. Conservatives are bonkers but the “gun deaths are due to mental health issues” argument has merit; healthy and well-adjusted people don’t grab the closest murder weapon and kill random people. Guns are a scapegoat so that politicians can avoid addressing the real issues.
healthy and well-adjusted people don’t grab the closest murder weapon and kill random people
People are still fundamentally apes. People get angry, people get drunk or high, people are low on sleep. Well functioning societies realize that at times people are not healthy and well-adjusted and try to limit the damage that someone can do to themselves and others in those circumstances. The US isn’t the only country in the world where people have mental health crises, or have road rage, or get depressed. What makes the US unique is that it makes tools for murdering people widely available to anybody who wants them.
The US isn’t the only country in the world where people have mental health crises, or have road rage, or get depressed
Yes, but it’s one of the few first world countries who do almost nothing about it. Did you know mass shootings are on the rise in Europe too despite no relaxation of gun control laws? France is even talking about regulating knive sales due to knife-based crime. Not so coincidentally, this is happening in a time of social and economic uncertainty. Also, one reason I say it’s a mental health thing is that America has more knife-based violent crime than, say, Britain. This points to a deeper factor beyond gun laws leading to the amount of gun violence in America, because as it turns out violence in America is just insane across the board. All countries have people with mental health crises, but the absolute inadequacy of the response to those crises and the number of financial and social destabilizing factors making them more frequent and worse is uniquely American. I mean, with nonsense like tent cities being a common thing of course gun crime will be through the roof. This would explain why places like Norway, Austria and Serbia are near the bottom of homicide rating lists and the top of gun ownership lists at the same time.
Also American society needs serious unfucking at all levels. Conservatives are bonkers but the “gun deaths are due to mental health issues” argument has merit; healthy and well-adjusted people don’t grab the closest murder weapon and kill random people. Guns are a scapegoat so that politicians can avoid addressing the real issues.
I agree with you.
“Guns don’t kill people, people do,” is broadly true.
They sure make it easier though, which is why they shouldn’t be anywhere and everywhere.
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people…
… With guns.
People are still fundamentally apes. People get angry, people get drunk or high, people are low on sleep. Well functioning societies realize that at times people are not healthy and well-adjusted and try to limit the damage that someone can do to themselves and others in those circumstances. The US isn’t the only country in the world where people have mental health crises, or have road rage, or get depressed. What makes the US unique is that it makes tools for murdering people widely available to anybody who wants them.
Yes, but it’s one of the few first world countries who do almost nothing about it. Did you know mass shootings are on the rise in Europe too despite no relaxation of gun control laws? France is even talking about regulating knive sales due to knife-based crime. Not so coincidentally, this is happening in a time of social and economic uncertainty. Also, one reason I say it’s a mental health thing is that America has more knife-based violent crime than, say, Britain. This points to a deeper factor beyond gun laws leading to the amount of gun violence in America, because as it turns out violence in America is just insane across the board. All countries have people with mental health crises, but the absolute inadequacy of the response to those crises and the number of financial and social destabilizing factors making them more frequent and worse is uniquely American. I mean, with nonsense like tent cities being a common thing of course gun crime will be through the roof. This would explain why places like Norway, Austria and Serbia are near the bottom of homicide rating lists and the top of gun ownership lists at the same time.