We\u0092ve had quite set of discussions about guns and gun control.
\nThere\u0092s been a lot of heated and often reasonable discussion around basic questions like: Is the U.S. less safe than Europe or Canada (and I\u0092ll stipulate that in aggregate it is) because of the prevalence of guns? (I doubt that guns are the causal factor)
\nI actually asked two of the more frequent posters to prepare some brief arguments to bring up to the blog to try and trigger some more discussion; and then I realized:
\nIt doesn\u0092t matter.
\nFirst, it doesn\u0092t matter<\/u> if the U.S. is less safe because of the prevalence of guns. Because the cold reality is that the guns are here and they aren\u0092t going away. Not even with a draconian ban, like those in the U.K. and Australia.
\nSecond, it doesn\u0092t matter<\/u> if guns are in fact the causal variable, because both sides have made up their minds, and neither will accept evidence that soesn’t support their pre-determined position.
\nThere is a very small \u0091swing\u0092 group that might care either way, but the reality is that we have two firmly entrenched interest groups here in the U.S. that have opinions that are at polar opposites.
\nPersonally, in an environment that wasn\u0092t so polarized, I\u0092d be a moderate. If I wasn\u0092t convinced by things I had read directly from the individuals driving the gun-control movement that their ultimate goal is gun prohibition, I\u0092d probably be pretty open to reasonable governmental controls on firearms. But I\u0092m a \u0091slippery slope\u0092 believer, and as a consequence often find myself on the side of people whose views are more absolutist than mine.
\nI could let the issue go, if it weren\u0092t for the fact that we have real issues of criminal violence here in the U.S., and that people\u0092s lives are torn apart by it every day, and that somehow controlling guns\u0085the mechanism\u0085has replaced looking at root causes. I attribute these to an underclass \u0096 white, black, and brown \u0096 that is culturally dysfunctional, and made more so by the lack of mobility, education, and effective community infrastructure; to an insane legal-correctional system; to our ineffective \u0091war on drugs\u0092; and even to elements in our national character which make \u0091backing down\u0092 difficult.
\nSo let\u0092s try a different approach. What measures, focusing for now on regulation on possession and sale of weapons and ammunition can all sides agree on?
\nAgreement is important. Both sides can’t agree, not only because their views of the world are radically different, but because each side is afraid of and has demonized the other. To the extent we can come up with some small steps in common, the possibility exists to build toward a more constructive discussion.
\nI\u0092ll open: Children and convicted felons shouldn\u0092t be able to buy guns. Children under 16 shouldn\u0092t be able to possess guns except in the company of an adult. Convicted Felons shouldn\u0092t be able to possess guns at all.
\nNext?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u0092ve had quite set of discussions about guns and gun control. There\u0092s been a lot of heated and often reasonable discussion around basic questions like: Is the U.S. less safe than Europe or Canada (and I\u0092ll stipulate that in aggregate it is) because of the prevalence of guns? (I doubt that guns are the causal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}