US culture is not like other countries. I am just saying there may be a much deeper problem in US society because it is a cultural attitude held, and impressed, by the ruling body. — I like sushi
Obviously the ready availability guns eases mass murder — I like sushi
So put in steps to make mass murder harder, e.g strict gun regulations — Michael
The US is no more violent, has no more mental illnesses, and has no more crime than other developed countries. — Michael
Well … no. When it comes to homocides the US is WAY ahead. I have actually looked at the stats too you know ;)
True, around 80% of those are gun related … would all of those 80% have not found another means to commit murder though? It may well level out at around the same as some European countries. It well not be the case at all that taking guns out of the equation would reduce the homocide rate to something comparable to other western nations. — I like sushi
But the United States is not actually more prone to crime than other developed countries, according to a landmark 1999 study by Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins of the University of California, Berkeley.
Rather, they found, in data that has since been repeatedly confirmed, that American crime is simply more lethal. A New Yorker is just as likely to be robbed as a Londoner, for instance, but the New Yorker is 54 times more likely to be killed in the process.
They concluded that the discrepancy, like so many other anomalies of American violence, came down to guns.
I wish. Apart from the over abundance of guns in the US is the fact that those guns can last for many generations. It's not like your TV set wearing out and being replaced or your car collapsing and being replaced. Each new gun produced does not replace one that is trashed. But a nation that cannot refrain from indulging in war is unlikely to stifle the production of weapons for its citizens. — jgill
it is. — Moses
blaming it all on gun culture is not accurate. — Moses
he showed many red flags. — Moses
The US is no more violent, has no more mental illnesses, and has no more crime than other developed countries. And even excluding the US, the same pattern emerges; the more guns there are the more mass shootings there are. Which is fucking obvious. — Michael
This is a philosophy forum so it might be worth considering that the US has a different culture to other cultures around the world.
I am being rational. — I like sushi
It addresses all that. The US is no more violent, has no more mental illnesses, and has no more crime than other developed countries. And even excluding the US, the same pattern emerges; the more guns there are the more mass shootings there are. Which is fucking obvious. — Michael
Well … no. When it comes to homocides the US is WAY ahead. I have actually looked at the stats too you know ;)
True, around 80% of those are gun related — I like sushi
We can talk about how likely it is for a government to misbehave to where a large part of the citizenry is willing to take up arms against it, but if that were to happen the army isn't going to stop it. — Tzeentch
Are all of you just completely unaware of what an insurgency is and how it works?
We can talk about how likely it is for a government to misbehave to where a large part of the citizenry is willing to take up arms against it, but if that were to happen the army isn't going to stop it.
If the citizenry is unarmed? All you have is hopes and prayers that it never comes to that. An unshakable faith in the incorruptibleness of power structures - one that I do not share.
The power structures of the US and the EU, and probably of just about every other country in the world, are already corrupt. The only question is whether they'll turn violent. — Tzeentch
You bore me. — I like sushi
There's always been a high supply of guns in the US, gun ownership levels are consistent since at least the 1970s; the number of school shootings has increased drastically since the 2010s. Numbers have been very high in recent years. Peak levels. I suspect a mental health crises. — Moses
Just put a little bandaid over it and trust that your government won't do it again, eh? — Tzeentch
Are all of you just completely unaware of what an insurgency is and how it works? — Tzeentch
On one end we're being asked by Tzeentch to envision a vague government takeover that requires wide gun ownership to counter. Maybe if he repeats the phrase "armed peasants" in a mirror three times it will come true. On the other hand, we're also asked by @Moses to not use political imagination at all! Enforcement is too difficult, we cannot possible stop a determined mass shooter. So we're simultaneously being asked to use the fullest extent of our political imagination, i.e. a government takeover, in order to comprehend the necessity of gun ownership, as well as restrain our political imagination in order to accept the futility of gun control. — Maw
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