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The elephant in the room nobody, least of all the mainstream media, want to acknowledge or add it to the public discussion, least it detract from their popular "America's love affair with violence & guns/ban guns" narrative-
For those of us who came of age in the 1970s, one of the most shocking aspects of the last three decades was the rise of mass public shootings: people who went into public places and murdered complete strangers. Such crimes had taken place before but their rarity meant that they were shocking.
Something changed in the 1980s: these senseless mass murders started to happen with increasing frequency. Why did these crimes go from extraordinarily rare to commonplace?
For a while, it was fashionable to blame gun availability for this dramatic increase. But guns did not become more available before or during this change. Instead, federal law and many state laws became more restrictive on purchase and possession of firearms, sometimes in response to such crimes. If gun availability does not explain the increase of mass public murders, what else might?
At least half of these mass murderers (as well as many other murderers) have histories of mental illness.
In the 1960s, the United States embarked on an innovative approach to caring for its mentally ill: deinstitutionalization. The intentions were quite humane: move patients from long-term commitment in state mental hospitals into community-based mental health treatment.
This has been my point of a multitude of these threads. Yet, they seem to really just want to ignore it or act like it's not a problem. I disagree. I think this is the primary problem with these mass shootings.
But if you admit to wanting to keep guns out of the hands of crazy people, you have to admit that you actually favor gun control after all.
And then you're on the NRA **** list.
I don't have a problem keeping guns out of crazy people's hands. I think those who want absolutely no control at all aren't sensible. But some of these threads have been dominated by the 'bad them all' crowds or those that want to make restrictions that quite frankly wouldn't help. So, I'm all for intelligent conversation but it must include more than just gun banning.
But if you admit to wanting to keep guns out of the hands of crazy people, you have to admit that you actually favor gun control after all.
And then you're on the NRA **** list.
I don't have a problem with gun control, per se. For instance, I don't think any citizen needs to be armed with grenade launchers.
I do however have a problem with the US government taking our right to bear arms away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ringo1
Where does the OP get the idea that it is being ignored?
The NYT dismisses any discussion on mental illness and violence, they say it's "offensive" and "misguided". They are an international publication so their misguided attempts to downplay mental health is irresponsible.
No ~ I've heard it discussed over and over with the various talking heads on various shows.
Where does the OP get the idea that it is being ignored?
It IS being discussed ~ along with other ideas ~ about how to keep our society safe.
Then it needs to make it down to some of the people here on C-D because I literally had more than a handful tell me that mental illness was NOT the issue, only the guns. Oh and why is the only legislation out there on a gun ban and does not include anything about what to do about keeping the guns out of crazy people's hands?
But if you admit to wanting to keep guns out of the hands of crazy people, you have to admit that you actually favor gun control after all.
And then you're on the NRA **** list.
Only if the "gun control" law is very intelligently written and only serves to keep guns out of the hands of crazy unstable people, and not the sane law-abiding ones. Any "compromise" that involves disarming everyone is akin to the U.S. becoming the next North Korea where despotic rule reigns supreme.
Governments should always be feared more than a couple of crazies with access to guns. History proves this again and again. This is because the worst genocides and crimes against humanity have all come at the hands of GOVERNMENTS after their people have been completely disarmed and unable to defend themselves. Big Pharma even kills many more people willingly than all serial killers and mass shooters combined, and where is the big emotional outpouring for justice there?
This is my plea to the American people to stop letting the corporate-controlled mainstream media influence your decision process. The over-emotional coverage of this massacre and virtual non-coverage of the crimes committed by large corporations is once again a deafening silence showing whose side the lame stream media really is on.
How do most of these unstable people get guns?
They steal them.
How do you get legal owners to take responsibility for their guns?
You hold them accountable.
Make gun owners legally liable for their guns, that were not properly secured, that are used in a crime.
Properly secured is NOT under the bed, on the fridge, in the car, in the closet, under a couch cushion, hanging over the fireplace, leaning against the wall, in the back window of your truck.
Properly secured is in a safe, or physically on your person.
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