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Blaming guns, the NRA, or the Easter Bunny for how messed up these kids are is an obtuse argument. This faulty logic is pumped out by people who want power and control, and to strip the 2nd Amendment down to nothing. Guns have absolutely nothing to do with the root causes of how messed up these kids are. Poor parenting, no personal responsibility, not being able to be told no, social media, poor role models at home and in pop culture, over-medication, etc. are the root causes.
It would be akin to blaming cars for DUIs. It is an asinine attempt to rationalize something, but a lot of mouth-breathers in society will believe that guns are the problem. Little do they know why the power structure at the top is demonizing guns in the first place. It isn't to make society "safer." These types of individuals want power and control.
I agree that it’s not all about guns and by focusing on guns we’re ignoring the root causes that lead to these school shooting.
I think there are a lot of factors at play which include parenting, pressure to succeed (both for the kids and the parents) as well as the pressure to fit into narrow social constructs (again, both kids and parents).
I can’t help but wonder if kids spending so much time together in large groups at school with their peers is healthy overall. From the time kids are born, many if not most, are spending 8 hours a day away from their parents and in groups of people who are their same age. They spend summers in camps or other organized activities. They look to their peers rather then adults for acceptance, guidance, etc. and I’m not sure that’s healthy or appropriate overall. I think it’s well past time to re-examine the systems that we have relied upon to educate our kids.
I also think it’s time for adults to re-evaluate what is important in life and see if they need to prioritize differently.
So many aspects of kids lives now seem "creepy" to me. The helicoptering, internet, weird political and media influences, psychotropic medications, school pressures. Kids are not really free to be kids anymore. They think they are because they can openly express themselves in weird ways and be praised for it, but they really aren't, and their angst and confusion can't always be contained and sometimes explodes into violence.
The more faux freedom they get the more unstable they seem to be.
Young people today are so spoiled they cannot handle it if they suddenly don't get their way. It is the "me" generation. Society teaches them that they never have to lose at anything.
Young people today are so spoiled they cannot handle it if they suddenly don't get their way. It is the "me" generation. Society teaches them that they never have to lose at anything.
They seem to have an insatiable need for positive attention and validation. They were taught this by adults and enabled by social media and "likes". It takes a strong family and community to overcome these influences and these are few and far between today.
Ask your FB friends when a vehicle was used to mow down innocent lives why no ban was placed on pick up trucks.
Tell your Feather Brained friends people kill not guns,trucks,bottles knives,rocks or words.
Or she could tell her friends that only featherbrained idiots compare a firearm with one distinct and specific design parameter; that of remotely inflicting harm upon a living entity to that of a vehicle with perhaps many designed intents...none of which is the taking of life or liberty.
Or she could tell her friends that only featherbrained idiots compare a firearm with one distinct and specific design parameter; that of remotely inflicting harm upon a living entity to that of a vehicle with perhaps many designed intents...none of which is the taking of life or liberty.
Guns are used for hunting, target shooting, and protection too.
I don’t get this argument. My FB friends said anyone who supports the NRA should unfriend her. I’m not a gun person but I don’t think that is the root cause. (And a lot of the anti gun rhetoric coming from the left is about control not always about gun violence). I feel a lot of it is about the degradation of society. Parenting, social media. In the 80’s and 90’s and before we didn’t have these issues and their were guns. Yes Columbine happened in 1999 but that wasn’t the norm like it seems to be now. If someone wants to cause terror they will find a way.
I come from a gun owning family. My father used to be an NRA member. He is sickened by the way they've frothed up the pro-gun lobby. Yes, social media & the 24 hour news cycle have us see things out of proportion, but there is a problem. A problem with guns. There are other problems, too, but there is a problem with guns. The NRA is as guilty of blowing things out of proportion, too. They are working hard to get their base riled up, and it is making the problem worse. When the NRA keeps touting guns as a solution to a problem (which they do), it makes any problem with guns worse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Retired
Ask your FB friends when a vehicle was used to mow down innocent lives why no ban was placed on pick up trucks.
Tell your Feather Brained friends people kill not guns,trucks,bottles knives,rocks or words.
A vehicle is not built with the intention that it will be used to kill. A gun is. The sole purpose of a gun is to do grave bodily harm. You may not USE it to do that, but that is the fundamental purpose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilot1
Mental illness is the ROOT CAUSE, not guns. How do you fix people being mentally ill? I don't know. They often tip us off for years, and nobody does anything significant to help them, treat them, or removing them from society at least for a while. We have a lack of mental health facilities in the U.S. I live in a very large metro area. Only ONE hospital has a psychiatric unit in the region of many, many hospitals, medical schools, and clinics.
Our energy should be going to addressing, and treating the mentally ill.
We can confront both mental illness and gun culture. It's not an either/or.
Quote:
Originally Posted by austinnerd
I posted this on the thread about the latest shooting but it does seem to fit the OP's question. This was in response to someone saying "access to guns is a major problem OBVIOUSLY".
Actually not so obviously. Pre 1968 one could purchase firearms with no background check or id. You could walk into a gas station general store and walk out minutes later with a firearm. You could order a firearm through the Sears catalog and have it shipped straight to your house. Access to guns is much more difficult now than it was back then but yet we didn't have these types of mass shootings to the extent we see today. So what has changed, certainly it's not availability. This is a key question because any attempt to address the issue of mass murders without ascertaining the root cause vs simply attempting to treat symptoms will only lead to a shifting of symptoms while core issues continue to grow and get worse.
It is obvious. Yes, mental illness is a problem that needs to be addressed. But unsecured guns are a real problem in this country. Not just school shootings, but unintentional shootings that happen everywhere. And saying that responsible gun owners are not the problem isn't helping. How do we make the irresponsible responsible? Well, things will have to tighten up. Is it fair? I don't care. If I have to get a license and prove my guns are locked OR have them at a secure location (mine are all for hunting, not defense), I'm fine with that. Funny thing is, I have a diagnosed mental illness, and I have for years. My guns are locked, ammunition locked separately. We're putting so much emphasis on mental illness, when the root cause is REALLY the culture around guns. Guns & killing are a "solution" in the minds of so many. Yes, someone intent on doing harm can find other ways--so we still try to deal with the mental health of our society. But access to guns is causing harm. A lot of harm, beyond the shooting of the week.
I don’t get this argument. My FB friends said anyone who supports the NRA should unfriend her. I’m not a gun person but I don’t think that is the root cause. (And a lot of the anti gun rhetoric coming from the left is about control not always about gun violence). I feel a lot of it is about the degradation of society. Parenting, social media. In the 80’s and 90’s and before we didn’t have these issues and their were guns. Yes Columbine happened in 1999 but that wasn’t the norm like it seems to be now. If someone wants to cause terror they will find a way.
Before politicians start thinking about creating more gun control laws, they need to start thinking about the changes that have taken place in schools and society in the last couple of decades. I graduate high school in 1975 and I grew up with guns around the house, and I'm sure other kids did, and we never had to worry about getting shot in school.
Again, it's not about guns but dangerous individuals, like the two in yesterday's shootings, who were not supposed to have weapons of any kind in the first place. Laws against murder have been in existence since the beginning of recorded history, long before guns were invented and I'm sure killings still occurred, we've read about mass killers/murderers from the ancient past. We need to remind those ignorant politicians of this before they come up with plans to ban guns.
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