I got some worthwhile insight from reading "Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings" by Jonathan Fast (Overlook Press, 2008). [Side notes: J. Fast is the son of a famous scribe, Howard Fast; & Jonathan was married for a time to best-selling novelist, Erica Jong.]
Thanks to Mark Follman who, for me, is the first glimmer of sanity that we can eventually move past the tragedies inherent in a society that owns some 300 - 400 million guns.
Seems to me that any opposition to red flag laws should send up red flags. Why would anyone want to make it easier for mass violence to occur? One solution, going forward, has to do with a different solution, rich in alcohol and often vitriol, and the atavistic hold it has on our recreational options. You see fights and hear gunshots in bars, but rarely in a coffeehouse. The problem may not need to be solved or resolved, if it simply dissolves into more laid-back lifestyles lacking any desire for such aggressive objets d'art as machines for killing. Triple down on making toxic masculinity uncool. Once upon a time every boy would have a yo-yo.
Guns do not pose any threat on their own. It's the humans that wield them who sometimes cause bad things to happen. We should focus on the people problem (mental health) and leave the guns alone.
In the 60’s, when public outcry for car safety made national news (Ralph Nader a leading spokesman and activist), car manufacturers responded: Cars do not pose any threat on their own. It’s the people that drive who sometimes cause bad things to happen. We should focus on the people and leave the cars alone: making safety belts mandatory, eliminating lead from gas, making engines more efficient, designing cars to be safer in collisions, may increase safety, but only at a prohibitive cost, and unfairly infringes on our consumer rights. Cynicon, your “freedom” argument for unregulated gun rights, fails to responsibly respect our rights to also live in a safe environment, much more free of gun violence than we are now. This most recent outcry for increased public safety is NOT a veiled attempt to take away your guns, but an attempt to understand and modify the social environment, so that mass shootings are prevented, and not just cleaned up and prayed about after they happen.
Here's what really bothers me about so many thinking and saying that every American has the right to own guns. The first four words of the second amendment are "A well-regulated militia...".Why are those words ignored? The founders apparently had something like the National Guard in mind. If they saw what was happening with guns in this country, they'd be rolling over in their graves.
I got some worthwhile insight from reading "Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings" by Jonathan Fast (Overlook Press, 2008). [Side notes: J. Fast is the son of a famous scribe, Howard Fast; & Jonathan was married for a time to best-selling novelist, Erica Jong.]
Thanks to Mark Follman who, for me, is the first glimmer of sanity that we can eventually move past the tragedies inherent in a society that owns some 300 - 400 million guns.
Seems to me that any opposition to red flag laws should send up red flags. Why would anyone want to make it easier for mass violence to occur? One solution, going forward, has to do with a different solution, rich in alcohol and often vitriol, and the atavistic hold it has on our recreational options. You see fights and hear gunshots in bars, but rarely in a coffeehouse. The problem may not need to be solved or resolved, if it simply dissolves into more laid-back lifestyles lacking any desire for such aggressive objets d'art as machines for killing. Triple down on making toxic masculinity uncool. Once upon a time every boy would have a yo-yo.
Guns do not pose any threat on their own. It's the humans that wield them who sometimes cause bad things to happen. We should focus on the people problem (mental health) and leave the guns alone.
In the 60’s, when public outcry for car safety made national news (Ralph Nader a leading spokesman and activist), car manufacturers responded: Cars do not pose any threat on their own. It’s the people that drive who sometimes cause bad things to happen. We should focus on the people and leave the cars alone: making safety belts mandatory, eliminating lead from gas, making engines more efficient, designing cars to be safer in collisions, may increase safety, but only at a prohibitive cost, and unfairly infringes on our consumer rights. Cynicon, your “freedom” argument for unregulated gun rights, fails to responsibly respect our rights to also live in a safe environment, much more free of gun violence than we are now. This most recent outcry for increased public safety is NOT a veiled attempt to take away your guns, but an attempt to understand and modify the social environment, so that mass shootings are prevented, and not just cleaned up and prayed about after they happen.
Here's what really bothers me about so many thinking and saying that every American has the right to own guns. The first four words of the second amendment are "A well-regulated militia...".Why are those words ignored? The founders apparently had something like the National Guard in mind. If they saw what was happening with guns in this country, they'd be rolling over in their graves.
A clear and helpful discussion