Guns are not the problem. a CULTURE OF VIOLENCE is the problem.

[Odin2005]

We Minnesotans and North Dakotans love our guns, but our rates of violent crime are as low as Western Europe. Why? Because we do not have a culture of violence. The most violent places in the country are:

1. Poor inner city communities infested by gangs.

2. Areas of the Deep South in which a violent "honor culture" inherited from Planter aristocrats and Scots-Irish ruffians runs deep.

Outside of those areas the rates of violent crime are much lower.

[Motown_Johnny]

1. but guns help perpetuate the culture of violence

and saying "Outside of those areas the rates of violent crime are much lower" is like asking "Besides that, how did you like the movie?".

[derby378]

2. That's like saying blogs help perpetuate obscenity

Sure, a few of us let occasionally loose with four-letter words that will offend someone's parents, but nobody seriously wants to restrict blogs on a wholesale basis.

Besides, gun-related crime continues to drop in Dallas, which is a large metropolitan area with at least one million residents. This despite our legendary high volume of gun shows, CCW permit holders, etc.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. Well, blogs do help perpetuate obscenity

and of course nobody wants to restrict blogs on a wholesale basis (other than China and some like minded governments).

The damage done by a loose four letter word isn't the same as the damage done by a loose 9mm bullet. Arguing that they should be treated in the same way makes no sense at all.


We can continue the false equivalencies with substances that cause cancer. Right now your computer monitor is giving off radiation that could contribute to you developing cancer. Plutonium also increased your chances of developing cancer. If we follow your line of thought then we should not restrict plutonium because we do not restrict computer monitors.



P.S.

Of course you can cherry pick information that supports your view. One city out of thousands... whoop.. dee... do...!!!

[Odin2005]

7. The same can be said about ANYTHING that can be used as a weapon.

It's not like such violent honor culture crap suddenly appeared when guns were invented.

[Speck Tater]

3. One thing I know for sure...

Gun advocate: "Guns are not the problem. It's the culture of violence."

Movie and video game developers: "Cultural of violence is not the problem. It's a failure of our mental health services to locate and help crazy psychopaths."

Mental health professionals: "It's not the fault of the mental health system. It's those crazy right-wing hate mongers on the radio."

Radio executives: "It's not talk radio. It's the liberals who coddle these people and turn them into psychopaths."

Liberals: "It's the guns, stupid."

Gun advocate: "Guns are not the problem..."

One thing I know for sure, no matter who I am or what I stand for. It's not MY fault. The problem is something that somebody ELSE is responsible for.

[ananda]

13. Well..

Take all six arguments and you have six different divisive points of view.
That is our societal problem... divisiveness that gets us nowhere.

[Speck Tater]

14. That's somebody else's fault too.

[HopeHoops]

4. Agreed.

[frazzled]

5. Oh bull

This mass murderer did not come from a culture of violence; he came from middle-class San Diego and a relatively elite educational background.

When did you ever see a mass murderer from a poor, inner-city community? There's lots of gun mayhem in the neighborhoods, but the gangs are killing each other and, so sadly, innocent children who happen to be in the path of their gang wars. But they don't go into public theaters and mow down people.

If there's any culture of violence, it's our movie, television, and music industries. But those alone are not the answer: without guns, it's all just a delusion.

[joeybee12]

6. Agreed, and if you look at per capita rates of violence...this idealized area

the poster comes from has just as much...guns are the problem, perhaps not the only problem, but they are the problem and it's delusional to think otherwise.

[Odin2005]

11. And here come the moralizers whining about violent shows and games.

Tipper Gore called, she wants he 90s Culture Wars back.

[frazzled]

12. I'd rather be a moralizer than a racist

The OP's argument was, at its basis, racist, and on its face, untrue. The OP wants to blame black people in the ghetto for incidents such as the one that occurred yesterday. That ain't flyin'.

[Odin2005]

16. Southern rednecks are also part of a culture of violence.

The Scots-Irish brought their feuding mentality with them, and most Scots-Irish settled in Appalachia, the Ohio Valley, and the Inland South.

Oh, and I am the OP.

[oldhippie]

8. It's the video games, I tell ya .......

Everyone that has ever written or played a violent video game should be committed to an institution for several days of testing and observation to determine if they should be allowed to own weapons, work around kids, socialize with other people, or even vote.

[Edweird]

9. So you've noticed a link between despair/desperation and violence?

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. Minneapolis has a murder rate 2x the national average.

9.6 per 100K, data from 2010. Outside the Twin Cities a lot of the state is rural and Minnesota as a whole has a population density of 67 per square mile. North Dakota has a population of 10 per square mile.

The most violent places in the country are either a) densely populated or b) socioeconomically deprived; most of ND and MN are neither. QED.

[meow2u3]

17. It's the culture of violence aggravated by the easy availability of guns that's the problem

Guns are just weapons for sport shooting, hunting, and self-defense in otherwise non-violent persons and cultures.

2. Areas of the Deep South in which a violent "honor culture" inherited from Planter aristocrats and Scots-Irish ruffians runs deep.

That's funny you mentioned this. Deep South "conservatives" (read: authoritarian, theocratic fascists) are the first to rail against another violent "honor culture": Middle Eastern culture. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

[Odin2005]

18. That's because they are projecting.