Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: One map that puts America's gun violence epidemic in perspective [View all]thucythucy
(8,048 posts)I wouldn't know. Are pot smokers insisting on "open carry"--i.e. public consumption with the public forced to watch--in churches, hospitals, schools, Target stores. etc.? That's news to me.
It's a rather bizarre analogy, though, in that any lethality connected to marijuana (drive by SHOOTINGS, etc.) has to do with the substance being illegal, and thus inflated in value and open to exploitation by the underworld. As opposed to guns, which in and of themselves directly cause tens of thousands of deaths a year (including drug and gang related deaths). Along those lines, if you want a strained (or not so strained) analogy, every American who relies on cheap petroleum for income or entertainment is saying, "Your dead environment doesn't trump my riding mower/jet-ski/4 x 4." It seems none of us are guiltless.
As for comparing countries, didn't you start out by blaming the high incidence of gun deaths in the US, as opposed to Canada, on our "social problems?" So how it is this caveat doesn't work for countries with incredibly high rates of grinding poverty, dysfunctional law enforcement, corrupt criminal justice systems, etc.? It seems like you're saying, if a country is developed, has stricter gun controls, and a lower gun death and injury rate, it's not the gun controls at work, but the "lack" of "social problems." But if a country that has less guns, but enormous social problems, has a high incidence of violence, the fault isn't those self-same "social problems"--it's the lack of guns. Funny how that works.
And is the violent crime rate dropping in other developed countries as well, countries that don't fetishize firearms? I honestly don't know, but it would be worth checking. What's the violent crime rate doing in Japan--rising, or falling? How about France, Holland, Australia?
The point seems to be that the US has a far higher rate of gun deaths than any other developed nation in the world. The causes are no doubt varied and complex, but the fact that our society is awash in guns, so much so that most anyone can get one or more, legally or not, must also be a factor here.
But I know you don't believe that. Ah well, someday the tide will turn. Just as young people seem less bigoted about gay rights and marriage equality, from what I've seen they're also less besotted with firearms. Time will tell.