05-24-2018, 11:48 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2018, 11:49 AM by Eric the Green.)
(05-24-2018, 07:17 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:(05-23-2018, 05:13 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: What encourages spree shooters, is the easy availability of more dangerous guns. No, the stats are clear. America has the most guns, and the most violence using guns, regardless of race. The easy availability of guns in white neighborhoods and red states, arms the gangs in black and blue ones. No, it's the NRA and complicit politicians who lead to gun violence. Any use of a gun outside of the army or law enforcement is "gun abuse." We don't have a mental health problem that is any worse than other countries. We have a gun problem that is worse than other countries. I hope the Parkland students prevail; they are our future leaders. The wind is at our back on this issue now. We will move and run over the incrementalists and the gun advocates, and keep moving until Dr. King's granddaughter's dream is fulfilled, a society free of guns! Someday it will happen! I think maybe the NRA stirred up a hornet's nest when they killed 17 suburban school students.
This is the problem with 'debating' someone who refuses to become aware of the facts. There is a significant increase in gun deaths and violence among blacks. Among the other populations, the rates are similar to Europe. Eric creates 'facts' which aren't, which have nothing to do with the FBI data base or the real world. He has to to reach the absurd responses regarding prohibition that he has.
There has been a recent rise in spree shooting. It is not a rise which is dominant. Spree shooters are far outnumbered by drug related violence, but are far more likely to involve innocent victims. Addressing the real causes of the problem is far more constructive than insisting that one's lies are true and insisting on remaining ignorant.
Race and drug problems are real, as are spree shooters. Prohibition as a solution has not worked, and I am dubious about making it work. However, refusing to look at problems and pretending that other solutions are not possible is not rational either.
Gun control works; that is clear from any perusal of the facts. As has been well publicized, the assault weapons "prohibition" reduced mass shootings by 37%. I never understood why it wasn't a permanent ban. But when it ended, mass shootings went up 200%. Stats have been posted here and elsewhere for a long time that prove my "facts." Just like climate science deniers, gun advocates refuse to look at facts. It is clear that, just as you call it, you have a "values lock" on this issue. As the students point out, you and other gun advocates are not addressing the real cause of the problem: the easy availability and increased technological danger of guns and the refusal of lawmakers to act, partly due to the power of a criminal organization. This is not absurd, but the real fact that any criminal or gang member in the USA can get one by fair means or foul, because there are so many around even in blue states, and so many red states right next door. Bob prefers to ignore this fact and claim that it is I that is ignoring facts.