We’ve got to do something about guns. We have got to find a way to convince the general public that increased gun ownership is bad and only leads to more violence. Tragically the facts we've got on crime, violence and gun ownership won't make that an easy task.
The latest FBI crime statistics clearly show that crime is down.
In the categories of violent crime where the type of weapon used is recorded, (murder robbery and aggravated assault) gun crime is down.
49 states have passed laws allowing people to carry certain concealed firearms in public, either with or without a permit.
In 2009 Texas concealed carry permit holders account for .1541% of the 65,561 total criminal convictions.
Gun ownership is up and is up everywhere, in the north, south, east and west. Of course it is up among Republicans but unbelievingly it is also up among Democrats and women.
What we need to do to reverse this disturbing trend is to enact more gun laws and severely restrict gun ownership. Once we do that, not only will gun violence fall (even more than it has, what with the weak laws we have in place and the millions of guns in the hands of citizens), but we can finally become more like truly "civilized" countries, countries that have stricter gun laws and limited gun ownership, countries where the percentage of people victimized by crime is lower than the US.
Total crime victims
Australia 30.1% - U.S. 21.1%
Assault victims
U.K. 2.8% - U.S. 1.2%
Rape victims
New Zealand 1.3% - U.S. 0.4%
Robbery victims
Italy 1.3 % - U.S. 0.6%
Rapes
France 10,277 per 100,000 – U.S. 30.2 per 100,000
Burglaries
Australia 1,530.2 per 100,000 – U.S. 714.4 per 100,000
Okay, ignore those statistics, but I am sure other countries that don’t have so many guns in the hands of people who could snap at any moment and go on a shooting rampage feel safer and have a perception of safety that is higher than the U.S.
Perception of safety (burglary)
U.S. 78%
Canada 66%
U.K. 58%
Australia 57%
France 43%
Japan 43%
New Zealand 42%
Perception of safety (walking in the dark)
U.S. 82%
Japan 78%
Switzerland 77%
U.K. 70%
Australia 64%
New Zealand 62%
Fuck, ignore those statistics too, they mean nothing because we have the moral high ground. Think of all the people who commit suicide by using a gun they found just laying around. Those other more "civilized" countries most certainly have fewer people killing themselves because they have reasonable and common sense gun laws and less guns.
Suicide rates in ages 15-24
New Zealand 26.7 per 100,000
Finland 22.8 per 100,000
Switzerland 17.9 per 100,000
Canada 15 per 100,000
Australia 14.6 per 100,000
U.S. 13.7 per 100,000
Suicide rates in ages 25-34
Finland 33 per 100,000
New Zealand 25.1 per 100,000
France 21.3 per 100,000
Switzerland 18.8 per 100,000
Canada 18 per 100,000
U.S. 15.3 per 100,000
Dammit, shit, okay so what if people in more "civilized" countries that have stricter gun laws are killing themselves more without using guns as much? That doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is if you commit suicide with a gun, because if you kill yourself with a gun that is an act that could have been prevented if only gun nuts would have let us pass reasonable and common sense gun laws. The bottom line is that guns are bad and and make people commit crimes and do things they wouldn't feel empowered to do if they didn't have a gun. So what we need to do, since the crime statistics dont favour our position, is convince people that gun ownership is anathema to democracy and a peaceful society. We need to get them to ignore the facts and appeal to their emotions and help them understand that;
• guns only cause harm,
• they are a threat to the safety of society,
• they infringe on the rights of people to live without fear,
• guns are a public health issue,
• a gun is a threat to the owner not a criminal,
• guns cannot be used effectively as a means of self-defence,
• guns can no longer be used as a check against a tyrannical government,
• only people who live in fear carry a gun,
• using a gun for hunting is kinda okay but come on, we have grocery stores now,
• without access to a gun 15,000 people a year wouldn't have committed suicide,
• if you own a gun you are more likely to commit a crime with a gun,
• criminals legally acquire guns, so we must restrict access to the law biding,
• guns cause crime,
• someone breaking into your home only wants your stuff
• the 2nd Amendment references the militia because that is who should have guns
It won't be easy to convince people to ignore the facts and statistics on crime. But I think it can be done. Unfortunately the biggest hurdle we face in achieving our goal of a peaceful, crime free society is our constitution. If it wasn’t for that pesky piece of paper and the archaic 2nd Amendment things would be much easier for us, the pro-gun control crowd.
We need our own memory hole so to speak, we need to get people to forget the fact that the constitution was intended to limit government control over the people. We need to make sure they never understand that the Bill of Rights clearly enumerates individual rights that the government isn’t supposed to infringe upon without due process. But if we can't get that done then what we need to do is find a way around the amendment process, because once we do that then we can change the constitution as we see fit. We can change it so it will be easier to take action, to stand up for democracy and really get some things done that will benefit the majority and will be in the best interests of the world, our nation our people and most importantly our children.
Remember, we aren’t authoritarians. We aren't in favor of a principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power of our wisdom and authority, no, authoritarians are doubleunplusgood and don't do good things and we are doubleplusgood. We want to do good for the majority, which will benefit everyone, especially those that can't see the good of what we want to do. We aren’t doing this because we don’t trust our fellow citizens. We aren’t doing this because we don’t believe in rights. We are doing this because we know what is best for society. We are doing this because we know that guns in the hands of the citizenry is dangerous but guns in the hands of the police and government keeps us safe. We are doing this because regardless of the facts, we know that it is only common sense that guns are bad. We know that crime will drop even further without concealed carry permits because no one needs to carry a concealed gun. And we know that without the 2nd Amendment and the wrong interpretation of an individual right to keep and bear arms that we will elevate our society, we will become more caring towards of each other and not look first to violence as a solution but to mutual respect and dialogue to resolve all our personal and national conflicts.
UPDATE My thanks to billybush for catching the error regarding France, Mea culpa. I will, however stand by the premise of my dairy, specifically that even with the number of firearms in the US our incident rate for many violent crimes is lower than many "civilized" countries that have much more stringent control over firearms.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who also have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme or somewhere in between, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion. If you're just here to disrupt or troll, expect to get a Do Not Respond (DNR) comment and then be ignored. Insults, lies, and willful ignorance will be dealt with by normal community moderation. Disagreement by itself is not considered trolling.
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