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And what's more, resistant as we were initially, Australian gun owners, (like myself) are largely supportive.
I was (thankfully) not affect, BUT for example drunk driving if I was affected by it my pain ( if someone were killed) does not suddenly mean that DUI should be treated as murder because under the law it is not; likewise if I were to be affected by a shooting that does not change the fact that the people who mean no harm are not dangerous with a gun ( and I know quite a few people who own firearms and the people that DO mean harm either will find a way to get a firearm or find some other way to kill people. It would not change the facts even through my pain.
Driving is not a right. Gun ownership ( with certain exceptions) is.
Or you could just ban gunsPain is a great evolutionary tool. Without pain, we as a species would not exist. We would have died out long ago...
Pain is nature's way of telling you that there is a mistake that is harming you. Failure to correct that mistake results in more harm and more pain until you reach a point of no return and die...
If I were to think about society and use the above... What I see in my mind's eye is that as a society we are on borrowed time...
Take a look at this graph...
this crude graph represents our technological development. We are now in a period of exponential technological growth. Technology is a form of power. As technology grows, the power of the individual increases. So, the ability of the individual increases as does his ability to harm society.
As technology progresses, the individual is able to harm society to a greater degree.
My point?
Gun control is only part of the solution. What we need to do as a society is come up with "some" way to ensure that all individuals are sane and not prone to harming society.
Hardly an argument. I am sure people had the "right" to own slaves.
No kidding. Several of the pro gun arguments we read here are just plain silly, including the "it's a right" argument. When people make inane arguments, whether on this issue or anything else, we who recognize this are in a bind. The appropriate response is ridicule, but either we are censored from responding in this way and/or we feel bad about making fun of someone who is putting forward a zany position.
(But of course, as mentioned above, most deaths by firearm are not by the purchaser.)
There are three factors many who call for banning "guns" fail to admit: suicide and gang violence are the two main causes of death by firearm. Both of them require societal changes in behavior, not material items. Most suicides and gang deaths are NOT BY firearms purchased by the user.
Chicago has a NO FIREARMS ban in place, and yet look at the THOUSANDS of young people who are murdered by FIREARMS each year. How do they address this?
About 3% of the US population own 50% of the firearms. Mostly conservatives, many hunters and collectors.... "conservative" meaning supportive of the Constitution, not a particular political party.
If one were to look at the complete, true statistics, for reducing violence one COULD reason that ONLY CONSERVATIVES should be allowed to buy a firearm.
