The United States has had a hell of a lot of massacres.
Yes, but it also has a hell of a lot of unjustified police shootings of unarmed people-- the difference being that the police involved often get off without jail time and even if I'm carrying legally and I empty my magazine into a person because I thought they had a gun, but they didn't, you can be sure I'm gonna be locked away for a long time. But nobody's talking seriously about gun control for the police (or the military for that matter-- we spend so much money on the military, even before 9/11, it's fuckin insane-- the US accounts for nearly 50% of ALL military spending in the world combined).
Gun crime in correlation with gun control has little to do with the availability of the guns and more to do with a) availability of ammo (because let's face it, without ammo, the gun is useless) and b) the society (which varies from country to country).
Sure, but b) is the one I'd like to work on. Until very recently (when Switzerland caved under pressure from the EU and due to international treaties), most Swiss males had a full-auto assault rifle at home with ammo (in the US it is very, very difficult for most people to privately own a full-auto assault rifle, and many states even ban semi-auto ones), yet they have consistently had a MUCH lower murder rate than us. Why? Cause I guess their society ain't all fucked up. Israel also has a very high gun ownership rate and a very low murder rate in comparison to the US (even when you include terrorist attacks). Same with Finland. In the reverse, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have very restrictive gun control and even higher murder rates than the US.
I'd like to see our country attacking the much more difficult issue of what drives so many people to violence, rather than offering the simple band-aid "solution" of "let's just ban the most dangerous tools of violence". I'd like to see a similar approach to our failed and draconian drug policy as well.
I'm enjoying the debate with you Q-Man. I'm not trying to change your mind, this debate is opening up my mind to, so would love it if you did continue with me. I'm not too knowledgeable about gun culture in the US and this is a learning experience for me.
Okay, sure thing. But I've frittered away enough time today already when I should be working, so I have to take a break for a bit.
Topic: Gunshots?