[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by edslunch

all this gun discussion is well and good but misses a key question. What makes people decide, with alarming frequency in U.S. particularly, that killing a bunch of innocent people is a good way to address their grievances against women, blacks, employers, etc.?

If I recall correctly, on the same day as the Newtown massacre, there was a guy in...I think Japan? He went through a school and stabbed a bunch of people.

No one died.

There are crazy people, there are evil people, there are hateful people all over the globe. But in the US people have really easy access to firearms and it makes it way too easy for those kinds of people to injure and kill others.

Originally Posted by Quincy Egg

Tell that to Chicago or New York.

Until Chicago or New York have a massive wall surrounding them, and police guarding all roads in and out of the cities at all times, a city-wide gun ban means absolutely nothing.

Originally Posted by Quincy Egg

If you remove homicides from gangs, America is at the same level as Belgium as far as gun related homicides are concerned.

America doesn't have a gun problem, it has a gang problem.

What about all of the accidental gun deaths? What about the toddlers who kill themselves or their siblings or friends accidentally?

Originally Posted by Quincy Egg

Why should law abiding gun owners be punished for the actions of some?

Why should I have to pay for car insurance because there are crappy drivers?

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

This is a line of thought I see many people implement in this thread. Lets apply it to something else, an activity that far more people do compared to firearm ownership.

According to MADD Canada, as of 2014 4 People are killed and 175 injured every single day.

So what's the solution here? Let's apply the same argument. Ban alcohol. Sure, it's going to impact a significant amount of responsible consumers of alcohol but in return, fewer innocent lives are being taken by drunk drivers.

Do you think the tradeoff is worth it?

Ignore the idea of a ban. It's not going to happen in the US, not for a very long time, if ever.

But let's look at alcohol. Let's look at cars. Let's look at the combination of the two.

Alcohol sales are restricted, there are laws that prevent underage people from obtaining alcohol. There are laws that prevent a bartender from serving someone who already appears intoxicated. There are laws to help prevent abuse of alcohol. Does it stop all of the problems? No, of course not. But we still have laws in place.

You can't operate a car without a license. To get that license you have to pass a test to prove that you know how to drive that vehicle. You have to register that vehicle every year. You have to carry insurance on that vehicle. There are speed limit laws, various traffic laws that prevent people from driving that vehicle in whatever manner they see fit. Does it stop all car accidents? No, of course not. But we still have those laws in place because it limits the injuries and deaths that are inherent with driving around giant hunks of metal at high rates of speed on a regular basis.

Combine the two. You cannot operate a vehicle if you've been drinking. There are strict DUI laws. If you're caught drinking and driving you can lose your license temporarily. Does it stop all drunk drivers? No, of course not. But we still have laws regulating it.

No one is saying gun regulations will stop all gun deaths. No one is saying firearm homicides will stop happening entirely. That's not how laws work in any way, in any country on earth.

But laws prevent some tragedies. Laws lower the rate of vehicle related deaths. Laws lower the rate of DUIs and drunk driving deaths.

Laws would lower the rate of gun-related homicide. Laws would lower the rate of accidental gun deaths. Laws would limit incidences like this one. How many lives need to be saved in order to make laws worthwhile? If you can enact basic, logical gun control legislation and it saves, say, 1000 lives a year in this country, is it worth it? Pretty sure the friends and family of those 1000 people would say it is indeed.