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Originally Posted by KTrain
Thank you PeteMoss. 99% of these guns start out as legal firearms. Along the way they're stolen, illegally sold, etc. and suddenly there's nothing we can do about it because they're illegal guns. Make legal guns more difficult to purchase and we can start reducing the amount of illegal guns.
It's a drop in the bucket at this point because of how many guns are out there but it's a start.
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And this is where a gun control measure like a registry would come in handy. Because if you got a gun legally and you're a "responsible gun owner" it should be properly locked up and protected from theft when not in use. If there's a registry for gun owners, and one of their guns goes missing/gets stolen/ends up used in a crime, why shouldn't they be held responsible? If they were truly responsible owners, their lethal firearms wouldn't have ended up in the hands of criminals. And if they're illegally selling them/giving them to friends or family, then they're also criminals and should be prosecuted as such.
Stemming the supply of guns by making them harder to legally obtain and then supplementing that with a stringent registration process that requires annual renewal would likely do a lot to stem gun violence overall, both your "blockbuster" style mass shootings and also smaller events of gun violence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Envitro
The one thing I'll say, regardless of guns, is is anybody asking the question of "Why?"
Why is this happening so frequently? It's not like the gun or the availability of guns causes people to go on a shooting rampage?
I'm really interested in the root cause of this systemic issue in the U.S.
Now, I guess we have to be really careful since we can't talk about the U.S. as a contiguous nation when it comes to gun laws, cultural, or socio-economic factors, but I'd love to hear some theories on why this is an issue in the U.S.
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I realize there have been many "it's the guns" responses in this thread but I think that really skips over the nuance you're trying to get at here.
Yes the prevalence of gun violence in this country is absolutely because of the overwhelming number of guns in circulation but what you're asking goes deeper than that and it gets down to the existence of things like Fox News, NewsMax, OANN, as well as the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Lauren Boeberts of the world.
Gun violence like this is on the rise because a whole lot of white politicians and talking heads are telling other white people that They Are Coming For You. Black people, brown people, gay people, they're all coming for you, for your guns, for your way of life. You have to Defend Yourself. Defend Your Family. Defend Your Faith.
It is a constant barrage of fear-mongering from the right, punctuated with those same politicians posting their Christmas photos of their entire family, from toddlers on up, armed to the teeth.
The NRA and its enablers are akin to a
religion in this country. These people don't just see those pushing for gun control as political oppenents. They treat this as damn near a holy war for their belief system. They are willing to sacrifice lives for their right to bear arms.
You're not dealing with a political ideology. You're dealing with a cult.