Not mocking the tragedy with that Onion article, but being angry about it, and the thousands of other gun deaths in this nation, every single year, month, day.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “There’s no way to completely stop all crazies with guns, so we shouldn’t do anything to try.” That’s not how safety regulation works.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “Well, automobiles kill more people and we don’t ban automobiles.” Not only has regulation dramatically reduced automobile deaths, but most people use their cars every day for useful activities quite different than killing other people with them.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “Not all gun owners are crazed lunatics / terrorists / gang-bangers, so why penalize the law-abiding citizens for their crimes?” Because enough of them are (and enough others are criminally negligent with their weapons, and enough others make use of them to kill themselves) that, yeah, they’ve spoiled it for the rest of you.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “Well, if only everyone carried a gun then this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.” Because the Las Vegas guy was shooting from a hotel room across the street, and the idea of a bunch of panicky concert-goers opening up with pistols on the hotel has the prospect of a death toll far higher than the original shooting itself.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “Criminals don’t obey the law, so laws restricting gun ownership will be broken by criminals, so such laws are useless.” Because that means we shouldn’t have laws against selling heroin, robbing banks, or assault, either.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “Well, people can be killed with clubs and knives, too,” because individuals who go crazy with clubs and knives don’t usually leave a toll of 50 dead and over 200 wounded, nor do they do so from across the street.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “If I don’t have a gun then I will be easy picking for muggers and rapists and grizzly bears.” Because, remarkably enough, a lot of people without guns aren’t instantly killed, even here in the United States.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “I have a Constitutional Right to own a zillion guns,” because even the Supreme Court ruling that overturned decades of jurisprudence to rule that the Second Amendment is, for some non-obvious reason, an individual right, not a state right about militias, also indicated that gun ownership could be regulated within the bounds of that right, which is why you can’t walk down the street with an Uzi, even in Texas.
And, no, I don’t want to hear “If we do background checks on everyone for every gun sale, then the government will enslave us.” That’s pretty close to a prima facie case that you shouldn’t own a gun.
There are things we can do, not to completely solve the problem (or, rather, array of problems), but mitigate them. We just don’t have the political will. They don’t necessarily involve banning all firearms, but they do require standing up to the gun manufacturing lobby (i.e., the NRA), they do involve not seeing guns as the ultimate expression of manhood and patriotism, and they do need us to realize that there are ways to prevent this sort of tragedy, if we so choose.
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
LAS VEGAS—In the hours following a violent rampage in Las Vegas in which a lone attacker killed more than 50 individuals and seriously injured 400 others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Monday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place.
NONE AT ALL … except for some sort of regulations
Yeah I dont give a fuck anymore.. Murica NEEDs more guns.. Lets lift all restrictions and give mentally ill people guns.. Gun owners cheered Trump… Oh another mass shooting oh well.. Kill a few more thousand people….. Maybe then you will vote for common sense.
+Hunter Seeker Trump just revoked gun checks for people with mental illness that Obama had put into place.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221
+Les Jenkins yes your point is?
The US government is in a shambles: congress is impotent and the president is, well, not good. Firearm safety isn't a terribly hard problem, compared to, say, balancing the budget or health care, but I have little confidence that they'll do something worthwhile in this arena. They'll either fail to pass anything or pass something that sounds helpful but isn't really.
My point is they're already moving in the direction you suggested. They're way ahead of you.
+Dave Sill Oh come on… do something? Trump and the republicans catered to foaming at the mouth 2nd amendment nuts the whole election.. They are not going to do or say anything to piss off their base.. Kill a few thousand more I say.. Maybe then people will vote with their brains for once.
+Les Jenkins You do know 'Revoking" gun checks means lifting restrictions on right? That means its EASIER for mentally ill people to get guns. How is that a good thing?
+Hunter Seeker dude, he's agreeing with you.
+Dave Sill How is saying Trump is repealing restrictions on mentally ill people getting guns agreeing with me? Who is way ahead on this? Right now Republicans are pushing the pro gun agenda… What am I missing in what he has said?
+Hunter Seeker You seemed to be criticizing Trump and his base for gun ownership enthusiasm, sarcastically suggesting "Lets lift all restrictions and give mentally ill people guns".
Les was noting that that Trump is already doing that.
I guess my implication wasn't as obvious as I thought.
Shush. Have you no respect? Now is NOT the time to discuss gun control. /sarcasm
I think we are in a dangerous concoction of governmental state and social volitility. Who knows what kind of shit comes of this but my personal belief is that is a systemic mental health issue that is going unchecked.
Or we're a society that normalizes violence to resolve problems, and provides easy and encouraged access to lethal weaponry.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/my-mass-shooting-ritual
Thanks for putting that all in words.
In case it's not completely clear, The Onion is making their point by simply reposting an identical article verbatim every time there's a new mass shooting.
http://www.theonion.com/search?q=No+Way+To+Prevent+This%2C%27+Says+Only+Nation+Where+This+Regularly+Happens.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/onion-article-shootings_us_566097abe4b072e9d1c53034
+Jim Douglas Yup. I expect to see Jim Wright recycle his too-often-recycled post-mass-shooting essay again soon, too.
+Dave Hill I don't know who Jim Wright is. I understand what The Onion is doing here, hammering at the lunacy of replaying the same script every time. And there were, of course, the usual conservative voices this morning saying "it's too soon" to talk about gun control. Ok, how about we talk about the gun control questions that came up from Sandy Hook? It can't be too soon, right?
+Jim Douglas He does the blog (and FB ) Stonekettle Station. His essay (the most recent, June, iteration) is here.
http://www.stonekettle.com/2012/07/the-seven-stages-of-gun-violence.html
I would be happy if Jim could finally retire that article.
I don’t object to guns, and in fact own a couple. None of which was acquired with any sort of background check/mental health analysis/emotional maturity test or any need to register them.
This is a problem.
@Marc – I would be happy to send him a case of Scotch if he could go five years without having to repost it.