So. Guns. We do have a gun violence problem in this country — less, net-net, than in decades past, but with more notorious / spectacular instances (i.e., mass shootings). And the biggest problem I see about it is a desire for a Silver Bullet to Fix The Problem.
We need more guns! We need fewer guns! We need more gun laws! We need fewer gun laws! We need law enforcement to monitor all social media! We need more people to inform the police when someone is acting twitchy! We need to get rid of illegal immigrants! We need to more fiercely prosecute drug crimes! We need to legalize drugs! We need to arm everyone! We need to disarm everyone! We need to solve poverty! We need to solve mental health! We need to fully research and explore gun violence! We need to anonymize all shootings so that people don’t it for fame/infamy!
None of these things, by themselves, will solve this problem. Some of them, taken to extremes, will not only not solve the problem, but will introduce interesting new problems.
There are things we can do to nibble around the edges of the problem (or, more strictly speaking problemS … the gun violence by gangs in parts of Chicago has very limited connection mass murder in a Florida high school, for example). Some of the above ideas, in moderation, could have an impact. A holistic approach would almost certainly help.
But our modern political discourse — on pretty much everything, let alone guns — not only means that everyone feels their One Single Cause is their hill to die on, the only possible solution, but that anyone who disagrees is an agent of evil and anyone suggesting a more nuanced or complex approach is a compromising fool.
I don’t have the answer, by any means. I have some answers that I think would have an effect in some areas. That’s frustrating, but, generally speaking, the best you can hope for in a public policy arena. The real world is complex — guns (or poverty, or education, or geopolitics) don’t lend themselves to simple answers.
Anyone who says they can stop gun violence with one simple idea is … well, being simple. Or trying to sell you something.
Completely agree with you there. By trying to solve the problem using these unrealistic thoughts in their heads, they'll just end up not changing anything, or maybe even make it worse.
But something has to be done and nobody (nobody who knows that these ideas won't work) has any idea about what to do
It's a very complex problem and it is going to take a very complex answer. I just don't think that there is the political will to try and work out what will actually work as, no matter what is done, a large segment of the voting public will be annoyed.
We all want a dragon to slay. One big monster that blocks the path. Once killed, we will be free from the problem forever
+PaperBag The problem is not that none of the answers will work; it's that none of the answers is a panacea. We have ideas that should work, just that none of them work completely.
More effective background checking, stricter responsibility measures for gun owners, tracking of firearms, improved mental health care, a dozen different possible interventions can impact this problem in different ways. They carry with them risks and costs that need to be evaluated, too, but the all-or-nothing thinking of "we can simply do X and solve the problem!" / "no, X won't solve this particular aspect of the problem, therefore it is worthless!" stops us from doing anything … which definitely will not solve the problem.
It's like saying, "drunk driving is a problem" and only considering "prohibition of all alcohol" or "prohibition of all cars" or "shrug and accept highway carnage". Instead, age restrictions, progressive punishment for DUIs, checkpoints, recognition of alcoholism as a treatable disease, social changes making drunk driving less acceptable, improved car safety, etc., have done a lot — not solving th e problem, by any means, and not without cost or occasional injustice, but that's how public policy (and humanity) works.
+Dave Hill Honestly what I think is the main problem is that people think it's all gonna go away overnight. So even if a certain policy is working, with another incident they'd just give up on it and move on to some other 'magical solution'. I dont think this problem will go away in at least a decade. (Wow I have no idea how to phrase that for some reason, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say :D)
I don't know the answer
even if every firearm was melted people with the will to kill will make their own, so it might be more about respect for life, for ourselves, for each other, for our planet
but that doesn't seem likely with everyone out to get anyone who isn't "us"
I think all reasonably rational people agree that these mass killings need to be stopped
but all that seems to come from this conversation is more divisiveness and violence