Another shooting in the US…….

[ItsMainelyYou]

At least 11 mass shootings this weekend so far leading up to Memorial Day.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/30/mass-shootings-memorial-day-weekend-taft-chattanooga-uvalde/

It only happens here.

 

[CBianco]

I completely agree with most of what @Obscura has stated. It's definitely a tragedy what happened in Texas, no one is denying that.

I think social media and the news are one of the biggest problems of our society, constantly stirring the pot, creating fear and divisiveness for viewership and profit. This could be what's causing so many (especially young) people in not just the US but around the world having mental health issues. Any story can be manipulated towards a certain agenda, and even polls and statistics can be manipulated. They can pick and choose what to report on and completely skew the public view. Why do good deeds rarely make it on the news and bad ones do? It's to create fear and emotions, to make us primitive. There are no more media just stating all the facts and simply reporting the news anymore, let us make up our own minds and own opinions, not just have us blindly following one agenda or another.

The cartels are also just across the southern boarder and smuggling is rampant. If all guns from lawful and responsible gun owners are confiscated then it would literally be the "only bad guys will have guns" scenario, and the ones who want it (and want to inflict damage) will find a way to purchase them on the black market. There are no ways to track down those guns.

Do I believe certain gun laws should be amended? Sure. For starters I think they should raise the minimum age for gun ownership. I personally don't think most 18 or even 20 year olds have the maturity for it. Owning guns comes with tremendous responsibilities and its definitely not for everyone, which is fine. This is coming from a household that owns multiple guns and ARs.

If anyone has been following what's been happening on the covid situation in Shanghai China (my home country), you'll probably understand why something like that would most likely never happen in the US. I'll bet the government would be afraid to impose tyranny of that level on its citizens if they know that some of their citizens are armed.

Lastly, in response to one of the posts earlier on this thread regarding being afraid of hate crimes towards Asians here in the US, I'm Asian and currently live in a red state. I have never ever felt discriminated against here, in any part of the US or around the world for that matter. Even in Southeastern Europe where they seldomly see Asians. And I travel everywhere for my job, been to many countries on the planet. If you carry yourself right and treat people with respect most of the time you will get that respect back. I'm not saying that hate crimes don't exist because they for sure do, but it probably doesn't happen on a scale that the media portrays. Plus a large percentage of the hate crimes against Asians during covid here in the US were perpetrated by African Americans, but most of the media conveniently left that part out to continue feeding their "white men are the problem" agenda.

In short, I think there's definitely a culture rot happening, lack of respect and declining or worst, having no values. People that are so damaged and evil, who want to inflict pain on others will find a way no matter what. Guns are just a tool. So are bombs, knives, machete (happened at a train station in China 2014, 31 dead and 140+ injured. I can bet it wasn't talked about as much.) you name it. Even an SUV can be weaponized, such as the waukesha attack that happened not long ago for example.

This will probably be the only post I make in this thread as I never like to get into these kinds of discussions and especially not online, but the world isn't that black and white and I feel sometimes another side of the story and experiences should be heard.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I'm very glad we're showing both sides of the gun argument on this thread. Whether we agree or not, this should be a safe place for all of us to speak freely. No one should ever feel like they can't say their piece. Don't keep quiet if you have something to say. I think we all will listen. I can guarantee that I will.

The dangerous thing I find personally about discussions like this is allowing anecdotal evidence to out weigh statistical fact. The news doesn't cover enough of the incidents of hate crime- if they did, they'd cover scant else. Just because it doesn't happen to you or anyone you know, doesn't mean it isn't happening. I think we all forget that. I know I do at times.

Anti-Asian hate crimes increased 339 percent nationwide last year, report says

The report also points out that Black Americans remained the most targeted group in terms of hate crimes.

www.nbcnews.com

And the NRA old chestnut talking point is just a catch phrase, because if you break it down, the vast majority of our gun violence is suicide, accidental or first offence - those people weren't criminals.
Unless we agree that all gun owners are criminals...and I take issue with that.
I own guns. I'm not a criminal.
It's already hard for criminals to get a gun, we can make that harder.
The border cartels having guns is irrelevant in that we have dedicated depts. for that, like the Border Patrol, ATF and ICE etc.
Mr/Mrs America ain't stopping cartel crime with their AR-15 anyhow. Never have and never will.
We're the ones smuggling guns into Mexico.
We arm the cartels.

Yeah, ya heard that right, gun smuggling is a problem from the US into Mexico, not the other way around.
They have to get them from ONE gun shop in Mexico City with Army control and oversight. It's extremely hard. You want guns away from the cartels? Then we need to stop making them.
We stop making the AR 15s they won't have continued access to them.

No civilian should have a weapon of war. Ever.

There is no legitimate reason to have one other than to rip apart a classroom /church/concert/grocery store full of people.
If we make weapons of war very hard to obtain and criminalize the people who won't voluntarily...it would take an incredibly dedicated criminal to get and use one.
In the other countries with strict regulation and control- you'd be hard pressed to find an assault weapon anywhere, the criminals can't get them either. It will also make them much more easily identifiable to law enforcement.
Besides, we've already proven assault weapons bans work and we didn't have an additional influx of criminals with semi auto assault rifles.

I'm never going to ask for a full on ban, I just want heavy oversight and no weapons of war- so I can look an American kid in the eye and not lie to them that I want them safe and alive. I like this article, breaks it down nicely. The author is also a gun owner.

The 12 Most Common Fallacious Gun Arguments - Refuted by a Responsible Gun Owner

It’s really hard to talk about guns and gun violence, primarily due to the fact that the NRA has spent an insane amount of money brainwashing American citizens with catchy bumper-sticker type...

www.filmsforaction.org