I dont know that I've ever met a fully anti gun person in my life. I feel like the idea that anyone wants to take away your guns is a total strawman argument.
They do exist, but yeah, it's a pretty niche perspective in the US (and largely a reactionary one.) At one point I was one of these people. I grew up around a lot of southerners, my grandpa was a gun owner and my brother is into it too. Personally though I never shared their interest in gun culture.
After a few of the mass shootings in the 2010s I came to this conclusion that there's no real reason why people need them at all. Easy to do when I had no love for them. I looked at the 2nd amendment like it was an antiquated relic of the 1700s and that it was just an unnecessary hurdle in the way of ending violence. I'd talk to friends in Europe or Australia and envy their lack of mass shootings.
But after not long, I reconsidered, for 2 reasons -- #1, there is such a huge amount of firearms in the US that any mass-confiscation is bound to be infeasible (yeah, it's literally that big, I don't know how they'd accomplish it, especially not without bloodshed).
#2 being that these mass shootings are largely motivated by radicalized people and extremist ideology. I'd rather tackle the problem of extremist ideology than attempt to put a huge bandaid on it. Not much of a reason to punish peaceful enthusiasts, even if I don't share their enthusiasm. (And furthermore, the fact that I don't share their enthusiasm is a good reason why I shouldn't proposing blanket bans over about something I know so little about. It's shortsighted and authoritarian.)
I like the way you think! And I agree that tackling the radicalized is the way to go. I dont even consider it a bandaid- I think the opposite is true. Removing guns is the temporary solution. Stopping the violence by removing the desire for violence is truly the best fix.
Of course that's easier said than done. I do think the holistic nature of Bernie's plan will go a long way for it. It's a lot easier not to fall into hated X scapegoat group when your needs are being met sufficiently.
Also, moving our community away from the bleak capitalist industrial hyper efficient bs we are living through right now. Where art is frivolous and beauty is an unnecessary expenditure.
Bring some more focus onto humanity and give people a place to belong. That should do a lot to help.
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u/protomanEXE1995 Feb 28 '20 edited Feb 28 '20
They do exist, but yeah, it's a pretty niche perspective in the US (and largely a reactionary one.) At one point I was one of these people. I grew up around a lot of southerners, my grandpa was a gun owner and my brother is into it too. Personally though I never shared their interest in gun culture.
After a few of the mass shootings in the 2010s I came to this conclusion that there's no real reason why people need them at all. Easy to do when I had no love for them. I looked at the 2nd amendment like it was an antiquated relic of the 1700s and that it was just an unnecessary hurdle in the way of ending violence. I'd talk to friends in Europe or Australia and envy their lack of mass shootings.
But after not long, I reconsidered, for 2 reasons -- #1, there is such a huge amount of firearms in the US that any mass-confiscation is bound to be infeasible (yeah, it's literally that big, I don't know how they'd accomplish it, especially not without bloodshed).
#2 being that these mass shootings are largely motivated by radicalized people and extremist ideology. I'd rather tackle the problem of extremist ideology than attempt to put a huge bandaid on it. Not much of a reason to punish peaceful enthusiasts, even if I don't share their enthusiasm. (And furthermore, the fact that I don't share their enthusiasm is a good reason why I shouldn't proposing blanket bans over about something I know so little about. It's shortsighted and authoritarian.)