American Politics Discussion Thread

[DaveV]

I guess the other end of it, is i believe in gun rights (not 500 guns per person of course...)

Not meaning to pick on you, superdeath, but it saddens me that the NRA's campaign of "the answer is always more guns" seems to have won the argument. I have no objection to hunters and target shooters, but the idea of guns for protection is deeply flawed. A gun in your house is many times more likely to be used against someone else in that household (domestic violence, suicide, accident) than against the near-mythical invader. How many more times? It's impossible to say, since current laws prohibit the collection of such data. I wonder why?

Plus, of course, the idea of bringing back the wild west where everyone is armed means also bringing back the idea that the most amoral and antisocial people will end up running things, since they have no compunctions about shooting anyone who gets in their way. The movie "The man who shot Liberty Valance" did a very good job of showing this dynamic.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

From what ive seen/read its generally both sides wanting to more-or-less re-write history each with their own goals. Im fine with giving more detail about people like CColumbus, More detail is always fine. Any talk of "lets take down statues" doesnt sit right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae

"Rewriting" history is a time-honored tradition

[superdeath]

I guess the other end of it, is i believe in gun rights (not 500 guns per person of course...)

Not meaning to pick on you, superdeath, but it saddens me that the NRA's campaign of "the answer is always more guns" seems to have won the argument. I have no objection to hunters and target shooters, but the idea of guns for protection is deeply flawed. A gun in your house is many times more likely to be used against someone else in that household (domestic violence, suicide, accident) than against the near-mythical invader. How many more times? It's impossible to say, since current laws prohibit the collection of such data. I wonder why?

Plus, of course, the idea of bringing back the wild west where everyone is armed means also bringing back the idea that the most amoral and antisocial people will end up running things, since they have no compunctions about shooting anyone who gets in their way. The movie "The man who shot Liberty Valance" did a very good job of showing this dynamic.

im not QUITE that gun-hoe about it, but i do believe i should be able to purchase and own a firearm. Whether thats for a mythical intruder, something to shoot a rabbit or two, or if society collapses. I dont plan on owning more than 2 guns regardless.

[Jowy]

Democrats pretty much share SD's opinion on gun control. Here's a quote from DNC website:

Democrats believe that we can reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of responsible gun owners. We believe we should expand and strengthen background checks for those who want to purchase a firearm – because it shouldn’t be easier to get a gun than a driver’s license. We believe we should ensure that guns don’t fall into the hands of terrorists (whether they be domestic or foreign), domestic abusers, other violent criminals, or those who have shown signs of danger toward themselves or others. And we believe we should treat gun violence as the deadly public health crisis it is.

I'm against guns, but it's probably not viable in the USA to get rid of them when there's so many in circulation and the culture is as it is. I've told SD this before, but I'd buy a gun if I lived in the US.

[superdeath]

but it's probably not viable in the USA to get rid of them when there's so many in circulation and the culture is as it is.

[Charriu]

Do look at Switzerland. They could be a good example for the US how to handle guns, if you want to keep the rights to guns.

[DaveV]

I'm against guns ... but I'd buy a gun if I lived in the US.

Again, your gun is far more likely to be used against someone in your family than against the PCP-addled predator in the NRA commercials. And in the event of such a home invasion, would you be able to use the gun? I don't think I, personally, could shoot someone in cold blood; in an emergency, my hand would probably be shaking so much I'd be more likely to shoot my dog than the intruder. If you hear a noise in another part of your house (or your front door being broken down, like Breonna Taylor's boyfriend), will you just start blazing away? If you yell, "I have a gun," the intruder is alerted that he needs to shoot first.

[superdeath]

I'm against guns ... but I'd buy a gun if I lived in the US.

Again, your gun is far more likely to be used against someone in your family than against the PCP-addled predator in the NRA commercials. And in the event of such a home invasion, would you be able to use the gun? I don't think I, personally, could shoot someone in cold blood; in an emergency, my hand  would probably be shaking so much I'd be more likely to shoot my dog than the intruder. If you hear a noise in another part of your house (or your front door being broken down, like Breonna Taylor's boyfriend), will you just start blazing away? If you yell, "I have a gun," the intruder is alerted that he needs to shoot first.

In the event of a home invasion i am perfectly able to shoot someone to protect my assets. "cold blood"... idk about that, would make me pretty pissed if someone tried to steal from me/invade my home/ect. The hand shaking is understandable, thats why i have a shotgun. Ill hit the dog, the intruder, and ill have plenty of drywall work to do. (lol) Dont need to really yell "i have a gun" just wait around a corner or behind some sort of cover for the invader to get within range.

The last part is a large LARGE reason why id want a gun in the first place. Few home invasions pack only a knife anymore. Guns dont require a ton of skill. Not saying my old grandma/mom/sister/whoever needs to have one to protect her knickknacks but its alot easier to prevent her from getting killed or any other manner of unspeakables if they at least had the fighting chance that a gun gives.


Its weird being both pro-gun and pro-gun control at the same time..

[T-hawk]

There is a huge huge gulf between the opinions of "guns do more harm than good" and "the government should forcibly impose banning guns for everyone."

This is what's wrong with the left and how they go too far as superdeath was saying, when they take any idea that they favor and jump straight to wanting forcible imposition of it on everyone. Gun bans, mask and vaccine mandates, environmentalist restrictions, soak-the-rich, everything the left wants involves forcibly compelling everyone to go along with them.

Not that the right can't do that too - particularly on abortion, but other than that the right's platform is mostly "butt out and leave me alone". Even on LGBT issues the right has mostly gotten to reluctant tolerance.

[Jowy]

I'm against guns ... but I'd buy a gun if I lived in the US.

Again, your gun is far more likely to be used against someone in your family than against the PCP-addled predator in the NRA commercials. And in the event of such a home invasion, would you be able to use the gun? I don't think I, personally, could shoot someone in cold blood; in an emergency, my hand  would probably be shaking so much I'd be more likely to shoot my dog than the intruder. If you hear a noise in another part of your house (or your front door being broken down, like Breonna Taylor's boyfriend), will you just start blazing away? If you yell, "I have a gun," the intruder is alerted that he needs to shoot first.

You can never know how you're going to react in a life or death situation until it happens.