Quote:
Originally Posted by rubicon
I have no dog in this hunt because I do not care to own a gun. However I am 100% on the side of those who desire to protect the 2nd Amendment because they recognize that this fight is not about placing a ban on certain type of weapons but the beginning of placing a ban on all weapons. The pros and cons will continue concerning gun control but it is only a distraction blocking the real societal problems that create the killings in a movie theatre in Colorado or a gangland killings in Chicago. We fall for it everytime because it is easy to exploit because its popular and because after all the jawboning stops the media is able to move on to the next big story leaving once again the real problem to fester once again an to eventually burst.
If certain weapons were banned I am sure this young man would have developed some sort of bomb or chemical created out of every day products and caused the same amount of damage if not more. This specious argument over gun control is good for politicians because they have a bone to throw at us voters and at least deflecting real issues. What about directing funds to help people such as this young man with his special needs? Are you kidding why would a politician work to fund this sort of need when they can build bridges to nowhere that provide more votes.
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Good idea. Let's make a case for looking at the CAUSES of violence. We have unprecedented poverty and the largest gap ever between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. More and more of those on the disadvantaged end are turning to crime for a variety of reasons, including desperation. We know we lead the world in the number of prison inmates per capita. The problem always grows in tough economic times but it is growing faster and more deeply now because of the seriousness of the recession. And we are not able to turn things around for three reasons: 1) because of conservative tax policies benefiting those who are already wealthy; 2) because businesses and private individuals are sitting on trillions instead of pumping those funds back into the economy; and 3) because of the Republican stranglehold on funding jobs and other economic stimuli.
Once people are desperate enough to turn to crime, guns just make them more efficient criminals. Banning guns is not the answer. The answer is to return to our roots and our values, making America the land of OPPORTUNITY for all, NOT just for the privileged minority who are lucky enough to inherit or in other ways fall into vast wealth.
Almost all of us retired, mostly comfortable TV folks have NO IDEA of what it's like to go hungry, not be able to pay back a student loan, not have any job prospect, not have any help getting started from ANYWHERE. We grew up in the Land of Opportunity and assume it's still there. It's not. The conservative free capitalists are holding all the resources and have shut down avenues after avenue of opportunity. And, by the way, real opportunity is NOT food stamps and unemployment insurance. Those are mere stop gaps for survival.
We are repeating the history of have and have not societies in sharp decline. Violence always increases as the number of have nots increase. Next comes revolution, and that's when even the privileged with the biggest weapons collections and highest castle walls aren't safe.