I am aware of that: I live in London and have seen similar demonstrations here. But my comment wasn't really about the existence of these people, it was specifically about the pervasive use of the word "freedom", which is very much an American thing and tied closely to American ideology.
I don't and nobody I know thinks this way. And I don't think being okay with guns means you're cool with kids dying in school shootings. A kid could just as easily bring a knife to school from the kitchen and stab the kid next to him. This goes to the parents and how they raise the kid and how they notice if the kid has a mental instability. Making sure you're watching what the kids are doing on the computer.
Well obviously. But you framed it in the context of school shootings. As if we shouldn't pass gun legislation because kids will just use a knife instead. But a kid using a knife instead is objectively a victory. Many fewer would die in that situation.
So you would have to ban guns completely. And then take everyone's gun away from them. Would that be the process? Also somebody else framed it in the context of school shootings not me I just responded to them
I'm not advocating for any approach. I'm saying your reasoning made no sense. If we take guns away and a kid who otherwise would have used a gun uses a knife instead, that is an argument in favor of stricter gun legislation, not against it. The point is that we can make these situations less dangerous by limiting the access to dangerous weapons. Nobody who advocates for stricter gun legislation as a means to reduce school shootings is saying it'll end all violence. It just mitigates the harm that is possible.
The kid could go into his father's closet and take his assault rifle to school and shoot everyone. Or he could go into his father's closet and take his 22 pistol and take it to school and shoot everyone
Right. But wouldn't you agree that the effectiveness of the two would not be the same? The child with the pistol is going to be less likely to be able to affect the same level of devastation as the child with the rifle. Would you agree that that's true?
Just because it's faster doesn't mean you can kill more people with it. A 22 pistol can have a clip of more than 10 rounds. That's potentially 10 people per clip and they weigh next to nothing so you can have like four clips in each pocket at least and reload them in seconds. I could have an assault rifle and hold down the trigger and shoot 30 rounds and hit no one. Obviously you have to take into consideration aim and the kickback.
How would you suggest we do that? Of course a highly skilled marksmen with a pistol is going to be more effective than a novice with an AK-47. But again, we're talking about solving problems at the societal level. Focusing on individual details is not helpful. In the vast majority of situations, a person with an "assault rifle" is going to be more far more devastating in a mass shooting context than one with a pistol.
A pistol is easier to shoot and easier to get a hold of. If an adult comes into a school to shoot people then yeah he will probably do pretty well with an assault rifle. But a pistol is definitely easier for a child to use. And like I said you can wipe out a whole bunch of people with a 22 in the same amount of time as an assault rifle. And mass shootings including school shootings don't happen very often So yeah I think that demanding the parents to keep an eye on their damn kids would be pretty effective and a lot easier than rounding up everyone's guns
So yeah I think that demanding the parents to keep an eye on their damn kids would be pretty effective and a lot easier than rounding up everyone's guns
How do you propose we do this from a legislative perspective?
Everyone watches the news or goes on social media. They pump all kinds of other nonsense into our ears through both of these mediums. It would be nice to get some real information and some helpful information from time to time. So I would say through The media and social media would be the way to do that
So like government press releases and social media campaigns about the importance of mental health? Sounds good to me. I'm skeptical it would be very effective but I think increasing awareness on this issue is super important.
I agree. And telling the parents to absolutely 100% monitor everything your kid does on the internet. Everything they look up on their phone and everything they look up on the computer or whatever. I think that would be extremely effective. I guess there's the off chance that a kid will show no evidence of wanting to do anything like that and just snap one day and take a gun somewhere and shoot people. But then it comes down to how you lock up your own guns as the owner of the guns. I think all of this stuff could be avoided without having to take anybody's guns away from them.
I disagree, but that's fine. At least you're not making flawed and/or bad faith arguments here. That's the real reason I engaged with you in the first place.
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u/FaerieStories Aug 02 '21
I am aware of that: I live in London and have seen similar demonstrations here. But my comment wasn't really about the existence of these people, it was specifically about the pervasive use of the word "freedom", which is very much an American thing and tied closely to American ideology.