I think the conclusion would be "the more guns we have, the less safe our communities." I say that as an owner of multiple firearms who hunts and target shoots and is never far from a gun. I've been through numerous firearm safety classes and always had a healthy respect for guns ever since as a kid I got a hold of my dad's .22 pistol and accidentally blew a hole in the floor at my feet. Didn't know it was loaded and didn't check--scared the hell out of me. Anyway, according to a PEW research study the majority of gun owners, about three-quarters (72%) say that protection is a major reason they own a gun. Considerably smaller shares say that a major reason they own a gun is for hunting (32%), for sport shooting (30%), as part of a gun collection (15%) or for their job (7%). Nobody knows exactly how many guns are in circulation, but according to the ATF in 1996 there were approximately 242 million guns in circulation, by 2009 it was 310 million and in 2022 other sources estimate that it's around 493 million. However one feels about gun violence or gun ownership or the 2nd amendment or what's the appropriate requirement for registration and/or training, it's clear that more guns equals less safe.
120 guns per 100 people in the US, so 120%. More guns than people. The next closest is the Falkland islands at 62% and they were invaded within the last century.
I believe this can be solved without trampling the 2nd amendment. Because in 2010 gun ownership was at an all time low of 20% and the constitution didn't change between them and now, so what did?
My hypothesis on the change:
Demand side: Political campaigns, click bait and 24hr news ramping up the fear. A gnerational decline in wealth (relative to other citizens, not the world) ramping up insecurity, tribalism/nationalism/xenophobia and delusions of heroic grandure.
Supply side: Gun companies learning how to market towards that fear, insecurity and nationalism/tribalism (see prepper or patriotic type marketing as examples).
I think the lowest hanging fruit would be to adress how guns are marketed and sold (not a ban). For example, I would argue that guns called "the patriot", "the defender", etc... being sold outside of gun stores are tactics that specifically target the most vulnerable and can be fought with existing legal channels. Like we did with cigarettes and minors.
I believe that it is the daily diligence of law enforcement and the people at large who make America a safe place to have and use firearms. We have seen that in every city where guns are severely restricted, that it is the "Average Joe" who is most likely to get shot by illegal guns. I used to live in Chicago and it was so hard to get a gun the legal way, that the only ones who had them were gangsters and thugs. There were areas which the police had given up on because they are outgunned by the illegal gun users.
I think gun safety is the number one deterrent to illegal transfers and accidental shootings. There are plenty of ways to secure a gun which mean it can be at hand and still safe. If you cannot safely store a gun, then I believe that you cannot safely have a gun. There needs to be classes in schools about gun safety I think, because the average person is misinformed about how to make a gun safe and check the gun or who to call if you come upon one.
I also think that the mental health of the people purchasing guns should be questioned as well. I could even see the need for a drug test before purchase so that we aren't feeding that part of society. I cannot believe that a background check would be able to miss a person who is mentally unstable or on drugs and previously caught, but I don't actually know what information they gather and how it makes us safer.
While we are talking about PEW research, in 2021, 54% of deaths were suicides which means that over half of the people were mentally unstable. In fact, since 1968, Suicides have been leading murders as the causes of deaths by firearms. It is sickening that mental health is not a part of the criteria for gun ownership, but on the other hand in the current political climate of the last 2 decades if we implement something now it will be used to deny ownership based on political affiliation. There are blatant injustices perpetrated by both political parties, but it gets more totalitarian every year.
Children and Teens are getting killed because they are mentally unstable, have ready access to guns, and aren't properly trained to handle them safely. The Pandemic is being blamed for the gun death spike during the same time, but it is really just the depression which the pandemic and totalitarian control brought about which pushed these kids over the edge and into suicide. Kids and Teens need the support of their parents and friends, and social isolation is still being felt as the suicide rate has not diminished much. It will spike again when the next lockdown happens and out government doesn't care at all. The Parents of these kids are so out of touch that these kids are feeling abandoned. That doesn't go away because we declare a pandemic over.
I would also like to note that in 2018 the CDC changed the definition of race as reported for gun deaths and in 2022 more Black kids died, per capita, than White kids. Even though the CDC says that Black kids are 20X more likely to die than White kids. Again, we see the weaponization of data by a government organization with the aim of removing guns from citizens. What happened to a government "For the People"?
I recommend getting your news from a trusted, (mostly) unbiased source like Ground News App or Redacted YT. I am impressed with Dakota Scout for their coverage of a wide range of topics as well. This is the only news outlet I pay for and it is worth the money.
I was agreeing with about everything you said but then you lost me at this paragraph.
"I would also like to note that in 2018 the CDC changed the definition of race as reported for gun deaths and in ...(snip)..."
I'm not sure I understand what you were saying in that paragraph.
That aside, thanks for the interesting news source links. Ground news reminds me of boringreport.org. It's wonderful to see these new aggregation projects fighting back. I personally subscribe to thenewpaper.co for my daily news as it limits the amount of time I spend on the news and doesn't have endless scrolling.
I think the conclusion would be "the more guns we have, the less safe our communities." I say that as an owner of multiple firearms who hunts and target shoots and is never far from a gun. I've been through numerous firearm safety classes and always had a healthy respect for guns ever since as a kid I got a hold of my dad's .22 pistol and accidentally blew a hole in the floor at my feet. Didn't know it was loaded and didn't check--scared the hell out of me. Anyway, according to a PEW research study the majority of gun owners, about three-quarters (72%) say that protection is a major reason they own a gun. Considerably smaller shares say that a major reason they own a gun is for hunting (32%), for sport shooting (30%), as part of a gun collection (15%) or for their job (7%). Nobody knows exactly how many guns are in circulation, but according to the ATF in 1996 there were approximately 242 million guns in circulation, by 2009 it was 310 million and in 2022 other sources estimate that it's around 493 million. However one feels about gun violence or gun ownership or the 2nd amendment or what's the appropriate requirement for registration and/or training, it's clear that more guns equals less safe.
120 guns per 100 people in the US, so 120%. More guns than people. The next closest is the Falkland islands at 62% and they were invaded within the last century.
I believe this can be solved without trampling the 2nd amendment. Because in 2010 gun ownership was at an all time low of 20% and the constitution didn't change between them and now, so what did?
My hypothesis on the change:
Demand side: Political campaigns, click bait and 24hr news ramping up the fear. A gnerational decline in wealth (relative to other citizens, not the world) ramping up insecurity, tribalism/nationalism/xenophobia and delusions of heroic grandure.
Supply side: Gun companies learning how to market towards that fear, insecurity and nationalism/tribalism (see prepper or patriotic type marketing as examples).
I think the lowest hanging fruit would be to adress how guns are marketed and sold (not a ban). For example, I would argue that guns called "the patriot", "the defender", etc... being sold outside of gun stores are tactics that specifically target the most vulnerable and can be fought with existing legal channels. Like we did with cigarettes and minors.
I believe that it is the daily diligence of law enforcement and the people at large who make America a safe place to have and use firearms. We have seen that in every city where guns are severely restricted, that it is the "Average Joe" who is most likely to get shot by illegal guns. I used to live in Chicago and it was so hard to get a gun the legal way, that the only ones who had them were gangsters and thugs. There were areas which the police had given up on because they are outgunned by the illegal gun users.
I think gun safety is the number one deterrent to illegal transfers and accidental shootings. There are plenty of ways to secure a gun which mean it can be at hand and still safe. If you cannot safely store a gun, then I believe that you cannot safely have a gun. There needs to be classes in schools about gun safety I think, because the average person is misinformed about how to make a gun safe and check the gun or who to call if you come upon one.
I also think that the mental health of the people purchasing guns should be questioned as well. I could even see the need for a drug test before purchase so that we aren't feeding that part of society. I cannot believe that a background check would be able to miss a person who is mentally unstable or on drugs and previously caught, but I don't actually know what information they gather and how it makes us safer.
While we are talking about PEW research, in 2021, 54% of deaths were suicides which means that over half of the people were mentally unstable. In fact, since 1968, Suicides have been leading murders as the causes of deaths by firearms. It is sickening that mental health is not a part of the criteria for gun ownership, but on the other hand in the current political climate of the last 2 decades if we implement something now it will be used to deny ownership based on political affiliation. There are blatant injustices perpetrated by both political parties, but it gets more totalitarian every year.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-read/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
This is the site I got some info from. It is biased against gun owners, but they make a lot of nice graphs.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/cdc-provisional-data-gun-suicides-reach-all-time-high-in-2022-gun-homicides-down-slightly-from-2021
Children and Teens are getting killed because they are mentally unstable, have ready access to guns, and aren't properly trained to handle them safely. The Pandemic is being blamed for the gun death spike during the same time, but it is really just the depression which the pandemic and totalitarian control brought about which pushed these kids over the edge and into suicide. Kids and Teens need the support of their parents and friends, and social isolation is still being felt as the suicide rate has not diminished much. It will spike again when the next lockdown happens and out government doesn't care at all. The Parents of these kids are so out of touch that these kids are feeling abandoned. That doesn't go away because we declare a pandemic over.
I would also like to note that in 2018 the CDC changed the definition of race as reported for gun deaths and in 2022 more Black kids died, per capita, than White kids. Even though the CDC says that Black kids are 20X more likely to die than White kids. Again, we see the weaponization of data by a government organization with the aim of removing guns from citizens. What happened to a government "For the People"?
I recommend getting your news from a trusted, (mostly) unbiased source like Ground News App or Redacted YT. I am impressed with Dakota Scout for their coverage of a wide range of topics as well. This is the only news outlet I pay for and it is worth the money.
I was agreeing with about everything you said but then you lost me at this paragraph.
"I would also like to note that in 2018 the CDC changed the definition of race as reported for gun deaths and in ...(snip)..."
I'm not sure I understand what you were saying in that paragraph.
That aside, thanks for the interesting news source links. Ground news reminds me of boringreport.org. It's wonderful to see these new aggregation projects fighting back. I personally subscribe to thenewpaper.co for my daily news as it limits the amount of time I spend on the news and doesn't have endless scrolling.