I've seen a lot more than usual in the media about guns in the United States recently - do you guys think something is changing or is it still just the same ongoing argument?
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I've seen a lot more than usual in the media about guns in the United States recently - do you guys think something is changing or is it still just the same ongoing argument?
nothing changing
Not until gun sales in America drop significantly enough to weaken the NRA's war chest
The NRA is too strong and has too much support from both politicians and right wing psychos. There is no way that we can have any change right now, no matter how mild or sensible. It could be a while.
So how is it that they're so powerful with only 5 million members? Or is it kind of like a union, where not everyone needs to be involved to cause a lot of chaos
It's possible because they own politicians and even a lot of non-members vote their way for those politicians.
The thing is we have the even bigger problem of right wing extremist idiocy in general. Doing anything that makes sense is almost impossible in that environment.
I'm not sure gun control at this point would really do any good. Firearms have been very good for a very long time, and low prices means that anyone who wants a gun has one. Probably many. If tomorrow guns were outlawed the only people who would be giving up their guns are the people that probably weren't a concern in the first place. The criminals and the nutjobs (same thing?) would still have lots and lots and lots of guns. Such a law might prevent a newborn wacko from taking out a shopping mail in 2035 or something, but there are such huge inventories in the underworld I seriously question whether that person would really have a hard time getting one. I mean, look at drugs. There more and better drugs available every day despite being illegal. If someone wants drugs, they get drugs. Guns would be no different, and arguably more difficult to control. People with serious drug problems ultimately take themselves out of the equation anyway. People with serious gun problems likely won't until it's too late.
It may sound defeatist and maybe it is. Don't try because you'll never win. Well, I'd like folks to take a strong look at the fallout from a potential war on guns and look at what every other war on [blank] has yielded. NOTHING. The problem isn't the thing. It isn't drugs, it isn't poverty, it isn't guns. It's people. People are the problem. Teach people how to be responsible, help people take care of themselves and others, and get people the assistance they need when they break down. Taking the remote control away from your kid doesn't teach him not to sit in front of the TV. Why would taking guns (or drugs, or prostitutes, or anything else) be any more effective?
People tend to act destructively and self destructively when the environment around them is so inhospitable there is no better alternative. Yeah, plenty of them are just flat out crazy and any rational definition of hospitable is meaningless and that's certainly a difficulty. But nobody in a loving family (biological or otherwise), with a job they adore, and opportunities galore in front of them acts out in crazy ways. Identifying people who at risk of unsurmountable depression and getting them help is how you solve a society's problems, not taking toys away. If folks have good things to live for, they're going to do the best they can to protect those possible futures.
Sounds like you're thinking about this backwards.
The NRA's lobbying might (influencing politicians to vote against gun control, writing legislation that protects the ease of gun purchasing, etc.) begins with legitimate gun sales & services (ammunition makers, accessory makers, etc.) to U.S. gov't agencies, international government agencies, businesses of all sizes and citizens to gun manufacturers.
A portion of that considerable cash flow powers the NRA far more than their dues-paying members.
Just to be clear, for the record: I don't like guns, I don't own guns, and don't see any rational reason why someone would. But you gotta look at the surgery and see if the result is worth the procedure.
I believe there's something like 350 million guns in the U.S., yet only about 25% of people own them? something like that