America is the only rich democracy that features the routine mass slaughter of its citizens with guns. Why does this happen? The data show a really clear picture: It's the guns. Yes, it's that simple.
Brian, as Earl Landgrebe said re: Nixon, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve got a closed mind.” It has never been about “facts” but a religious fervor that freedom means, “I can own a gun and shoot anybody or anything I like.” I live in N FL and this is the attitude.
Of course, the second amendment says nothing about the right to “bear arms” but it is about a well regulated militia. So we have a large militia but is not regulated at all. But don’t tell anybody that as they cannot be bothered with reading the foundational documents of their own country.
Growing up and listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd the song Saturday Night Special is the most anti-gun song I have ever heard. “Hand guns are made for killing, they ain’t no good for nothing else.” Wonder if Ronnie Van Zant would be disowned by Jacksonville for that sentiment today? Of course these are the same people who think Sweet Home Alabama is laudatory when it is actually tearing it down for the racism of George Wallace and praising Muscle Shoals recording studios which was integrated and open to all musicians.
In the end, as my old boss once said, “you can’t have an argument with somebody who has religion” and the entire GOP and gun owners in this country have religion, data and facts don’t matter, and they simply “believe”
I fear for the US and that it’s time is passing and becoming a parody of Idiocracy
I do not agree with your position on gun control, I own dozens of them. I do not commit crimes. I will not ever give them up, even with facing the prospect of death or imprisonment in order to keep them. With that said, great article and reasoning for your position! I pretty much disagree with all of your political positions but you are a fantastic writer ...keep up the engaging content.
Thanks, Brian. I strongly recommend this article on a recent study of gun violence in the U.S. from the American Nations Lab. Led by Colin Woodard, it demonstrates that gun violence is driven by the overall cultural attitudes that prevail in different regions of the US federation (see Woodard’s 2011 book American Nations for his whole thesis of regional ethno-nationalism.)
Money quote: “Understanding how these historical forces affect policy issues — from gun control to Covid-19 responses — can provide important insights into how to craft interventions that might make us all safer and happier. Building coalitions for gun reform at both the state and federal level would benefit from regionally tailored messaging that acknowledged traditions and attitudes around guns and the appropriate use of deadly violence are much deeper than mere party allegiance. ‘A famous Scot once said “let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws,” because culture is extremely powerful,’ says Carl T. Bogus of Roger Williams University School of Law, who is a second amendment scholar. ‘Culture drives politics, law and policy. It is amazingly durable, and you have to take it into account.’”
Brian, as Earl Landgrebe said re: Nixon, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve got a closed mind.” It has never been about “facts” but a religious fervor that freedom means, “I can own a gun and shoot anybody or anything I like.” I live in N FL and this is the attitude.
Of course, the second amendment says nothing about the right to “bear arms” but it is about a well regulated militia. So we have a large militia but is not regulated at all. But don’t tell anybody that as they cannot be bothered with reading the foundational documents of their own country.
Growing up and listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd the song Saturday Night Special is the most anti-gun song I have ever heard. “Hand guns are made for killing, they ain’t no good for nothing else.” Wonder if Ronnie Van Zant would be disowned by Jacksonville for that sentiment today? Of course these are the same people who think Sweet Home Alabama is laudatory when it is actually tearing it down for the racism of George Wallace and praising Muscle Shoals recording studios which was integrated and open to all musicians.
In the end, as my old boss once said, “you can’t have an argument with somebody who has religion” and the entire GOP and gun owners in this country have religion, data and facts don’t matter, and they simply “believe”
I fear for the US and that it’s time is passing and becoming a parody of Idiocracy
I do not agree with your position on gun control, I own dozens of them. I do not commit crimes. I will not ever give them up, even with facing the prospect of death or imprisonment in order to keep them. With that said, great article and reasoning for your position! I pretty much disagree with all of your political positions but you are a fantastic writer ...keep up the engaging content.
The one argument I didn’t see (might have skimmed past it) I need a gun to shoot the shooter…
Thanks, Brian. I strongly recommend this article on a recent study of gun violence in the U.S. from the American Nations Lab. Led by Colin Woodard, it demonstrates that gun violence is driven by the overall cultural attitudes that prevail in different regions of the US federation (see Woodard’s 2011 book American Nations for his whole thesis of regional ethno-nationalism.)
Money quote: “Understanding how these historical forces affect policy issues — from gun control to Covid-19 responses — can provide important insights into how to craft interventions that might make us all safer and happier. Building coalitions for gun reform at both the state and federal level would benefit from regionally tailored messaging that acknowledged traditions and attitudes around guns and the appropriate use of deadly violence are much deeper than mere party allegiance. ‘A famous Scot once said “let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws,” because culture is extremely powerful,’ says Carl T. Bogus of Roger Williams University School of Law, who is a second amendment scholar. ‘Culture drives politics, law and policy. It is amazingly durable, and you have to take it into account.’”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413