Xpost from Good Reads:The uncomfortable truth about gun rights supporters–sometimes they are right

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016161497

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/22/gun-rights-supporters-national-rifle-association-nra

The uncomfortable truth about gun rights supporters – sometimes they are right
Lois Beckett

...Let the record show: calm, reasonable, friendly Americans also believe in gun rights...

...As incomplete and imprecise as much gun data is, the bigger picture is clear: most guns are not being used in crimes. Most gun owners are not committing crimes.

Even David Hemenway, a leading public health researcher who is skeptical of how many good things are done with guns, concedes this point.

“The large majority of gun owners aren’t going to do anything good or bad for public health with their guns this year,” he said.

[PJMcK]

1. Most gun owners probably don't fire their weapons too often

While I am not a gun owner, I'm acquainted with many people who are and from casual conversations, I've gotten the impression that many gun owners don't think about their weapons all that much. In fact, several neighbors have told me that they go to a range 2 or 3 times a year, clean their weapons and store them safely.

Perhaps the loudest voices in the gun rights debate are a relatively small percentage of gun rights advocates. Clearly, the NRA is a small but loud and powerful lobby, but even many gun owners reject their militant positions. I've read that 90% of Americans are in support of some kind of stricter gun control laws, i.e., more substantial background checks. Could this anecdotal experience be reflective of any general trends? I don't now but I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts.

[Straw Man]

9. A questionable stat.

I've read that 90% of Americans are in support of some kind of stricter gun control laws, i.e., more substantial background checks.

The problem I have with this figure is that it comes from polls whose respondents are, in many cases, unaware of what the laws currently are. Their opinion on whether they should be stricter is absolutely baseless. It's simply a matter of faith.

[benEzra]

12. The NRA is only a very small part of the issue.

I believe the NRA has about 5 million members, whereas over 20 million Americans own "assault weapons" (or far more if you use the proposed new California definition), and 50+ million own over-10-round magazines. Probably 75-80 million own guns that are banned in Australia. For perspective, about 16 million Americans hunt in a given year.

I think guns would be a lot less front-and-center in the national conversation if the prohibitionists weren't constantly trying to ban the lawful ownership of the most popular ones.

[sanatanadharma]

2. Uncomfortable truth, many causes of gun violence...

Uncomfortable truth, many causes of gun violence...

...but only one constant, the wielder of the gun!

Perhaps the wielder of the gun...
...didn't know it was loaded
...didn't expect the bullet to go through the wall
...thought the backyard shooting range was safe
...was radicalized by ISIS
...never expected the kids to find it
...was radicalized by Christian LGBT hate sermons
...woke from a PTSD dream to find a dead wife
...was radicalized by racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynist, conspiracy deluded neighbors
...was mentally unbalanced
...was jaded by onscreen violence and sought a better 'rush'
...was radicalized by NRAterrorist leaders
...needed a bigger ego
...needed to blow out own ego's brains

WHATEVER- the gun is the constant

Gun violence is a public health issue
Gun violence is carried by gun wielders
Until our leaders figure out what is going on in this country, gun wielders need to be profiled and quarantined,
until shown that they are not a public health risk

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. "...gun wielders need to be profiled and quarantined" Would that include the ones that...

...haven't committed a crime?

[DonP]

4. Sure, that whole 4th and 5th amendment thing is overrated

Funny how the same folk that don't like the 2nd aren't too fond of the others either, when it comes to firearms and their owners?

[sarisataka]

6. The Constitution and

BoR is merely a guide to the control mindset

Truthfully, I'm not much on the Constitution in that it was written by folks talking about freedom and liberty who went home to beat and rape their slaves. I believe it little better than a guide and is open to interpretation in the context of the current time.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7940735

[friendly_iconoclast]

7. How very ...unsurprising. Off to the Gun Control's Greatest Hits page with that one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11729858

[sarisataka]

5. Would you like us

Gun wielders (owners) to wear an identifying symbol on our clothing until we are all safely quarantined in ghettos?

[jonno99]

8. Nope - the one constant is the wielder of the gun - attacking the innocent.

Because more often than not, the "problem" gun wielder is stopped by - wait for it - another person wielding a gun. And if this is true, how can GUNS be "THE problem" when they are often "THE solution"? They can't be both.

Which brings us back to focusing on the INDIVIDUAL. The Orlando shooting high-lighted a significant failure of law-enforcement. They had the guy, but they let him go and then stopped surveilling him. THIS failure is what we need to get to the bottom of...

[Eleanors38]

10. Gainesville, Florida had a quarantine for yellow fever in 1888...

People were not allowed to leave the (then small) city while exhibing symptoms of the lethal disease. Enforcement was "executed" where rail lines intersected the city limits using a deputy armed with a shotgun; hence the expression "shotgun quarantine."

[ileus]

11. gun wielders need to be profiled and quarantined...now that's progressive thinking.