Accountability is the real sticking point. Large numbers of people want personal accountability for others but not for themselves if it infringes on their "rights". "It's my second amendment right to own a gun, and you can't tell me I have to have a gun safe, pass a mental health screening, have a gun safe, have liability insurance, submit to inspections", and all of the myriad other responsibilities Switzerland imposes on gun owners. Too many people fail to understand that rights come with responsibilities, and if you fail to live up to the responsibilities there will be consequences.
Very thought provoking article. In the case of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband -- I don't blame the gun -- I blame the shooter's politics and religion (which have become one and the same). The guns I do blame are military style assault weapons which are designed to kill and to used by a well regulated militia (the military) and not by every Joe and Josephine Schmoe who have a gun fetish. IMO there is absolutely no place in a civilized society for those weapons to be in the hands of the public. And I blame the politicians, the NRA and other gun lobbyists for fetishizing weapons rather than teaching respect for them and insisting on constant training on gun safety (just like as a driver I have to renew by driver's license and now that I'm over 70 will have to take a test of the laws around driving, and as a mental health professional I have to get 36 continuing education hours between my license renewal every 2 years).
Accountability is the real sticking point. Large numbers of people want personal accountability for others but not for themselves if it infringes on their "rights". "It's my second amendment right to own a gun, and you can't tell me I have to have a gun safe, pass a mental health screening, have a gun safe, have liability insurance, submit to inspections", and all of the myriad other responsibilities Switzerland imposes on gun owners. Too many people fail to understand that rights come with responsibilities, and if you fail to live up to the responsibilities there will be consequences.
And here I am again, thinking about something from a different angle. 🤔
Very thought provoking article. In the case of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband -- I don't blame the gun -- I blame the shooter's politics and religion (which have become one and the same). The guns I do blame are military style assault weapons which are designed to kill and to used by a well regulated militia (the military) and not by every Joe and Josephine Schmoe who have a gun fetish. IMO there is absolutely no place in a civilized society for those weapons to be in the hands of the public. And I blame the politicians, the NRA and other gun lobbyists for fetishizing weapons rather than teaching respect for them and insisting on constant training on gun safety (just like as a driver I have to renew by driver's license and now that I'm over 70 will have to take a test of the laws around driving, and as a mental health professional I have to get 36 continuing education hours between my license renewal every 2 years).