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).
Well said, a masterful summary. And you offer solutions rather than just angst, lately I’ve been seeing far too much of the latter and literally none of the former.
Several years ago I posted something on FB about gun death(s). A friend (ex-military) responded that "I didn't trust him with guns." I remember thinking that he was one of three people on Earth that I did trust with guns, and that I lived with the other two. Rather than get into an argument, I responded that I was against people who hadn't passed high school physics having guns. In my city at the time, every New Year's day, an infant had a head wound (at least) from a bullet that "fell from the sky." Or someone in an apartment complex would die from a gunshot because the neighbors got into a gun fight. In these cases, the stoopid not only burns, but it kills. After explaining this he, his gun-owning friends and I got into a discussion about how sensible gun laws might work. We didn't totally agree on everything, but we could converse and see each other's views. Yeah, I'm still kind of proud of that discussion - on FB no less!
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).
And here I am again, thinking about something from a different angle. 🤔
Well said, a masterful summary. And you offer solutions rather than just angst, lately I’ve been seeing far too much of the latter and literally none of the former.
Amazing post and so true. Jack Hopkins for president!!!
Several years ago I posted something on FB about gun death(s). A friend (ex-military) responded that "I didn't trust him with guns." I remember thinking that he was one of three people on Earth that I did trust with guns, and that I lived with the other two. Rather than get into an argument, I responded that I was against people who hadn't passed high school physics having guns. In my city at the time, every New Year's day, an infant had a head wound (at least) from a bullet that "fell from the sky." Or someone in an apartment complex would die from a gunshot because the neighbors got into a gun fight. In these cases, the stoopid not only burns, but it kills. After explaining this he, his gun-owning friends and I got into a discussion about how sensible gun laws might work. We didn't totally agree on everything, but we could converse and see each other's views. Yeah, I'm still kind of proud of that discussion - on FB no less!