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[quote=Anonymous]We’re the only country in the world where people argue with a straight face that the Constitution requires us to sacrifice countless lives to gun deaths every year so that a subset of the population can feel secure.  It’s ghoulish.

We’re told that we can’t have background checks or red flag laws because they might inconvenience law abiding gun owners.  But conservatives have no problem punishing other innocent people to prevent crime.  When you object to, for example, ICE sweeping up law abiding immigrants alongside violent criminals, you’re told that it’s too bad but the very fact they were arrested means they must also be violent criminals, and it’s just an unfortunate byproduct of cleaning up the streets.  Somehow, it’s always other people paying the price for conservatives to feel secure.

When commonly available items start being used to commit crimes, we don’t hide behind thoughts and prayers. We don’t say “oh well, criminals will always find a way, so we shouldn’t do anything”. We put up restrictions and roadblocks to make them less easy to obtain.  You need an ID to buy spray paint and Sudafed.  Tylenol now comes in tamper-proof bottles.  Guns shouldn’t be any different.

The truth is, guns rarely get used in violent crimes.  Firearms are involved in about 5% of rapes, 11% of aggravated assaults, and 17% of robberies (US Dept of Justice data from 2018).  Three quarters of the victims involved in those crimes end up with no gunshot wounds.  Criminals generally use guns for intimidation and compliance, not homicide.  The majority of fatalities actually occur within the home (60%).  A non gun owner who lives with a gun owner is seven times more likely to be killed by that gun, whether it’s DV, suicide, or accident.  Using crime as an excuse to stonewall is a red herring.

I don’t accept any of the standard arguments for why we can do absolutely nothing about gun violence.  I don’t even accept the thoughts and prayers.  They ring hollow from politicians who do absolutely nothing to fix the problem, and a gun industry that sees profits soar every time there’s a mass shooting.[/quote]

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