4 ms·

I would be for (and think it could pass) psych evals for those under 25 if we paired it with allowing anyone over 18 who passed to buy guns. We could do better

by Veelox 9y ago

I would be for (and think it could pass) psych evals for those under 25 if we paired it with allowing anyone over 18 who passed to buy guns. We could do better on background checks but the devil is in the details. There is no way police checking storage at any time would pass at the federal level and I am doubtful it would have a noticeable effect on gun deaths but I could be convinced otherwise.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
We already allow anyone over 18 to buy guns, without the psych evals. > There is no way police checking storage at any time would pass at the federal level and I am doubtful it would have a noticeable effect on gun deaths but I could be convinced otherwise. German statistics say otherwise. I love how pro-gun arguments are always "Ya it worked in country X, but it wouldn't work in the USA because we are third world" or something like that.
- Veelox 9y ago
  There is currently a restriction for selling handguns to people under 21. >German statistics say otherwise. I completely believe that the totality of German gun laws help reduce gun deaths. What I am specifically unsure of is how police checks of storage influence gun deaths. My initial assumption is that they would cause a <1% reduction in gun deaths but I don't have any data backing up that assumption so I could be persuaded that it would have a larger effect.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    One of the common argument of the pro-gun crowd is that gun control doesn't work because criminals who would fail background checks still manage to get guns...e.g. they get them from friends or they still them from houses. Or to say "the criminals will easily get guns, while those law abiding citizens will find it hard time getting guns to protect themselves." Gun storage laws (and smart gun laws if the NRA would allow them) are designed specifically to address that. If gun storage laws only lead to a 1% reduction in gun deaths, (mostly via suicide via dad's gun), then they are totally worth it. I'm sure the effectiveness is a bit higher than that.

by Veelox 9y ago

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

We already allow anyone over 18 to buy guns, without the psych evals. > There is no way police checking storage at any time would pass at the federal level and I am doubtful it would have a noticeable effect on gun deaths but I could be convinced otherwise. German statistics say otherwise. I love how pro-gun arguments are always "Ya it worked in country X, but it wouldn't work in the USA because we are third world" or something like that.

Veelox 9y ago
There is currently a restriction for selling handguns to people under 21. >German statistics say otherwise. I completely believe that the totality of German gun laws help reduce gun deaths. What I am specifically unsure of is how police checks of storage influence gun deaths. My initial assumption is that they would cause a <1% reduction in gun deaths but I don't have any data backing up that assumption so I could be persuaded that it would have a larger effect.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  One of the common argument of the pro-gun crowd is that gun control doesn't work because criminals who would fail background checks still manage to get guns...e.g. they get them from friends or they still them from houses. Or to say "the criminals will easily get guns, while those law abiding citizens will find it hard time getting guns to protect themselves." Gun storage laws (and smart gun laws if the NRA would allow them) are designed specifically to address that. If gun storage laws only lead to a 1% reduction in gun deaths, (mostly via suicide via dad's gun), then they are totally worth it. I'm sure the effectiveness is a bit higher than that.