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I would be really interested to see statistics about this. I hypothesize that the prevalence of "violent lunatics" is a bigger factor than availability of weapo

by bo1024 9y ago

I would be really interested to see statistics about this. I hypothesize that the prevalence of "violent lunatics" is a bigger factor than availability of weapons, i.e. that the US just has more of these people than other places due to something in the media and culture. In other words, if availability of guns were really the most important factor, then wouldn't we expect Europe to have a similar number of attacks but conducted with knives, cars, etc? Do you think there are a number of europeans out there with the desire to commit these acts, and would do so if they only could get a gun more easily? I'm skeptical. That isn't to say I think gun control would hurt, just that I see a deeper problem it wouldn't solve.

yashap 9y ago
IMO it’s both - America has a lot of violent lunatics, and extremely available guns, which exacerbates the issue. If your society has few violent lunatics, you can probably handle available guns with few additional deaths, but this is clearly not the case in America, where guns are used by psychopaths to kill other Americans at an exceptionally high rate for a developed nation. Largely removing violent lunatics from society is a way tougher problem than largely removing guns - there are good blueprints to follow re: removing guns, like Australia and the UK. The big impediment here is that guns are deeply engrained in American culture, plus an amendment to the constitution from the late 1700s that is arguably very out of date today. I do understand why America won’t ban or heavily restrict guns, but I strongly disagree with it, and find it sad that Americans are willing to let so many innocents die out of a mix of “don’t take my toys” and “anti-government paranoia.”
reitanqild 9y ago
> In other words, if availability of guns were really the most important factor, then wouldn't we expect Europe to have a similar number of attacks but conducted with knives, cars, etc? Depending on how you count, here's some support for this (argument against at the end): A number of European countries has or has had large numbers of actual assault rifles (not the semi automatic ones that are legal in USA) distributed in the population. Switzerland, Austria and Norway are three countries I know have or have had this. Neither has had this school/church/mall shooting thing that USA has. On the other hand these weapons weren't sold, they were distributed only after mandatory training.
Faark 9y ago
There probably has a huge cultural factor that people think at first of a gun as solution to their problem. Why not a bomb? Or poison? Or car? Burn down target property? So much options, but US culture seems to strongly favor guns. There is more than just availability. Glorification of guns (and solving problems using them) in US media might play a huge influence, and as a leading cultural influence might lead to similar problems else were in the world. But yeah, I'd love to see real studies about that. But those won't be easy, including the funding part...

by bo1024 9y ago

yashap 9y ago

IMO it’s both - America has a lot of violent lunatics, and extremely available guns, which exacerbates the issue. If your society has few violent lunatics, you can probably handle available guns with few additional deaths, but this is clearly not the case in America, where guns are used by psychopaths to kill other Americans at an exceptionally high rate for a developed nation. Largely removing violent lunatics from society is a way tougher problem than largely removing guns - there are good blueprints to follow re: removing guns, like Australia and the UK. The big impediment here is that guns are deeply engrained in American culture, plus an amendment to the constitution from the late 1700s that is arguably very out of date today. I do understand why America won’t ban or heavily restrict guns, but I strongly disagree with it, and find it sad that Americans are willing to let so many innocents die out of a mix of “don’t take my toys” and “anti-government paranoia.”

reitanqild 9y ago

> In other words, if availability of guns were really the most important factor, then wouldn't we expect Europe to have a similar number of attacks but conducted with knives, cars, etc? Depending on how you count, here's some support for this (argument against at the end): A number of European countries has or has had large numbers of actual assault rifles (not the semi automatic ones that are legal in USA) distributed in the population. Switzerland, Austria and Norway are three countries I know have or have had this. Neither has had this school/church/mall shooting thing that USA has. On the other hand these weapons weren't sold, they were distributed only after mandatory training.

Faark 9y ago

There probably has a huge cultural factor that people think at first of a gun as solution to their problem. Why not a bomb? Or poison? Or car? Burn down target property? So much options, but US culture seems to strongly favor guns. There is more than just availability. Glorification of guns (and solving problems using them) in US media might play a huge influence, and as a leading cultural influence might lead to similar problems else were in the world. But yeah, I'd love to see real studies about that. But those won't be easy, including the funding part...