7 ms·

For all of the "freedom" we have as Americans, there are many areas much of the rest of the western world does things better. Not getting political, but just fa

by SEJeff 4y ago

For all of the "freedom" we have as Americans, there are many areas much of the rest of the western world does things better. Not getting political, but just factually... check out gun violence statistics next.

IncRnd 4y ago
Check out knife statistics in China. They don't have school shootings but mass school knifings.
- fellowniusmonk 4y ago
  A cursory google pulled this wikipedia article up (linked below), and it makes it seem like mass knifings are generally rare and generally less destructive compared to north american shootings. Do you have an article or graph (per capita or absolute) of deaths comparing the two countries you could point to for more info? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China
helloworld11 4y ago
Gun violence stats in the U.S. have little to do with easy legal access to guns itself. Other factors, especially demographic ones, influence. Note that many states with very light gun laws have little gun homicide, other states with strict gun laws have high gun homicide rates and sometimes it's completely vice versa. Furthermore, if you look at the FBI's uniform crime statistics, the picture gets a bit clearer still, showing that the vast majority of gun crime happens in very specific areas of certain cities and particularly occurs among the African American community. I'm simply stating the numbers as they appear here, not making any judgments on any ethnic group per se. People love to point at the U.S and its gun crimes as a direct result of the country's gun laws in particular, but overall, when certain very specific factors, population areas and very specific geographic regions are excluded, much of the country where guns of all kinds are easily available is barely more violent than your typical Western European country. The school shootings that people refer to are awful things, but statistically, they don't move any needle so much as an iota. They do however get enormous amounts of media attention. Other countries with very strict gun laws also have mass shootings and mass killings, both with guns and without guns, but again, less media focus because it doesn't fit certain narratives about the U.S being violent as hell because of gun posession.
- FredPret 4y ago
  How many kids have to get shot before you consider it “statistically significant”?
  - helloworld11 4y ago
    I don't know. That would depend on whatever number is necessary for it to register in a statistically significant way. Tongue in cheek aside, it's incredibly stupid to make sweeping, broad, categorical judgments of certain things because of isolated, exceedingly rare incidents. It's even dumber to make broad, sweeping laws around emotional reactions such as yours to such events. Every school shooting is a grotesque tragedy, but means of fighting them exist that don't require gun ownership to be banned for the millions of people who not only peacefully use guns but also in some cases need them for an assortment of reasons. "What about the children?" has rarely been a good or honest argument for anything, particularly for badly considered laws pushed forth by bouts of moral indignation and self-righteousness.
    - FredPret 4y ago
      You can argue all you like, but American kids have been dying in much larger numbers than they should, in a way that happens only in America, and not a thing has been done about it. Saying it's not an issue because it doesn't kill a significant percentage of kids is monstrous. Even among rabid USA fans like me, American prestige is currently falling like a brick.
      - helloworld11 4y ago
        I happen to live in a country where civilian ownership of guns is strictly controlled and mostly forbidden. Despite this, in this country, many kids die because of gun violence, more than in the U.S in both absolute numbers and proportionally. "In a way that happens only in America" is simply misleading and shows how the media narrative I mentioned in my original comment influences your thinking.. All things have tradeoffs, even those that can sometimes be tragic. You're basing extremely broad generalizations on emotional reactions to what really are isolated tragedies.

by SEJeff 4y ago

IncRnd 4y ago

Check out knife statistics in China. They don't have school shootings but mass school knifings.

fellowniusmonk 4y ago
A cursory google pulled this wikipedia article up (linked below), and it makes it seem like mass knifings are generally rare and generally less destructive compared to north american shootings. Do you have an article or graph (per capita or absolute) of deaths comparing the two countries you could point to for more info? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China

helloworld11 4y ago

Gun violence stats in the U.S. have little to do with easy legal access to guns itself. Other factors, especially demographic ones, influence. Note that many states with very light gun laws have little gun homicide, other states with strict gun laws have high gun homicide rates and sometimes it's completely vice versa. Furthermore, if you look at the FBI's uniform crime statistics, the picture gets a bit clearer still, showing that the vast majority of gun crime happens in very specific areas of certain cities and particularly occurs among the African American community. I'm simply stating the numbers as they appear here, not making any judgments on any ethnic group per se. People love to point at the U.S and its gun crimes as a direct result of the country's gun laws in particular, but overall, when certain very specific factors, population areas and very specific geographic regions are excluded, much of the country where guns of all kinds are easily available is barely more violent than your typical Western European country. The school shootings that people refer to are awful things, but statistically, they don't move any needle so much as an iota. They do however get enormous amounts of media attention. Other countries with very strict gun laws also have mass shootings and mass killings, both with guns and without guns, but again, less media focus because it doesn't fit certain narratives about the U.S being violent as hell because of gun posession.

FredPret 4y ago
How many kids have to get shot before you consider it “statistically significant”?
- helloworld11 4y ago
  I don't know. That would depend on whatever number is necessary for it to register in a statistically significant way. Tongue in cheek aside, it's incredibly stupid to make sweeping, broad, categorical judgments of certain things because of isolated, exceedingly rare incidents. It's even dumber to make broad, sweeping laws around emotional reactions such as yours to such events. Every school shooting is a grotesque tragedy, but means of fighting them exist that don't require gun ownership to be banned for the millions of people who not only peacefully use guns but also in some cases need them for an assortment of reasons. "What about the children?" has rarely been a good or honest argument for anything, particularly for badly considered laws pushed forth by bouts of moral indignation and self-righteousness.
  - FredPret 4y ago
    You can argue all you like, but American kids have been dying in much larger numbers than they should, in a way that happens only in America, and not a thing has been done about it. Saying it's not an issue because it doesn't kill a significant percentage of kids is monstrous. Even among rabid USA fans like me, American prestige is currently falling like a brick.
    - helloworld11 4y ago
      I happen to live in a country where civilian ownership of guns is strictly controlled and mostly forbidden. Despite this, in this country, many kids die because of gun violence, more than in the U.S in both absolute numbers and proportionally. "In a way that happens only in America" is simply misleading and shows how the media narrative I mentioned in my original comment influences your thinking.. All things have tradeoffs, even those that can sometimes be tragic. You're basing extremely broad generalizations on emotional reactions to what really are isolated tragedies.