5 ms·

Why America Fell for Guns

9 points by sorokod 3y ago

mdrzn 3y ago
"The prioritisation of individual gun rights in the US over community safety has become a danger to innocents. Americans are locked in a self-perpetuating arms race that makes all of us only less safe. The exceptional gun culture of the US demands a critical reassessment of the nation’s priorities and policies to ensure a safer future – one in which it’s known for something other than guns." Great article.
sorokod 3y ago
In a country in which tens of millions of people own guns, public safety becomes a personal responsibility, and so individuals often decide that it is in their best interest to protect themselves by buying a gun. This desire to be protected against those who have guns by getting a gun, multiplied across millions of people, has resulted in an arms race that makes everyone less safe. Reads like a runaway feedback loop.
- kozd 3y ago
  https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago
Because guns won the Revolutionary War?
- bediger4000 3y ago
  You should read the article before commenting.
  - bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago
    I did… the core of any discussion about per capita gun ownership numbers in the country starts there.
TacticalCoder 3y ago
> only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population The U.S. may have many guns per capita but countries like France, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, etc. all have huge percentage of gun owners. And let's not forget this: "It (guns) insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed."
- krapp 3y ago
  >The U.S. may have many guns per capita but countries like France, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, etc. all have huge percentage of gun owners. They also regulate and restrict guns to a degree that would be impossible in the US. And have cultures with social cohesion where rights are understood to confer responsibilities - again, impossible in the US. >"It (guns) insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed." They do no such thing. The American government has shown absolutely no compunction whatsoever about putting the boot to their citizens heads whenever it likes, be it through illegal domestic surveillance, plutocracy, experimentation on its own citizens, endless unpopular wars, unjust incarceration or a militarized police force that all but robs them openly and hunts them for sport. Indeed, recent history even demonstrates that many American gun owners will welcome authoritarianism with open arms (pun intended) so long as the boot doesn't come down on them. Guns are not a substitute for a well informed, engaged populace, and the fantasy that guns equal liberty is poisonous to society. The government fears a well informed, engaged populace. It does not give one single rat fuck about the pistol you keep under your pillow.
- 48864w6ui 3y ago
  Not sure about that last para in the age of explosive drones.
  - JoeyBananas 3y ago
    What's your point? There are people who engage in private drone ownership more or less for the same reasons commonly put forth for private gun ownership.

9 points by sorokod 3y ago

"The prioritisation of individual gun rights in the US over community safety has become a danger to innocents. Americans are locked in a self-perpetuating arms race that makes all of us only less safe. The exceptional gun culture of the US demands a critical reassessment of the nation’s priorities and policies to ensure a safer future – one in which it’s known for something other than guns." Great article.

sorokod 3y ago

In a country in which tens of millions of people own guns, public safety becomes a personal responsibility, and so individuals often decide that it is in their best interest to protect themselves by buying a gun. This desire to be protected against those who have guns by getting a gun, multiplied across millions of people, has resulted in an arms race that makes everyone less safe. Reads like a runaway feedback loop.

kozd 3y ago
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago

Because guns won the Revolutionary War?

bediger4000 3y ago
You should read the article before commenting.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 3y ago
  I did… the core of any discussion about per capita gun ownership numbers in the country starts there.

TacticalCoder 3y ago

> only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population The U.S. may have many guns per capita but countries like France, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, etc. all have huge percentage of gun owners. And let's not forget this: "It (guns) insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed."

krapp 3y ago
>The U.S. may have many guns per capita but countries like France, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, etc. all have huge percentage of gun owners. They also regulate and restrict guns to a degree that would be impossible in the US. And have cultures with social cohesion where rights are understood to confer responsibilities - again, impossible in the US. >"It (guns) insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed." They do no such thing. The American government has shown absolutely no compunction whatsoever about putting the boot to their citizens heads whenever it likes, be it through illegal domestic surveillance, plutocracy, experimentation on its own citizens, endless unpopular wars, unjust incarceration or a militarized police force that all but robs them openly and hunts them for sport. Indeed, recent history even demonstrates that many American gun owners will welcome authoritarianism with open arms (pun intended) so long as the boot doesn't come down on them. Guns are not a substitute for a well informed, engaged populace, and the fantasy that guns equal liberty is poisonous to society. The government fears a well informed, engaged populace. It does not give one single rat fuck about the pistol you keep under your pillow.
48864w6ui 3y ago
Not sure about that last para in the age of explosive drones.
- JoeyBananas 3y ago
  What's your point? There are people who engage in private drone ownership more or less for the same reasons commonly put forth for private gun ownership.