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this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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We require mandatory training before giving out drivers licenses and insurance in most states and a system where we take away licenses if people are too reckless. That’s because a hundred thousand people die from cars every year. Why not do the same for guns which kill tens of thousands of people a year? Instead we have to have mass shooter drills and emergency bleed-out kits in public areas rather than address this.
I think gun safety training should be mandatory as part of the US education system starting from the beginning of school. There are more guns than people in the US, so odds are good that many children will come into contact with them at some point, and they should know what they are and how to be safe. Unfortunately, the left acts like this will indoctrinate children towards being pro guns like the right thinks sex education will make kids have sex. Leaving these basic life knowledge "up to the family" to teach is just such a shitty idea.
The issue of licensing is tricky because unlike driving a car, gun ownership is a constitutional right and we do not have a good track record of being fair and equitable when we make practicing rights require any "cost of entry". Other than that and as has been mentioned already, many places require licenses and extra training to concealed carry, and if you are reckless with guns or just even with criminal behavior you can lose your gun rights.
Also, even if mass shootings just weren't a thing I think having trauma kits along with AEDs in public areas is just good practice, and adding hostile attacker drills to existing fire, earthquake, tornado, etc drills is also probably good practice. The more emergency situations people are even somewhat trained to "handle", the better they react to both known and unknown emergencies. When the brain is overwhelmed in an emergency, having any ingrained reflex your subconscious can fall back on prevents freezing or panicked random action.
Licensing, testing, and insurance are the requirement to take a vehicle into public. You can operate a vehicle on private land with none of those things.
The same is required for firearms in most states; minus insurance, though it's highly recommended.
We should be asking why certain people are deciding they want to hurt as many people as possible before they can be killed; not asking why they chose their particular method. The ownership of firearms is not a new concept in the US, but "going down in a blaze of glory" has been a somewhat recent phenomenon increasing at a terrifying and disturbing rate.
I always find it amazing when people make the argument that we shouldn’t regulate something because all we really need to do is solve the fundamental problems in society that ever cause people to do the wrong thing. Thanks buddy I’ll get right on that
Yeah passing laws is too hard guys. Lets just change the human condition instead.
It's already heavily regulated. Most of the regulations people want are already in place, or an outright ban.
When something that has been around for a long time with heavy regulation, but there's a growing trend; then most likely it's something else influencing the problem.
Well when you assume any regulation of something is "heavy", I suppose you could make that argument.
Republicans are blocking not only gun control legislation but any increase to mental health services, so they’re not making that argument in good faith. They even passed new laws in Georgia allowing people with diagnosed mental illness to have guns when they weren’t allowed before.
Guns are the only way left to cause mass murder at this scale. We restrict access to planes and cars already, you don’t think guns should have some additional scrutiny?
The situation in Georgia is certainly problematic, and I agree with you that people with certain diagnosed mental illnesses should not own firearms. However, firearms are certainly far from unregulated compared to driving.
Have you tried to purchase a firearm? It's not like going to the hardware store and walking out with a brand new chainsaw. You have to fill out all of the paperwork for a background check, wait for it to come back clean (often takes hours), fill out a transfer/registration form, pay applicable taxes, and then there's a holding period. The only way around the holding part is if you possess a concealed carry or firearm license, which requires training, more background checks, more taxes and forms, and a very long waiting period (usually months) for the permit to be issued.
These same requirements are also in place at gun shows, by the way. You often have to send your purchase to a local FTL for the holdover period, if you don't already have a license.
Also, in regards to the mass murder issue, France was having issues with people driving trucks into crowds a few years ago. England has mass stabbings, and Australia has machete sprees. The truly alarming thing with the US is the growing frequency.
You forgot the giant loophole of private purchases, people selling guns via Instagram etc.
It’s not an honest argument to compare car rammings or UK stabbing a to gun deaths. A man literally shot 500 people in Las Vegas with an assault rifle in a concert while car homicides are in single digits per attack. The U.S. is the only developed country with mass shootings and you keep trying to ignore guns as the problem and looking at everything but.
You can also sell a vehicle privately, and that person can choose not to register it. That point is moot.
Yes, the US is the only developed country with mass shootings, despite there being other developed countries that allow citizens to own firearms with varying levels of regulation (some with even less regulation than the US). So, again, what is the particular thing that makes the US stand out from those other developed, firearm-carrying countries?
Unregistered vehicles can’t get insurance and there’s criminal penalties if you’re caught without registration. It’s not moot though you really are trying to stretch the analogy in your claim that this means guns shouldn’t have the same.
The other firearm carrying countries have mandatory gun training and laws against mentally ill people from having guns. They also have red flag laws, which are shown to save lives but the gun lobby is fighting against extremely hard.
There are a lot of ways to cause mass murder so it certainly isn't "the only way left". People have and will used other methods. Something as simple as fire is a weapon with a history of use in terrorism.
Guns do have laws associated with them. You'd know this if you ever went to a shop to buy one or just looked at the laws. I don't need to pass a background check to buy a car from the dealership. There is no crime for a felon to own a car. A felon could even get a license to operate a car in public. There is no crime for "brandishing" a car in public.
Which law in GA are you talking about? Most states don't outright ban ownership over a diagnosis or seeking treatment. Making that a criteria becomes tricky when trying to determine what counts or who gets to decide. I'm sure you would find a ban on voting for the mentally ill questionable if say Republican law makers decided what counts.
Involuntary commitment is a problem for gun ownership federally regardless of state laws as well. It should kinda take a lot to restrict a right and there are problems with essentially punishing people for seeking treatment.