Yes, of course, gun legislation needs to be more restrictive. IMO all nations should ban all guns for civilian use, including sport.
But there is a bigger problem.
Anti-democracy forces are on the rise in this world, again. Racism, bigotry, discrimination against all manner of "them" expressed in ways from subtle to openly violent are finding receptive supporting populations throughout what we used to consider the strong stable democracies around the world.
Global economic disruptions due to sever climate change will only get worse from here. The rise of the violent right will continue to grow. Our grandchildren will suffer like no other generations before.
The last time the world had to fight off this kind of fascism it cost us more than 80 million dead and, in today's money, $15 trillion. I fear this time the effort won't be so cheap or limited ... or successful.
New Zealand Cabinet have agreed to change gun law and licencing. Detailed announcements next week expect to ban semi-automatic weapons and introduce a gun amnesty.
The gun people have already told us of the terrible consequences New Zealanders will suffer for making it more difficult for the public to have guns. Quoting from posts to this thread and to the Police Shootings thread:
quote:The unintended consequences of that, and many other trade-offs, could result in more deaths than we have now.
quote:...the mere presence of guns in a society can be a crime deterrent.
quote:I could even add more categories, like...deaths in the hands of past governments who stripped it's citizens of their guns.
quote:...when there are breakdowns in how guns are used, it makes it more clear that gun violence is a people problem, not a hardware problem.
quote:... that was a problem, when criminals are assured that law abiding homeowners don't have guns to protect themselves.
quote:Ban gun ownership and watch the homicide by gun rate skyrocket to unprecedented levels within the hour of its legislative passing.
quote:I have my guns to keep someone from blowing my head off.
quote:It's you "I am the LAW" type of inbred cousin humpers that give the rest of us law abiding gun owners a bad name.
quote:...your fear of guns taints your judgment...
quote:All I do know is that if you reach for a gun you're going to die.
quote:Short of the uninvention of the gun, we're just going to have accept and deal with reality as it is, not as we wish it to be.
The gun people have already told us of the terrible consequences New Zealanders will suffer for making it more difficult for the public to have guns. Quoting from posts to this thread and to the Police Shootings thread
We have the experience is Australia to prove them wrong and shortly we'll have New Zealand. The gun nuts will still be in denial though.
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona
"Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
New Zealand will ban all types of semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles following the Christchurch attacks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said.
New Zealand banned semi-automatic weapons overnight. Ownership is now illegal. Buy-back scheme being introduced and a truck load of licencing on the cards. All fabulously sane.
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona
"Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
The musket was the weapon of choice when the 2nd Amendment was written. Here's a short one minute comparison of a musket with an AR-15:
Here's an entertaining comparison where they actually fire a musket and an AR-15. It's a little longer, 4 minutes, but worth it if you have the time. Be sure to watch the bloopers section at the end - those muskets had a lot of ways to go wrong and not fire.
Here is an AR15 being fired both with and without a bump stock (I've positioned the video at precisely the right point, you only have to watch about 15 seconds):
The writers of the 2nd amendment did not have modern firearms in mind. Maybe everyone *should* have the right to keep and bear musket loaders, but not modern weapons.
Looking at New Zealand, it's amazing how rational people can be about the dangers of firearms when they don't have the issue all confused in their minds with the possibility that some sacred right is being trampled.
Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith
You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity. In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London.I am Finland. Soy Barcelona
"Life, don't talk to me about life" - Marvin the Paranoid Android
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
You're the one who is ignoring history. The original Constitution denied women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment corrected that. Are you suggesting that the denying women the vote is not archaic?
I personally believe that even people as ignorant and hateful as you should be allowed to vote.
Slavery as a legal institution is archaic. It is part of the US Constitution. Not allowing women and non property owners and non-whites to vote is archaic. Not directly electing Senators is archaic. Having the vice-President be the second place in the election for President is archaic. Allowing a Poll tax is archaic.
Need I continue?
Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.
If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?
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