TechNoFear said:
And the US allowing over 100,000 people to be shot a year, with an average medical bill of US$40k each, because of a half a sentence in a document written 100's of years ago is totally sane....
Weirdly enough, our government also allows us to
drive too!
And that kills some 30-35 thousand a year (which puts it at about par with firearms) with about 5.5 million total accidents and 2.3 million casualties.
There are a good 70-80 million people in the US who own guns. 11-15,000 homicides by firearm. 21-25,000 suicides by firearm.
Compare that to the 500,000 deaths from smoking, 600,000 cancer deaths, and 130,000 from...just accidents in general.
And this is all just in the US. Which has a total population of 319 million.
Then you have places like the UK, which has about 1/4 of the total murders per capita as the US, but has also seen a relative boom in knife-related murders and violence. Seriously. People who want to kill or injure others will use whatever implements are at their disposal to get the job done. With that said, there's certainly an argument to be made for potential kill count/scale when comparing melee implements to firearms.
Perspective certainly helps here and I'm not even a gun enthusiast. Or a conservative, if you can believe it.
In fact?
Guns scare me. I get uneasy just being around the things. Because they should. Because they're weapons capable of killing people and are, therefore, worthy of a healthy amount of respect/fear. Which is why I feel NOTHING but contempt for the idiots who manage to shoot themselves or those near them by mistake. Or the people who leave their weapons out for kids to find. Or the darwin-award-winning mutants who cap themselves in the face because they're trying to take a 2edgy gun-selfie.
As for some means of maybe curbing gun deaths in the US:
1.)
Background Checks - Some places have them. Some don't. Some don't put much effort into said check, if any at all. They certainly won't stop the people who are
committed, but it can weed out the more flaky would-be murderers and catch some of #2.
On top of that, checks in general aren't some foolproof means of detecting future killers. The most normal folks (up until they take the actions that lead to them no longer being 'normal') are often the ones out there blowing people away. I mean...when we're not talking about gang/drug-related violence anyway.
2.)
Emphasis on Increasing Awareness/Treatment for Mental Health Related Issues - Again, won't solve everything, but it may stop a few killers...and would generally help a whole hell of a lot of folks out there.
3.)
MANDATORY GUN SAFETY COURSES or Licenses - I don't know why this isn't already a part of the process. You need a license to drive a car, as well as basic safety knowledge. So why the fuck can I go to the local gun store here, slap down said driver's license (I live in Indiana ;D), some money, then wait a week for a rudimentary check to clear, then walk home with a pump-action shotgun? Without demonstrating that I've got the know-how necessary to avoid blowing off my own head?
4.)
Better Security at Schools and Colleges - Gun free zones are nice in principle, but, in essence, they serve as a giant neon sign to would-be mass shooters that the place is killing field.
5.) Recognizing that, no matter what we as a nation do (even 'outlawing' guns, as the UK has done they've still got a good couple hundred murders by firearm), we can't stop it all.
Again, basic thing here: 99.99% of people are decent folk who wouldn't shoot up a school, or anything else for that matter. But that .01%. Man, that .01%. They make life interesting for the other 99.99%.