To clarify I'm not arsed about a debate on guns, I disagree with that view hugely and due to the culture differences I think it's hard for us to understand it. But the fact remains, people are happy with harm to lots of people if it allows them to keep something they enjoy/think is important. Just what people class in that latter category is different.
I think Alcohol is a massive problem in society, and the way it is marketed is a problem too. But the fact is that the majority of people who drink do so safely and don't cause harm to anybody else. Guns can be used for hunting and I've got no problem with that, I'm not for banning guns. But I think their availability to almost everybody in the US is a problem, which has been borne out over the years with thousands of deaths from either accident, suicide or mass shootings.
I think the issue their lies with the internet providers to clamp down on harmful content and to monitor and enforce it. And for the various agencies to track and prosecute people who use the internet to abuse children.
I agree the direct comparison of guns and cars is a poor one for what it's worth but I find the underlying principle interesting. Which is why I think alcohol and the internet are better examples. In the same way as this mush becoming a victim of gun crime is partly down to his beliefs, anyone whose daughter is knocked about by a drunk is partly down to the risks they believe are acceptable to keep something they like (assuming they don't want it banned).
There is nothing out of context in: "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights." There is no provarication there... the Second Amendment solely covers the right to 'keep and bear arms' ...
I think the difference comes mainly from the fact that some of the other things that cause harm via the symptoms of people abusing it are different from the fact that a gun's primary use is to kill.
If there’s no internet then that immediately closes down the chances of kids being groomed and abused. Surely that should make you put your enjoyment of it to one side? Or do you not want to give the internet up because that’s what you enjoy and kids being abused is just a sad consequence that we just have to accept?
I would add to that, as I've said. I don't think guns should be banned outright I think their availability should be restricted. I don't agree with the gun lobby who champion the right of every American to own and carry one.
The majority of people in the US who keep guns don't kill people either though. Again, not arsed about a gun debate as I don't understand it, but in that respect it's very similar.
The amount of school shootings and homicides due to guns is a problem for the US though as is the amount of accidental shootings (people shooting themselves, usually kids who find a gun in the house) and suicides due to guns So their current gun ownership policy is the problem.
I think it's the very nature of the gun though, as a single entity it is by it's very nature far more dangerous than the internet Not saying the internet doesn't have problems that are a symptom of ****ed up people abusing it And as I've said, I think it's the readily available nature of guns in the US which is the problem.
I agree with this. My point is his comment was specifically around the right to bear arms rather than any controls, and that he was happy to accept there'll be suffering to keep that right. Exactly the same with you (and me fwiw) and the internet. We don't want it switched off entirely and we have to accept that by holding that view that lots of people will suffer.
Don't disagree mate. They definitely have huge issues over there. But just as most alcohol users don't do horrible things or get addicted most gun users over there don't do any of those things.
That's a fair point. I would just caveat that with the fact that the internet is designed to be a tool to inform, communicate, empower, educate and entertain. Whilst a Gun's primary purpose is to kill I agree that both can be abused with horrific consequences though.