The Current Events Room
More Americans have died from gunshots in the last 50 years than in all of the wars in American history.
Since 1968, more than 1.5 million Americans have died in gun-related incidents, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By comparison, approximately 1.2 million service members have been killed in every war in U.S. history, according to estimates from the Department of Veterans Affairs and iCasualties.org, a website that maintains an ongoing database of casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sunday's massacre in Las Vegas which left 59 dead and 530 others injured is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. And such attacks are becoming more common.
Attachment 20291
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/la...mbined-n807156
Pretty sobering statistics. Now I'm sure that suicides by gun are part of those statistics, however, that shouldn't make you feel better. Many of those suicides would not have happened if a gun were not readily available since suicidal thoughts, absent a gun, make it more difficult to kill oneself in the moment and suicidal ideation often passes after a time. Gun suicides are often impulsive actions. Taking pills often doesn't work or is discovered before death occurs.
There is a proven correlation between the availability of guns and deaths by gunshot. The current lack of consistency between jurisdictions make it very easy for criminals to acquire weapons.
While the right to own weapons is Constitutionally recognized it is not unlimited. No right is absolute. Freedom of speech is vigorously protected by the Constitution, but still restricted when it comes to falsely damaging someone's reputation, shouting fire in a crowded theater, counselling people to commit a crime, threatening violence, harassing etc. You have a right to practice your religion, you don't have a right to make others practice your religion or damage others through your practice of said religion. Your protected rights end where they infringe on someone else's rights. If that requires sensible federal regulations, then so be it. You have a right to self-defense and to hunt. That doesn't necessarily imply that you have an unlimited right to own an arsenal, for example. It doesn't mean that you have a right to leave your gun laying around where children may find it and fire it. With all rights come responsibilities and not all people are responsible. To that end, it is prudent to create restrictions such as banning private weapon sales, gun shows etc or requiring all buyers of weapons to undergo a background check, restricting the number of weapons, types of weapons and quantity of ammunition that you can possess or purchase without a special license.
We have a lot of technology today. It would not be impossible to create a registry of retinal patterns and a special ID with said retinal pattern that would be required for purchasing weapons. Without private sales, this would make straw man purchases, much more difficult, particularly if you couldn't own multiple weapons without a special license.
Millions of people should not have to die to protect a right.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Dr. Who
