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comment by johnnyFive
johnnyFive  ·  2680 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: FiveSplaining: Firearms (Interest Measuring)

Sort of, but this gets to be a little chicken-and-egg. The main problem though is that assumes that the absence of guns would in turn mean lower murder rates (and there's evidence that this isn't so. In addition, we've seen in this country all too well what happens when you try to ban something that a lot of people want. All we'd do is end up with a black market for guns. Brazil is another good example, with much greater restrictions on ownership than in the U.S., but their murder rate is far higher.





user-inactivated  ·  2680 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Brazil is another good example, with much greater restrictions on ownership than in the U.S., but their murder rate is far higher.

Brazil also has astonishingly high rates of corruption, and six percent of its population lives in slums squarred which have their own special police units because they're so much worse than a typical US ghetto. Suffice it to say that I, a Russian, am saying that Brazil has problems with their national mentality. If I had to guess, the murder rate is so high not because of gun restrictions and the ensuing black market spree - it's because of how poor living there is that people have to resort to manslaughter, particularly in gang and drug wars.

The problem, I think, is not that people want guns: they don't want to have them gotten rid of by an external force - the government, in this case - without considering whether it may actually be a good idea. I'm sure black markets will exist - it's not like they don't now - but they're a crime whether or not gun ownership is restricted in any degree. Maybe fewer people will commit suicide if they don't have immediate access to firearms, though: though I can't provide any studies (which is poor etiquette for me, but I hope you'll forgive the transgression this time: it's been a tough evening), it seems evident from what I've read so far that lacking immediate solution to how to commit suicide dissuades people from going for it. Maybe there will be fewer accidental shootings and even accidental murders by people who were just messing around with a tool they didn't realize the danger of.

You may argue that education will improve situations like the latter, and you may even be correct. It doesn't seem realistic to rely on people's good will at such a scale, but perhaps things can be done; then the question becomes whether you're willing to accept whatever accidents there are left, especially if someone you care about might become a victim. You may argue something about suicide prevention, as well.

What can't be escaped is the fact that gun ownership is innate to the culture of the US, and trying to just take it from people will, indeed, result in something worse than one might naively expect. One might even argue for holding onto a long-term decision to wedge guns away from the culture because it may work, unlike giving up after seeing no results afters months of restriction, though that will not be me. I'm just trying to critically assess your views in hope of understand what the hell is it with the guns in your country.

johnnyFive  ·  2680 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    If I had to guess, the murder rate is so high not because of gun restrictions and the ensuing black market spree

I'm not saying it is, but it's an example of a situation where stronger gun laws haven't helped.

If you have a chance, check out the study I linked in my previous post. It has data to suggest the exact opposite of your conclusions.