They do glorify violence, but not as much as guns do, especially those guns which in the past we deemed "assault weapons." Guns were created to kill and we being the genius and violent creatures we have consistently shown ourselves to be have found out ways to make them even better suited to killing en masse. Guns glorify humanity's capacity for violence by existing. They remind us of every war and revolution of the 19th, 20th and 21st century, of hunting, or of the violent protection of your self and family against violent aggressors. We see them and we think of the violent ending something's life, just like we see a car and we think of driving. There is probably no other object sans the atomic bomb which evokes such feelings of past, present and future violence. There is simply no other consumer product which more exalts violence and humanity's capacity to destroy than the gun. Now I'm not going to extend that into an argument against all guns, but if someone suggests that violent movies and video games somehow glorify violence to an unacceptable amount, when they fail to even mention that guns exert a much larger effect, they are being disingenuous.
It's interesting that the NRA didn't mention Call of Duty, or any other military or hunting shooters. I suspect that they deliberately failed to mention those games. Blaming games, movies, TV, etc. is ridiculous. I think 20-30 million people in this country play violent video games, and 99.9999% of those people are fine (e.g. not a threat to commit a mass murder, not suicidal, not antisocial, etc.). Many of them are probably great people with good social lives, loving romantic relationships and good careers. But not to worry...violent video games are here to stay. Any attempt to ban or severely regulate them is going to get struck down by the courts. That's a good thing. Some of the games I like to play are violent. Of course, young kids probably shouldn't play them (or watch violent TV/movies), and it may not be a good idea for people with certain mental issues to play them either.
I never said that there does not need to be enforcement of background checks and waiting periods. I also never said that there shouldn't be some adjustment regarding AR 15s and the like. I do think that all the gun laws in the world won't give the desired result without addressing the mental health system. There is going to have to be a fundamental shift in how we view mental illness as a society before that can be addressed. We could react to this by banning all guns in this country, and what we will find over time is that it was merely putting a band aid on a hemorrhage. Oh...and you probably have the materials needed to make a home made explosive in your house right now. All you have to do is know how to put it together and do so.
The NRA disgusts me. They know damn well that their membership has nothing to do with preserving the Constitution. It's about gun fanaticism or a damn hobby. They hide behind the Constitution because their real reasoning for having a crap load of guns is simple, and in many cases, petty.
Thanks for using examples which happened this decade (since there are much more examples of shootings this decade). Oh wait you didn't I never said they were ineffective, I said that most people will not make one that actually works, and showing me 2 exampled from 20 years ago does not really prove me wrong. Because something can happen doesn't mean it is easy. You used 2 examples which happened around 20 years ago. There have been many more shootings in the mean time. Please tell me you see your error in logic in this argument?
This is zero sum thinking and the rhetoric that has been thrown out there to detract from talking about guns, their lethality and easy availability. I haven't heard anyone say that we shouldn't consider mental health as an issue. We need to consider mental health as an issue but we can do so while also considering the lethality and availability of guns. This isn't a zero sum game and as even Sen. Schumer said this morning there is no single solution. The NRA and others though will say lets look at everything other than guns, the means with which these shooters actually did their killing. As Schumer "It's like blaming smoking on everything but cigarettes."
Thank you for bringing up the OKC bombing. Because of that we greatly increased regulation on access to large quantities of fertilizer. We should do the same thing with guns and ammo. The Unibomber was a also a genius. Homemade bombs aren't that easy. Just as Faisal Shazad, the Times Square Bomber, and all of those wannabe terrorists that the FBI bust who needed the FBI's help and resources to build even dummy bombs.
I have not heard a single thing about better mental health detection, but I have heard plenty about gun rights. I personally believe that we should enforce the Brady laws and I cannot see why anybody would need an assault rifle except if you live in a rural area and have to deal with wild boars and such. My concern is that some people want to impact my right to own my simple 9mm pistol. And I also believe that full,gun registration is too much information in the hands of government.
Many people including President Obama have talking about improved mental health and as I quoted Sen. Schumer said that there is no single solution in context to talking about guns and mental health. If you just peruse through the threads on Clutchfans about the this issue you will see myself and several others who have said we need more regulations of guns saying we also need to better mental health. Most people saying we need increased regulation have not advocated removing all guns. Some have but I doubt that is a majority opinion of those who believe more regulation is needed. As far as registration why not? You have to register your car, you have to register your house, you have to register your boat, there are a tons of things that require registration. Do you really fear that the government will start hunting down and confiscating guns as opposed to hunting down and confiscating cars?
Video games are to blame..? Why am I not an ace pilot with a hanger full of rare fighter planes and an elite race car driver?
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