This is a catch-all topic dealing with typical talking points regarding gun control in the U.S. that are regularly brought up on Boing Boing BBS.
“‘No Way To Prevent This’, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” was a running series of articles in The Onion that was a satirical reaction to the regular incidence of mass shootings in the U.S.. It’s obvious to most observers why this keeps happening in America, even with dozens of kindergarten students killed in one horrific incident and lots of young people dying every year in school shootings.
It’s equally obvious why the situation has not been addressed with strong measures since the late 1970s. The defenders of supposed Second Amendment rights (some call them “ammosexuals”, “gun-strokers”, etc.) have deployed a regular and predictable set of fallacious, reality-challenged, deliberately distracting, and sometimes racist fear-mongering arguments to fight any sensible measure proposed to reduce deaths and injuries caused by firearms. This has directly paralleled the GOP’s own turn toward pandering to racism and its disdain for “reality-based” policy.
The National Rifle Association was, since a coup led by a racist murderer in 1977, the foremost provider of these talking points. It quickly became a vehicle of American conservatism’s shift toward an open embrace of white supremacy and misogyny (see, for example, the infamous "graphic novel"). In recent years the NRA’s effectiveness has collapsed under the weight of its own internal infighting and financial corruption.
Unfortunately, the damage that industry lobbying group has done lives on. In the context of Boing Boing BBS, every comment topic concerning gun control in the U.S. is regularly derailed by users desperate to distract from the very real problem that makes the U.S. unique amongst OECD countries in terms of firearms violence. The arguments and debate tactics used are also regular enough that a reference topic discussing them is in order.
Feel free to add an argument you’ve seen used on this site once or numerous times below (no straw men, please – there are plenty of legitimate examples to draw from). Also, feel free to debate a comment’s validity, and feel free to link to comments in this topic in reply to comments in other topics as appropriate to avoid repetition and derails.
[Note: Sub-threads that appear to be derailing a topic or distracting from the FPP’s main focus may be moved here by moderators or leaders as well.