I am going to leave the mental illness discussion to others–violent mental illness has touched my life more than a few times, and can make me a little emotional.
What I would like to contribute is this small nugget: if Jim Jeffries of all people (Jim fucking Jeffries) has coherent arguments against US public policy, and makes half of the united States look like nutjobs (again, this is coming from an Australian shock comic), we may want to as a nation rethink said policy.
I’ve never seen that argument per se, the argument I have seen is that if someone is intent on killing people do we really need to make it so easy for them to acquire tools specifically created for the purpose of making it as easy as possible to kill the most people in the least amount of time? Typically people making this more rational version of that argument, want licensing, background checks, and a reduction in assault weapons and are okay with hunting or target shooting specific weapons.
So much this. In hunting and even home defense, all you need is one shot, not a veritable barrage of bullets and fast reloading times. I consider firearm technology interesting, but I also consider negative ph chemicals interesting, large fireworks, residential three phase electricity, and civil engineering.
It doesn’t mean I should be allowed to do any of those.
Personally, I’m okay with you doing any of those things. BUT i do consider it reasonable to have some regulations, licensing, and training requirements for the ones that pose danger to yourself and others, and certain levels of such things to possibly be restricted to only those with special permits for safety.
I think the same should be true for guns. We require different types of licenses for different types of vehicles and they require different tests and training levels. You can’t drive a public bus or a semi truck, or even a motorcycle, without a special license to do so. These licenses can be revoked if misused or the person is unfit to hold one. Why not the same for guns? Very reasonable level of accountability for owning such a device in the modern world.
(i am for banning civilian use of certain types of weapons whose only purpose is gratuitous violence, the ones specifically designed for the mass killing of humans, and for regulation and licensing on legitimate use weapons such as hunting rifles. i think this is reasonable, but i also understand that many people don’t feel the same, which is why dialogue is so important, and why the NRA shuts down all reasonable discussions…they want zero regulation.)
Also, I know this is probably a less popular idea…but i don’t think murder is an appropriate response to someone breaking into your home to steal stuff.
In the USA more people are mistakenly killed every year (husband coming home late, grandpa up taking a piss, neighbor kid sleepwalking, etc.) then legitimate home invasions stopped, and people with guns to try and stop home invasions are more not less likely to be killed in a home invasion as is their family members.
Obviously I don’t want anyone to be hurt in a home invasion, but I think we can explore other options that don’t require murdering the invader and putting the home owner and their family at greater risk.
Speak for yourself! The only times I have ever been at serious risk of being shot was by police. So if I find them in the house, I might well need those capabilities. YMMV
To be fair you were wearing your full body trex costume with gogo boots and a beret while shouting, “Man! U! Man! U!”
…or did I dream that?
If that is an unpopular idea then we have big, big, enormous problems.
“Sure, steal my TV! Just don’t hit the button that sprays the Sarin and you will be just fine! Oh, which button is that? It’s the one that doesn’t say Sarin. Good luck!”
Believe it or not, I’m okay with a certain amount of regulation, largely based on training requirements. I think what you said about different types of licenses is dead on.
However, I actually do think civilians should have access to military grade weaponry- And the reason is that I believe freedom depends on the democratization of power: I don’t trust 1% of the population to have control over all the money, I don’t trust one telecom giant to have control over all of an area’s telecom lines, I don’t trust 5 companies to have control over all of the media, and I don’t trust government employees to have control over all the guns.
Mind you, I also directly connect this to a massive reduction in our military and a return to the idea of a “well regulated militia” in lieu of “standing armies”.
I don’t think it’s an appropriate response to robbery either, but it is an appropriate response to rape, and it’s an appropriate response to kidnapping- And realistically, if someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, I’m not taking the time to find out their motives.
That said- Anyone so paranoid and untrained as to open fire without verifying their target and/or yelling “stop or I’ll shoot”, is someone who should not be in possession of a firearm in the first place. So, we’re back to mandatory training as a prerequisite to ownership.
He flipped his chess board and got bounced from the chess-boxing league.
Making your dreams come to rampaging life!
Obviously the British, German, French and many other racists and haters are pretty stupid, because very rarely they manage to inflict so much damage in society.
In the US this is just part of what one expects as part of the American Way of Life.
Mentally ill people in Britain have good reason to hate the Conservative government, the DWP, Ian Duncan Smith and George Osborne. As far as I know there have been no premeditated attempts to murder any MPs or DWP staff, even by people who have been sanctioned (cut off benefits for several months, often for trivial reasons) or wrongly found capable of work. There are a lot of suicides and people starving to death though.
And no, the Disabled People Against Cuts protest earlier today does not count.
fair point.
Here’s some new relevant news.
Yes ma’am.
Whatever you were up to there, (giving me 27 examples of what I was happy to accept one example of, and before you replied, at that! ) detracts not at all from the point I was making, and which you, clearly got the wrong way around for some reason or another.
My point is and remains, why not both? Sick AND bigoted. (and a wannabee)
(edits)
Fuckin’ preach it. I do support work, and I see people getting nickel and dimed every day. I’m utterly contemptuous of the unions in it all as well. I’ve lost all respect for PCS.
I’m on the recieving end of that shit, trying to avoid being put in a workplace that won’t take my needs into account and will make me even more ill. Not being able to work isn’t good for my mental health, but being forced into unsuitable work is far worse.
I had my housing benefit wrongly cut off at the end of last month and it has taken until now to sort it out. I will get the money owed to me paid in two weeks, but that’s no use when my rent is due next week. I keep one months rent available in case of emergencies like this but I had to borrow money from a friend to pay for the second month.
At least I wasn’t sanctioned by the DWP.
David Byrne has posted a great essay on guns, and I didn’t see it posted anywhere yet on the bbs, so here goes.
http://davidbyrne.com/preview/guns-are-about-freedom-our-freedom-to-live
“Revive” this topic? I’d rather revive all of the people we’ve needlessly lost in the last year.
How long?
How long must we sing this song?
This topic was automatically closed after 610 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
