Cavatt
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The number of guns in the US per capita has consistently risen over the past decades. Yet, the number of gun homicides has actually declined over the past decade or so. I think it's fair to question the assumption that guns = gun violence.
The question of "is gun ownership and availability really worth all of this, year after year?" is (pardon the pun) a loaded question. The question that needs to be asked first is "would a gun ban in the US really end all of this?" And I'm not saying that answer is no, but it's not a definite yes either. To take away the 2nd amendment rights of US citizens including people who use guns to keep themselves and their families safe, that answer has to be more than maybe.
The thing to realize in all of this is that it's not an issue of one side favoring the lives of children over gun ownership and the other favoring gun ownership over the lives of children. That "I'm right, you're wrong" crap is where the hatred and venom comes from. Both sides value the lives of children, they just have different approaches.
One side believes that if you take guns away, you can severely crimp mass murderers and violence.
The other side believes that mass murderers and violence are inevitable and guns are necessary to defend against them.
Inherently, if enact one side's preference, you're not doing the other so someone is going to be pissed. How about finding common ground? How about the FBI actually follows up on tips they're given? What about ensuring that the current laws regarding background checks are enforced properly and additional, sensible protections are enacted? No one seems to have an issue with armed security at government facilities... what about at government funded schools?
The all or nothing stuff is never going to get anywhere for either side. A gun owner isn't going to let his guns be taken and a non-gun owner isn't going to start carrying. Let's figure out what we can change in the middle and work from there... sweeping regulation banning guns is not an answer that works for America, it only works for some people's utopian vision of it.
Suicides by firearm outnumber homicide by 2 to 1. The gun shop owner in my town was an NRA cliche, until his wife blew her brains out with the gun he gave her for their anniversary and she kept in her purse. He stopped selling guns.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/guns-and-suicide/