Tired of constant news reports of mass gun killings? Don’t appreciate the $100 Billion annual cost of gun violence in the USA?
These are the public policies we should aim for:(• as suggested by: Phillip Cook and Jens Ludwig with the University of Chicago Crime Lab)
• Improve the gun-registration system so that guns confiscated by the police can be more reliably traced to their owners;
• Increase the use in police investigations of the available technology to analyze the ballistic “fingerprints" on shell casings left at the scene of crimes in order to help investigators match confiscated guns to crimes, or to match violent events with each other;
• Launch intensive police patrol directed against illicit gun carrying in high-violence neighborhoods;
• Offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of people carrying or possessing a gun illegally; and
• Institute a gun emphasis policy in investigations and prosecutions of violent crimes.
Note that none of these policies restrict lawful ownership or carrying of guns by non-criminal citizens. I think that the NRA should be courted as an ally in the process of instituting these policies.
Seriously guys, I think this is the way to go, even if it means encouraging MORE gun ownership by responsible law abiding citizens.
Aren’t those policies already in place?
Aren't those policies are already in place?No, at least not as part of a concerted nationwide effort. And if they ever are, they won't end gun violence, but they may well decrease the $100 Billion annual cost our country pays for gun violence, not to mention decreasing deaths from gun violence.
Aren't those policies are already in place?No, at least not as part of a concerted nationwide effort. And if they ever are, they won't end gun violence, but they may well decrease the $100 Billion annual cost our country pays for gun violence, not to mention decreasing deaths from gun violence. No matter how you twist it, countries that effectively ban gun ownership by its citizens have infinitely fewer gun deaths--and fewer homicides overall. As long as guns can be freely owned by the public, even your suggestions won't have much effect. The US will remain the gun death capital of the world and we will continue to have regular mass shootings, which are far more prevalent here than anywhere in the world with sane gun laws. I don't know if you have kids, but surely you have loved ones. Are you comfortable with them going to schools, to shopping centers or movie theaters? Are you happy to have them pay the price with their lives for the public's right to carry guns? i certainly am not. Lois
Aren't those policies are already in place?No, at least not as part of a concerted nationwide effort. And if they ever are, they won't end gun violence, but they may well decrease the $100 Billion annual cost our country pays for gun violence, not to mention decreasing deaths from gun violence. No matter how you twist it, countries that effectively ban gun ownership by its citizens have infinitely fewer gun deaths--and fewer homicides overall. As long as guns can be freely owned by the public, even your suggestions won't have much effect. The US will remain the gun death capital of the world and we will continue to have regular mass ahootings, which are far more prevalent here than anywhere in the world with sane gun laws. I don't know if you have kids, but surely you have loved ones. Are you comfortable with them going to schools, to shopping centers or movie theaters? Are you happy to have them pay the price with their lives for the public's right to carry guns? i certainly am not. Lois Lois, There will be no realistic effort to amend our Constitution's 2nd Amendment, that has any realistic chance of success. The suggestions for policy implementations in the beginning of this post were formed based on a rational review of what works and doesn't work. Google the UofChicago Crime Lab guys that I referenced, and read their essay. Gun violence will not magically go away were we to vigorously and sustainably impose their suggestions, but it would most likely be an effective step in the right direction. Now, it was not their idea (AFAIK) to attempt working WITH the NRA. That was mine. Again, based on what I think is a rational view of our current social and political realities re: addressing gun violence. Or we could, as usual, just continue bemoaning the travesty of our state of affairs in re: to gun violence and its terrible cost in lives, treasure, productivity, grief and despair... and self-righteously promote pie-in-the sky-ideals... and the beat goes on... downward. And when even the most rational among us (i.e., us), cannot be rational about this issue, I suspect that the latter is what will actually happen.
Aren't those policies are already in place?No, at least not as part of a concerted nationwide effort. And if they ever are, they won't end gun violence, but they may well decrease the $100 Billion annual cost our country pays for gun violence, not to mention decreasing deaths from gun violence. No matter how you twist it, countries that effectively ban gun ownership by its citizens have infinitely fewer gun deaths--and fewer homicides overall. As long as guns can be freely owned by the public, even your suggestions won't have much effect. The US will remain the gun death capital of the world and we will continue to have regular mass ahootings, which are far more prevalent here than anywhere in the world with sane gun laws. I don't know if you have kids, but surely you have loved ones. Are you comfortable with them going to schools, to shopping centers or movie theaters? Are you happy to have them pay the price with their lives for the public's right to carry guns? i certainly am not. Lois Lois, There will be no realistic effort to amend our Constitution's 2nd Amendment, that has any realistic chance of success. The suggestions for policy implementations in the beginning of this post were formed based on a rational review of what works and doesn't work. Google the UofChicago Crime Lab guys that I referenced, and read their essay. Gun violence will not magically go away were we to vigorously and sustainably impose their suggestions, but it would most likely be an effective step in the right direction. Now, it was not their idea (AFAIK) to attempt working WITH the NRA. That was mine. Again, based on what I think is a rational view of our current social and political realities re: addressing gun violence. Or we could, as usual, just continue bemoaning the travesty of our state of affairs in re: to gun violence and its terrible cost in lives, treasure, productivity, grief and despair... and self-righteously promote pie-in-the sky-ideals... and the beat goes on... downward. And when even the most rational among us (i.e., us), cannot be rational about this issue, I suspect that the latter is what will actually happen. I'm afraid that "working with the NRA" would be like working with the Nazis. We can't negotiate with the devil. Lois
I'm afraid that "working with the NRA" would be like working with the Nazis. We can't negotiate with the devil. LoisOh contraire! e.g., We are currently trying to confirm a negotiation with a most untrustworthy of adversaries (ever heard of the Iran Nuclear Deal?) in an effort to preclude some really bad potentialities. Also, putting the NRA in with the likes of the Nazis and the mythical Satan, is hyperbole, although I get what you are trying to say. Now, if we were all-powerful and could manifest our ideals magically, then negotiating with adversaries would not be necessary. But last time I thought about it, magic was still not real.
I'm afraid that "working with the NRA" would be like working with the Nazis. We can't negotiate with the devil. LoisOh contraire! e.g., We are currently trying to confirm a negotiation with a most untrustworthy of adversaries (ever heard of the Iran Nuclear Deal?) in an effort to preclude some really bad potentialities. Also, putting the NRA in with the likes of the Nazis and the mythical Satan, is hyperbole, although I get what you are trying to say. Now, if we were all-powerful and could manifest our ideals magically, then negotiating with adversaries would not be necessary. But last time I thought about it, magic was still not real. Negotiating with adversaries is possible. The NRA is not just an adversary. Although we "negotiated" with Iran, it was hardly an admirable result. Better than nothing (barely) but far from the basics of what is truly needed to bring peace. I also don't trust Iran to honor the deal, but that's another issue. I am skeptical that we could get anything better from negotiating with the NRA than we got from Iran. I would rather hope that you are right and I am wrong on this and that we can make substantial progress with the NRA, and not just lip service, but I don't think that will happen. If it does, I'll send you a congratulatory gift. Lois
I'm afraid that "working with the NRA" would be like working with the Nazis. We can't negotiate with the devil. LoisOh contraire! e.g., We are currently trying to confirm a negotiation with a most untrustworthy of adversaries (ever heard of the Iran Nuclear Deal?) in an effort to preclude some really bad potentialities. Also, putting the NRA in with the likes of the Nazis and the mythical Satan, is hyperbole, although I get what you are trying to say. Now, if we were all-powerful and could manifest our ideals magically, then negotiating with adversaries would not be necessary. But last time I thought about it, magic was still not real. Negotiating with adversaries is possible. The NRA is not just an adversary. Although we "negotiated" with Iran, it was hardly an admirable result. Better than nothing (barely) but far from the basics of what is truly needed to bring peace. I also don't trust Iran to honor the deal, but that's another issue. I am skeptical that we could get anything better from negotiating with the NRA than we got from Iran. I would rather hope that you are right and I am wrong on this and that we can make substantial progress with the NRA, and not just lip service, but I don't think that will happen. If it does, I'll send you a congratulatory gift. Lois I will start another thread on the Iran Negotiation, if no one else does. I happen to think that it [i]is[/i] an admirable deal. I realize that working with the NRA to achieve meaningful gun control policies sounds rather far-out, as ideas go. But there are, at least, 2 major problems with simply discarding the idea as unworkable: 1) Negotiation, by definition, involves trying come to some agreement with someone that you don't (completely) agree with. IOW, you don't need to negotiate with someone who completely agrees with what you want. 2) The NRA has demonstrated over and over that they hold the cards, when it comes to the development (or not) of policies having to do with gun control. Also, negotiation with the NRA, just like with Iran, would involve putting pressure on them to give us something we want, while we should be willing to give them something (that we can live with, that we are, in fact, forced to live with, anyway) that they want. If everyone assumes that effective negotiations with the NRA, to make meaningful national policy changes about gun control, is de facto impossible, then it will, for sure, never happen.