Hi John, re: "I'm more than a little surprised that your argument is that nothing can be done. That's the way the NRA wins these arguments, you know. Everyone gives up."
I don't think that "nothing" can be done; as I wrote: "Better enforced and more restrictive gun laws might make a slight statistical difference on the margins, but not much."
I am not persuaded otherwise by your view that; "At a minimum, the assault weapon ban that expired, I think in 2004, thanks to the Reps, could be reinstated. At a minimum, more care could be taken with the sale of guns--background checks required, and so on."
I think the way the NRA wins these arguments is that while no one can articulate any effective legislation to curb the use of guns in wanton slaughter of innocent and unprotected Americans, there is always a threat of legislation that would severely limit gun ownership. It would be smarter to focus more attention on diverting more funds to mental health as Epicure suggests, and less to threatening gun ownership.
There are a great many people who feel more secure having a gun in their homes. Many of them know how to use a gun, understand that they're not physically capable of defending themselves from aggressive intruders and react viscerally to any legislation that could lead down a "slippery slope" of limiting their access to guns.
The sooner those of us who tend to the liberal side recognize that we're tilting at windmills and damaging ourselves in the process, the better. Ed |
