Quote:
Originally Posted by Ksyrup
My personal opinion is that we shouldn't be primarily focusing on short-term solutions with the end game being that whatever restrictions are put in place will stop mass shootings - because they won't. Rather, while we definitely need some reasonable restrictions in place immediately, we should largely be focusing on longer-term solutions to lessen the gun culture over time. Maybe we're too far gone for it to work, and I don't know exactly what it would look like, but I'm thinking of the gun control equivalent to what we did to make smoking less appealing. I don't think there's an overnight fix regardless of how many people might be in favor of major restrictions.
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Very well said.
Unfortunately "some reasonable restrictions in place immediately" are a no-go, translated by hardliners to mean that goon squads will soon be entering every home in America confiscating every single firearm.
Thus, "longer-term solutions to lessen the gun culture over time" will be that much harder to implement, when we can't even take the first step.
I'm not a gun owner, but I have no problem with people having a pistol in their home for self-protection, or hunting rifles and shotguns. But can we please have longer waiting periods, more restrictive licensing rules, a ban on open carry, and a ban on weapons that can discharge dozens of rounds in mere seconds? Is that too much to ask? How many more thousands have to die?