"hey, Mr or Ms Republican, you can bear your arms, let’s just make sure you’re sane first, seeing as predisposition to mental conditions is what makes gun violence a problem in the first place”
Mental health is unlikely to do the trick. Do the math. Currently over 43 million US adults suffer from some kind of mental illness (this does not include substance abuse such as drugs and alcohol) and 10 million of those suffer from serious mental illness. Furthermore even top psychiatrists find it extremely hard to tell which of those 10-40 million will be violent (even though very few of them will be). So you would have to deny the right to bear arms to 10-40 million people the vast majority of whom are innocent (and still have a lot of violent people slip through the net). You might as well introduce gun control.
Every nation accepts some loss of liberty of the innocent because of the risk of what a few guilty might do. This happens every time you go through the pain of security at an airport. It is a question of what balance you think is appropriate. You also have to think carefully about what constraints would actually work - but don't say it is wrong to even think about it.
"Europeans now wish they had a Second Amendment, given the ongoing invasion of their nations by young men of military age in top physical condition who have promised to 'cut off the heads of Europeans'."
Rubbish. There may a few Europeans who think this. The vast majority of Europeans are greatly in favour of gun control and delighted they don't have the same problems as the USA. Just look up the opinion polls if you don't believe me.
markfrank says...
"hey, Mr or Ms Republican, you can bear your arms, let’s just make sure you’re sane first, seeing as predisposition to mental conditions is what makes gun violence a problem in the first place”
Mental health is unlikely to do the trick. Do the math. Currently over 43 million US adults suffer from some kind of mental illness (this does not include substance abuse such as drugs and alcohol) and 10 million of those suffer from serious mental illness. Furthermore even top psychiatrists find it extremely hard to tell which of those 10-40 million will be violent (even though very few of them will be). So you would have to deny the right to bear arms to 10-40 million people the vast majority of whom are innocent (and still have a lot of violent people slip through the net). You might as well introduce gun control.
Every nation accepts some loss of liberty of the innocent because of the risk of what a few guilty might do. This happens every time you go through the pain of security at an airport. It is a question of what balance you think is appropriate. You also have to think carefully about what constraints would actually work - but don't say it is wrong to even think about it.
"Europeans now wish they had a Second Amendment, given the ongoing invasion of their nations by young men of military age in top physical condition who have promised to 'cut off the heads of Europeans'."
Rubbish. There may a few Europeans who think this. The vast majority of Europeans are greatly in favour of gun control and delighted they don't have the same problems as the USA. Just look up the opinion polls if you don't believe me.
On POLITICOLE: Gun violence and gun control - America and The Bahamas
Posted 28 October 2015, 12:43 p.m. Suggest removal