Belindi wrote: ↑November 24th, 2018, 7:33 am
Greta wrote: ↑November 23rd, 2018, 8:03 pm
Which is why I also noted: 'Further, enforcing the law would not be a job anyone without suicidal tendencies would take on'.
This is a good example of a wicked problem, and why the US has become a cautionary tale for other nations. It's been graphically, and at times disturbingly, demonstrated in the past fifty years how essential it is for a nation's civility and security not to let the gun genie out of the bottle. It's clear that letting gun ownership pass that critical threshold would cost more lives than cutting all military spending, and be far more expensive.
Would it be worthwhile to compare the practical and ideological difficulties of gun control with those of recreational drugs? Has the US a special ideological problem about freedom of individuals to take the administration of laws into their own hands? Traditional stories about the Wild West show that personal ownership of guns sometimes has a place in maintaining law and order. So what has changed since those early pioneering days?
There is certainly some tension between these two things. Drug prohibition is most certainly a denial of basic rights. This is supposedly done on the grounds of doing self harm. But if the Government are really concerned with harm to their citizens then it begs the question (given the widespread and indiscriminate use of firearms), do they really give a ****, or is drug prohibition really about social control. Is it more to do with people turning up for work regularly and not using drugs for fun and to use them to see the world differently. There is no doubt that pot and acid in the 1960s were used specifically to alter perspectives on reality, and the is no doubt in my mind that taking a sideways look at your preconceptions has helped my to unpack the hierarchical ******** that we are all instructed to take for granted.
Taking American in particular drug prohibition is racist. As well as given higher sentences for crack and other "street" drugs, than cocaine, enforcement is often directed towards poorer communities whilst the rich and famous snort without let or hinderance. Justin Beiber can talk openly about his drug use in public forums with no fear of prosecution.
Drug use is about social control, loss of revenue, and race war.
And the "war on drugs" has never worked. It has just made criminals rich.
Whose body is it? Why can't I take the drugs I want?
What are firearms for? They are designed to maim and kill. Sadly the US is burdened with an out of date amendment which mandated the militia to use and carry muskets. Muskets that would take 30 secs to reload, were not very accurate, but could help in the war of independence.
Time to write a new amendment?
How about every citizen without a criminal record is allowed to apply for a licence to hold firearms?
It might not stop mass killings but it would give the police the ability to disarm any criminal, or unlicensed person.
Anyone with severe mental problems could also be denied a licence.
