It's not salient at all. It's political. The gun lobby in the USA puts politics above the lives of children.

No-one in their right mind can justify the possession of military weapons by ordinary citizens, whatever their mental state at the time of purchase. Nor can there be any justification for the possession of any weapon without thorough, regular, checks on both the person in possession, and the location and state of the weapon.

This situation in the USA is in a hopeless mess, with a complete divide between two radically different views on how society operates. That it has been allowed to develop to this level is a complete failure of government. It should have been tackled 50 years ago.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

The problem with gun licencing: If you only allow people who are not criminals to hold them you still will have a problem.

I know a few people who fit that category (generally law abiding) however I would not trust them with a pair of safety scissors let along a gun.

One more point

In the 80s Australia had quite a problem with guns. In Sydney shootings were a regular occurrence and Melbourne went the same way in the 90s.
Their response was quite effective.

[Link]

And now Australians who protest against government measures like vaccine mandates and travel restrictions are subject to random beatings, batton rounds and directed energy weapons.

You're right. If they had the machine guns it would be much better.

We'll never die

If anyone needs to understand just how divided the USA is, try reading the link below. Not only is it divided, one section is totally separated from reality, and common sense. The gap in perception is so huge as to be unbridgeable. How they are going to be able to even co-exist on the same continent seems problematic:-

[Link]

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

I think the top five Democrat states for gun crime have the strongest gun controls. GOP run states with less controls average out considerably lower on gun homicides than Democrat states do.

While I wouldn't have the US's gun problem the biggest issue are the people with the guns rather than the guns themselves. The gangs with their drug cartels and territory wars are the bigger problem.

The ideological differences between Democrat and Republican are so wide that any argument that suggests restricting gun ownership outside of specific health concerns is doomed to failure. No one really trusts the state to not abuse laws and quite frankly I agree with that assessment.

Edited by Stirlingsays (29 May 2022 12.47pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Have you seen the size of some these guys. Definitely got their own Bazookas !

That the reach of the NRA culture extends deep into the GOP is undeniable, and even Romney would not be able to overturn it quickly. That, though, is not to say that there aren't many intelligent and compassionate Republicans who are every bit as appalled at the situation as anyone else. I have met many who treasure their guns, but are concerned at their widespread availability.

Romney is not an answer to this, but he could be an answer to the scourge of Trumpism and populist sentiment. It all depends on how long that sentiment holds within the GOP. When tides turn, they can turn quite quickly and people start to look for another direction. Exactly the same can happen here with Johnson, where I see Jeremy Hunt as his likely replacement.

Yes, there are huge divisions in the USA, but the camps are not evenly split. There will always be those who cling to their right to bear whatever weapons they think they want. Some even claim they can buy a tank if they want to. There is though a much larger "grey" area where appalling tragedies have the capacity to shift opinion.

So don't write Romney off just yet. A week in politics is, as we all know, a long time. His week could still arrive.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

The thing with these extreme divides is that they become part of a persons mindset. As in, anger and finger pointing become tied to their purpose. Of course it's partly a pushed divide too from individuals and corporations from the top (often with few actual political or cultural beliefs beyond what fills their coffers).

If you split the US in two (along dem and gop states or any other), rather than becoming some kind of paradise in the making, you could fast forward 50 years and you'd see stark new divides clawing at society. In part because that has become the American mindset, and again also because it's adventageous for some to encourage these divides.

So really coming back to the gun issue, any movement in either direction even if perfectly sensible and clearly the right thing to do will be painted as a disaster and will shock peoples sensibilities and outlook to their very core. A non starter. The American problem is an emotional one above all else. People have been too absorbed into the soap opera. A natural life is more local rather than narrative driven. It's a sorry state that people are pushed from outrage to outrage as all that matters, regardless of how much or little it personally impacts them. Clickbait nation.

Edited by BlueJay (29 May 2022 3.02pm)