You’re right, and you’re going to get downvoted for it. We have an inequality problem masking as a gun problem. We have a mental health crisis masking as gun problem.
Possible solutions to these situations aren’t fast and they don’t stir up emotions enough to get people to vote for you. Riling people up and telling them you can fix their problems fast gets votes; saying we have work to do doesn’t.
The stigma against mental healthcare won’t be gone in my child’s generation, but I am happy to see it is being accepted more than it was for mine. Of course, not thinking poorly of people for taking care of themselves doesn’t matter if people can’t afford to…
We have an inequality problem masking as a gun problem. We have a mental health crisis masking as gun problem.
Hard agree. People would not be killing themselves in droves if these issues weren’t present.
We have a shitload of guns in this country. Nothing is going to change that.
While I think we do need more strict gun ownership laws, they’re not going to change the amount already in people’s hands. Nor will they make people less miserable.
What we need are tangible improvements in people’s lives. Improved wages. Lower housing costs. Affordable healthcare. Quality, free treatment for addiction.
These are the things that will keep people from killing themselves.
I’m glad to see this line of thinking in this thread, even if the “Take 'em all” sentiment seems to be more popular. Over the last 40ish years, gun ownership has slowly trended downwards.
The fact of the matter is, healthy & happy people tend not to shoot themselves or others. Depressed, desparate, jaded, and angry people are the ones out there abusing their 2A rights. Taking away their guns may stop them from using them on people, but it doesn’t feel like a complete solution: you still have people who were unstable enough to commit murder /suicide out there.
I admit I have no data to support this next idea, but my gut feeling is that you could swap the gun laws & density of the US and one of those European coutries we’re always compared to, and the rates of overall violent crime / suicide would not change that drastically.
And I agree with you! But we had a shitload of guns when I was a kid 40+ years back, and less stigma surrounding them. FFS, kids would never touch a real gun, or even think about it, without an adult present. LOL, I never even saw a gun despite being surrounded by them.
We have to attack the underlying issues you describe, but I’ve about given up hope on that.
I’ve often said: America doesn’t have a gun problem. America has a culture problem. Funny to see the up and down votes depending on time, place and context. I feel like my opinion is borderline factual. (Still an opinion!)
I’ll happily disagree with the stigma against mental health thing. This GenXer is damned happy to see Millennials and GenZ taking mental health seriously. Hell, wasn’t even talked about when we were young. Verboten. For that matter, gays were firmly in the closet, even our friends hid that shit. Maybe we’re agreeing but from slightly different age perspectives?
Little off topic, but I think the younger folks take it a bit far at times. Being a teenager, or even a 20-something, is a hella fucked up time in life. It just is. Yes, it’s hella challenging. No, there’s nothing wrong or unusual about you. All that confusion is normal. (Doesn’t help hearing that when you’re living it.)
No amount of social change is going to undo a hundred thousand years of evolution and the jacked up hormonal and social status changes that accompany growing up. (Plenty of room to improve though!)
