The statistics make it clear that yes, what can be legally owned makes a difference. The Australians have reduced schoolyard and other mass shootings by reducing the supply of auto and semi auto weapons, while still allowing the other kind, which I don't know what to call them, maybe "slowfire"?
Pretty good model for the USA if we can get past all the misinformation the NRA is feeding us, wouldn't you think?
I'm still willing to respond in good nature, but it looks like we're just talking past each other now.
You've presumed a correlation - that the reason there have been no "mass murders" is because of their buyback program. From that presumption, evidence can be found to support it.
People like myself don't make that presumption. That's the difference. So until your side is willing to drop its preconceived notions, we're just talking to ourselves.
We say maybe it's the family - no fathers anymore.
We say maybe it's the violent entertainment culture.
We say maybe it's the mental health system.
We say maybe it's the very idea that we can rely on govt to protect us.
You say no, it's the scary looking guns.
None of those issues can be solved, so each side simply uses them to polarize, and we repeat what they say to ourselves and each other.
The most frustrating part for me is the insistence that it's something that should be turned over to govt. These horrors are a personal and community issue. They happen and they're terrible. But no amount of government is going to prevent another one. When we depend on govt, we stop paying personal attention, because we FEEL safe. Feeling safe is good, but it's a substitute for being safe.
"Banning" any type firearm will not make us safe, but some of us will feel safer, and that's enough to gain their vote.
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I think you also have made an assumption about me, that I'm interested in polarization. Maybe at one time I was. I had been a disciple of the NRA for decades. I gave no quarter to anything that even smelled of "infringement" because me in my purity of ideology would not even consider any common sense gun measures.
I've finally let pragmatism work its way into my thinking, and am willing to see that Australia actually accomplished something. They had numerous mass shootings before their legislation. They have had zero since. I am a Psych major very familiar with statistics and design of studies and how they can be manipulated. If you can show me another reason why Australian kids eating in the lunchroom have much less reason to fear being shot I'm all ears. Until I see reason, I will continue to counter the unreasonable and inaccurate rhetoric of the NRA.
My best to you.
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