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Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after ‘tragic and senseless’ spate of July 4 shootings
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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One can do both.
A new assault weapon ban, while ultimately not a cure, would at least stem the tide until real effective change can be enacted.
We'll never fix our problems all at once, in grand sweeping actions. It comes in steps, which takes time. We just need to not destroy ourselves in the mean time.
Of course, that also means actually enacting that slow change, and not just paying lip service as a distraction from issues that are happening now.
My main point about an AWB in relation to suicides was more that people aren't using those kinds of weapons for suicide. The kind weapons these laws are trying to describe aren't even commonly used in crimes. The main reason they're talking about assault weapons now days is because targeting handguns first kinda stalled. That and the marketing works better for them.
There are things they could do that would be effective but it would be other left wing policies that would address root causes. The issue with that is those things seem to be even more of a lip service thing and it's kinda hard to bumper sticker that shit.
So you agree it's mostly political theater, on both sides? All the proponents of "gun rights" are just as pointless and theatrical as the gun bans they oppose? That coming out, guns blazing (as it were) against these measures is just another way to stir up an uninformed and apathetic base to action against the "liberal elite"?
Most of these measures are relatively toothless anyways, they affect tiny portions of the population, most of which just won't be able to purchase new weapons of that style, at least until the gun manufacturers find loopholes, as they always do.
There is political theater going on but with gun control laws they're not going to even stick due to lawsuits. Effectiveness is questionable as well.
The laws do not affect a tiny portion of people though. Lots of weapons that fall under the idea of an assault weapons ban are extremely popular and common. Then such laws would affect future buyers including people who do not have the opportunity to buy something now or didn't think to. Definitely a problem for someone a decade from now who was too young or wasn't into firearms yet. Like that the whole point of the ban right? Stopping people from being able to own something.
The "loopholes" aren't. They're just making something that is in compliance. The problem is they don't know how to define what they want to ban and the ban isn't actually effective for the results they claim.
48.8k people died from gun deaths last year. 54% were suicides, 43% murders, 3% other Of those murders, 3% were with a rifle. (Source was pew research)
630 rifle deaths out of 48.8k
All an assault weapon ban will do is make felons out of otherwise law abiding gun enthusiasts, and chip away at a right guaranteed in our constitution.
Nearly 50k deaths is tragic. We do need to do something about it. But banning guns does not fix the mental health issues, the income disparity, or the lack of education and social services in predominantly black or Hispanic neighborhoods, which contribute to these violent behaviors in our society.
And if you're only concerned about the deaths, consider how drug overdoses outnumber gun deaths by more than 2:1. Maybe we should make drugs illegal instead. Wait....
There have been less than 15 mass shootings since 2012 in the US where the shooter used an "assault rifle". An "assult weapons" ban wouldn't stem the tide at all. This proposed law would be like banning semi trucks because a few drunk driving incidents involved a drunk semi driver.
It stemmed the tide back in the nineties, before it was repealed in the last decade.
But that's honestly beside the point. Because everyone seems to just be against any kind of legal action against firearms, but most opponents of these measures can only point at vague options regarding "mental health" as an alternative... then balk at supporting any measures resembling it.
It's a dogwhistle that is frankly a tired ploy for populist politicians to throw at their base to distract them from real issues.
We must fight against the "evil" gun bans because if we don't fight against that, people might recognize how shit we are at our jobs and actually do something about it!
As I stated in my comment, I know it's not a cure. It's not even a very good stopgap. But at least it's fucking something. Which is more than can be said than by all the people whinging about "constitutional rights".