this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
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politics

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top 34 comments
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[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If a news article asks a yes/no question…

[–] Brkdncr 31 points 5 months ago (4 children)

No. Dems for some reason can’t figure out that they will never win against the 2nd amendment. A dem that supports the 2nd would be able to easily win in any purple district.

Honestly if they don’t understand their potential constituents they deserve to lose.

[–] SupraMario 14 points 5 months ago

I've always held this belief as well, if dems dropped the gun control issue, they'd basically wipe out the republican party.

[–] Thunderbird4 11 points 5 months ago

It’s like he watched Beto O’Rourke commit political suicide over guns and thought “I bet I can do that on a national scale.”

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

supports the second amendment

I think we should have a well-regulated militia. But I don’t think that every school child should be able to wield an AR-15. I guess that makes me anti-2nd?

[–] Brkdncr 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Yes, because you call out the ar15. Most pro-2nd people see that gun as being the same as any other rifle and find the regulations around it to be ineffective.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Well, those people are fucking stupid, and I don't intend to adjust my worldview to accommodate their stupidity. Same as the majority of Americans who believe in a magical man in the sky: The majority of people believing an obvious lie will never make the lie true, or the vile things they justify with that lie truly just.

If the AR-15 is the same as every other gun, someone needs to explain the reason why it is overwhelmingly the weapon of choice for mass shooters if they want that argument to be taken seriously.

[–] Brkdncr 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It’s cheap and plentiful and shoots cheap ammo. That’s it. It’s the Honda civic of guns.

[–] shalafi 3 points 5 months ago

And insanely reliable, like a Honda Civic.

[–] shalafi 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

You've bought the hype. Only something like 4% of guns deaths are from long guns, of which the AR-15 is a subset. The Virginia Tech shooter got most of his kills with a .22 handgun. Shouldn't you be railing against pistols?

Also, the AR-15 has been around for civilian purchase since 1964. Isn't it odd how quickly, and how suddenly, it became popular? Maybe because the Democrats banned it? And if there's anything people want, it's what they can't have. Remember Columbine? Funny how mass shooters suddenly discovered the weapon at that time. And that leads us to...

AR-15s make headlines. Remember that nut in Maine last year or so? Isn't it odd that none of the headlines mentioned the sort of gun used? I mean, if it had been an AR-15, that fact would have been splattered everywhere, because it always is. Took me a minute to find it when the story came out, but it was an AR-10. Huh. Guess that doesn't get people's juices flowing.

I'm sure you're aware that most media in the US is owned by a couple of corporations and billionaires. Could it be that the oligarchs want us disarmed? Too much tinfoil on my hat?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

same as any other rifle

I’m sure the use of AR-15s in shootings has nothing to do with its magazine capacity, firing rate, and deadliness at relatively short out to intermediate range. Not a lot of kids in elementary schools getting killed by people wielding muzzle loaders.

[–] Brkdncr 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Poor argument. Rate, capacity, range are not unique to the ar15. Muzzle loaders aren’t common.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Okay, then. I guess I’ll ignore the muzzle loaders my dad and all his friends used to hunt with until the AR-15 became such a symbol of the “cold dead hands” crowd that they all went ahead and got one. And then a few more.

I think the AR-15 should be banned because I think any semiautomatic rifle and pistol with a magazine capacity of more than a few rounds should be banned. That’s enough for the “guns are easier than getting medicated for anxiety” crowd to feel like they can engage in deadly personal defense without making it easy for someone to walk into a school or church or business and just unload.

[–] brygphilomena 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What? Are you saying you dad and all his friends used to use muzzle loaders before the ar-15? We've had bolt action at least since WW1 and semi-automatics have been common since WW2. There is no way you dad and his friends had muzzle loaders and only changed to AR-15 because of the popular crowd.

Or are you trying to say bolt action, but don't know firearms? Because most of the old hunting rifles were old military surplus rifles largely made popular by familiarity of those who used similar in military service and the high availability of rifle rounds in common calibers.

Things like the Civilian Marksmanship Program that got old M1 Garands into civilian hands and the ubiquitous amount of 30-06 ammo that was easily accessible to hunters all over the country lead the previous era of gun owners. The current era of vets are familiar with the m4a1, but thats not available to civilians. But the ar-15 is similar so veterans tend to pick up the ar-15.

The ar-15 is also highly module. It can be rechambered in almost any caliber, has many attachments for accessories, can have the barrel, muzzle, and stock changed making it a favorite of anyone that finds a hobby in firearms. If you picked up a complete ar-15, you can change essentially everything but the lower receiver and have it be the "same" gun.

That's why it's popular and why so many people have one. Since it's so popular and so common, it gets used in shootings. Not because of the traits you listed, but because the most dangerous gun is the one the criminal already has.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yes. Muzzle loaders. Shoot once, then spend a few minutes loading a powder charge and a bullet down the barrel. They weren’t flintlock muskets like it was the 1700s, they were modern rifles. Just loaded through the muzzles. It gives the deer a fighting chance. You have to hit on the first shot. Did you know that people also hunt with a bow and arrow? Those have been around since the Neolithic. Sometimes not using the most advanced tech is the point.

It’s funny that you typed all that stuff trying to explain firearms to someone who you assume knows nothing about them. I’ve shot everything from pellet guns to the aforementioned muzzle loader to a .30-06 to, yes, an AR-15. I can pick up most guns and check to see if the chamber’s clear. I can disassemble and clean and put them back together.

I want these things to go away. Not just AR-15’s. Anything semiautomatic with a magazine that can hold more than, let’s say, six rounds. Anything beyond a revolver is over the top for personal protection, and if you think that’s not true you’re a lunatic or just want to cosplay army guy. Duh, AR-15’s are the most commonly used firearm in shootings because there’s a lot of them. How about we make there be less of them and other guns that can kill so many people so quickly?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The laws as they are now prevent just about every school child from buying a rifle of any kind. The cops simply hate enforcing gun laws against people they feel are just like them. How many shootings now have you read something like 'The alleged shooter was known to police' or someone had already complained or asked for wellness checks?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I mean depending on who the wellness check is for, the answer may be “they are not well, because they were shot by a cop for no reason, and whoops that was their neighbor, and also the cop shot the neighbor’s dog too”

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Correct, and im no fan of the cops in general but my point mainly focuses on how so many perpetrators of these kinds of crime tend to make themselves known ahead of time so it really looks like we had enough information, and in a lot of cases we even have the law's jurisdiction too, but still failed to take the action required. If the laws that are already there arent being enforced I struggle to think we can just keep adding laws assuming those will be enforced.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Enforcement at fewer points (manufacturers, distributors) is much easier than at each individual person with a gun being evaluated.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If endorsing the heaps of dead children that the current interpretation of the 2A produces annually is how we "win", are we really winning?

[–] Brkdncr 4 points 5 months ago

You’re losing if you can’t get your rep elected.

[–] FuglyDuck 17 points 5 months ago

Considering it takes 2/3’s of both houses to start the process, if they can’t get a bill through, they’re not gonna get an amendment through. And that’s just to get started.

[–] MeatStiq 12 points 5 months ago

No he won't.

[–] Garbanzo 11 points 5 months ago

If he succeeded in calling a convention the most likely outcome would be an abortion ban and national permitless concealed carry.

[–] Zannsolo 9 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'm all for gun control, but honestly it's not worth the political fight. Dems should drop it from their platform for 10 years and fight the more important rights like taxing the rich, universal healthcare, climate change, and environmental protection. Far more lives would be saved from those than from gun control.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Also if they want to they could probably get a good bit of support by sponsoring independent ranges and firearm safety classes. Politically unaligned regional ranges would be fucken great to have, no having to worry about them being NRA bootlickers.

[–] jeffw 1 points 5 months ago

Actually, it’s becoming more and more of a winner in elections

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No he won't. He's an idiot and it is a horrible idea.

[–] espentan 8 points 5 months ago (3 children)

The proposed amendment includes raising the federal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, banning so-called assault weapons and mandating universal background checks and a waiting period between the purchase of a gun and its delivery.

It.. it doesn't sound horrible, but I'm not American so I probably underestimate how important immediate gun access is to keep the wheels turning.

[–] halferect 7 points 5 months ago

As far as I know everything except the banning of the assault weapons is very popular in America, so this will go nowhere and it's that's probably on purpose to keep gun regulations a wedge issue.

[–] WhatIsThePointAnyway 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

It’s how affective a century plus of paranoia propaganda by the NRA has been.

[–] SupraMario 0 points 5 months ago

It has nothing to do with that, gun owners aren't the ones running around saying the AR15 should be banned, when it contributes to around 50 deaths a year...the paranoia is on the anti-2a side.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Well for one assault weapon isnt a proper term, its like the term muscle car. Ya kinda get what someone means by it but it is not a solid enough term to be used for anything practical.