Hacker News Reader

Comment by Cuuugi | Hacker News Reader

Not to mention automatic weapons are essentially already banned.

There's no rational debate to be had, since they only really seem to happen with bodies fresh in our minds.

I don't have the right answer, or claim to, but i do know that making these types of decisions in a crisis, rarely works out.

View on HN

The problem is that we are continually in crisis. This is happening multiple times a week. We really need to have a serious discussion and action around the future of guns in our country.

As I posted elsewhere, drunk-driving is a far bigger problem. I propose we tackle these things in priority order.

10,265 people died a year in alcohol-impaired driving crashes (2015) [0]

33,636 persons died a year from firearm injuries, ~11200 homicides, ~21190 suicides (2013) [1]

Given these numbers from the CDC, it seems like your statement is incorrect and firearms are a serious issue. Care to address this?

[0] - https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impa...

[1] - https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf

Drug overdoses killed approximately 64,000 people in 2016[1], combined with the 21,000 suicides from firearms, I would argue that perhaps mental health issues are much more serious than firearm issues.

[1] - https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/o...

Whoa, my mistake. Thanks for the correction.

You might be thinking of smoking related deaths, which kill ~480k Americans/yr. Unfortunately even if every American stopped smoking today, the damage is already done and the rate would only bottom out over a period of ~20 years.

Also ignoring the legit defensive use of force in the form of firearms. I would direct link to the data but it's paywalled: https://www.dcstatesman.com/just-unearthed-tax-payer-funded-...

90 percent of your figure is victimless suicides..

21,190 suicides of 33,636 is 63%. And there is still a definite victim. Not to mention any affected loved ones they left behind.

Arguably, homicides and suicides highlight very different causes. Only the tool in use is common. These should be treated and studied separately.

To me, these are the 4 major pillars of America's gun situation:

1. Widespread availability of guns. The USA has about 330 million guns, or one gun per American. This is more than the number of dogs + cats in the USA. While many Americans own no guns, those Americans who do own guns, often own several.

2. Unhealthy attitudes toward mental health. Much of the country lives with deep insecurities, mental issues, unhealthy stress, and little access to counseling or psychiatry. Further, many live with memories of their loved ones being ripped from their homes, and would rather hide any mental issue in the fear of losing all agency. And our movies and TV shows and YouTube videos are all too quick to capitalize on these fears.

3. Unhealthy attitudes toward guns.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks / You better run, better run, outrun my gun - Foster The People, Pumped Up Kicks

Instead of helping each other with our insecurities, we sell each other guns. We glorify guns in our stories - the ultimate god, or the ultimate devil, either way a symbol demanding ultimate respect in the narrative. All the world's a stage, right?

4. Culture of exclusivism and elitism that strokes some egos, while creating toxic situations for everyone else. These are much more subtle and hard to identify - ranging from someone cutting you off in traffic, to someone being unsympathetic online or in person, to the complex financial decisions that happen in the back of our heads when we contemplate a doctor visit. These are the impulse to troll a comment thread or dominate a dinner conversation. These are the very impulses that led to the Pickle Rick fiasco and the impending Trump Wall.

Why can't we tackle both at the same time?

> There's no rational debate to be had, since they only really seem to happen with bodies fresh in our minds.

That's because they are always fresh in our minds, it's always a crisis. Mass shootings are the norm in America.

The decisions are not made in a crisis. The crisis is the impetus needed to get people to change their mind, its not like this will result in a law change. It may result in a new proposed law, which will be debated and voted on in due course. It wont be a knee jerk reaction but hopefully someday soon enough people will see one of these events as the start of the end of future mass slayings.

I disagree. The media spotlight around the Stoneman Douglas high school students should be all you need to know. The fact that they have been elevated to a place they don't really belong (in the national spotlight) is to simply push a narrative. This is child abuse, and wrong.

They want to push legislation to restrict the right to own firearms, when it really hasn't been considered that guns themselves might not be the problem.

What makes a "mass shooter"? The gun just makes them a shooter. To fire indiscriminately clearly shows mental issues.

I think it's funny that people are so upset about some high school students voicing their opinions after experiencing a school shooting.

I do agree with the idea that the US needs to fix its mental (and general) healthcare system. It's odd that the majority of the time that argument is used by the same group that wants and has tried to gut any attempts at improving the system.

> I think it's funny that people are so upset about some high school students voicing their opinions after experiencing a school shooting.

Did i direct any anger towards any of the students?

I think you misread me. PAC's are circling them this way and that to push messaging on people. That is undeniable. That is child abuse. That is wrong. That is why i am upset. (i'll say that all night, i don't care about karma)

I guess a call to rationalism is down vote worthy?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com