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The love of guns in the United States has been well documented, as have multiple mass shootings across the country such as those in Orlando, San Bernardino, Newtown, and Virginia. The ease of access to guns in American society comes at a shocking cost.
As of September 2016, almost 11,000 people have been killed as a result of gun violence. Despite this high death toll, mass shootings in America show no sign of disappearing.
The Stateside obsession with guns can appear baffling to UK observers unfamiliar with its origins. So just how did this gun culture become so deep-rooted in the American psyche?
BBC source: Why Are Americans so Obsessed with Guns?
Wikipedia: Gun politics in the United States
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Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Guns?
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What no spouse of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working
when he's staring out the window.
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday January 10 2017, @02:10AM
Even if it Trump is racist, it doesn't follow that all or even most of the people who voted for him are also racists. Our country's voting system is defective by design and locks out alternative choices in most people's minds, so people will vote for the candidate they believe is the lesser evil. This means that voters don't necessarily vote for someone because they believe they're good, but just because they believe the person is less evil than the other candidate. Maybe many Trump voters disagreed with him on many issues but ultimately saw him as a lesser evil. I'm not seeing how this necessarily indicates they're all racists; it's classic team politics.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @02:38AM
> Even if it Trump is racist, it doesn't follow that all or even most of the people who voted for him are also racists.
It does follow that for them being a liberal is worse than being a racist.
Watch the regulars chime in to agree that's not just a belief, its a fact.
And if you think liberalism is worse than racism, you've never really been on the wrong side of racism.
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:12AM
It does follow that for them being a liberal is worse than being a racist.
Which, even if true, still doesn't make them racist. But it's not even necessarily true, because many people who voted Trump simply despised Hillary Clinton.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @05:51AM
Sure that's what they said.
But typically their underlying reasons for hating her are built on quicksand.
When such strong emotions have such weak foundations its because people don't want to acknowledge their real motivations so they grasp on to whatever fig leaf is handy.
You strike me as somebody who think racism is a purely conscious phenomenon.
True?
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:43AM
But typically their underlying reasons for hating her are built on quicksand.
Hardly different from usual, then.
You strike me as somebody who think racism is a purely conscious phenomenon.
It doesn't need to be. I just can't read minds or generalize so broadly based on a mere vote.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:03PM
That dismisses the 30 years that Hillary and her husband spent in the national spotlight, which we were all treated to. It's hardly quicksand to watch them cheat and parse and sin and thieve and wriggle and never, ever face real consequences for anything. We all discussed the particulars ad nauseum during the election campaign, so you can trawl through the archives or google if you really want the citations.
Pumpernickel is right--there were many, complex reasons why people chose Trump over Hillary. Glossing over them will not only obscure the reality but will also prove a material impediment to your winning next time.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:29AM
Well, I can't speak for what is in the hearts and minds of every Trump voter, but it is crystal clear what they were voting for. He did not in any way try to hide his bigotry and xenophobia. In fact, he revelled in it. At the very least, his clearly articulated bigotry and xenophobia were not enough of a turn off to persuade Trump voters to choose someone else. Unfortunately, I think it understandable if many come away with the conclusion that a sizeable number of his supporters agree with his repugnant views.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:48AM
Concern over illegal immigration or islamic extremism isn't "bigotry or xenophobia". So, what exactly were you referring to here? Those are the only examples I can recall.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:28AM
Oh, come now. I expect much better than this sort of facile (and erroneous) analysis from a reader of SN. Do I really need to rehearse one more time his public statements about Mexicans, specifically, and minorities more generally? [huffingtonpost.com] Or his blanket proposal to deny approximately a fourth of the world's population their basic human rights? [cbsnews.com] Well, OK, he only wants to deny First Amendment rights to Muslims living inside the borders of the USA. But that is a rather Earth-shattering departure from the ideals that our nation's leaders have touted since before I was born that the First Amendment is considered sacred for all Americans and that we would champion basic human rights for everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, wouldn't you say? This goes far, far beyond mere "concern over illegal immigration or islamic extremism". Yes, this is bigotry and xenophobia we are talking about here.