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
(Score: 2) by joekiser on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:50PM
What kind of argument is that to take away the right to personal self defense?
The government has supercomputers that can break encryption, and backdoors in everything commercial; should we give up the right to privacy and ban personal encryption keys? Some say yes, and cite the use of encryption by ISIS as justification.
The government controls the narrative and is in bed with the major media networks; should we give up the right to free press and ban smaller publications? Some say yes, and cite the rise of "fake news" and the "alt right" as justification.
Our nation decided a long time ago that 1) it gets its authority from the consent of the governed, 2) the idea that there are certain inalienable rights for all citizens that are intrinsic to being human. The codified right to personal self defense was unique to the United States at the time; eventually, it inspired the UN Charter, Article 51.
Debt is the currency of slaves.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday January 10 2017, @01:19PM
What kind of argument is that to take away the right to personal self defense?
It's not, it's an argument that saying having guns is important to fight the government is anachronistic.
cite the use of encryption by ISIS as justification.
ISIS inspired attacks (ISIS barely have a command and control network in the middle east, let alone in the rest of the world) don't use encryption. And your country doesn't believe that human rights are inalienable for all human beings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:18PM
Chris Dorner's botched plan begs to differ (and the Beltway "Snipers", and the Metcalf attacks...). The lady doth protest too much for the "anachronistic" argument to have merit.