I am an American that has lived in Australia for 25 years. I happen to be in America for a visit at the moment. It really is hard to wrap your mind around the horror. It really isn’t something that’s likely to happen in Australia and it’s horrible that it does happen in my home country. What possesses an 18 year old to want to go an elementary school and shoot kids in the face? Sorry for the graphic description but I think you need to phrase it with its complete horror intact. What kind of culture produces such anger and vengeance and horror? I am a recovering Democrat and there was a time when I would have joined the chorus about gun control. But those arguments have been going on for ages and nothing changes. What is it that creates these people? I do agree that there are too many guns too easily available but it’s about more than the guns. And it’s about more than mental health. Again, how are these people being created? I think we should be asking that as well as talking about the guns.
While this is certainly not fair, one of the biggest weaknesses of the pro-gun control side is the people who seem disproportionately active in it: highly educated, socially progressive people in deeply blue (on US political maps) parts of the country, many of whom have probably never handled guns themselves. They are certainly not the entirety of the gun control movement, but seeing people like them advocating gun control makes it easier for skeptics to dismiss the movement.
Given the huge regional variation in attitudes toward guns and gun ownership across the US, I think the state level is the best place to push for gun control, as slow and frustrating as it will be. State-level campaigns to repeal open-carry and stand-your-ground laws (preferably with no outside funding from wealthy Democrats that would make them seem tainted) will probably do a lot more to add a level of doubt to gun-enthusiast culture than an effort in Washington to pass "common sense" gun laws (Americans can't even agree what common sense is).
If the US is eventually going to have tighter gun restrictions at the national level (and I think we should), a vital step is for social progressives to show overt, conscious respect for social conservatives, on guns and other issues. A big obstacle is the extent to which rural and small-town people who have grown up around guns feel (often with justification) that big-city progressives with advanced degrees look down on them. On this and many issues, social progressives are their own worst enemies. I won't go so far as to say their mere presence in the debate is counterproductive, but I don't think that's far from the truth.
I’m so thankful for your writing. Gosh, the guns laws in the UK make absolute perfect sense to me, a freedom loving American. It’s really scary out here 💔
Thank you for infusing this issue with a perspective from another nationality. While your call for action is passionate it doesn't lose focus on proposing a possible alternative & factual solution. I appreciate this. It's a truly tragic incident that could have been prevented.
I am an American that has lived in Australia for 25 years. I happen to be in America for a visit at the moment. It really is hard to wrap your mind around the horror. It really isn’t something that’s likely to happen in Australia and it’s horrible that it does happen in my home country. What possesses an 18 year old to want to go an elementary school and shoot kids in the face? Sorry for the graphic description but I think you need to phrase it with its complete horror intact. What kind of culture produces such anger and vengeance and horror? I am a recovering Democrat and there was a time when I would have joined the chorus about gun control. But those arguments have been going on for ages and nothing changes. What is it that creates these people? I do agree that there are too many guns too easily available but it’s about more than the guns. And it’s about more than mental health. Again, how are these people being created? I think we should be asking that as well as talking about the guns.
While this is certainly not fair, one of the biggest weaknesses of the pro-gun control side is the people who seem disproportionately active in it: highly educated, socially progressive people in deeply blue (on US political maps) parts of the country, many of whom have probably never handled guns themselves. They are certainly not the entirety of the gun control movement, but seeing people like them advocating gun control makes it easier for skeptics to dismiss the movement.
Given the huge regional variation in attitudes toward guns and gun ownership across the US, I think the state level is the best place to push for gun control, as slow and frustrating as it will be. State-level campaigns to repeal open-carry and stand-your-ground laws (preferably with no outside funding from wealthy Democrats that would make them seem tainted) will probably do a lot more to add a level of doubt to gun-enthusiast culture than an effort in Washington to pass "common sense" gun laws (Americans can't even agree what common sense is).
If the US is eventually going to have tighter gun restrictions at the national level (and I think we should), a vital step is for social progressives to show overt, conscious respect for social conservatives, on guns and other issues. A big obstacle is the extent to which rural and small-town people who have grown up around guns feel (often with justification) that big-city progressives with advanced degrees look down on them. On this and many issues, social progressives are their own worst enemies. I won't go so far as to say their mere presence in the debate is counterproductive, but I don't think that's far from the truth.
I’m so thankful for your writing. Gosh, the guns laws in the UK make absolute perfect sense to me, a freedom loving American. It’s really scary out here 💔
Thank you for infusing this issue with a perspective from another nationality. While your call for action is passionate it doesn't lose focus on proposing a possible alternative & factual solution. I appreciate this. It's a truly tragic incident that could have been prevented.