(Since G+ is getting nuked, I'm dumping comments to posts, so maybe they'll stay around a bit. I only semi-care about formatting right now, since I'm depressed G+ is getting nuked.)
The problem in the US, though, is that the "passion" for "freedom" and gun ownership has crossed the line into sheer madness.
The link is not, in fact, "false." False requires the facts to be wrong, which they aren't, and the premise is a persuasive argument that Americans love their guns more than their children, which she makes a compelling argument for, given that every time school children are mass-murdered by gun-toting lunatics, the response is "More guns! More guns!" which is exactly as stupid as shouting "Throw gasoline on that fire!"
In the vein of "madness," I'll point out that it is nearly impossible to get any kind of legislation passed limiting the number of firearms in the US, or if unhealthy people should be allowed to own them, because every time something is suggested - for example, that concerned family members can petition a judge to confiscate firearms from people diagnosed with mental illness, and the judge has to review the request, and approve it, before anything can be done about taking guns away from the mentally ill person (California) - are painted as "gummint wants to take guns from veterans" - which is total misrepresentation, fear-mongering, and adds to the insanity of gun owners calling in death threats to anyone who speaks out against loose firearm laws. (It happens.)
That's not "freedom loving" - it's madness.
"Freedom loving" would be gun owners stepping up to say "You know what? One of the reasons I own a gun is because I want to be able to shoot back. Why the fuck are there so many guns out there that I have to be afraid of them in the first place? Why the fuck are lunatics allowed to buy guns?"
Instead, the shouting is always "More guns! More guns!" As if, "more guns" somehow makes things better? That's like saying "The best way to cure illegal drug addiction is more illegal drugs!" or "The solution to being fat is to eat more!"
Instead, the question needs to be "Why the fuck are there so many guns out there, and how do we stop insane people from having guns? How to we stop children being mass-murdered by guns? How do we stop nightclub or movie theater massacres with guns?" (Note, that in many of those "mass shootings," there were people among the victims with guns, and those guns didn't mean jack shit, so let's be clear that "more guns" is not solving any problems, but it is resulting in more gun deaths.)
Why do politicians and public figures get death threats when they suggest "less guns means less gun deaths," but no one is receiving death threats for dumping more guns onto the streets?
So, my message to gun owners is: "Clean up your own damn house, people, and you won't have to deal with outsiders having to clean up after you."
q.v. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+IcarusAnneRiley/posts/Q3tA73tkfwJ
q.v. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AlbertNakano/posts/XtVSogPLzUL
q.v. CNN Op-ed
Do we love our guns more than our children?
By Tess Taylor
Updated 9:01 AM ET, Thu February 15, 2018
https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/18/opinions/guns-children-taylor-opinion/index.html
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