Ever notice how the chief culprits are never identified or even mentioned in the great blame game that breaks out after every horrendous shooting? Now don’t me wrong. The unintended injury or death of any human being is horrendous, but we don’t register the daily, humdrum gun violence affairs; we wait until a really bestial, mass murder takes place to which we then assign terms like’ horrible,’ ‘unthinkable,’ ‘tragic’ and the like. Then we play the great blame game.
For Republicans, the blame is now squarely fixed on something called “very’ very sick people.” Or at least this is how Donald Trump began his contribution to the blame game after the Oregon massacre last week. It was basically what he and other Presidential wannabes said after the August 26 gunning down of two television journalists in Virginia; funny how these guys (and a gal) all agree that we should do a better job of collecting information about the crazies among us but, at the same time, we don’t need to extend background checks. So what should we do with all this new information that we’ll get when we ‘fix’ the mental health system?
Everybody’s getting down on Jeb Bush for his cogent “stuff happens” response to the blame game, but maybe he’s decided that given his standing in the polls, he’d be better off not blaming anyone or anything at all. And when all is said and done, I give Baby Bro a high-five for at least having the honesty to come right out and say what the words of the other red-meat candidates really mean, namely, that when it comes to gun violence, they don’t want to do anything at all.
But I’m not so sure that the blame game is generating anything more credible from the other side. What was Hilary’s line? “Sensible gun control measures,” whatever that means. And from the woods of Vermont, Bernie Sanders issued a statement which began, “We need sensible gun-control legislation.” Wait a minute. I thought that Hilary owns ‘sensible.’ Joe, who hasn’t decided yet whether he can afford to be unemployed after January 20, 2016, pushed back on the ‘sensible’ argument to remind us that the 2nd Amendment didn’t protect the rights of someone who wanted to own a “bazooka or an F-15.” I like Joe and I’d vote for him if I had the chance. But what the hell was he thinking?
If you want the official blame-game entry you have to turn to Nick Kristof’s op-ed in The New York Times. And what we get here is a remarkable and novel approach to gun violence, namely, that guns aren’t safe. He comes right out and says it! After all, the British cut suicide rates by switching from coal to gas, the latter much less lethal, hence ovens in England are safer. “We need to do the same with guns.” Want to make guns safer Nickie-boy? Design them so that when you pull the trigger, out comes a squirt of H2O.
So that’s where things stand in today’s great blame game. Everybody’s got a way to fix the problem but nobody’s saying anything reality-based at all. But recall I said in the very first sentence that the real culprits of gun violence are never named. So I’m going to name them now and it goes like this: Beretta, Charter, Colt, Glock, H&K, Kahr, Sig, Smith&Wesson, Springfield, Walther - I’m probably missing one or two more. These crummy little companies make the products that kill and injure 100,000 Americans every year. Want to tell me that guns don’t kill people, people kill people? Go lay brick.
It’s not about background checks, it’s not about mental health, it’s not even about ‘stuff.’ It’s about a lethal consumer product being cynically and dishonestly promoted as the most effective protection from violence and crime. It’s not true, the gun makers know it’s not true, and it’s time we stopped looking elsewhere for something to blame.
Oct 05, 2024 @ 10:11:56
You missed what may be the true source for the shootings that get all the attention. The quote does not apply to anything other than those tragedies.
“Research shows that, in fact, mass shooters may be more likely to act when there has recently been a high-profile mass killing, a model more attune to viral infection than pure copycat.”
source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34385059
Oct 05, 2024 @ 16:57:51
Another thought: ” It’s about a lethal consumer product being cynically and dishonestly promoted as the most effective protection from violence and crime.” Perhaps you should be saying the people doing more promotion than the people who make the guns are the ones selling protection by guns in the movies and TV shows. I wonder how many people actually see any ads put out by the gun companies but lots more people see guns being sold to protect people in the movies or TV shows. Gun makers may try to get their guns on the screen but the directors put them there.
Oct 06, 2024 @ 07:39:21
I had a real epiphany about MTTG today reading this post about THE REAL CULPRITS in gun violence. MTTG says: “But recall I said in the very first sentence that the real culprits of gun violence are never named. So I’m going to name them now and it goes like this: Beretta, Charter, Colt, Glock, H&K, Kahr, Sig, Smith&Wesson, Springfield, Walther – I’m probably missing one or two more. These crummy little companies make the products that kill and injure 100,000 Americans every year. Want to tell me that guns don’t kill people, people kill people? Go lay brick.”
But, of course, those “crummy little companies” cannot directly sell their instruments of death directly to the public. Almost every gun used for violence entered the public through licensed gun dealers. So, the MAJOR ACCOMPLICE to THE REAL CULPRITS are gun dealers.
MTTG has the blood of 12,000 guns sold on his hands. MTTG personally profited by acting as a pimp for those crummy little companies. That is a heavy burden I imagine, and so I understand now why, post-conversion to the gun violence protection family, MTTG is attempting to write 12,000 blog posts — one for every sin he committed in acting as a profiteer on behalf of those crummy little companies.
I understand now. I truly understand.
Oct 09, 2024 @ 14:18:40
Sometimes I do not understand the mentality of the Anti-Gun crowd and I am not saying that to be a jerk or poke a bear. I am saying that because you throw around invalid statistics which have been debunked eons ago and still when you’re proven wrong you refuse to take that information and evaluate it. You toss it out as irrelevant.
For instance you’re saying that gun manufacturers are the ones that never get blamed. Does Chevy or Ford get blamed when their cars are used to plow through a group of people? How many people a year die from automobiles? Should we outright ban those too because the deaths by vehicles far outweigh the deaths by firearms in this country.
Answer this one question.. What criminal follows the laws that are in place now? How will adding more gun control laws help stop crimes?
The firearms that are acquired LEGALLY and then used in a crime were purchased legally with a background check being completed. The background check system didn’t stop several of the past crimes that were committed by firearms. Most of the firearms used in crimes are NOT LEGALLY acquired by the person who used them for ill purposes. Therefore how will expanded background checks help us?
You do realize that the only people whom follow the laws are law abiding citizens right? So you want tighter control on legal citizens getting firearms?
I truly want some insight as to why the anti-gun crowd feels as they do. I am a pro-gun firearm owner and avid enthusiast and I have the opposite opinion about law abiding citizens owning them. I also feel heartache when something tragic takes place such as a shooting in any environment whether it be a school or a movie theatre. I just don’t understand how you can sit there and say it’s the fault of the gun or the manufacturer when someone chooses to use a tool improperly that’s a choice they make.
The 2nd Amendment was put there by our founding fathers for a reason and that was to keep the Government in check. If we do not have the ability to defend ourselves we have no defense against a tyrannous Government. Every firearm related law on the books today is unconstitutional, yes including the one where a felon cannot own a firearm..
Why do we even have that felon clause? Well it’s because our judicial system is FAILING us. When someone is too dangerous that YOU MUST restrict/revoke one of their rights then why are you letting them back on the street? If they are too dangerous to be trusted in society then they should not be allowed to be in society.
Too many people commit crimes and bank on the fact that they will most likely get a slap on the wrist and released.
If we didn’t have such a FAILED judicial system then maybe all of us pro-gun firearm owners wouldn’t feel the need to carry a firearm every day to protect ourselves and our families. Food for thought?
When it comes to blaming the manufacturer of products used to kill people then why is fertilizer not yet outlawed?
You know that back in 1996 or 1997 the U.K. banned handguns right? How did that work for them? Sure firearm related crime rates dropped but the knife related crime rates went on a drastic rise. So much of a rise that they have actually started a new campaign… “Surrender Your Knife, Save A Life!”
You can read more about that here: http://surrenderyourknife.co.uk/
Awaiting your responses so that I may better understand where you are coming from.