Something to think about. These school shootings and gun violence exploded on the scene about 30 years ago, roughly, I ask what has changed so much in our society over that 30 years. To flat out just blame gun seems irresponsible,
If you're looking at the divisiveness, then yes ... The realm of blame is definitely weighted to the republican side. Even when votes are won, republicans find ways to obstruct in any and every way (see Russian sanctions, abortion rights, healthcare, civil/gay rights, gun restrictions, etc). Saying dems and reps are both to blame is akin to Trump saying that "there were bad people on both sides" when the charlottesville driver tore through a crowd of protesters. The two sides simple aren't equally to blame, and yet you hit me with a sarcastic response when I point out the obvious truth of the matter. That's the frustrating part. It's a blatant truth, and we all know it ... but when someone says it, republicans roll their eyes and act like victims.
Same gun ... interesting. Why then aren't both guns both used equally in shootings? Maybe it has something to do with design as well? But we can't study that. We also can't put restrictions on mentally ill people owning guns, track gun owners, require renewable licenses with regular testing and safety courses, limit magazines, because the very hint at doing any of that causes the NRA and reps assholes to quiver. Maybe we need to put all resources on the table and actually figure out what the right course of action is for the safety of our kids and population. Who knows, maybe we rethink the wheel on this one rather than sticking to a 200 yr old amendment as if it was written in stone by Zeus himself. All I know is that there's one side that's willing to at least try to think about it, and another side that is paid very handsomely not to.
Maybe to get the powerful gun lobby to the table possibly Hollywood can offer to stop making guns sexy in films and video games. If we are adding restrictions maybe limit how often we see guns and violence on the big screen and other popular culture outlets. If it's all about the children, they don't need to be saturated with that anyways.
I don't disagree with that. American film in general has been diluted of emotional/sensitive value in favor of brash behavior and violence in a lot of ways. If you have time, this guy does a really good job of breaking that down in a microscopic character analysis of the female protagonists in The Lost World vs Alien ... I actually quite enjoy his take on film in general.
If your talking gun control than I'll admit the Republican play a bug part. I took your post as blaming all problems on republicans, which simply is not true. I choose to look at it as everyone has bloods on their hands. Democrats and Republican are both guilty of use tragedy to push agendas, but things never get done...in 4 month are democrats still going to be fighting for gun control, or are they going to go back to something else.. I mean anyone can see the entire governmental system it a lock up and until some scratches someone back.. Here's a perfect idea Dems: Agree to reduce entry of immigrants, invest in responsible border patrol. Illegals deported and anyone wanting entry must apply legally. Agree to gun ownership under strictor sanctions Rep: allow current illegals in good standing to apply for citizenship, allow for more green card to be allowed based on new and more strict regulations. Agree to responsible border security. Allowed tighter back ground checks. No felons or those with past/ current mental illness. Yearly background checks on buyers of "high risk" weapons.. Theres an example for we can knock out 2 birds with 1 stone, yes I know immigration, is not being talked about. But our government is a scratch my back I'll scratch yours. Whether you want to believe it or not
That was great!!! Makes me miss some of the discussions that were in the film classes I took. I like his view on characters and character development (or lack thereof)
Which of these leaders have cruel intentions: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia Prime Minister Theresa May of UK Prime Minister Shinzō Abe of Japan Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany .... .... Also, that meme with the Ruger Mini 14 shows the Ruger without its magazine. Slap a 30-round mag on it, and anyone opposed to the AR will have the same feelings about the Ruger.
Better idea. Screw this two party system, and focus on philosophical changes that will force change and encourage actual democracy/competition. That means campaign finance reform and congressional term limits. The US population should unequivocally fight for that with their vote rather than focus on issue-specific politics and banter that doesn't actually lead to any progress. It won't ever happen, but if we're throwing out perfect ideas, it's there. That being said, why would dems have to agree to anything in order to get yearly background checks and limited gun ownership for mentally unstable individuals? Shouldn't we just want that as a society? And if we don't, shouldn't we at least agree that gun violence and trends are something that our government should study? I also think that we should have a responsible immigration policy as a society, but to link the two as if dems don't want that is a bit odd ... It's not like deportations and border security ceased under Obama. There was a deescalation from the Bush era in his final 3 years in office, but it was by no means nonexistent.
No, mental is a no go The year back ground checks would be any buying, say an AR. Each year they get check. Anytime their red flagged they lose privilege.. When you talk about reform your preaching to choir, I think the whole system needs a reboot
I don't know what you mean by your first bit ... "no mental is a no go" meaning: no guns for mentally unstable individuals, or no to restrictions? Honestly, I would gladly welcome any and every restriction that we can place on firearms bc even a slight victory gives us the ability to test the market and gauge trends to see if it's actually making a difference. Even those two restrictions would greatly decrease gun violence IMO. I would also love to limit/restrict ownership amongst known felons and give harsh penalties to illegal owners.
Not to further take us off-topic... but I disagree with you on this one. Not the finance reform (that's issue #1) but term limits. What do we gain by having fewer committed public servants and more populists. The most popular and successful congresspeople are generally very tenured. I don't think we would be better served by telling Ted Kennedy that his time in government was over in 1970. The Tea Party and Freedom Caucus are full of these one-term guys that ride populist waves then have no idea what they're doing when they get to DC. The House of Representative would be an even bigger disaster if it completely recycled every handful of years. The term limits are already there in re-election. What we need is a better educated electorate.
That's a valid argument, and your call for higher education is absolutely on point. My counterargument is that a politician limited by term has a specific time frame to get deals done, but also has the ability to win over new representatives that haven't built up walls. After service, it's still possible to maintain a role as a mentor or advisor, but it still breaks apart the blockage we are seeing now. That being said, if term limits were enacted, I would want them to be much longer than our Presidential limits. I'm thinking 16-20 year limits. My biggest gripe is finance reform, though. Americans need to get together on this and demand it at this point. Money shouldn't be this prevalent in a democratic system that is by and for the people.
I don't know how many of you have worked on campaigns or for an elected official but elections are not defacto term limits. The power of incumbancy is enormous and a huge hill to climb for anyone running for office to go up against. We already know before election night how 70-90% of the races will go.