Michael Moore (director of Bowling for Columbine) admits that gun violence is worse today than it was 10 years ago when his movie came out. He also points out that there was another mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado when four people were killed at a Chuck E Cheese.
The gun control debate is an excellent example of gridlock in this country. We’ve been arguing over guns and the role of guns in our society for over 50 years. We will continue to argue until we decide to do something. We have to admit that conservatives are correct when they point out that people kill people. We also have to admit that liberals are correct when they say that some restriction on gun ownership is reasonable. Finally, there must be another piece to the puzzle. Although people get shot in other countries, it is not like it is here in the United States. People in Canada, Great Britain, Australia and other Western countries watched Dirty Harry, The Wild Bunch (criticized for being too violent in its day), Scarface, Pulp Fiction and other movies known for gratuitous violence. Yet, they don’t have the constant mass killings that we have here.
Gridlock? Gridlock would imply that there has been no change or movement in the gun debate and the politics of gun control. Since Columbine the country has moved away from gun control on both a federal and local level. We have more conceal carry laws passed. SCOTUS has ruled that some limits on hand gun ownership are unconstitutional. Democrats have avoided the debate on a national level.
Since 1993 we have had a decrease in crimes involving guns as well as other crimes. The year of the Columbine shooting was actually near the low point after the peak in 1993. Even though there has been an increase, gun crimes aren’t close to the level of the late 80’s and mid 90’s. We have more deaths from drunk drivers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/weapons.cfm
Let me see if I have this correct. To look up American gun crime information you went to the Guardian??? Really? A British publication. I find that interesting.
Are you suggesting that gun crime is down because gun ownership is up? Gun Crime started its downward trend while Clinton was still in the White House. That’s kind of blows that theory, doesn’t it?
The bottom line is that the reasons for gun crime is multifactorial. We can both find instances in which gun ownership is high and violence is low and we can find instances where gun ownership is high and violence is also high.
As usual, I appreciate your comments.