Half of gun owners say mass shootings are something society must accept

[Falsedawn]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...hly-half-of-gun-owners-say-mass-shootings-are

Poll: Half of gun owners say mass shootings are something society must accept

Slightly more than half of U.S. gun owners say that mass shootings are something a free society has to accept, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll released Thursday.

Fifty-one percent of U.S. gun owners said in the survey that mass shootings are "unfortunately" something a free society must accept, while 67 percent of respondents who don't own guns said mass shootings could be stopped if an effort was put in to prevent them.

And 63 percent of all Americans said mass shootings, like those seen in Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas and Newtown, Conn., could be stopped in the future.

The poll's release comes on the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, which left 20 children and 6 adults dead.

Since Sandy Hook, the U.S. has been plagued by a series of mass shootings, including those at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando in 2016, as well as the Las Vegas shooting in October that took the lives of 58 people and left hundreds more injured.

A gunman took the lives of 26 people at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, last month.

In presenting this, I also want to draw your attention to another thread that I feel ties into this whole discussion.

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/m...art-and-parcel-of-life-in-a-big-city.3349375/

When Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, stated that "terrorist attacks were part and parcel of living in a big city", he was excoriated here on Sherdog. Arguments ranged from pointing out other big cities that didn't experience terrorism, to accusations that Khan was "priming people to accept mass murder", to criticisms of the concept of multiculturalism itself. The point is that people (reactionaries and right wingers in particular) saw terrorism as something that can be avoided, and in fact should be actively combated through policy and ceasing "ignorance" of the problem as presented.

So here we have a poll, where over half of gun owners say outright that mass shootings are just part and parcel of living in a free and gun owning society. How do we on Sherdog feel about this assertion? Are we resigned to accept mass shootings as guns exist, or should we acknowledge it as something that can be actively combated through policy and ceasing ignorance of the problem as presented? You can point to a laundry list of countries (even with gun ownership) where people aren't shooting up everyone; in that respect, we're a true outlier. What makes us so different that we can't address it?

 

[VivaRevolution]

I don't think mass shootings should be normalized, but what choice do people have when one side offers no policy, and the other side offers gun legislation that would do nothing to stop the problem?

There is no real discussion of why these shootings are occurring now.

We always had guns, we didn't always have mass shootings on a regular basis.

 

[The ScorpioN]

Part and parcel of living in the US

 

[abiG]

No they don't.

 

[redwire]

<insert Onion article here>

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

As long as guns exist there will be shootings. As long as there's a 2nd Amendment there will be guns. I don't know if it's so much that they "must" be accepted as it is that the steps that would need taken to eliminate them might not be realistic.

 

[sub_thug]

I voted yes. I think that our culture (used to incorporate a bunch of different things, many of which are uniquely American), gun proliferation, and terrain/infrastructure cause a situation where "mass shootings" are inevitable.

Analogously, Israel is in such a position where terrorism is something that they will simply just have to live with. Drugs and drug-related conflicts are something that some South/Central American countries are just going to have to deal with. Etc.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

Perhaps people should start cutting down on antidepressant medications that explicitly have a side effect of "suicidal thought".

 

[JonnyRingo84]

yea

theyve always occurred in the US, contrary to popular belief. in the 1920's people got shot all the time in "race riots." the guy who climbed the bell tower in the 60's etc etc they also had tons of serial killers. i think with modern mass media, the nuts and would-be serial killers in society largely have found a new canvas with which to paint on.

the US is absolutely saturated in guns. to be honest, is actually unbelievable that these shootings dont happen more often than they already do.

 

[The ScorpioN]

I voted yes. I think that our culture (used to incorporate a bunch of different things, many of which are uniquely American), gun proliferation, and terrain/infrastructure cause a situation where "mass shootings" are inevitable.

Analogously, Israel is in such a position where terrorism is something that they will simply just have to live with. Drugs and drug-related conflicts are something that some South/Central American countries are just going to have to deal with. Etc.

But didn't Israel implement some policy changes that led to a drastic reduction in terrorism?

 

[JDragon]

Part and parcel

 

[Teppodama]

Perhaps people should start cutting down on antidepressant medications that explicitly have a side effect of "suicidal thought".

Now that's just crazy talk.

 

[sub_thug]

But didn't Israel implement some policy changes that led to a drastic reduction in terrorism?

As long as there is tension with the Palestinians and its neighboring countries, there will always be some level of terrorism. As such, terrorism is something that they will have to learn to live with.

 

[Gregolian]

Remember McVeigh and his buddy in OKC? They did that with a truck, fertilizer, and kerosene.

 

[Falsedawn]

I don't think mass shootings should be normalized, but what choice do people have when one side offers no policy, and the other side offers gun legislation that would do nothing to stop the problem?

There is no real discussion of why these shootings are occurring now.

We always had guns, we didn't always have mass shootings on a regular basis.

So out of curiosity, how do you feel about accusations from Republicans of Democrats "politicizing tragedy" in the wake of mass shootings? One would think that the party who full throatedly supports gun rights would have some valuable input on the process, but they've shut down discussion entirely due to their lobbyist's leanings on the subject.



https://www.politico.com/story/2017...texas-shooting-democrats-disrespectful-244595

Conway: Politicizing Texas shooting 'disrespectful to the dead'

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...opriate-to-politicize-las-vegas-massacre.html
McConnell: 'Inappropriate to politicize' Las Vegas massacre



While we can assuredly ding Democrats for putting forth legislation that may not address the issue directly, I feel it appropriate to at least give them credit for attempting to do so. Judging by Republican demeanor, this position of acceptance and normalization is one that they accept; and it's bearing itself out in their messaging and inaction. Should we not be holding them accountable for their apparent inability to give a shit about people getting killed?

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Now that's just crazy talk.

Nothing some meds couldn't fix.

 

[HomerThompson]

@sub_thug
@Gregolian

 

[HomerThompson]

No they don't.

What question are you answering?

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

So out of curiosity, how do you feel about accusations from Republicans of Democrats "politicizing tragedy" in the wake of mass shootings? One would think that the party who full throatedly supports gun rights would have some valuable input on the process, but they've shut down discussion entirely due to their lobbyist's leanings on the subject.



https://www.politico.com/story/2017...texas-shooting-democrats-disrespectful-244595

Conway: Politicizing Texas shooting 'disrespectful to the dead'

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...opriate-to-politicize-las-vegas-massacre.html
McConnell: 'Inappropriate to politicize' Las Vegas massacre



While we can assuredly ding Democrats for putting forth legislation that may not address the issue directly, I feel it appropriate to at least give them credit for attempting to do so. Judging by Republican demeanor, this position of acceptance and normalization is one that they accept; and it's bearing itself out in their messaging and inaction. Should we not be holding them accountable for their apparent inability to give a shit about people getting killed?

It's always better to allow cooler heads to prevail after a tragedy.

Otherwise we end up with things like the Patriot Act.

 

[HomerThompson]

Remember McVeigh and his buddy in OKC? They did that with a truck, fertilizer, and kerosene.

Yes, bombs are even more dangerous than guns in certain scenarios. Good point.