Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy. (Politics General)

@MagpulPony  
I’m pretty sure there are many exceptions in even a year’s crime records - but true, it’s bad odds. But what if the group of people have a gun each?
 
 
@Violet Rose in The Rain  
Or maybe some people don’t want to do that, but would rather salvage as much of the current system as they can (even if that’s not much?)

What’s going on with Trump’s trial right now?

@CaptainXtra  
Last I heard, it won’t happen until sometime next month.

GameStop, AMC, and similar stock trading being restricted.  
Why? Because the hedge funders are panicking over a group of regular people suddenly using their own system against them to make money. So now they’re calling for legislation against it. This is going to get interesting. Tim goes into detail on what is going on and how it’s working.

@Latecomer  
Most scum criminals lack any form of training. They aren’t going to stick around the second an armed civilian returns fire or draws. As it usually goes down. Plus most crimes stopped by guns don’t even involve the gun being fired.

@lonewolf  
Wait, the state regulating the market? Isnt that… Communism?

@MagpulPony  
Most civilians lack any form of training. Many would be more of a danger to themselves with weapons.

@lonewolf  
One little pump-and-dump scheme and the SEC gets all pissy.

@Latecomer  
Maybe in your un-armed country. Not here.

@MagpulPony  
Well, maybe. But I do wonder what a natural hellhole America must be, if it needs firearms to bring it down to having some of the worst crime and particularly homicide rates in the first world.

@Latecomer  
Our country was founded by all the people who were too dysfunctional for civilized society. You do the math.

@Background Human  
Living under an iron fist wasn’t exactly great. And look, we broke away and in barely 200 years became the most powerful nation in human history while leaving England in the dust. Hell, they don’t even have their own nuclear ICBMs, that lease them from us.

@Latecomer  
Guess you’ll need to keep wondering. I wonder why people are so uncivilized in England that they keep brutally stabbing each other and throwing hydrochloric acid in peoples faces.

@MagpulPony  
Perhaps because we’re the most Americanised country in Europe? Or perhaps just for other reasons which guns will not fix. But still not nearly as high a poprtional homicide or suicide rate.

@Latecomer  
lol at that blame game. Sorry, but your stabbing and acid attack epidemic has nothing to do with “Americanised” anything.

@MagpulPony  
Maybe. But America’s ills sure do have to do with American culture, I think - including your sense of firearms entitlement.

@Latecomer  
Because it is an entitlement. The actions of few should not determine the fate of the entire population. That’s not how it works. That’s like saying, well, too many people have died as a result of drunk driving, plus alcohol is bad for you. Therefore, We should ban all alcohol permanently for everyone

@MagpulPony  
But drunk driving is illegal, even if you’re not harming anyone. And driving, period, has all sorts of legal requirements. You can’t just pound a 40 and get behind the wheel like “AH GOT RIGHTS!”

@MagpulPony  
Maybe don’t say that one to an avid teetotaler who might totally do that if it seemed even vaguely feasible? I’m not really sure if alcohol or guns are worse for society… but I am sure that the combination can only be terrible. So maybe try guns but no alcohol, see how that works?…. Oh.

@Background Human  
Yeah, and shooting someone is also illegal, and there are legal requirements for buying a gun, too. Such as having to pass a background check. You can’t just buy a gun and go shoot people from your porch while screaming Ah got rights! Unlike what Biden said.
 
 
@Latecomer  
Exactly. Prohibition didn’t work. And you think banning guns would? There would be massive civil disobedience and no compliance. It’s not enforceable.

@MagpulPony  
Prohibition was handled poorly, in another age, and it’s mistakes can be learned from. And part of it would be getting the country into a mood for compliance. Promoting a new age, a new gun culture.

@Latecomer  
Handled poorly or not, I’m not interested in seeing the Mafia have a resurgence.

It feels strange to have a week of positive news from the White House. President Biden isn’t posting insane rants on Twitter, lying constantly, or encouraging conspiracy theories, racism, and violence. He’s not trying to sic the military on protesters, worsen divisions in the country, ignore the pandemic, alienate our allies, suck up to dictators, stop legal voting, or undermine our democracy.
 
I realize I’m setting a very low bar for the President, but having a normal, functional man in office is a welcome change.

@Vivace  
Me neither. But that just means taking that into account

@Latecomer  
Gun safety - including handling, shooting, cleaning, all of it, should be taught in public schools, starting in grade school and going right through high school. Just like balancing your bank account or owning and driving a car.
 

 
@MagpulPony  
I have lots of relatives who had no kids when they died, so ended up with lots of guns I’ve inherited. Most folks in my generation and the old timers had the usual standard set of hunting rifles and guns, plus “something special” from whichever war they or their parents were in. And, along the way, some really odd but beautiful weapons. Like, my Grandpa’s 32 special Winchester with the pop-up sight and the saddle ring, just like in the westerns. And an old German Luger which I’m pretty sure is a 9mm but it’s so old shooting it just seems wrong, so I’ve never figured out for sure. It just sits in a display case.
 
Anyway, I think the system for background checks should be automated and updated and should be faster and stronger, including the fed sharing data with the states and civilian police, and I strongly believe that weapons designed specifically for war should never be in the hands of civilians. Also I don’t believe the current administration is going to take away everyone’s guns. The only administration I’ve ever heard say they wanted to deny people due process and have the cops round up their guns without a conviction or even a trial was a Republican president, not a Democrat.
 
@kleptomage  
Welcome to “Toxic Positivity”. It’s almost creepy, isn’t it?