Guns gun guns

I've been thinking about guns, and realized I was doing a small disservice to the topic by getting all incensed and calling for a ban on firearms every time we have a mass shooting. Now I am not saying guns shouldn't be banned, because they totally should and if you disagree you are making yourself partly responsible for thousands of preventable deaths a year.

What I am saying is that mass shootings probably wouldn't get directly stopped by anything short of a complete gun ban and immediate removal of all firearms from civilian hands, including criminals, which is obviously unrealistic and won't happen. If firearms exist, then people who decide to kill a lot of people at once will probably manage to get their hands on them.

Neither do I think mental health reform will stop the problem, I got a bit hyperbolic a few days ago and implied that a history of mental illness is likely to show up in the history of any mass shooter, is is actually not true, and I regret saying it, the truth is we don't know specifically why people decide to kill a bunch of folks at once, and it is not likely directly related to a history of depression or whatever, implying it is stigmatizes a very large portion of the population and further encourages people suffering from those issues to avoid seeking treatment, and for good reason, no one wants everyone around them to think they are dangerously insane.

Am I saying we should do nothing? Not at all! Both gun control and mental health reform are needed for the function of a healthy society, if restricting access to guns won't stop mass shootings, it will at least stop a lot of other shootings that constitute the majority of firearms deaths in America, I read a news story last night of an eleven year old boy killing an eight year old girl with a gun, accidentally or not, that kid should not have had the opportunity to put a firearm in his hands in the first place, better education, training, licensing, and restrictions would be almost certain to drastically reduce shit like that from happening.
As for mental health, a lot of people need help with problems that are unlikely to harm anyone than themselves, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get it. Even expanding FMLA protections to include depression and anxiety attacks would be a major help to get people to seek treatment.

It's a complicated problem is what I am saying, and guns aren't the problem, they are a symptom, just like a fever is just a symptom of the virus that kills you. You can, and should treat the symptom, because if your brain cooks it doesn't matter if you find a cure to the root cause, but to permanently deal with the issue requires a bigger change, on I don't know if we are capable of.

That change is our embrace of violence, usually, but not limited to, in the form of firearms as a reasonable way to solve problems. We are immersed in the idea that if only those who disagree with us were dead, life would be so much better, it makes religious nuts and misogynist assholes(often the same person) alike decide on the ultimate solution.

Now i am not saying ban all video games and violent television, I do not believe that watching a murder on TV will provoke someone to shoot up a school, I am talking about the consequence free violence we are exposed to all the time causing subtle and pervasive attitude that can lead to... outbursts, lets call them. It isn't just mass media either, our leaders embody this position, from the Cold War to drone strikes, we see those who represent us embracing the idea of death being the solution, we watch cops literally murder kids in the street without consequence or punishment,and someone, somewhere, begins to combine that attitude with their own specific brand of crazy and begins to ask themselves "Why can't I do that?" So far they can't of course, without exception the mass shooters of the past couple decades are in jail for the rest of their lives or dead, but that doesn't matter to someone not thinking rationally and infected by the particular insanity we infuse our culture with.

It isn't even something split along party lines either, the Democrats tend to be more pro-gun control, and the Republicans are vehemently anti so, but it was a Democratic president who kept and expanded a drone strike program, leaders from both parties have declared wars when they probably shouldn't have, and we hear triumphant news every few weeks of some high level terrorist figure killed to defend our freedoms. It's a creepy social issue that no one talks about, because how does a fish talk about water? I have no idea how to change it, to return to the disease metaphor I can only advocate treating the symptoms, the fewer guns in circulation, and especially in the hands of cops, the fewer stories we will see about real people using murder as a consequence free problem solver.
We need more entertainment that actually explores consequences for actions too, the Dirty Harry style of justice just isn't something we should be raised on. And yes I realize the Dirty Harry films had deeper themes than that, I just use it as an expression, and the fact is you know what I meant when I said it.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go catch up on my TV show talking about the origin story of a man who uses consequence free violence in a never ending attempt to make up for a devastating personal tragedy using nothing more than his vast wealth and the position of influence that gives him.