Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines
before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules
when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
![]()
![]()
You cited two countries that didn't have many guns to begin with and have populations that are much smaller than of the US.
Along having a very very low inequality and having a decent access to mental health beyond pumping as many prescription drugs on people.
It isn't much of a surprise when one of the quickest ways to become a celebrity in the US is to make a big and notorious enough crime and hordes of disillusioned and mentally ill men decide to kill and die in violent threats.
Bloody fucking hell, prior to the 80's any US citizen could purchase actual automatic rifles without filling loads of paper work and paying a hefty tax stamp to get one and yet there weren't school shootings like those. Tax laws were really lax back then.
The access to weapons didn't change, people did.
edited 2nd Oct '15 10:59:12 AM by AngelusNox
Inter arma enim silent legesWe need our guns to protect us from the Injuns, who we stole this land from. And the Mexicans, who we stole this land from. And the English, who we stole this land from. And the Muslims, who want to blow us all up because they hate Freedom. And the Chinese, who will foreclose on our nation any second. Did I miss anyone?
So we're trying to reconcile our desire to have everyone from tiny babies to your grandmother packing military-grade firepower with our desire to have those people stop shooting each other.
edited 2nd Oct '15 11:03:53 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Not necessarily true-guns are also sporting equipment. Also, they have the function of being used in self-defense. Both of these are legal uses, and in the case of the latter a basic human right IMO.
Also, may I ask which nation you're from?
edited 2nd Oct '15 11:09:02 AM by Protagonist506
Leviticus 19:34Oh, I forgot someone!
We also need guns to protect us from the Americans, who we reserve the right to steal this land from.
Also from the Americans, who we fear may attempt to steal this land from us at any moment.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Oh, we don't forget you guys exist. We need guns to protect us from your nukes.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
On Friday morning, going to the field you were at last night, one finds piles of discarded beer cans and a few shot-up Frisbees with "Nuke" written sloppily on them...
Don't be silly, I don't drink beer. And I would never litter!
Though, the primary reason I do not drink beer is because I'm only 20. On a side not, my dad likes to joke about how silly it is that a person can join the military three years before they can drink beer.
edited 2nd Oct '15 11:48:46 AM by Protagonist506
Leviticus 19:34"Hur hur no one else has this problem, America is dumb" fucking pisses me off. Yeah, we're different than the rest of the world. You know how? We have a vocal minority of people who have made it their Single-Issue Wonk to oppose any kind of gun control whatsoever. Or anything that might lead to gun control. Or anything that might convince other people that gun control is necessary.
That's not hyperbole. Laws have been passed that forbid the government from doing research on gun violence.
If you want to speculate about what in American culture and politics has spawned this movement, then that's one thing. That's a legitimate question that's worth spending time on. But it seems like most people who bring it up are just doing it to say "ha ha look at the silly stupid Americans with their guns and their shooting each other and their not passing any gun control laws, they're so dumb".
Fuck that. It's not funny. People literally die over this shit.
edited 2nd Oct '15 11:59:39 AM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.Pretty much. Offer an amnesty period during which people may turn in personally owned weapons; after that, it becomes an increasingly severe crime to be in possession of one. We'll also have to ban privately owned ammunition to get rid of end-arounds, plus gun manufacturing equipment.
edited 2nd Oct '15 12:04:05 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Of course that will never happen. People revere the Constitution to much. If we were a truly enlightened society, and not a backwards semis civilized hellhole we would have gotten rid of our shoddy badly written racist Constitution and replaced it with something more enlightened about a century ago. Of course this is Eagleland, the country made of the refuse the rest of the world couldn't use, so that will never happen.
I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.I was reading about prison phone companies, and the absurd prices they charge.
Studies have shown that contact between inmates and families during incarceration reduces the risk of recidivism, the FCC said.
Reduces the risk of recidivism, if people in prison can contact their families. That makes sense. Your family is a reminder of what you’re missing in prison, and a reason to want to get on your best behavior. Take that away, and it becomes harder to see much reason to care about the world, harder to see something to aim for, and harder to get moral support.
Somehow I can see private prison companies realizing that, and wanting prison phone rates to stay stupidly high. Nahh, I can't be that cynical, can I?
The FCC is proposing caps on how high prison phone companies can charge.
That's actually quite a lot lower than what the FCC is proposing. Go New Jersey! \o/
Nice. It can't be a matter of actual costs; this is pure profiteering.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"As the alternative appears to be "do nothing at all", I'm at least willing to give it a shot.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

"We don't hear of Iraq's mass shooters because they're called "terrorists"!"
That was sarcasm, by the way.
You claim that God is opressing us, but I see you opressing others without needing a God.