I'm not intending to rag on you or beat you up, you just raised some interesting points that I wanted to comment on. Sorry for the length of the post...
I hate to disagree with both parties but the presence of guns or the absence of guns will not impact the amount or violent nature of crimes. It is like saying ice cream causes crime. If you look at ice cream sales you will notice that when ice cream sales are highest so is crime. The two have nothing to do with each other but the data and trends are there.
What is that saying, "lies, dang (edit) lies, and statistics."?
You make a good point here. There's a tendency, and not just in the U.S., to make or draw absurd, too simplistic correlations between things and events. I'm not a "media" basher but the whole notion of "infotainment" that passes for "news" on the telly sure leaves me flat.
America as a WHOLE is now on the shortest fuse I have ever seen. Ten years ago who ever heard of road rage? Ten years ago were you more or less likely to tell someone off because they were rude to you? Fundamentally I don't know what happened and I don't know what caused the shift but people no longer are courteous, kind, or respectful.
Gotta disagree with you on this one. Ever seen the movie L.A. Story? It's at least ten years old. In it they clown on the rise of road rage incidents in L.A. at the time wherein guns were involved. There's a scene with folks just blastin' away, including some old granny. Too funny.
Anyhow, my larger point is that while the sense of immediacy or intensity that one may feel in relation to what is occurring can make events feel uniquely onerous or ominous, I'm not so convinced that the length of our collective fuses have really shortened so much. Rather I think our attention spans have contracted such that we're experiencing so much less of life that the things we do tend to focus on are coming at us with such speed and repetition that it can really seem like a fast, wicked, overwhelming torrent, unlike anything (again, our short attention spans are the key) we've ever seen or experienced before.
Generations find themselves greeted by seemingly new, aberrant behaviour with each subtle shift in the evolution of human culture (ha! that's a good one "human culture evolving..."). Things change, things speed up, a generation gets a little older and a new one takes their place as the "young ones" and suddenly there's a, perhaps slight, misunderstanding or unshared perspective between the two. To the older generation it just feels like the new generation is totally out of control, the new generation has just lost all sense of perspective and ability to comport themselves with any degree of civility.
Before I'm pegged as a rabid relativist, I do agree that folks change and not always for the better. But I also like to, choose to, work to see the good around me. Work to balance out the good and bad, to see the stuff that's going right, and we can be pleasantly surprised -- and no, I'm not talking about putting on rose colored shades.
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Will removing guns solve the problem? No, if someone is willing to get out of their car and shoot someone because someone didn't use their blinker than you take the gun out of the equation and that person is just as likely to get out of their car and do something. Yes the amount of shooting deaths may go down but the amount of violent crimes will remain the same.
Will giving everyone a gun to defend themselves solve the problem? No, because again the root problem is people are more than willing to escalate the issue for the most suspect of reasons.
Once again, I'd think back to when it was ok to walk around with a gun belt on. It must have really seemed out of control to some folks. I mean, if someone spit on your boots in a bar, if you were fast enough, you could pull your piece and just blast 'em. Yeah, you might've ended up swingin' from a rope for the rash response, but to the point of the comment, we've got a stupid human mistake and an overblown response.
And I'm not saying I'm any better than anyone else. I have given people the finger, I have gotten in people's faces, and I have thrown punches. No one counts to ten anymore in America they just act and that is the problem.
So both sides can pick up or lay down their guns what you should be concentrating on is the real issue... why the f can't you idiots be nice to each other
I hear you, loud and clear. I'm so fortunate not to have been on the receiving end of a serious beat down or worse for giving folks the finger while driving. I'll readily admit to having a seriously short fuse when behind the wheel of the car. Nothing, no excuse, can explain it. I just really have to work at it to give the other guy a break. When I'm on my bike, I'm actually a bit more chill, I suppose because I'm that much more exposed and vulnerable. It's a lot of work, being civil. And I'll be the first to admit to needing a daily reminder...
As for the topic on guns. I suppose it's a good thing that concealed carry is virtually impossible where I live. I don't mean to suggest that I'd be some kind of gun waving nut job if I could, but it frightens me to think of how bad it might get if more people could more easily get the right to carry a firearm.
I've studied a martial form for the past 14 years. One of the biggest benefits that I've realized as result -- despite my comment above, seemingly quite to the contrary -- is a better degree of control of my, very bad, temper. I was a very angry young man. Got it from my pops. Anyhow, when I think about anger and altercations, even without a gun, I'm now one of those folks who can get in trouble with the law simply for using my body as a "weapon." The law frames the existence of a person who has some sort of training differently. There's a greater degree of responsibility to act with a degree of restraint, to respond to a threat or situation appropriately. Laugh if you will, I certainly do. If you knew me personally, you'd share a big laugh with me regarding this notion. Not that I take such responsibilty lightly, it's just that I take myself quite lightly.
But the larger point I'd like to close with is perspective. My training, my teachers, have taught me to work to slow down and engage my brain. And to work to stay engaged. It makes moving through the daily life a bit more challenging but what's the alternative, mindless meandering?
Wishing you all well -- armed or otherwise.
Sorry for the blathering post...