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Gun Control Debate

Gun control is an important issue for many Americans. In recent history there have a number of horrific mass shootings so many seek a way to prevent them from being repeated.

I interpret the goal of gun control advocates as limiting who can possess a gun. Just adding regulations on gun use could not prevent a mass shooting.
The opponent to these activists in this debate about access are combination of the NRA and the gun manufacturers, and also those wanting fewer regulations in their life.

The gun control debate has been consumed by the two parties so any political resolution is unlikely. 

The BBC created a useful reference

However a historical perspective on gun use in America should be useful.

America has always felt a need for guns and weapons. That has not changed in 400 years. Being part of our heritage, gun ownership is apparently an integral to our culture.
The settlers to America needed guns to take land from the Native Americans, who of course tried to defend themselves.

Many of the colonies did not want a standing army, but there was a need to defend against the armies from England. For some colonies a militia was needed, a group of armed citizens who would come together as a temporary army; the other colonies were less prepared.
The Southern colonies needed arms to keep their slaves under control and the slave industry needed armed patrols to bring back escaped slaves; since slavery was so accepted in America these patrols could travel anywhere (a national issue), never needing proof of a target.
The claimed right to bear arms in the second amendment addressed the need by so many for their guns at the time. Times have changed. A militia was replaced by our standing army, the slave industry is gone, and the national campaign of genocide of the natives eliminated that threat. The original claim for everyone to have this unregulated 'right to bear arms' is longer valid.

Hunting is also part of America's culture, but a set of regulations for the use of guns in this sport is well accepted.

As guns are such a part of our American culture, the use or abuse of guns probably requires more than just legislation. Americans tolerated regulations for alcohol use and abuse and for tobacco access by youth. America is still trying to deal with a cultural change to tolerate the use by an adult of marijuana or recreational drugs.

Gun control is more complicated than those issues given the lethal danger of guns.

One major obstacle to a publicly accepted solution for the problem of gun access or gun misuse is its management by the parties and media to their benefit, not for a solution.

DNC and Parkland.

DNC and Sandy Hook

DNC and Orlando

NRA funding parties or politicians

Anyone, even a mass shooter who is very suspicious, will always be able get weapons somewhere in America, the largest weapons manufacturer and the leading weapons exporter, despite any regulations. Making it more difficult for someone with no violent intent to get a weapon will have no effect on these mass shootings.

For a real solution, society must identify and address how a person (or group; not all are just one shooter) becomes motivated to execute a mass shooting.
Preventing the sociopathic motivation is required, though rather difficult given the media coverage is always sensational and no investigation into this motivation will occur (for all groups to avoid any responsibility) other than by the independent media. Also I believe the future behavior of any individual remains unpredictable. Even with the monitoring of everyone all the time, which must be a huge accumulation of data, current psychologists do not have the capability to make such a prediction accurately, especially  when the criminal leaves no clues.

One possible cause for such violence is a side effect of
stopping the dosage of anti-depressants. Pursuing an investigation into this possible linkage (even a hint) seems to be forbidden in the mainstream media. If this theory is correct for many cases regarding the motivation, then gun control measures are dealing with the wrong problem.

A new set of gun control measures  that can stop another mass shooting appears impossible right now, given our culture and the easy access to weapons. A culture changing itself is nearly impossible, as demonstrated by the civil rights movement. The love of guns and the love of the military should change; I assume that attitude  affects the maturation process for our youth. Other cultures do not have a severe problem like America. However  a solution probably will not come from the political parties within the current politicized context for the debate seeking a solution.
My concern is concentrating on rules for access to a gun (part of many proposals)
might be doomed to fail.
Lacking a known motivation, the mass shootings remain a case of abhorrent behavior that can arise from the natural chaos of human motivation.
Unfortunately  this misbehavior affects innocents, unlike those stupid kids who consume laundry detergent.
created -August 2018
last change - 08/10/2018

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