As far as I can tell, it's harder to get a gun now than it's ever been in the past. People I know who have bought guns recently in California say it's a tremendous pain. Those who already have them and want to get another say it's harder.
The guns themselves haven't changed all that much in the last 40 years. Yes, they might have higher-capacity magazines, but the AR-15 design itself is pretty old.
If it's not looser laws and it's not deadlier guns, then that seems to me to narrow it down to societal changes. We must be more nihilistic than before.
As a slight aside, I'm not sure that the push for more gun laws is going to bear much fruit. After the BLM / George Floyd riots of 2020, where some police departments failed to defend property and lives, I know several people who became first-time gun owners. Those folks aren't going to be interested in having their weapons taken from them.
As another aside, as Glenn Reynolds likes to say, the cops aren't there to protect you from the criminals, the cops are there to protect the criminals from you. When it becomes a reasonable possibility that the cops will retreat in the face of unrest and leave you stranded, a wise person will arm themselves.
Finally, there's this excellent analysis.
I've seen lots and lots of painful grasping for straws on both sides of the gun argument. On the right, they're seizing on every flaw in the behavior of the cops and the teachers. A door was left open and the cops responding to the situation didn't storm the place right away. On the left, it's the same, tired appeal to the fairyland idea that someone will somehow confiscate guns from citizens or that there's a magic law that will make this all stop.
For the love of Pete, give the Uvalde teachers and cops and the gun-owners of Texas a break. A madman who had been planning this for a while got past the school's amateur defenses and whacked the kids. The cops used their best judgment and it was wrong. Like the guy in that video said, if someone wants to do harm, it's very hard to stop them.
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2 comments:
"that seems to me to narrow it down to societal changes. We must be more nihilistic than before"
So why would that be? Are you saying that people in the US (288 school shootings in 2022 [1]) are dramatically more nihilistic than people in, say, Canada (2 school shootings in 2022), or Australia (0), or India (5), or indeed just about any country that keeps records about school shootings?
[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/school-shootings-by-country
I know you don't like comparing us to other countries because of possible confounding factors, but this isn't comparing us to one other country. This is comparing us to practically every other country. I don't know for sure what the right solution is, but if everybody other than us apparently has a better handle on the problem, then not bothering to even consider looking at how they do things is, well, kind of arrogant.
I would be willing to bet that it's a whole lot easier to get a gun in Texas than California. It's easier in Texas than here in Minnesota. I'm forgetting the specifics, but to apply for a permit to (concealed) carry, the Sheriff has 7 days to reject it, for cause, or it automatically is granted. That permit includes a permit to buy. And juvenile records are sealed at 18. This kid in Texas should never have been allowed to buy a gun. He should have been in therapy.
I don't think doing nothing is possible. I think there needs to be a whole lot more accountability on all parts. The left has to stop the grooming in all aspects of life of our kids. And the NRA has to put forth some ideas on rational gun control. All politicians have to stop treating one group of people as "less than" and start taking about personal responsibility and accountability.
Current politics boil down to 2 things. Blame some other group, driving people apart. And the majority must suffer because of the minority.
I was talking with a kid yesterday, at the high school baseball game. I've gotten to know him quite well over the last couple years. He was talking about graduation, which was Friday night. He said teachers instantly treat them differently. His creative writing teacher came up to him and said that it was BS that he didn't finish his novella. The assignment was 20 pages, and kids being kids, he did 20 pages. And ended it with "Too be continued". End of the year, time failing you sort of stuff.
Politics came up. He's thinking of going into Poli Sci in college. I told him that I try to not talk politics with the kids. Not my place. But that if he goes into politics, then I'd know there was 1 honest politician.
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