On gun control, and America’s gun culture:
1. A bit of history – for instance, did you know Ronald Reagan used to be pro-gun control?
2. A bit of perspective – the falseness of using mass shootings as a guidepost for a sane gun policy.
3. Thoughts from TNC and friends about the vast reach of the gun lobby, the complicated nature of a real solution, and the value of a life lived defensively.
4. Thoughts from a former policeman on his own ineffectual relationship with guns.
5. Also:
Overall, before a child in the United States reaches 15 years of age, he or she is 5 times more likely than a child in the rest of the industrialized world to be murdered, 2 times as likely to commit suicide and 12 times more likely to die a firearm-related death.“
The investigators also found a clear link between elevated levels of guns and child mortality rates across U.S. states, suggesting that more guns lead to more child deaths not only across international borders but also across the United States. Critically, the authors concluded that children living in states with large numbers of guns were not more likely to be victims of violence or suicide that did not involve firearms. Instead, the presence of guns makes possible a kind of violence that few young people could inflict on themselves or one another otherwise.
Next up: I will talk about musicals.
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