What is Gun Control ?
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The gun control debate is a perfect example of the inability for the American Left and the American Right to communicate effectively with each other. Part of the problem is that that neither side uses the same terms as the other in most cases, or when they do use the same term, they understand the term to mean different things. For example: consider the term gun control. - - When the American Left says gun control they mean narrowing the legal range of technology, ownership, registration/licensing, and legal venues of distribution and possession. - - The American Right, however, interprets the American Left's usage of gun control to mean infringement or elimination of the Second Amendment. - - By contrast, gun owners interpret gun control to mean good aim (as was pointed out previously.) Hello marcus: Good morning.. What you say is true. And even if SOME left wingers are calling for the elimination of guns, SOME of us realize that gun ownership is a right under the Bill of Rights, and that isn't gonna change.. Therefore, since NOBODY is going to be taking ANYBODY'S guns away, the right wing should just relax and pass some meaningful legislation.. You know, like making 100 round magazines illegal??? Like making the bump stock illegal?? I'm a hunter.. I've never needed stuff like that to kill a deer.. excon 1
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Hello Excon, Therefore, since NOBODY is going to be taking ANYBODY'S guns away, the right wing should just relax and pass some meaningful legislation.. You know, like making 100 round magazines illegal??? Like making the bump stock illegal?? Therefore, since NOBODY is going to be able to make people who want to murder obey other laws, the left wing should just relax and take a pass on calling for more ineffective legislation. You know, like making 100 round magazines illegal??? Like making the bump stock illegal?? Hello poochy boy: I'll tell you what gun control ISN'T. It ISN'T passing a law that makes it EASIER for mental patients to get guns.. But, Trump passed that law in the first month.. Now, fetch this stick.. excon 1
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Excon, I'll tell you what gun control ISN'T. It ISN'T passing a law that makes it EASIER for mental patients to get guns. How do we determine whether a mental patient is actually mentally ill? I certainly see why mental illness would be a viable and reasonable exception to Second Amendment rights, but that leaves us with the problems of definition, diagnosis, and degree. The issue of mental illness applications to gun ownership is really sticky. Please understand that none of what follows is sarcastic. Are there any other rights guaranteed by the Constitution that are denied on the basis of mental illness? I don't know of any, not even the right to run for public office. (How is that working out for us?)
What exactly is comprehended as pertinent diagnoses. Should the efficacy of medication affect gun regulations or provide practical exceptions? Problematically, psychiatric diagnoses are almost exclusively based on subjectively observed symptoms, often self-reported, not on any objective biochemical tests. This leaves the use of mental illness as a disqualifying factor from gun ownership subject to both abuse and inaccuracy. There is even the problem of determining which diagnoses are actually relevant to safe access to firearms. Schizophrenia is a no-brainer (pardon the pun) but what about borderline personality disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder? In their milder forms, these are not factors in violent or suicidal behavior, but they are commonly associated with antisocial and suicidal behavior, and they are commonly associated with inpatient mental health care. They are also hard to diagnose reliably uniformly. Moreover, some of the drugs used to treat even mild depression have the occasional side effect of suicidal and homicidal ideations.
Moreover, the 'intensity'' or impact of borderline personality disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder on behavior fluctuates over time, which is why they are are linked in some women to hormonal fluctuations. Sometimes depression and milder bipolar disorder are even mistaken as swings in a woman's menstrual cycle. Because of this, it is not unreasonable to suggest that in extreme cases of PMS or Menopause, women be legally prevented from having access to firearms. Try to sell that to the public, despite the fact that there are plenty of husbands who notice that sometimes our wives are irrational, hyper-emotional, or just plain crazy for part of the month. Postpardum depression, or even the risk of it are completely valid reasons for temporary suspension of Second Amendment rights, but nobody is recommending gun buybacks during the third trimester. Narcissism and psychopathy would be relevant, and certainly correlate with violent crime, but these also have a high correlation with rising above a particular level in organizational hierarchies. In fact, narcissism is almost a requirement for running for high public office. How is holding public office, and the power included in that, less dangerous than owning a gun? Consider also that when we talk about mental illness, what we are really dealing with is brain function. The aspect of brain function that is best defined, most studied, and most consistently subject to valid and repeatable testing is intelligence. What IQ level is low enough to disqualify someone from safe gun ownership? Those who favor restrictions in the case of mental illness need to be VERY particular about specific criteria and rationale when writing the law or regulation. |
