Guns are a public health issue

by confuzzled dude Sun May 04, 2014 11:39 am

When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

The problem is that supporters of new gun restrictions have traditionally approached the issue of gun violence as a political problem to be answered by changing laws. Instead, we need to start looking at guns as a public health problem to be answered by changing minds and habits. Until we change how we frame the debate through our messaging and strategy, the landscape for common-sense gun laws will only become increasingly hostile.

Consider: In 2000, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed believed having a gun in the house made it a more dangerous place to be, while only 35 percent believed it made a house safer. In a poll of 800 voters I conducted recently, opinions were almost perfectly reversed: Fifty-three percent now believe a gun makes a house safer and 35 percent more dangerous.

It should be noted that the new majority is wrong. A gun is 12 times more likely to be used on a household member than on an intruder. But in politics, perception is often more important than reality. For most Americans, the lesson of Sandy Hook is not “guns are dangerous.” Rather, it is, “the world is dangerous and I need to protect myself.”

The political approach to gun control has only aggravated many Americans’ sense of helplessness. By connecting gun laws to high-profile tragedies, we remind people that current laws are failing to prevent those tragedies, undermining our own argument.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun May 04, 2014 12:14 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

There is a black guy in my office and a redneck in my office. Both are gun owners and swear by gun rights. The black guy says he needs the gun to protect himself against "intruders" and also against florida like situation.

Talk about weird logic.

by Rishi Sun May 04, 2014 12:22 pm

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:
confuzzled dude wrote:When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

There is a black guy in my office and a redneck in my office. Both are gun owners and swear by gun rights. The black guy says he needs the gun to protect himself against "intruders" and also against florida like situation.

Talk about weird logic.

>>>Looks like you discuss social and political issues at work.

Unlike desis the Chinese especially ones from the mainland keep their mouth shut at the workplace unless they talk among themselves.

I think that is a smart strategy.

by Propagandhi711 Sun May 04, 2014 12:48 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

The problem is that supporters of new gun restrictions have traditionally approached the issue of gun violence as a political problem to be answered by changing laws. Instead, we need to start looking at guns as a public health problem to be answered by changing minds and habits. Until we change how we frame the debate through our messaging and strategy, the landscape for common-sense gun laws will only become increasingly hostile.

Consider: In 2000, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed believed having a gun in the house made it a more dangerous place to be, while only 35 percent believed it made a house safer. In a poll of 800 voters I conducted recently, opinions were almost perfectly reversed: Fifty-three percent now believe a gun makes a house safer and 35 percent more dangerous.

It should be noted that the new majority is wrong. A gun is 12 times more likely to be used on a household member than on an intruder. But in politics, perception is often more important than reality. For most Americans, the lesson of Sandy Hook is not “guns are dangerous.” Rather, it is, “the world is dangerous and I need to protect myself.”

The political approach to gun control has only aggravated many Americans’ sense of helplessness. By connecting gun laws to high-profile tragedies, we remind people that current laws are failing to prevent those tragedies, undermining our own argument.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

paccha kaamerlu vacchina vaadiki anni oke rangu la kanapadutuntaai

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun May 04, 2014 1:31 pm

Rishi wrote:
Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:
confuzzled dude wrote:When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

There is a black guy in my office and a redneck in my office. Both are gun owners and swear by gun rights. The black guy says he needs the gun to protect himself against "intruders" and also against florida like situation.

Talk about weird logic.
>>>Looks like you discuss social and political issues at work.

Unlike desis the Chinese especially ones from the mainland keep their mouth shut at the workplace unless they talk among themselves.

I think that is a smart strategy.

Of course.... I do... but dont discuss religion (There is a redneck woman who made fun of me as a Hindooo, and told her I would teach her a little history and geography so that she could be smrter. Oh, I talk about mainland Chinese politics to a Chinku also....but who does not talk much at all - like other chinkus. there are very few topics that I keep out at work. But, my cockroach feelers sense what I can talk about to whom.

I have this worst-case scenario drawn out in my mind and estimate if I could live in that scenario. Subject to that, everything else is my wish and rule.

by confuzzled dude Sun May 04, 2014 1:43 pm

Propagandhi711 wrote:
confuzzled dude wrote:When Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed his state’s so-called guns everywhere law, it marked the latest in a string of legislative defeats for gun-control activists. Since the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders, 20 states have loosened gun laws . Georgia has now upped the ante with a bill that allows people to carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools and airports and prohibits law enforcement from requiring someone to show their gun owner’s license .

The problem is that supporters of new gun restrictions have traditionally approached the issue of gun violence as a political problem to be answered by changing laws. Instead, we need to start looking at guns as a public health problem to be answered by changing minds and habits. Until we change how we frame the debate through our messaging and strategy, the landscape for common-sense gun laws will only become increasingly hostile.

Consider: In 2000, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 51 percent of those surveyed believed having a gun in the house made it a more dangerous place to be, while only 35 percent believed it made a house safer. In a poll of 800 voters I conducted recently, opinions were almost perfectly reversed: Fifty-three percent now believe a gun makes a house safer and 35 percent more dangerous.

It should be noted that the new majority is wrong. A gun is 12 times more likely to be used on a household member than on an intruder. But in politics, perception is often more important than reality. For most Americans, the lesson of Sandy Hook is not “guns are dangerous.” Rather, it is, “the world is dangerous and I need to protect myself.”

The political approach to gun control has only aggravated many Americans’ sense of helplessness. By connecting gun laws to high-profile tragedies, we remind people that current laws are failing to prevent those tragedies, undermining our own argument.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/framing-the-danger-of-guns-as-a-public-health-risk-will-change-the-debate-over-gun-control/2014/05/02/e4a73490-cf27-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

-> This mindset seems to be similar to Islamist terrorists, only I can protect myself from Govt. invasion.

paccha kaamerlu vacchina vaadiki anni oke rangu la kanapadutuntaai

Whether or not you agree, similarities are eerie.

by Hellsangel Sun May 04, 2014 8:35 pm

Hmm. What about automobile pollution? When is the government going to mandate we all drive Teslas?

PS: Do you think arming the Bengali Muslims in Assam will be detrimental to their health, comrade?

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun May 04, 2014 9:17 pm

Hellsangel wrote:Hmm. What about automobile pollution? When is the government going to mandate we all drive Teslas?

PS: Do you think arming the Bengali Muslims in Assam will be detrimental to their health, comrade?

automobile pollution is regulated and the standards are going up every year. are you ok with regulating guns in a similar fashion?

by confuzzled dude Sun May 04, 2014 9:21 pm

Hellsangel wrote:Hmm. What about automobile pollution? When is the government going to mandate we all drive Teslas?

PS: Do you think arming the Bengali Muslims in Assam will be detrimental to their health, comrade?

Do you think inner city bros will go on a rampage shooting their redneck brothers casually, if they don't carry a concealed weapon wherever they head to, in this day and age?

by bw Sun May 04, 2014 9:31 pm

catch them young, they say.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/nra-children-membership-youth-day-guns

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/25/nra-lecture-circumvent-restrictions-buying-guns

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun May 04, 2014 9:35 pm

bw wrote:catch them young, they say.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/nra-children-membership-youth-day-guns

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/25/nra-lecture-circumvent-restrictions-buying-guns

quite a few of these guns nuts have gotten their kids killed in accidents involving guns.

by confuzzled dude Sun May 04, 2014 9:40 pm

bw wrote:catch them young, they say.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/27/nra-children-membership-youth-day-guns

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/25/nra-lecture-circumvent-restrictions-buying-guns

Hahaha just as I indicated train them at NRA madrasas.

by confuzzled dude Sun May 04, 2014 10:23 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Hellsangel wrote:Hmm. What about automobile pollution? When is the government going to mandate we all drive Teslas?

PS: Do you think arming the Bengali Muslims in Assam will be detrimental to their health, comrade?

automobile pollution is regulated and the standards are going up every year. are you ok with regulating guns in a similar fashion?

->Author was building his case along those lines.

"Third, it would focus on successes, not failures. Since 1993, the rate of gun homicides has dropped by a third while the number of nonfatal gun crimes has dropped by 69 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. On every metric that matters, we are safer from guns today than we were 20 years ago. When it comes to public health, success breeds momentum. Drops in the rate of smoking led to smoke-free bars and higher cigarette taxes, reducing smoking further. After the first wave of laws setting blood-alcohol limits reduced drunk driving deaths in the ’70s and ’80s, advocates successfully fought for even tougher limits. By building a narrative of success, progressives can restore confidence in law enforcement and show that new laws are worth the effort and can be applied without restricting the rights of responsible gun owners."

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