This story made me sad today.(Blanket ban on all gun sales in chicago declared unconstitutional.)
More specifically, the comments section made me sad.
I'll be quite frank here. I see debates about gun control, (and similar absurdities), and have the following farce play out in my head:
"Gun Control" == "Preventing farts, by plugging buttholes"
A fart happens, and is completely unavoidable-- it HAS to happen-- as a consequence of what a person eats, when they eat it, and what microbes happen to be inside their bodies. That is simply the gist of it. Having a free and unobstructed keester hole just lets that fart sail right on out.
The rhetoric of the gun control advocate-- something along the lines of "If we restrict supply of guns, then we make it much harder for violent crime to be performed. Just think of all the lives we could save by simply banning guns!"-- basically translates to "If we obstruct the butthole, then we make it much harder for people to break wind. Think of all the relationships, friendships, and elevator rides we could save if only we completely banned farting!"
Then you have arguments like that fellow in the comments for that article-- "there is never a need for a gun! Guns are toys for children, adults have no need for guns!". Again, this can be ad-absurdium substituted with "there is never a need to fart! Farts are toys for children, adults have no need to fart!"
The really real reality is that plugging the butthole does not solve the source of the flatulence-- what people eat, either because they can't afford better, or because of biology beyond their control. Plugging the buttholes of every man, woman, and child in the US will certainly make an impact in the rate of farts produced.
It won't really solve the problem, and will instead lead to all manner of other problems, like ruptured colons, and bloody, uncontrolled discharges. What a lovely picture.
The same is true of violence. Gun related or not. Violence happens when humans have no other means of solving a percieved problem or source of adversity. In the case of gun violence specifially, the statistically most relavent cause is social inequality. People born into poverty, systematically excluded from improving their lives or those of their children, living in dangerous and poorly policed areas, in debt up to their eyeballs, and often on social subsistence programs. These are the people who's kids grow up robbing liquor stores, so their kid sister can have diapers. How will banning guns help their kid sisters get diapers? How will it solve the inequalities that lead to the violence? Oh-- that's right, it just makes it harder for them to hold up the store, making the need for their violence get even stronger.
"Clearly, we need stronger gun control laws! Banning the guns only made the crimes worse!" == "clearly, we need even bigger corks and stronger glue! Now people aren't just breaking wind, they are soiling the carpet with bloody shit!"
Every time I see this topic raised, with "availability of guns" as a topic, it makes me sad. Just as sad as if the prospect of preventing parts with superglue and rubber stoppers were a seriously raised solution.
Because they are equally stupid.
I am all for helping to stem the tide of violence in america. I am vocally opposed to willful stupidness, however. Willful stupidness makes me very sad indeed.