37: Gun Control

[-John-]

Im at the part in the show where he is talking about video games and i had to type this. here are some facts. all these figures are total gun related deaths including suicides homicides and accidental shootings all from gunpolicy.org.

Japan:
2008: 11
2002: 47
2001: 56
1997: 34
1996: 36
1995: 42

Australia:
2010: 30
2009: 36
2008: 27
2007: 28
2006: 41
2005: 15
2004: 15
2003: 54
2002: 45
2001: 47
2000: 57
1999: 50
1998: 57
1997: 79
1996: 104
1995: 67

U.K:
2010: 155

USA
2011: 32,163
2010: 31,672
2009: 31,347
2008: 31,593
2007: 31,224
2006: 30,896
2005: 30,694
2004: 29,569
2003: 30,136
2002: 30,242
2001: 29,573
2000: 28,663
1999: 28,874

But i guess no one plays video games or watching movies outside of the USA.
p.s those where the only UK numbers on the site but 51 gun deaths last year in the UK, 83 gun deaths a day last year in the US. incase the US numbers look bloated when we look at just gun homocides in the US they look like this

2011: 11,101
2010: 11,078
2009: 11,493
2008: 12,179
2007: 12,632
2006: 12,791
2005: 12,352
2004: 11,624
2003: 11,920
2002: 11,829
2001: 11,348
2000: 10,801
1999: 10,828
1998: 9,257

[Mathias]

The main fallacy I see is in the crude conclusions; it's preferable to heavily regulate the right to entertainment, marriage, even procreation? That last one really sets my alarm bells off.

'...I don't watch this stuff because it is gratuitous violence; it's not appealing to me at all and it is not entertaining.'
Well, some people don't like guns--but that doesn't count as an argument, either.

But I think he grazes (yes, intended^^) a good point: the problem is with the culture of violence (which it sounds to me he criticizes in KATG's language, no?). Which, yes, is reflected in games and movies, but in the US' gun culture also (it's not all hunting and self protection)--he showed that in the story with the rabbit himself!

What I'd really like to point to is the fellow podcast pioneer (in a total different field, so no competetion to the subscriptions on iTunes ):
Common Sense - Gunning for Violence

Dan Carlin so nicely shows what pro gun culture people should be pushing for (yes, treating the mentally ill, too), instead of trying to deflect blame to easy but false scapegoats. And 'stop talking out your ass', as Ron puts it, yourselves.

[hedcase]

Laurens dad sounds exactly like Jesse Ventura!

[Earl Dukes]

Originally Posted by hedcase

Laurens dad sounds exactly like Jesse Ventura!

I haven't heard the show yet, but that's especially apparent in his final quote from the trailer. I couldn't put my finger on who he sounded like, ha.

[Coolkid18]

I agree 100%. I was cursing at my computer when Ron started spewing about the 1st and 2nd amendment, mental health, and entertainment. Maybe it was brought up, but I didn't hear them talk about Assault Rifle's reason for existence, which is for killing others in war. I had to eventually stop listening so I wouldn't pop a blood vessel in my head. Sadly, Ron just ended up sounding like an old guy who hates it when kids walk on his lawn.

[bw81]

Great episode. Very interesting to hear the views from an intelligent man. But it didn't stop me from getting annoyed. In one sentence he says it's video games and movies then the next he is saying it's mental health. I've been playing violent video games, watching violent movies, etc... and I know the difference between right and wrong and have NO interest in guns whatsoever. Someone with mental issues could have played the exact same games as me and then goes on to kill a bunch of people. So does he want to take away violent games and movies from everyone (including responsible video game/movie watchers) to prevent mentally ill people from making the jump to acting out those forms of entertainment? That's kind of like taking away guns to prevent any killing from happening, isn't it?

Mass murders seem to be done by the mentally ill but your every day murders of one, two people are not necessarily carried out by mentally ill, are they? Add all those murders up in America over a year and its a very high number. The mass murders are far more confronting due to the number of lives taken away in an instant but it doesn't mean the murders that happen every day are any less devastating for the families and friends of the victims.

"It's America, it's my right." - That is a such a worthless defence. Tell that to the parents of the kids that got killed.

[bw81]

Just another day for the WORLD NEWS page;

The US.jpg

[Bucho]

Yeah, I appreciate firearms in much the same way Ron does so I get where he's coming from on an emotional level to an extent but I thought he did a fairly poor job of making arguments to support those feelings. A lot of sloppy analogies and half-made points. To be fair though, he was a victim of a dastardly case of Ambush Journalism by Chemda.

Originally Posted by -John-

But I guess no one plays video games or watches movies outside of the USA.

What's a video game?

[Bucho]

Check out this hilarious article on how 5 people were shot at 3 different shows on Gun Appreciation Day. It sounds like it came from The Onion, right? Nope. Sometimes it seems like the real-life morons are trying to put the satirists out of business.

Clearly you can't blame the guns for the idiocy. None of this is the fault of the guns themselves. But where does the fault lie for the fact that there are guns in the hands of idiots? Does this happen in Switzerland too?