Things We Need To Stop Saying, #336

Confirmation bias…is the tendency to…interpret…information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs. ~Wikipedia

Here’s Sam Elliot, in character, with some words glued to his forehead:

You know, laws against homicide do not prevent homicide. Laws against DUI do not prevent DUI. Laws against domestic abuse do not prevent domestic abuse. I could go on, but you see the pattern. Why do we have laws at all? I mean, if a law doesn’t prevent something, the law shouldn’t be there, am right?

No, I don’t think criminals will obey gun control laws. Criminals are well-known for not obeying laws, and I am not stupid. I do, however, think that narrowing and tightening the legal pathway to obtain guns will help us identify and apprehend criminals earlier, before they use their guns to commit a crime.

There are two problems with this Sam Elliot meme: First, it calls the “other side” stupid. It’s easy to see where this scratches an itch for the pro-gun crowd, confirming what they already know. Unfortunately, it does nothing to actually convince anyone else. In fact, it does the opposite, widening the ideological gap between “us” and “them” and making “us” feel justified in writing “them” off completely. They’re stupid, right? Right! I’m preaching to the choir here, we all know this to be true! So why even talk to them or listen to them?

Second, it reinforces the idea that we shouldn’t do anything if it can’t be done perfectly. No, criminals do not obey laws, but that’s not the point. Going a step further, even if we do tighten up the legal process for obtaining guns, we won’t catch everyone that circumvents the process. Does this mean we should do nothing? Let’s once again consider laws against DUI: they do not prevent drunk driving, nor do we catch all drunk drivers. Should we therefore discard our DUI laws? Alternately, would this have been a valid argument for never passing DUI laws in the first place? Of course not!

December 2, 2015 was the 336th day of the year. There were two mass shootings on that day alone, bringing the national total for the U.S. up to 353. That’s more than one mass shooting per day. Contrary to President Obama’s assertion that “this is not normal” after the 351st mass shooting (on the 331st day), it is normal. It happens about as often as I make a pot of coffee or take a shit. It shouldn’t be normal, but it is. Nevertheless, I choose to believe we can do something about it. It is high time we stopped fighting amongst ourselves and started working together to actually fix the problem. Spending our time and energy insulting each other means we’re distracted from the real problem, which is getting worse all the time.

Things We Need To Stop Saying, #214

A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important issue. ~Wikipedia

Here’s today’s red herring meme:

First, the wording at the top implies very strongly that every act of terror is carried out by Muslims. By extension, it implies that violence done by anyone who’s not Muslim doesn’t count as an act of terror. Did anyone say “we shouldn’t judge all Muslims on the actions of a few” after the 2015 Planned Parenthood shooting? Absolutely not. That would have been ridiculous, since the shooter was a white dude whose political goals had fuck-all to do with the middle east. Yet it absolutely was an act of terror, and anyone who says differently is giving the perp a pass because of his nationality and/or skin color.  There are over 1.5 billion Muslims on the planet. Yes, a handful of them are extremists who are bent on violence. Judging all of them based on the violent ones would be as dumb as judging all 2.4 billion Christians based on the actions of a handful of clinic terrorists. Perhaps unintentionally, perhaps deliberately, our Mr. Meme subtly paints the entire religion of Islam with the same broad brush it’s whining about.

Second, nobody’s judging all gun owners based on terrorists or mass shooters. This is a red herring that muddies up the discussion and leaves rational people with the distinct impression that the gun activists are frantically trying to hide something. Nobody – nobody – has said with any credibility that “we need to disarm all gun owners so they don’t shoot up the place!” People love to feel like they’re being persecuted, for reasons I don’t fully understand. People with tattoos post Facebook memes about being judged for their tattoos, but in reality very few people give a shit about tattoos. Metalheads post Facebook memes about being judged for their taste in music, but in reality very few people give a shit about who listens to which kind of music. Gun owners post Facebook memes whining about being judged for owning guns, but nobody’s really doing that. I’m a gun owner.  Nearly everyone I know is a gun owner. Exactly none of us have been suspected or accused of being dangerous psychopaths because somewhere, someone shot some people. The actual issue is that we can’t sit down like adults to discuss how to keep guns out of the hands of people who are crazier than shithouse rats. In a practical sense, scientists and medical professionals aren’t even allowed to study the problem.

So please, if you’re interested in actively doing something to help address the problem, stop saying “Don’t judge all gun owners on the actions of a few!” because nobody’s doing that. Claiming that that’s the problem makes it difficult for us to address the real issue. Instead, let’s hear your ideas for keeping guns out of the hands of irrational, dangerous people, and let’s discuss them. This problem needs more ideas, more discussion, and fewer sound bites/bumper stickers/facebook memes.

Still Not The Time To Talk About It

There was another mass shooting today in the U.S. Actually, no wait…there were two. The San Bernardino shooting was #355 on day #336 of 2015. We’re averaging just over one mass shooting per day this year.

I’m getting sick of this bullshit. Here are some ideas. (This is an opinion piece, so I’m not going to do any research. Sorry.)

State & Local Governments

State and local governments need to put on their big kid pants by ignoring the NRA and getting busy plugging loopholes and stopping leaks in existing gun laws and their enforcement. We should never allow a gun to be sold to someone without a background check. We should never allow a gun to be sold to someone who’s a felon or has a history of mental illness.

Objection: But criminals don’t follow the law!

Laws never stop crime. Homicides will always happen, but that doesn’t stop us from having laws that make it illegal to commit homicide. Laws just define what crime is and is not – and it should be a crime to purchase a gun without a background check. It should be a crime for felons and the mentally ill to acquire (or be sold) guns. It’ll still happen, but if we catch you doing it there will be consequences.

Objection: How do you define who’s mentally ill?

Good question. Off the top of my head, I’d say an inpatient stay at a mental health facility counts. Let’s call this an implementation detail and have some meetings to iron it out. But let’s do something and get the conversation started. Throwing up our hands and saying “It’s hopeless, there’s nothing we can do” is what got us into this mess.

Objection: You’re infringing on the constitutional rights of felons and the mentally ill!

Shut up. Also, I’m not a lawyer, but as far as I know felons give up certain rights when they choose to commit felonies. We don’t let the mentally ill drive semis or fly commercial aircraft either, in the interest of public safety. Sometimes, depending on factors, they don’t even get to live on their own.

The NRA is fond of saying that we don’t need any new gun legislation, because there are plenty of gun laws already on the books and we should just enforce those. I agree. Let’s get after it. Let’s find those loopholes and plug them. This means legislators need to brace themselves to flip off the NRA, which will fight tooth and nail to obstruct any legislation that has a chance of impacting the firearm manufacturers’ bottom lines. They’ve been the sole voice in the discussion for far too long, though. It’s time for politicians to tell them to sit down and STFU.

The NRA and Firearms Manufacturers

Unless they want to end up royally goat-fucked like big tobacco did in the 1990s, the NRA and firearms manufacturers need to come to table like adults and be a partner in this discussion. The tide is turning, and it’ll go worse for them if they continue their tradition of shouting down the conversation every time it comes up.

The NRA ought to stop stoking the fires of paranoia in their membership for political and financial gain. Nobody is coming to take anybody’s guns, and civilians don’t need assault rifles or high-capacity magazines. The profit margin on “tacticool” is enormous. That’s the real reason behind the NRA’s constant obstructionism and lobbying.

Objection: What about that Nancy Pelosi/Barbara Boxer/Dianne Feinstein?

What about them? Yes, they’re anti-gun. Yes, they’re liberal Democrats. Yes, they’re from California. Yes, California’s full of lefty wingnuts. So what? Did you know that Dianne Feinstein survived an office shooting? True story. Do you think if that happened to you it might traumatize you and possibly determine your opinion on guns if you were otherwise unfamiliar with them? I think it might.

Objection: What about tyranny?

Oh please. Middle aged, balding, pudgy suburban man with the mortgage, don’t kid yourself. You aren’t going to do a goddamn thing about tyranny, least of all pick up your AR-15 and successfully fight off trained soldiers. Tyranny isn’t going to come marching down your street in formation anyway – it’ll come quietly in the form of universal surveillance and in the name of safety. Besides, the military’s got tanks and bombers and shit you ain’t got and won’t even see until it’s too late, so don’t make me laugh.

Objection: But the [city name] shooting didn’t involve an assault weapon!

Maybe not, but the overheated rhetoric, incessant fearmongering from the gun lobby, and very basic marketing tactics applied to firearms (buy this and you’ll be one of the cool kids!) aren’t helping, and we need to start doing anything we can to cool things down. If the NRA and manufacturers take some proactive steps in this direction, it would go a long way toward tamping down public anger over the ever-increasing body count…and I believe the body count would go down too.

John and Jane Q. Public Need to Be Honest About the Problem

After the shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, President Obama released a written statement saying “This is not normal. We can’t let it become normal.” I guess I see where he’s coming from, because he can’t really say “this is normal” without maybe actually doing something about it, but…horseshit. It’s very normal. Very very normal. It happens, on average, every goddamn day. I take a shit every day too, and I’d say that’s pretty normal. How are mass shootings not normal? That’s a ridiculous thing to say. We’ll never successfully address the problem if we’re going around spouting and swallowing patently false platitudes. (Yes, that includes “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims.” Congratulations, you did and said nothing, but at least you feel better and that’s what counts, right?)

Guns, by themselves, aren’t actually the problem. Switzerland, I’m told, is armed to the teeth. There’s at least one gun in every household, and yet they have very low violent crime rates. Japan is a study in contrast. Almost no civilian in Japan has access to a firearm, and yet they also have a very low violent crime rate. So what gives? It’s the guns, stupid…well, that plus our violent-ass culture: the news media, movies, and video games all glorify and promote violence for our voyeuristic pleasure. A violent culture is a difficult, difficult problem to address, though – so we argue non-stop about guns instead.

Objection: Don’t blame video games, you asshole!

See? It’s tough to address a violent culture. Also, shut up.

Objection: It’s not the guns, it’s a mental health issue!

Yes. Absolutely. So what can we do about it? There are lots of people with mental problems that can’t afford help. Maybe something like Medicare/Obamacare could help with that. Maybe we need to work to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help by encouraging people to seek help rather than mocking them for it and/or gossiping about them. Maybe we need to be more diligent about saying “Hey man, cool it” when someone near us starts making “idle” threats. Maybe we need to be more diligent about reporting these people so they can get the help they need.

Finally, as much as I loathe the NRA, they’re right about one thing: the second amendment protects our right to bear arms. Confiscation will never, ever work, so we should forget about that and stop considering it an option. Hey, up above I suggested the NRA and firearms manufacturers should come to the table and take voluntary steps to help address the problem – gun control advocates need to do the same. Unwillingness to compromise is why we’re stuck at this impasse. Americans are going to keep their guns, and that’s that.

Objection: The second amendment only applies to well-regulated militias!

That wording is in there, and often minimized/left out by the pro-gun lobby, it’s true but…shit, I don’t know. I’m not a constitutional lawyer, but Americans have privately owned guns since we were still British colonists. I think this particular train sailed before the second amendment was even inked.

Objection: The founding fathers never intended us to own assault rifles!

Never mind what the founding fathers “intended.” They didn’t intend for us to use the Internet either. How could they know? This is a particularly smelly red herring.

Conclusion

It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m tired of writing so I’m going to wrap this up in very short order: You may not like my ideas. That’s okay. Throw out a few of your own. What would you do to address the problem? Let’s have a conversation. It’s way, way past time to talk about it.