# Can/should anything be done about US shootings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263 "2015-12-02T23:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/21 "2015-12-03T00:34:32Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > If I’m not mistaken this is still not relevant to the OP. Feel free to junior moderate the other “not relevant” posts. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/22 "2015-12-03T00:37:23Z")
I just wish we’d stop pretending we care. We could do something about the guns, but we won’t. The gun fetishists will be along to hand wave some bullshit. At this point, just don’t preempt Survivor to pretend we care because we obviously don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/23 "2015-12-03T00:38:51Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Feel free to junior moderate the other “not relevant” posts. Please feel free to point out any other not relevant posts that were not in reply to yours. Don’t threaten me with being a junior moderator; I was not born just yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/24 "2015-12-03T00:54:26Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Please feel free to point out any other not relevant posts that were not in reply to yours. Don’t threaten me with being a junior moderator; I was not born just yesterday. You think talking about gun control is irrelevant in a mass shooting thread? I disagree. Gun control is relevant in any discussion about what to do in a mass shooting. Which obviously shouldn’t be a surprise and is more relevant than your commentary on wanting wealth. Again it’s not your job to police these forums which has even less relevancy in a thread on what to do about a mass shooting than gun control. Read the OP. He dismisses the idea of gun confiscation on civil libertarian grounds. So my support of the OPs point of view is hardly irrelevant or off topic. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/25 "2015-12-03T00:59:58Z")
Never mind, I got that my commentary on wanting wealth was “get rich”. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/26 "2015-12-03T01:05:00Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > (my bolding) My commentary on wanting wealth? > > The remainder of your post is ignored as a hijack, and irrelevant to this thread. You already forget your irrelevant post about obsession with being rich? Completely irrelevant and a real thread hijack. You don’t do a good job, Jr., leave it to the pros. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/27 "2015-12-03T01:09:17Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You already forget your irrelevant post about obsession with being rich? Completely irrelevant and a real thread hijack. You don’t do a good job, Jr., leave it to the pros. Yes, two words of my post were a hijack, and your posts about Hitler, Mao, and Stalin were not. Good argument. May I ask, Can/should anything be done about US shootings? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/28 "2015-12-03T01:14:43Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > 10-15 dead per week takes a lot of weeks to hit over 6 million. And let’s not forget what a Mao, Stalin, etc were able to do to a defenseless population. See? Gun fetishist hand wave bullshit. Scared white men are manipulated by arms makers and the nation bleeds. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/29 "2015-12-03T01:18:52Z")
Like I said in the Pit thread, to a lot of people, these regular shootings are just the price we pay for a free society and the protection of the Constitution. Never mind it’s almost never them who has to pay that price; they’re happy to let other people pay it. Worse, they’re never honest about it. Say what you mean and take the heat like a man already. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/30 "2015-12-03T01:28:11Z")
America of 201x is a much safer place than it was decades ago. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to do something, although all gun control proposals I have seen are either wildly unfeasible or do-nothing plans to play up to constituents but wouldn’t actually solve the problem. > [@Frank](#): > > Germany had one genocide. We have a mass shooting every fucking week. [More than one in recent memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_Genocide). But since one was “genocide” a meaningful countable object, I mean what do we count as a discrete event? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/31 "2015-12-03T01:28:27Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Yes, two words of my post were a hijack, and your posts about Hitler, Mao, and Stalin were not. Good argument. > > May I ask, Can/should anything be done about US shootings? No. My posts were not. Because they are relevant to a concentration of power in the hands of the people that make the political class which results, partially, from a disarmed populace. And disarming the populace or snide commentary on an armed populace are near universal features of these sort of discussions. What can be done was addressed in my first response to this thread. We need to figure out the root cause of why people choose to kill even at the expense of their own lives and try to mitigate those reasons. However, eliminating this sort of crime is as impossible as eliminating any other form of crime. The fact that other countries, even armed countries, have less mass shooting indicates it’s not Wiley a function of access to weaponry. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/32 "2015-12-03T01:32:34Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > See? Gun fetishist hand wave bullshit. Scared white men are manipulated by arms makers and the nation bleeds. That’s just racist and 100% inaccurate. And since when have historical events been hand waved bullshit? You doubt the genocides occurred by these governments? The institution that is responsible for more carnage than any other? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/33 "2015-12-03T01:34:35Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [More than one in recent memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_Genocide). But since one was “genocide” a meaningful countable object, I mean what do we count as a discrete event? Huh. Learn something every day. Though I’ll argue that something that happened when my great-grandfather was a teenager is not recent memory. I’ll count that as genocide. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/34 "2015-12-03T01:38:24Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > That’s just racist and 100% inaccurate. > > And since when have historical events been hand waved bullshit? You doubt the genocides occurred by these governments? The institution that is responsible for more carnage than any other? Fear, it’s the defining characteristic if the gun fetishists. Impotent white men who fantasize that their going to somehow be relevant through a gun barrel. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/35 "2015-12-03T01:48:55Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Fear, it’s the defining characteristic if the gun fetishists. Impotent white men who fantasize that their going to somehow be relevant through a gun barrel. Only white men who cannot conceive buy guns? That’s news to me. It’s also racist and ableist but don’t let that stop you. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/36 "2015-12-03T01:55:12Z")
I’m only going to say this once in this thread, people. This is a hot button issue driven but current events and horror. As such, emotions will be running high. For that reason, I’d like all of you to practice extra levels of respect and courtesy with each other. Offenders will be warned from this point forward. Keep yourselves under control. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/37 "2015-12-03T02:04:23Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > For that reason, I’d like all of you to practice extra levels of respect and courtesy with each other. Wait, what? _Extra_ levels of respect and courtesy that are not normally required in GD? > [@](#): > > Offenders will be warned from this point forward. For not maintaining levels of respect and courtesy that are not normally required in GD. Right. We either meet GD standards or we don’t. What’s this “extra” all about? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/38 "2015-12-03T02:07:24Z")
Things have always been flexible, Frank. You should know that. But from time to time it can be helpful to make sure hot button topics remain that way by removing a certain degree of flexibility. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/39 "2015-12-03T02:15:09Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Things have always been flexible, Frank. You should know that. Sure, I do know that. But “practice extra levels of respect and courtesy” does nothing to inform either me or **octopus** or anyone else whether any of our exchanges have crossed that line, and I, or him, or they, need to cool it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263/40 "2015-12-03T02:19:02Z")
> [@pojimba](#): > > So I don’t even know - are US shootings actually up, or does it just seem so to me. My impression is that the US enjoys a higher level of most types of gun violence than most other developed nations, but I have not checked the statistics Yes, higher than most industrialized countries, and although gun deaths have remained flat for a couple decades, they are [down significantly from 30 years ago.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gun_Deaths_by_Year,_Australia,_America.pdf) These types of “mass shootings”, however represent only a small fraction. Most gun deaths are either suicides, domestic violence or street crimes. > [@](#): > > Yup. Americans love their mass shootings. No, we don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-should-anything-be-done-about-us-shootings/739263.md?page=3)