Don't we have an obligation as a society to look at ways to curb gun violence?

Is is possible to ask that question without being accused of being anti-liberty?

Is it possible to answer that question with something other than “automatic weapons for all, concealed carry everywhere” without being accused wanting to outlaw all guns?

Can we have an honest conversation about trying to curb gun violence in America or are gun owners too paranoid and too quick to demonize anyone without a gun rack and an NRA membership as a pinko commie liberal hippie?

Or is it really impossible to even ask that question and seek answers that would protect both the US Constitution and US citizens?

I assure you: I don’t want to take away your legally owned and used for hunting and protection guns. But I want less gun violence in this country, particularly in the urban area that I live in.

Can we even have this conversation? Or is the only response of gun supporters to scream “SECOND AMENDMENT” so loudly that they drown out the cries of mothers grieving their dead children from gun violence?

It might be possible to have such a conversation, but when you spoil the well so thoroughly as you have here, it’s not likely.

Could you perhaps restate the question is such a way that accomplishes the intended goals and yet does not spoil the well? I agree that the OP comes off a bit strong…but perhaps memories of previous threads influenced such an approach.

That depends. Do you acknowledge that the Federal Assault Weapons Ban was a bloated piece of uselessness that banned “scary black gun” features like bayonet mounts that didn’t actually have anything to do with making people safer?

I think the violence delivered to our homes and theaters by the entertainment industry is a major factor…but how do you curb that trend without stepping on the right of said industry to make a profit? Characters on television that 10 to 15 years ago would be cast as insane villains in a typical police/detective/action hero series are now cast as heroes in their own series(Arrow and Person Of Interest for example).

If he makes such an admission, do you have any positive solutions to the problem put forth?

I would like to think that in addition to atleast discussing gun laws, we as a society would rethink how we portray violence and gun violence in particular in popular media.

Action heroes are seen righteously taking out bad guys by using guns. Not to mention how violence, not in self defense, is portrayed as okay when in the right. We have films glorifying use of torture, but it’s okay, they kidnapped his daughter or threatened innocents.

Sure, we can discuss gun violence. Let’s start with the cause of gun violence and go on to the means of prevention. Let’s discuss how violence of all sorts correlates with economic status. Let’s discuss why cities predominantly suffer from gun violence while other areas do not.

What is pointless to discuss is guns themselves. Why? Because in the final analysis, the triggers don’t pull themselves. Once you accept that and you realize that a gun is a gun is a gun and trying to solve a problem by eliminating certain firearms and allowing others is silly on its merits, then you have a good starting point.

There’s gold in them thar hills of bodies, though. The studios almost have to get more and more extreme when it comes to violence-apparently, if we get used to it, we become numb to it, and it’s excitement that brings in the big bucks.

It’s not. To the gun lovers, human life (including their own and their family’s) and the welfare of the nation and everything else are of no importance compared to the all-important, all consuming importance of owning guns. There’s no person or principle they won’t betray or sacrifice for those chunks of metal.

So what are some possible solutions to this problem that do not infringe on our rights?

Not. Helping.

It’s tough to have an “honest” conversation when you’re poisoning the well from the beginning. After all, it’s more than a little unfair to accuse only one side as being the one preventing honest conversation from occurring.

I live in a pretty shitty neighborhood in Little Rock and while I don’t hear gun shots every night it isn’t an unusual occurrence. I don’t even bother calling the police any more unless the gun shots are really close to my house. I want less violence too.

This is demagoguery at its best and makes me seriously doubt you wish to engage in any kind of honest conversation.

Well, I am on record here as saying that the 2nd amendment is an anachronism. It’s not exactly the same point the OP is making, but it’s close enough, so I think I already did pretty much that without spoiling the well. It’s not that difficult.

Regardless, shouldn’t we as a society be more strongly opposed to the the barrage of films, video games, music, and television shows that promote violence/gun violence and end up mass marketing it to the general public?

Film studios were exploiting the subject of homosexuality in a negative way for their films. Silence of the Lambs, Cruising, Basic Instinct and others films associated homosexuality and transgenderdism with immorality and crime. The gay community spoke out against these films.

I’m not opposed to violence being portrayed in art but “the good guys” as well as the bad guys are shown using violence and guns (again, not for self-defense) and we’re left with the notion that guns and violence is a means to achieve your goal, regardless of whether it’s righteous or evil.

Apparently society as a whole isn’t opposed to the increasingly more violent aspect of our entertainment, judging by ticket sales and movie purchases. They want a solution to the problem that in no way effects their personal lives…and I just don’t think that such a solution exists.
Could someone please prove me wrong?

Probably because the majority of society doesn’t realize it yet. It’s not that they consciously go against their beliefs to be entertained, it’s that they don’t believe there’s any connection between fictional violence and real violence. They’re first emotion is that they like what they see and/or hear, and they follow their first impulse to indulge in this product that garners this enjoyable emotion.

I remember me and my friends in high school would argue against our teachers saying that just because we listen to gangsta rap doesn’t mean we’re going to do what the rapper says he does. And yet we we emulated the musicians we listened to, and the film characters we saw, and unfortunately some of my friends stayed in that lifestyle. Looking back it’s plain to see how listening to gangsta rap and watching movies like Scarface and Menace II Society helped reinforce negative behavior and beliefs.

As has been pointed out before, over the last few decades violence has steadily gone up in entertainment; meanwhile over the same period violent crime has gone up and down with no apparent correlation. The idea that violence in the media causes violent behavior to go up is questionable at best.

If that isn’t where the focus should be, then give a viable alternative.