With all the people we already have in prison, we either have to start letting a shitload of non-violet inmates out, or build even more prisons to hold the newbies. If we lessen the sentences of the non-violents to make room for the gun-toting violents, which ones should go free?
Is the culture of Canada and the US that similar? In California alone we have a very high amount of street gangs. The gangs prevalent in my area are Mexican-American gangs Nortenos, and Surenos. The Surenos control all but 2 prisons in California I believe and have members, most predominantly in Southern California, but throughout the rest of California, as well as Nevada, Arizona and Washington.
The Nortenos are all over the Bay Area and the Central Valley.
Canada would seem to have different demographics than the US which would highlight differences. 28% of the US population are minorities with Latinos and Blacks compromising the majority of that percentage, whereas Canada has 16% of it’s population being made up of minorities, mostly, if wikipedia is correct, is made up of Asians.
I would like to look into how similar or different the economic situation is in Canada compared to that of the US. The middle class there compared to here for example, how big it is, etc.
Don’t we have an obligation as a society to look at ways to curb gun violence?
Sure. Also car violence, and baseball bat violence, and knife violence, and fist violence…
Then why don’t you run off and start a separate thread on those subjects, okey dokey?:rolleyes:
Start boycotting movie and television studios, as well as record companies that exploit gun violence to make money.
I’m not saying that violence or gun violence shouldn’t be shown in art, but maybe we should rethink what is acceptable and what is not. For example you can’t have nudity on a billboard, and cigarette companies have advertising restrictions placed on them. Yet you can have James Bond on a billboard posed and ready to shoot someone with his hand gun.
Another example I can remember, Terminator Salvation was originally going to be rated R, but the studio wanted the violent film to be marketed to a larger demographic, minors, so they trimmed some explicit scenes like an attempted rape, and some of the gorier scenes, so now a Terminator film is PG-13. Can’t make a kids toyline based on an R-Rated film. Nevermind, you can. They did it with Terminator 2.
You may have noticed that there continues to be significant disagreement as to what those rights are. So, no.
I agree it’s an important discussion. And even most of the real die hard weapons enthusiasts wouldn’t call for free unfettered access to nukes and stealth bombers for all citizens, so the question isn’t whether to have gun control, it’s instead a matter of how to implement it and which lines to draw.
While I think there should be some basic safeguards, especially with regard to access by people struggling with psychological issues, I think it’s more important to take a deep honest look at the culture of violence, in order to intelligently find ways to minimize the inherent harms, maximize the potential benefits, and diffuse the distracting tensions involved in the debate.
With regards to violence in media, it can be really hard to tell sometimes which projects are a healthy outlet to diffuse real life violence, and which ones glorify or encourage real life violence. It can’t be as simple as just getting rid of all of it, because some examples of it are important.
I think they could make the claim that simulated sex is allowed on television, and since all violence shown is also simulated…
Why? What makes gun violence so damn special? Is having a schoolbus bombed or being chopped apart by a machete in any way preferable?
If we reduce shootings, just to have an equal number of dudes killed by being stabbed, etc nothing has been gained.
What we need to do is reduce violent crimes, and gun violence will be reduced along with it.
How do we reduce the number of violent crimes?
On reason to focus on gun violence is that it is gun violence, over all other types, that is glorified in this country. Outside of abberations like Highlander the weapon of choice for heroes isn’t usually knife, club or bomb-it’s a firearm of some sort or another.
Funny that you never mentioned people who were falsely convicted of crimes. I guess once a person is convicted, we automatically assume they are horrible people.
I just love how you said we need more prisons, because the prison system is just so great, ya know?
I don’t think that it should be banned. But if you think that highly promoted shows that show the hero torturing people is something that negatively effects society voice your concern. Tell the advertisers you’re not buying their products if they support that type of entertainment and message.
Not directly related to gun violence but there’s a show on VH1 called Mob Wives a reality show just videotaping these women and they all admit to living a lavish lifestyle provided by their mafia associations who are involved in murder, extortion and trafficking. And major businesses advertise during that show.
Please re-read my post…this time for comprehension.
Wooo boy are you barking up the wrong tree.
What about it? You said we need to build more prisons and release non-violent offenders. What else am I supposed to be looking for exactly? What you missed? Maybe, you should re-read my post, champ. 
You mentioned building new prisons to house “newbies” (as you so artfully put it). That’ll work out great, because (ya know?) cheap labor.
No thanks. I actually like my guilty pleasures of watching movies with plenty of gun violence. Good luck with that.
I enjoy it as well but when companies are mass marketing it to mainstream audiences, including children, I think there’s a problem.
Actually, whatever we’re doing seems to be working. US crime rate at lowest point in decades:
The article goes on to suggest possible reasons for the drop in crime to be increased incarceration, improved law enforcement strategies (including better technology), the end of the cheap crack cocaine epidemic from the 80s, and that the population is getting older. (The article expresses more skepticism about the suggestion that legalizing abortion has played a major role in lower crime rates.)
While you’re at it, you might as well tell them they need to stop reading violent books, looking at violent paintings, watching violent news stories and/or documentaries, etc.