# Serious idea: survivors/families of mass shooting victims get same benefits and honors as veterans **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 15, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873 "2018-02-15T15:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [February 16, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/121 "2018-02-16T14:44:04Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Accomplish, not do. Many jobs have death and disability benefits, with the military being one of them. Mine does too as part of my compensation package. It’s a way to get people to sign up. I can also purchase this (or additional) insurance on the open market if my employer doesn’t provide any or enough. > > Right now we’re in “not even wrong” territory. The proposal isn’t good or bad, it’s just not even half-baked. We can’t perform a cost benefit analysis with undefined costs and benefits. We can’t compare against competing proposals because we don’t have a defined goal. Some possibilities might be: > > Reduce one type of gun violence that rational people don’t spend any time worrying about, > Tickle **Ruken** ’s easily tickled liberal feels, > Profit, > Show those gun enthusiasts…something > > Whichever it is, there are probably other ways to do it. And there’s always the option of leaving the money in taxpayers’ pockets (or more realisticly, not borrowing it from our kids.) Yeah. If anything, this proposal would make Americans care even less about mass shootings. The families were compensated, so at leas there’s that! We keep hearing, after these types of shootings, that we need to “do something”. Well, this is “something”. It makes no sense to think this will make Americans care more. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’d gladly support the proposal, if it meant drastically reducing the benefits and honors afforded to vets! 😃 So what’ you’re saying is we’re going to pay the victims of mass shootings, and we’re going to make [del]the Mexicans[/del] the vets pay for it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/122 "2018-02-16T22:36:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’d gladly support the proposal, if it meant drastically reducing the benefits and honors afforded to vets! 😃 One hopes this was said in jest. The OP’s proposal already suffered by a needless invoking of veterans’ benefits, which have nothing to do with compensating a class of crime victims. While this example may have meant no such intent, such a comparison carries an odor of resentment and hostility toward attention/honor given to present or former members of the armed forces, a politically counterproductive and otherwise dubious attitude seen all too often in discussions on this board. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/123 "2018-02-16T22:55:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One hopes this was said in jest. > > The OP’s proposal already suffered by a needless invoking of veterans’ benefits, which have nothing to do with compensating a class of crime victims. While this example may have meant no such intent, such a comparison carries an odor of resentment and hostility toward attention/honor given to present or former members of the armed forces, a politically counterproductive and otherwise dubious attitude seen all too often in discussions on this board. You may sense that odour but the OP is former Navy and iirc, works for them still as a civilian. From the OP “and I say that as a veteran myself”. Is your indignation based on your own service? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/124 "2018-02-16T23:26:44Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah. If anything, this proposal would make Americans care even less about mass shootings. … I think it’s a mistake to assume that the public’s resistance to gun control proposals means that Americans don’t care (much?) about mass shootings. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/125 "2018-02-17T00:01:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think it’s a mistake to assume that the public’s resistance to gun control proposals means that Americans don’t care (much?) about mass shootings. Yeah, that was not worded well. What I meant to say was _make Americans inclined to do even less about changing gun control laws in reaction to mass shootings_. We talk like we want to do something, but we rarely do. This would lower the impetus to act. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/126 "2018-02-17T00:02:22Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think it’s a mistake to assume that the public’s resistance to gun control proposals means that Americans don’t care (much?) about mass shootings. Functionally, it is the same thing. Like an alcoholic who “knows he has a problem” but the solution never seems to involve stopping drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873/127 "2018-02-17T01:02:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think it’s a mistake to assume that the public’s resistance to gun control proposals means that Americans don’t care (much?) about mass shootings. Well, however much they care about mass shootings, they care about their guns _more_. “They” being the cohort of Americans who are resisting gun control proposals, a fraction of “the public” overall. I daresay the largest relevant cohort is the ~50% of the American electorate who don’t care enough to bother voting either way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-idea-survivors-families-of-mass-shooting-victims-get-same-benefits-and-honors-as-veterans/808873.md?page=6)