In the preceding article, we discussed different kinds of gun violence, organized by cause. Most gun violence is suicide; only a very few mass shootings ever occur in classrooms. Ideally, none would; ideally, people also wouldn’t ever want to kill themselves, guns notwithstanding.
We don’t live in an ideal world.
That’s no reason not to strive for one.
(more…)There are some of you out there shouting, “The problem is gun violence! Just get rid of all the guns!” Some others respond, “You can have my guns when you pry them from my cold dead fingers!” (Evidently, they never watched the original “Red Dawn”.)
It’s possible you’re honestly deluded or optimistic beyond belief, in which case nothing I write can possibly get through to you. On the other hand, perhaps you came here expecting an argument in which the loudest voice wins, or a negotiation where everyone meets halfway from the opening positions. Either way, that’s not what this is. The purpose of this article is to break down known statistics for the benefit of the 80% of Americans who want change, so we can make intelligent decisions.
(more…)
There’s been yet another school rampage shooting, and I don’t know what to do except weep. Best I can tell, nobody else does either.
Oh, there’s a lot of noise and a ton of blame being thrown, and I’ve heard the phrase “common sense gun control” more times than I can count. It’s a meaningless string of words; if there were any effective way to stop rampage shooters with a simple, common sense approach, we’d have done it by now.
Whenever I say that, there are two responses:
– “Well, at least do something!”
and
– “Just ban guns! Ban them all!”
In early July, we released an exhaustive article on COVID-19 trends. It was meticulously researched, with dozens of subordinate links to data sources. In it, we cited our earlier prediction that, unless Americans were to act with unprecedented foresight and responsibility, we were looking at between one and six million deaths by the end of autumn. Our tracking gave us cause for cautious optimism.
Winter officially begins in one week, and the official COVID-19 death count just passed 300,000. Given the standard two to six week lag time in reports combined with a 3000+ person daily increase, the final numbers will be closer to 400,000 by that point. Advances in hospital treatment protocols combined with local lockdowns and responsible behavior in much of the country have prevented, at great cost, the loss of millions of American lives. Our optimism has proven justified.
(more…)
I almost didn’t write this one.
It’s not fear of all the hate this’ll drag down on The Not Fake News. Truth is never popular, less so when it’s truth to power and least of all when that power is the mob, the nameless faceless mass of public opinion. Telling unpopular truths is what we do here, and it’ll never pay and it’ll never make us beloved.
What almost stopped me is that there are three families out there (more…)
OK; to be fair, we deserved this:
“The remarks of US politicians have completely exposed their hypocrisy of adopting double standards on human rights issues and using them to maintain hegemony.”
We’re constantly interfering in China’s domestic policy — the raids on Hong Kong and imprisoning protestors, slavery-level factory conditions, selling political prisoners for their organs — and we’ve got the gall to lecture them on how they run their own country. Meanwhile, even our headlines are full of our own sins. Touché, China. Touché. (more…)
This is not being written in response to any particular event. There was probably one today or yesterday or last week, and CNN no doubt covered it with their usual attention to detail and mechanical concern. I’m probably pretty sad about it myself. This is why I’m writing this article on a day when the headlines are about something else. It’s important to keep perspective. You can’t create effective policy and solve social problems when you’re too busy yelling or sobbing or both.
Trouble is, I’m furious. Even today, I can’t help but be furious (more…)
Wars and government atrocities aside, the United States has more spree shootings than any other country each year.
This is a problem that demands discussion between reasonable and intelligent people. Unfortunately, the political climate in this country is one of extreme and entrenched polarization; moral certitude precludes (more…)
One week ago, the House passed a bill designed to prevent school violence, one that would fund programs ranging from increased security to suicide prevention and safety education. Conspicuously absent from this bill was any provision to arm teachers; there’s a lot of discussion about that, with opinions predictably divided along partisan lines.
As with any other contentious issue, however, it’s not that simple — certainly not as simple as Democrat versus Republican. (more…)
My last article was, at least nominally, about gun control.
It started optimistically enough; I began by stating that our country is more heavily armed than some war zones and pointing out the most recent mass shooting event. Somehow, though, in examining the statistics on gun violence, I concluded that the guns are not the real problem.
If you’re curious about that, feel free to go read that article; it’s a trip. If, on the other hand, you’re concerned directly with controlling the ownership and possession of firearms, read on here. (more…)
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