To: President Donald Trump, The Minnesota State House, The Minnesota State Senate, Governor Tim Walz, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
End the push for gun prohibition in order to address the causes of violence and self harm.
Gun control as currently pursued does nothing to address the causes of violence and self harm, thereby ensuring that death continues as we waste time and resources on measures that won't pass, and won't make a significant difference if they did.
Why is this important?
The differences in crime rates between the US and other developed nations have exponentially more to do with liberal social policies that create a more functional society, and thus more functional citizens with less need for violence and self harm, than they do with the alleged benefits of restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.
Single payer mental and physical healthcare, economic justice, an end to the Drug War: a progressive society reduces violence and self harm, as it results in a less dysfunctional less violent society. And these reforms, not being tied to the rights hot button issue, have an actual chance of passing into law, by sidestepping their strongest point of resistance.
We must reject both extremist positions of deregulation on the one hand and prohibition on the other, and adhere to the full intent of the Second Amendment: a well regulated citizens militia.
Let's examine just one of these measures:
Half of all US violence, including and particularly 'gun violence' is perpetrated by gangs and cartels according to the FBI.
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment
The primary reason for existence of gangs and cartels is exploiting the $400 billion /year US drugs black market. Other activities are secondary/opportunistic.
To put out a fire, you remove fuel and/or oxygen.
Legalize, regulate, tax, educate.
Continue to interdict foreign shipments and crack down on gangs. Their money dries up, they can't attract new members or support their operations. Use proceeds from taxes on same and former drug war spending to implement single payer healthcare with addiction treatment on demand.
No more wasting Billions per year - one Trillion so far - creating a black market for psychopaths to exploit. No more wasting billions per year ruining the lives of people that have harmed no one. No more wasting billions per year militarizing our police forces, eroding our own rights, and creating for profit prisons. No more overwhelmingly disproportionate victimization of minorities. No more incarcerating casual users and small time dealers with hardened criminals in gang run prisons, creating criminal universities in every state and hardened criminals where there were none.
This alone would yield vast savings and improve countless lives.
Let's move to another:
TWO THIRDS (21,175) of the 32,000 ‘gun deaths’ per year commonly cited in this conversation are suicides. Not violence. Suicides.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm
Let that sink in.
These people need help, not paternalistic rhetoric. And that means social services. Remember those? We liberals are supposed to be really good at those. When did that change? When we started barking up the wrong tree. When effort that should be concentrated on expanding the services that will help these people started instead being focused on pointless restrictions that will prevent nothing.
If you agree that murder is a public health crisis then you have to accept the notion that the remedy is medical. Therefore, abandon the farce that is gun control and concentrate on fixing the mess that is the mental and physical health care system in this country.
Single payer mental and physical healthcare, economic justice, an end to the Drug War: a progressive society reduces violence and self harm, as it results in a less dysfunctional less violent society. And these reforms, not being tied to the rights hot button issue, have an actual chance of passing into law, by sidestepping their strongest point of resistance.
We must reject both extremist positions of deregulation on the one hand and prohibition on the other, and adhere to the full intent of the Second Amendment: a well regulated citizens militia.
Let's examine just one of these measures:
Half of all US violence, including and particularly 'gun violence' is perpetrated by gangs and cartels according to the FBI.
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment
The primary reason for existence of gangs and cartels is exploiting the $400 billion /year US drugs black market. Other activities are secondary/opportunistic.
To put out a fire, you remove fuel and/or oxygen.
Legalize, regulate, tax, educate.
Continue to interdict foreign shipments and crack down on gangs. Their money dries up, they can't attract new members or support their operations. Use proceeds from taxes on same and former drug war spending to implement single payer healthcare with addiction treatment on demand.
No more wasting Billions per year - one Trillion so far - creating a black market for psychopaths to exploit. No more wasting billions per year ruining the lives of people that have harmed no one. No more wasting billions per year militarizing our police forces, eroding our own rights, and creating for profit prisons. No more overwhelmingly disproportionate victimization of minorities. No more incarcerating casual users and small time dealers with hardened criminals in gang run prisons, creating criminal universities in every state and hardened criminals where there were none.
This alone would yield vast savings and improve countless lives.
Let's move to another:
TWO THIRDS (21,175) of the 32,000 ‘gun deaths’ per year commonly cited in this conversation are suicides. Not violence. Suicides.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm
Let that sink in.
These people need help, not paternalistic rhetoric. And that means social services. Remember those? We liberals are supposed to be really good at those. When did that change? When we started barking up the wrong tree. When effort that should be concentrated on expanding the services that will help these people started instead being focused on pointless restrictions that will prevent nothing.
If you agree that murder is a public health crisis then you have to accept the notion that the remedy is medical. Therefore, abandon the farce that is gun control and concentrate on fixing the mess that is the mental and physical health care system in this country.