"The gun control nuts have been quiet about this because it doesn't fit the narrative"

[poppy]

84 people murdered by a truck. It's horrible.  And my social media is dominated by people crowing "Why aren't the gun control advocates talking about this?"

 

 

*bangs head on wall*

 

 

 

 

 

 

[catz]

84 people murdered by a truck. It's horrible.  And my social media is dominated by people crowing "Why aren't the gun control advocates talking about this?"

 

 

*bangs head on wall*

 

More head banging here.  :banghead:

[Heatherwith4]

Same here. So ridiculous.

[EmseB]

Nevermind that every tragedy involving a gun is used as a political football.

 

But seriously, aren't topics of this nature this why there's a politics social group now?

Edited July 16, 2016 by JodiSue

[catz]

I can totally respect and discuss an alternative view point to my own.  But so many arguments, especially those made in social media are not based on logic and fact and reality. 

 

I got one this morning on my FB that said "Next we'll all need back ground checks to buy trucks".  ?!?!  Show me some legislation in the works for that with some backing and then I'll agree it's worth a face book post.

[EmseB]

Also my social media which is filled with 2A advocates have been begging for people to see that it isn't about weapons, it's about ideology that would drive someone to kill dozens in order to terrorize the general populace.

[Roadrunner]

I am not sure I am following your thinking here. Do you mean why don't gun control advocates aknolwdge that something other than guns can also be used for killing? 9/11 used airplanes, so that's not a new concept. That doesn't take away from gun related attacks though, and they aren't just terrorism related. School shootings had nothing to do with terrorism. And in those cases gun control is a more appropriate topic under debate.

There are many ways to kill. Let us never experience the horrors of chemical or biological warfare. But just because there are other avenues doesn't mean we shouldn't discuss the most commonly used and accessible and highly deadly one - guns.

[poppy]

Nevermind that every tragedy involving a gun is used as a political football.

 

But seriously, aren't topics of this nature this why there's a politics social group now?

 

Murders committed using guns are often used to talk about guns.  That's not politics.

[DawnM]

Everyone seems to turn everything into a argument to suit whatever "cause" they are currently on.

 

I am so tired of it.  Absolutely TIRED of it.

 

So far, I have see this particular tragedy turned into:

 

• Pro-gun lobbying
• Pro-life campaigning 
• How Godless the nation of France is
• Anti-Muslim
• and someone even threw in a racial argument 

I wish I were making this up.  

Edited July 16, 2016 by DawnM

[MercyA]

I wouldn't call myself pro-gun control, but that's just tacky and foolish.

[EmseB]

Murders committed using guns are often used to talk about guns.  That's not politics.

 

That's disingenuous at best.  But I suspect you know that.  Especially since the gun control measures usually floated after a tragedy as some sort of solution wouldn't have actually stopped the perpetrator from obtaining the weapons that they did.

 

Gun control is not a political issue because murders are committed with guns and we want to "talk" about it?  Okay.

 

ETA: I think there are about a million other ways, less inflammatory, less provocative subject lines that you could have used to talk about this if you didn't want it to be about the politics of gun control.  Your subject line is obvious baiting for...I don't know...it's Saturday and we're bored?  And then, oh, when people you agree with talk about gun control after a tragedy to capitalize on a crisis moment and other people's pain -- "that's not politics".

Edited July 16, 2016 by JodiSue

[Anacharsis]

The narrative jabs are due to an ongoing problem that both sides are struggling with -- that post-modernism seems to have broken one of the key tenets of Enlightenment thinking, that The Truth Speaks For Itself, if only we can uncover its voice. While The Truth may indeed speak for itself, we as human beings are deaf without our hearing aids. While The Truth may shout, "It's raining!" for all to hear, it's our worldview that allows us to listen; it determines how we feel about a fact, how we act on it. Is it a happy occasion, or a sad one? Should we run for cover or go jump in puddles?

 

In human affairs, power often comes from controlling the human reaction to the truth, more than from the truth itself. This has lead to a greater and greater focus on the narrative surrounding the facts, even as it helps create a future world more similar to Orwell's 1984 (which I honestly don't think anybody really wants) than one that Enlightenment thinkers hoped for.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Anacharsis

[Farrar]

Honestly, a number of things haven't fit the gun debate narrative on both sides lately.

[chiguirre]

The Nice attacker had a gun. He fired at police. Obviously the truck was his main weapon but he wouldn't have been able to keep police at bay as long as he did without a gun too.

[poppy]

That's disingenuous at best. But I suspect you know that. Especially since the gun control measures usually floated after a tragedy as some sort of solution wouldn't have actually stopped the perpetrator from obtaining the weapons that they did.

 

Gun control is not a political issue because murders are committed with guns and we want to "talk" about it? Okay.

 

ETA: I think there are about a million other ways, less inflammatory, less provocative subject lines that you could have used to talk about this if you didn't want it to be about the politics of gun control. Your subject line is obvious baiting for...I don't know...it's Saturday and we're bored? And then, oh, when people you agree with talk about gun control after a tragedy to capitalize on a crisis moment and other people's pain -- "that's not politics".

The subject line is a Facebook status from a friend . I'm not about to get into it with her there for a variety of reasons. So I came here to vent about it.

A no I I don't think talking about guns after a shooting is politicizing a tragedy . After Newtown we talked about gun, mental health , school security because of course we did! To not talk about it would be , what, just accepting it as inevitable? After this horror in Nice we will talk about terrorism. Because of course we will. This tragedy wasn't inevitable either. But potshots like the one I reacted to are childish and get us nowhere.

[Carrie12345]

The root problem is people's lack of ability to hold two thoughts in their head at a time.  Seriously.  Name an issue, and you can trace back to that very fact!

[Carrie12345]

Adding: It's like my aunt posting an article on 101 things you can do instead of posting your political views on Facebook.  Well, I do the majority of those 101 things and can still manage to get a quick post in here and there.  I'm THAT talented!

[Lb20inblue]

To me the real question is why someone would want to kill 84 people with a gun.  No one ever wants to talk about that.  It seems like society in general wants to talk about whatever fits their own talking points and not to find a solution to this problem. I pray for this month because I don't know about you but July has been tough. 

[mamiof5]

I don't bang my head anymore...with so much going on I'd have fractured my skull a long time ago.

 

Not getting into a pro or against guns. Sadly, when there's a will there's a way. If it's not guns it'll be something else used as a weapon of mass or individual murder.

 

Praying for our world.

[Vera]

I had an argument like that with my cousin. She didn't want gun control because it wouldn't stop rape, abortion, drunk driving, etc. No one ever said that gun control would solve all problems. It wouldn't even stop all shootings. But, if gun control could slow down our absolutely unacceptable level of gun violence in this country then we should give it a shot. And no - I do not want to take away your guns so don't even go there.

[Ausmumof3]

Yep.

 

Best if I don't hang out near Dh when he reads his Facebook feed these days or we'll end up divorced.

[Tanaqui]

People try to have this conversation with me, it always ends one way: "Yup, you've convinced me. We definitely need to restrict who can drive, and when, and where."

 

Funnily, nobody ever takes me very seriously when I say that.

[poppy]

People try to have this conversation with me, it always ends one way: "Yup, you've convinced me. We definitely need to restrict who can drive, and when, and where."

 

Funnily, nobody ever takes me very seriously when I say that.

 

Not exactly sure about your train of thought here..... but I would be beyond thrilled if we could test, license and register gun users the way we do with drivers. 

[Tanaqui]

Not exactly sure about your train of thought here..... but I would be beyond thrilled if we could test, license and register gun users the way we do with drivers. 

 

Mostly my train of thought is 85% "I can't stand it when people use bizarre slippery slope arguments to make inane points" and 15% "Gosh, I hate drivers".