Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: 'Stand your ground' promotes violence [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)People also don't like paying taxes, but most are able to realize that without taxes society will not function. People like burning cheap fossil fuels, but if everyone burns cheap fossil fuels then the temperature goes up and everyone suffers. Some people want easy access to guns to defend themselves, but without adequate gun laws, then guns proliferate to the point where, even with a gun, individuals are much less safe that they would be in a society with more reasonable gun restrictions.
And the thing is, self-defense and gun control don't have to be in conflict (never mind, for now, the fact that there is basically no evidence at all that owning or carrying a gun actually provides a safety benefit). For example, if all handguns are registered, or if gun purchases are limited to one per month, or if gun license require a mental health examination, etc., none of that would stand in the way of a person who has a genuine self-defense need. What those things will do is prevent careless gun ownership, and also make it much more difficult for guns to be diverted from legal gun owners to criminals. That fact that most (all) pro-gunners oppose these and other mild gun control measures makes be doubt that this is really about self-defense, and it's really more about an absolutist right-wing ideology.