I'll play devil's advocate here a bit, but living in a culture where guns are a constant does put limits on a lot of activity. It's also 100% true to say that people looking to cause damage will do so regardless of repercussions and often in spite of them. In most ways I agree that gun reduction overall has a greater reduction in harm than gun availability. That said, when living in a society where anyone and everyone can have a gun it definitely impacts some of the decisions you make.

I see youtube videos about people freaking out in traffic and getting out of their car to fight and my first thought is that they have no idea if the driver has a gun. The danger of gun culture for most people in that culture isn't a random shooting at a school or mall, even if that's what gets the news. The real danger of gun culture is getting into a minor argument or misunderstanding and someone shoots you for little to no reason. It doesn't matter if they are going to go to jail for wrongful manslaughter or murder if you're already dead.

When you live in gun crazy society it for sure cranks down a certain amount of behavior amongst normal people. The problem inherent to this is that there are stupid people with guns who for some reason don't think other people have them and engage in confrontations as if that's the case.

It takes more than just being "Yeah guns!" to avoid violence between people. It takes a society where people don't take each other for granted.

I usually really hate quote texting people but I just want to point how real this is. Yes, you're correct. It needs both. Valuing both is what makes us leftist gun owners.

As for the rest, I think the other guy who replied to you explained it way better than I can.

that's a good problem to have. it seems you guys have built your society right without all the insanity we're dealing with in the US right now. take care of yourselves and eachother 👍

your entire existence is predicated by vibes and pretending it's not shows just how unengaged with society you are. if you'd like to educate yourself, the entire history of the Black Panther movement is right there. there are places in America right now that ICE will not raid because of the viBeS indicating that they will be shot if they try.

I know I can't force you to use your brain but I'm sincerely inviting you to at least check yourself for a pulse.

I don't think you're supposed to eat them

being armed, willing organized and able definitely is

Show me the left-wing militia and I'll be a bit more excited about left-wing gun ownership.

But ten-thousand monkeys with AR-15s does not a leftist movement make.

America has more guns than people.

No need. These days you can get the aforementioned "jawbreakers," which are solid plastic or aluminum .68 caliber balls specifically designed for paintball gun use and what for to cause havoc. Unlike frozen paintballs they're shelf stable.

Yup. In a stressful situation, you fall back on muscle memory.

This is CA, including the course and all the bells and whistles. My glock was 1k alone. We're limited to the gen3 glock due to the California roster, and it's still expensive (mostly paperwork).

Edit: My bad, I also included ccw in my head.

She's clearly reading a script, whereas he seemed to be talking without one.

You ever shoot .45-70? My father-in-law had a lever action Marlin chambered in that. That was the most my shoulder has ever hurt. I fired THREE rounds through it, and I was done for the rest of the day. My shoulder was bruised for a week. Holy crap. I've shot 30-06 before, I've shot .308. I've shot crappy old 12 guages with basically no cushion to the stock. Never experienced anything like that. Never again. Pretty sure he sold it after that one outing.

I'm not sure how being Canadian factors into it; we still read Marx in Canada (at least, those of us on the left do)

There is none. It's just people who would never do anything in real life acting tough on the internet.

If it comes to the point when you need to use a gun to defend yourself, you’ve already lost.

Did you miss the bit where people are being ICEd?
They've already lost.

This country is already lost.

Not a single person in a position of power is willing to dethrone the oligarchs, it will only be done through violence.

Either these are the tools that will change things, or the tools that will tak out as many of the enemy as possible before they kill you.

None of the existential threats to a person in US, existing or future, can be solved by shooting at it

I think we are referring to other humans with guns, which can in fact be solved by shooting them. In fact, that's SOP for SWAT, who are the kind of people you want well-armed ... assuming you also have an inclusive, pluralistic, liberal democracy to govern them.

Root cause here is cultural. US needs denazification, according to the original pre-Putin definition of the word, exact same way post-WWII German society became... an inclusive, pluralistic, liberal democracy

None of the existential threats to a person in US, existing or future, can be solved by shooting at it.

Wrong.

Fascism is here. It is not an existential threat. And fascism always has to be responded to with force. Fascists do not respond to politely phrased requests or democratic elections.

You can make a lot of things whole lot worse by introducing armed conflict to it, but nothing can be made better by it.

Are you unaware of WW2?

there is very little things is as dangerous to a healthy society as the ubiquity of guns

This isn't a healthy society.

Are you really this ignorant of US history or are you intentionally trying to mislead people?

You want to complain to the manager of the fascists? Maybe this will get them to stop what they're doing? Also, if you're going to argue a point in good faith.. at least don't make it seem like we should accept fascism just because it's kind of always been around.

You're a fascist apologist. That's a fact. For the record, so everyone here knows what you are: Do you or do you not support using violence against violent fascists?

You've lost the narrative. Nobody cares what you think anymore, if they ever did. You enjoy the taste of boot leather with a sanctimonious superiority fetish. This is what you are.

What did you do about it?

Ok, now tell me what actually happened and not the Democrat narrative.

Also the US locks up more people than anyone else in the world because we have a much larger population than almost everyone in the world. We also have a major crime problems stemming from a culture that glorified criminal activity.

Hilariously true. Call Trump whatever you want and you can't be touched. Oppose the ruling regime in the UK and they send the police after you.

People claim to be "oppressed" as the government passes special laws to protect them and put their flags out everywhere. In your mind you're oppressed.

And do you suppose that their extermination was hastened or hindered by the fact that members were armed?

They might have enough for Vermont.

The Green Mountain Boys, the long-standing Vermont secessionist movement, and a bunch of deer-hunting farmers with generations of familiarity with the land and a massive "mind your own goddamn business" attitude have entered the chat.

They might have enough for Vermont.

You'd think that, if you didn't know Vermont. Mass is the state you want, they have no guns, like for real. VT is liberal NH, they have plenty guns. Hell they might have an easier time with NY than VT tbh, even with the disparity in numbers between them and VT.

And you're doing even less, sweetie. Stay in your lane until you find the blinker. Ta!

What we'll see from the 2A crowd is the same shit we've seen with the Israeli Settler movement.

Certain people are allowed to own guns. Certain people are allowed to carry them in public. Certain people are allowed to use those guns to take property, abuse political opponents, commit sexual assault, and engage in vigilante homicide. These people will be under the aegis of a friendly police and paramilitary force.

We're seeing it right now, in Washington DC. White nationalists are setting up shop in the center of town with the blessing of the Secretary of Drunkfence, Pete Hegseth.

See many leftists open carrying?

Your logic is shit, if not intentionally juvenile. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Because Americans have grown weak and stupid over the last 50 years.

No they put it in there because slave owners were scared about slave rebellions. But let's not let that get in the way of stopping fascists.

And you clearly don't understand what "well-regulated" or "militia" meant at the time, or any other bit of context.

There's 2 types of militia - organized and unorganized. Organized militia is the National Guard. The unorganized militia is every able-bodied man of fighting age, roughly 16-45 years old at the time. Note that the 2nd Amendment doesn't specify between organized and non-organized militias.

"Well-regulated" doesn't mean "organized". At the time, it meant properly equipped and trained. That means having a rifle, knowing how to use it, and also knowing how to survive on your own in the wilderness to some degree. All of these were pretty common in the early US's history.

There's also the broader context of US military doctrine over most of its history. Up until WWII, there was a very small standing army, mainly formed of a corps of well-trained officers (CO's and NCO's). The idea was that the country would hold a draft whenever war came, and that corps of professional soldiers would train, equip, and lead the draftees. Unsurprisingly, training draftees to fight is a lot faster and cheaper when they already have their own equipment and know how to use it.

The purpose of the 2nd Amendment is twofold. The first is to serve as a check against a tyrannical government by enabling an unspoken 4th branch of government made up by the populace. The second purpose is to better enable raising a military in wartime.

And aside from all of this, you are conveniently ignoring the second clause of the amendment: The Right of The People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. If you look at the structure of how the amendment is written, it's very obvious that the first clause is there as an explanation and that the second clause can stand on it's own.

And lastly, why are you going to a gun owners community to argue against gun ownership? You're literally going out of your way to start an argument. Get off your phone and touch grass

FFS, you got a Woody string or some shit? All you post are regurged buzzwords & FUD.

Ever read the etymology of the word "moron"?

We're in the "stock up" phase right now.

No one's going to risk their life until things get darker, which they will.

School shootings are an emergent property of our society. The proliferation of guns is a big part of the conditions, yes. That sucks, but that's just the way it is, and it's not changing anytime soon. Meanwhile, it isn't just the cops/military we have to worry about, it's ever more emboldened and maybe even "deputized" right-wing paramilitaries. Do not comply in advance. Do not voluntarily disarm yourself.

It's a hobby until the fascists are at your door.

I'm anti-gun as fuck, but you fail to understand that this is not an intelligent society that can exist without firearms. We are entering a situation where we are going to need firearms. It's as simple as that.

I'm pretty tired of school shootings, but I'm more concerned about living under fascism than I am about school shootings.