Discussion for article #241521
3 Likes
Great idea. Iâve been doing this for years on my own to a lesser degree, mainly by telling people I donât want them to bring guns into my house, ever, as well as leaving where Iâm at abruptly when anyone pulls out a gun.
I think it could work.
16 Likes
I agree with the hope behind the thought, but in this case I think youâre fighting a cultural force that far outweighs smoking. Cigarettes gained their cool, sophisticated image from movies, but they were rarely central to the plot and action. Guns have always been the go-to solution in movies, and have set an image that not only do they solve problems you look cool solving them.
I can only think of one movie Iâve ever seen during which a gun was brandished and never fired. Thatâs a hard momentum to overcome, and would take multiple generations to do so. Still, I agree with @TeenLaQueefa - Iâm doing my part one step at a time
4 Likes
Have a Life problem? Get a gun!
3 Likes
Iâve been advocating for this approach for years. If we can make cigarettesâŚor littering (for instance)âŚsocially unacceptable, we can surely do the same with gun possession.
6 Likes
This is the single thing we could do that would be most likely to have a real effect. I argued exactly this in some comments yesterday. This approach has not only worked with smoking, it has also worked with drunk driving, which used to be seen as no big deal. Also, the anti-obesity campaign has reduced soda consumption significantly and the rise in obesity seems to have stopped and even to be reversing.
The gun fetishists use (and misuse) the 2nd Amendment. Letâs use the 1st Amendment against them.
13 Likes
Itâs not simple, as you note, but there are things that could be done. Letâs have movies in which unarmed good guys take out armed bad guys. The recent incident on the train in France is a great example. Or letâs have movies where the good guys have tasers or other non-lethal weapons*
*Yes, I know a few people have died from being tased, but I canât imagine a school massacre done with a taser.
2 Likes
I agree that this sounds overly simplistic but it is a start. We should also look at the role of guns in our culture. If you remember back as late as the 60s and 70s there were product placements of tobacco products in the movies and on TV. Now, this is almost unheard of. Can you imagine a new TV season or a year of new movie releases where the actors have rejected any scripts that include firearms? Could the public be talked into boycotting any new TV shows or Movies that feed the gun fetish?
5 Likes
I think this has already happened to a degree.
A co-worker of mine recently went hunting with his niece and brother. His 14 year old niece killed an Elk, and him and her took a picture with it.
He would not post it to facebook for fear it might go viral and animal activists would come after him for having a 14 year old pose with a dead Elk.
He would only text it to people he felt he could trust.
6 Likes
Just like there are pictures of smoking victims on cigarette packs, there should be pictures of gun victims where you buy guns.
6 Likes
Cars still come with cigarette lighters and ash trays standard.
What if we started demanding that cars come with gun racks and gun safes? Go for the irony instead of the âitâs not coolâ tack? Point out that more people have guns than smoke today and since ashtrays arenât optional why treat gunracks and safes any differently?
That might shock enough non gun owners into questioning gun law sanity.
1 Like
How about, âWe should be burying people when they are old and in one piece.â Then show photos of school kids with half their heads blown off with brains hanging out, severed limbs on the floor, and blood everywhere.
1 Like
I am old enough to remember the fights in Mass when the bottle Bill was first proposed. I remember how clear of empty bottles the roads were after the bill passed. I recall being shocked at seeing all the bottles on the roadside in states without the bottle bill and thinking that they should pass one too.
Propose an ammo bill wherein there is a surcharge for each shell or bullet that could be redeemed at the gun shop. There will be fighting like in Mass when the bottle bill was proposed but if it doesnât get passed the first time it would be easier the second or third time.
5 Likes
Efforts to stigmatize gun ownership may help, but letâs not forget that similar efforts with smoking and drunk driving were supported by stronger rules and laws to help banish the behavior. Therefore the publicity effort would have to be effective enough to lead to stronger regulation; it wouldnât be sufficiently effective on its own.
2 Likes
We can attempt to make guns uncool, and we can also treat guns like we do abortion.
- Only the largest cities may have gun shops.
- Once you agree to buy a gun or ammunition, you must wait 72 hours to pick them up. Live in Brownsville, but the gun store is in San Antonio? Better get a room.
- After you place an order, you must watch a gun safety video.
- You must undergo a physical exam to determine if youâre sufficiently healthy to buy a gun.
- As guns are dangerous, a physician with admitting privileges at a local hospital must be available and on duty during business hours.
- The store must have a fully equipped emergency room.
- Air conditioning standards, the size of the building, the operating hours and the number of available parking spaces are to be determined by the state legislature.
- Be aware - you may have to run a gauntlet of anti-gun picketers before you can enter the store.
16 Likes
Exactlyâuse the methods of the anti-abortion crowd. Show the graphic and horrible results of this unacceptable activity.
4 Likes
This is a really fantastic article; well written and entertaining⌠great though-provoking ideasâŚ
2 Likes
Appears that way from the miscreants causing the mayhem.
1 Like
âUnacceptable,â (abortion/contraception) to whom? Perhaps, the same crazies that are the gun-nuts.
1 Like
Tell them to smoke them outside?
Actually I think most americans would like more regs but the elected officials at this time are doing what their big money donors want not what the majority wants.
2 Likes