On June 2, the US president appealed to its nation to ban assault weapons following another mass shooting. In fact, each mass shooting causes increased sales of such weapons. There are more weapons in USA than people. However, more than half of the US population does not own weapons.
The problem with interconnectedness is that everything is connected. US gun control is an illusion once you do not address all related issues (eg, addictions, black incarceration, crime, fear, healthcare, media coverage, opioid addiction, welfare, white supremacy).
The US liberal-left views Scandinavia (or Europe) as the American solution. Apparently, they don’t know Scandinavia. Many European countries have rigid government control. The notion that the US would benefit from those countries is ridiculous. The hilarious Netflix series Lilyhammer would be a good start.
The Dutch “laissez faire, laissez passer” attitude might suit the Americans best. However, USA is about 237x bigger than the Netherlands (source). USA would have more than 4 billion (instead of c.332 million) citizens if it would have the Dutch population density (source). I doubt it’s possible to copy a country.
Is there a solution without hurting American strengths? Again, that’s the interconnectedness dilemma.
Human solutions are often about more (eg, fines, regulation). Recently, Canada proposed new gun control legislation that is about less (eg, NYT). Moreover, a 2021 study published in Nature argues that people systematically overlook subtractive changes (eg, SA-2021, my 2021 blog).
The Canadian solution would take away about 400 million weapons from about 106 million (ie, 32%) Americans. Is the Canadian solution feasible In USA? Perhaps.
Would American fears of crime decrease once there are no weapons? Perhaps, but only in due time.
Unfortunately, Joe Biden’s (sincere) proposal will only increase American fears.
Lilyhammer, a Netflix series
trailer
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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