• hector@lemmy.today
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    10 days ago

    School shootings are just something you’re going to have to live with in a country with a gun culture. I think I heard that somewhere.

    • Bennyboybumberchums@lemmy.world
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      10 days ago

      Not defend Kirk, but you didnt hear it anywhere. But you would have read it plenty.

      The actual quote is this: “You will never live in a society where you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death. That is nonsense. It’s drivel. But … I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

      He gave more context to his point of view here: “Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty. Driving comes with a price – 50,000, 50,000, 50,000 people die on the road every year. That’s a price. You get rid of driving, you’d have 50,000 less auto fatalities. But we have decided that the benefit of driving – speed, accessibility, mobility, having products, services is worth the cost of 50,000 people dying on the road. … We should have an honest and clear reductionist view of gun violence, but we should not have a utopian one.”

      I personally dont like the analogy here, as it doesnt take into account that driving a car has lots of safe guards in place. You have to register your car in every state. You have to take lessons and pass a test in order to be able to drive. In some places in the US, you can just walk into a gun show, and walk out armed to the teeth with zero checks.

      In any argument, details matter.