Costas, Whitlock and gun control

In the Belcher story, the danger in pontificating is that you focus too much on one aspect of it. For example, my Twitter feed was instantly full of stuff about concussions being the sole cause of this.

It's guns.
It's domestic violence.
It's head trauma.
It's substance abuse.
It's mental health issues.
It's those things, and probably a lot of other stuff we don't know about yet.

 

Obviously, murders can be committed by other means and I think it is a bit of a stretch to suggest Belcher and Perkins would be alive today if he hadn't owned a gun, but guns do make it a lot easier.

 

Very good point.

 

Can we say that Kasandra Perkins would be alive today if Belcher didn't have a gun? No, and it's dumb to say she would be. But America's handgun laws make Americans much more likely to die of bullets than the citizens of most other developed countries. This is a statistical fact. It's worse in the U.S. than it is in South Africa, that supposed lawless state.

Now, you can argue that you're okay with that—that your right to bear arms is worth that cost. That's fine. But you can't argue that freer handgun laws have no effect on gun violence.

And please, for the love of all that is holy: You do your side no favors with the BAN ROPE! BAN CARS! line of idiot argument, which I saw on Twitter 1,000 times last night. The first and only purpose of handguns is to the put bullets into things. They are not also, conveniently, a mode of transportation.

While I'm on my high horse from safe and beautiful Canada: I'll never understand why Americans believe the writers of your Constitution were infallible. They did a good job. But maybe they weren't perfect. Apart from anything else, the world changes. The red coats are no longer a threat. The threat is that dude in the parking lot who thinks your music is too loud.

 

When you reach for comparisons that are that stupid, you really aren't helping your argument at all.

 

You just want America to have more stabbing deaths.

 

If Jeff MacGregor had written the column, this thread would be on the 29th page by now.

Shows how far Whitlock has slipped.

 

Belcher would probably be alive if football was banned.

Probably.

Be nice to know.

 

No, we don't have to ban rope, or cars.

But all laws have consequences. Speed limit laws have consequences. Laws governing prescription drugs have consequences.

Alcohol, tobacco, transfats, even football and boxing. We could outlaw all of them and save lives.

And, the writers of our Constitution themselves didn't believe they were infallible. They wrote a Constitution that was amendable.

 

I'll say this much, it was extremely weak sauce by Costas to essentially read Whitlock's column and then hide behind it. Costas' take was WTF from start to finish.

 

OH NOW YOU DONE DONE IT

 

Crazy how she died of a football shot to the head.

Crazy.