On 2012-12-21, at 11:43 AM, "Jordan Hayes" <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> Marv writes:
>
>> [...] trying to curb access to automatic weapons in
>> their neighbourhoods is a diversion ...
>
> Is that really what "gun control" is meant to accomplish?
As with any reform, there's a whole range of proposals out there ranging from the cosmetic to the thoroughgoing, depending on which constituency is advancing them. The residents of black and hispanic ghettoes, as the communities most affected by America's lax gun laws, are naturally the ones most supportive of gun control - undoubtedly of the effective rather than cosmetic kind. I'll leave it to the experts to assess which ones would prove effective and which would not. As with any reform, tightening the gun laws is worth fighting for if it would promise some measure or relief. The outcome of any such struggle for reform is impossible to predict.
That said, my point was that your dismissal of the whole issue as diversionary and that blacks and hispanics should focus instead on the lack of economic opportunity within these communities - as if they don't understand full well why their unemployed youth turn to crime - is rather precious coming from someone who I expect is a white professional removed from these concerns, who experiences gunplay - if at all - as a pleasant pastime rather than a threat.