Does racism fuel the political left & hatred of gun culture?

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blitzkrieg
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07 Jan 2022, 3:28 am

I have always felt that white lefties in the U.S, especially woke lefties - seem to be terrified of guns. Perhaps they are terrified of black people, feel superior to them & also republicans because republicans are more like black people with their gun-toting culture? :idea: :?:



DW_a_mom
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07 Jan 2022, 4:48 am

I think you are really reaching. I have a far more simple explanation for what drives the political differences.

The political left tends to cluster more in cities and metropolitan areas. In cities and metropolitan areas, guns tend to cause more issues and harm innocent bystanders, serving less of a practical purpose than they might in a more rural area. City dwellers know that you can't just brandish and shoot off a gun without risking harm to a lot of people you don't intend to harm, and city dwellers are less likely to have grown up with a gun in the home. Similarly, the concentration of people means that city dwellers are also more likely to have been physically close to a mass shooting incident. I remember one happening in a building I used to sit outside for lunch; incidences like that can really hit home.

The political right tends to cluster more in rural areas, where guns are often used for hunting, needed as a defense against wild animals, and less likely to hit a random passerby. In rural areas, people often grow up around and get comfortable with guns at an early age. There simply is a lot more "air" and distance in which to safely learn how to properly handle the weapon, and to practice with it purely for sport.


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Dox47
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07 Jan 2022, 4:58 am

DW_a_mom wrote:
In cities and metropolitan areas, guns tend to cause issue and harm innocent bystanders, serving less of a purely "defensive" purpose than they might in a more rural area.


Guns manage to cause harm all by themselves? Given that the much more heavily armed countryside almost invariably has a lower crime rate than the cities, perhaps the issue is the people who live in the cities, not the guns themselves as they don't exactly have wills of their own.

DW_a_mom wrote:
City dwellers know that you can't just brandish and shoot off a gun without risking harm to a lot of people you don't intend to harm, and city dwellers are less likely to have grown up with a gun in the home. S


City dwellers are also likely to believe a lot of things about guns that aren't exactly true as a result of not growing up around them, which is one of the reasons I don't put much stock in their opinions on the subject. Bystanders being hit by stray bullets, for example, largely seems to be a problem of gangs and the police, as it's exceedingly rare with legal self defense, probably because unlike police and gangsters, we actually face consequences for bad marksmanship that leads to injury.


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blitzkrieg
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07 Jan 2022, 6:33 am

DW_a_mom wrote:
I think you are really reaching. I have a far more simple explanation for what drives the political differences.

The political left tends to cluster more in cities and metropolitan areas. In cities and metropolitan areas, guns tend to cause more issues and harm innocent bystanders, serving less of a practical purpose than they might in a more rural area. City dwellers know that you can't just brandish and shoot off a gun without risking harm to a lot of people you don't intend to harm, and city dwellers are less likely to have grown up with a gun in the home. Similarly, the concentration of people means that city dwellers are also more likely to have been physically close to a mass shooting incident. I remember one happening in a building I used to sit outside for lunch; incidences like that can really hit home.

The political right tends to cluster more in rural areas, where guns are often used for hunting, needed as a defense against wild animals, and less likely to hit a random passerby. In rural areas, people often grow up around and get comfortable with guns at an early age. There simply is a lot more "air" and distance in which to safely learn how to properly handle the weapon, and to practice with it purely for sport.


I think there are probably at least a dozen reasons why lefties dislike gun culture. But the thread title is one of them, in my opinion.

You make several good points.



shlaifu
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07 Jan 2022, 9:38 am

blitzkrieg wrote:
I have always felt that white lefties in the U.S, especially woke lefties - seem to be terrified of guns. Perhaps they are terrified of black people, feel superior to them & also republicans because republicans are more like black people with their gun-toting culture? :idea: :?:


Lefties being terrified of black people is an assertion. Republicans being "like black people", due to gun-toting culture, and therefore terrifying Lefties is another.

Lefties being terrified of guns - well, yeah. I mean, anyone should be terrified by lethal weapons which are easy to operate and can kill at a large-ish distance.
And any person carrying a gun is immediately communicating: I can decide at any moment to end someone's life.


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Sweetleaf
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07 Jan 2022, 11:02 am

blitzkrieg wrote:
I have always felt that white lefties in the U.S, especially woke lefties - seem to be terrified of guns. Perhaps they are terrified of black people, feel superior to them & also republicans because republicans are more like black people with their gun-toting culture? :idea: :?:


I have PTSD from a class-mate getting shot when I was in HS, that is probably the main reason I might be a bit afraid of guns or at least people armed with one(I realize the gun isn't going to shoot itself).

I don't see the connection you're trying to make and it seems like nonsense.

Also the 'gun culture' people like to put menacing bumper stickers on their vehicles implying they would like nothing more than to shoot liberals and lefties so that doesn't help.


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NoClearMind53
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08 Jan 2022, 9:13 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
I have always felt that white lefties in the U.S, especially woke lefties - seem to be terrified of guns. Perhaps they are terrified of black people, feel superior to them & also republicans because republicans are more like black people with their gun-toting culture? :idea: :?:

I'm more terrified of fascism. Actual lefties should be armed in case a fascist comes to power and the Proud Boys start breaking down doors.



auntblabby
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08 Jan 2022, 9:42 pm

my time in the military taught me to hate guns. i don't really understand the charm they have for some people here and elsewhere. i would be overjoyed if somehow, all the weapons on earth were turned into something non-harmful, and that the mindset of the gun-lovers transformed into one of peaceful non-violence.



blitzkrieg
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09 Jan 2022, 12:00 am

Dox47 wrote:
DW_a_mom wrote:
In cities and metropolitan areas, guns tend to cause issue and harm innocent bystanders, serving less of a purely "defensive" purpose than they might in a more rural area.


Guns manage to cause harm all by themselves? Given that the much more heavily armed countryside almost invariably has a lower crime rate than the cities, perhaps the issue is the people who live in the cities, not the guns themselves as they don't exactly have wills of their own.

DW_a_mom wrote:
City dwellers know that you can't just brandish and shoot off a gun without risking harm to a lot of people you don't intend to harm, and city dwellers are less likely to have grown up with a gun in the home. S


City dwellers are also likely to believe a lot of things about guns that aren't exactly true as a result of not growing up around them, which is one of the reasons I don't put much stock in their opinions on the subject. Bystanders being hit by stray bullets, for example, largely seems to be a problem of gangs and the police, as it's exceedingly rare with legal self defense, probably because unlike police and gangsters, we actually face consequences for bad marksmanship that leads to injury.


Yep.

Police-people can behave badly at times, they can even be deadly, at times - but gangs have zero rules and cause way more chaos, far more often than the police do.



uncommondenominator
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09 Jan 2022, 2:00 am

NoClearMind53 wrote:
Actual lefties should be armed in case a fascist comes to power and the Proud Boys start breaking down doors.


Rest assured. Some are.



Mona Pereth
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09 Jan 2022, 8:49 am

Dox47 wrote:
Given that the much more heavily armed countryside almost invariably has a lower crime rate than the cities,

Rural areas have a "lower crime rate" only in terms of crimes per unit area, not crimes per capita.

Here in the U.S.A. at least, violent crimes per capita are actually higher in the "red" states than in the "blue" states. See this map, based on the FBI's uniform crime statistics.


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