Gun Safety moves forward

[Bryce]

I'm sure I'm going to get laughed at for this, but I'm going to say it anyway.

I truly believe that the easy access to marijuana and the number of young people that are smoking it has contributed to the increase of mental health issues amongst teens. In the best of circumstances the teen years are a tumultuous time. A young brain that is not yet fully developed most likely cannot handle the effects of marijuana use and is most likely it contributor to some of these mass shootings we're experiencing.

Mw, my drunk driving analogy was more directed at certain individuals that think we should ban all gun ownership.

[Turkeytop]

Just outlaw marijuana and video games. Problem solved.

Oh, wait. Marijuana is already outlawed in many states.

It's gotta be the video games.

[bmw]

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases ... urnal%20of

I don't see anything in either of those studies that links violence in video games to mass shootings. Nothing. The first study doesn't take a random sample of people; rather, it specifically looks at already "habitually aggressive" young males and concludes simply that violent video games have "aggression-enhancing effects" and cause "more aggressive behavior." That sounds pretty vague to me. What specific effects? What specific behavior?

The second study isn't a random sample either - it looks strictly at college students and found that "the students who played the violent video game punished an opponent (received a noise blast with varying intensity) for a longer period of time than did students who had played the nonviolent video game." Big whoop. The leap from that to going out and shooting people is gigantic.

So we have a study of already-violent young men and one of college kids who blast loud noises for longer. Is this really the best you've got?

[bmw]

My overarching point is this: proposed or existing preventative measures aimed at reducing crime shouldn't be rejected on the mere basis of not being 100 percent effective. Such a litmus test is unreasonable.

Fair enough, but we already have 19 states with some version of a red flag law. How do they fare against the other 31 states? Have those red flag laws made any measurable difference whatsoever? About all I could find in looking for this information was a reduction in suicides.

[bmw]

I truly believe that the easy access to marijuana and the number of young people that are smoking it has contributed to the increase of mental health issues amongst teens.

But hasn't pot smoking among young people been a problem since at least the 1960s? Why the sudden uptick in school shootings beginning in 2013? Moreover, only 2 states (Washington and Colorado) legalized it recreationally prior to 2013. I'm not saying this isn't having an impact, but I'm not convinced it explains the sharp increase in these problems over the past 10 years.

[Turkeytop]

One of the largest and fastest growing group of marijuana users is seniors, We invented it back in the 60s and now we use it to ease our aches and pains.

But we don't have video games or guns. It's not easy to commit a mass murder by beating people with your cane.

[bmw]

It's not easy to commit a mass murder by beating people with your cane.

Are you telling me you don't have guns built into your canes?

[Turkeytop]

It's not easy to commit a mass murder by beating people with your cane.

Are you telling me you don't have guns built into your canes?

I don't have a cane yet. Heven't cleared the background check.

[Bryce]

The marijuana today is completely different than the marijuana of the 1960s. There are studies that show the increase of mental health issues among young people who use it regularly. Even if not legal it's readily available and lots of kids are smoking it.

Sure wish someone would research whether marijuana use, or other substances was prevalent in any of the youngsters that committed the mass shootings.

[km1125]

I truly believe that the easy access to marijuana and the number of young people that are smoking it has contributed to the increase of mental health issues amongst teens.

But hasn't pot smoking among young people been a problem since at least the 1960s? Why the sudden uptick in school shootings beginning in 2013? Moreover, only 2 states (Washington and Colorado) legalized it recreationally prior to 2013. I'm not saying this isn't having an impact, but I'm not convinced it explains the sharp increase in these problems over the past 10 years.

I suspect that the earliest age of common usage has been decreasing steadily since the 60's. No real data to back up that observation, but I suspect it's out there. Never really looked for it before, but now that I'm curious I might go poke around. Some of you closer to the subject might have already run across such data.

Perhaps at some point we breached a step in brain development that started seriously impacting some young folks.

[TC Talks]

I'm going to go ahead and say Guns are a leading cause of gun deaths in the US...

Also...

Firearms were the leading cause of death for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which CDC data is available.

Why it matters: The firearm death rate among children is steadily rising, as more kids are involved in gun-related homicides like Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, as well as suicides and accidents.

By the numbers: Nearly two-thirds of the 4,368 U.S. children up to age 19 who were killed by guns in 2020 were homicide victims, per the CDC. Motor vehicle crashes, formerly the leading cause of death for kids one and older, killed nearly 4,000 children.

Another 30% of firearm-related child fatalities were suicides, 3% were accidental and 2% were of undetermined intent.
Male youths were significantly more likely to be killed by guns, while vehicle crashes claimed more females.
There were also stark racial disparities. The firearm death rate for Black children was more than four times that of white children, and white children were still more likely to be killed by motor vehicles than guns.
D.C. had the highest firearm death rate, followed by Louisiana, Alaska and Mississippi.

[Bryce]

Firearms were the leading cause of death for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which CDC data is available.

That statement is only true if you include 18 and 19 year olds in the numbers. They accounted for almost half of the gun related deaths. Last I checked, 18 and 19 year olds are considered to be adults.

[TC Talks]

Firearms were the leading cause of death for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which CDC data is available.

That statement is only true if you include 18 and 19 year olds in the numbers. They accounted for almost half of the gun related deaths. Last I checked, 18 and 19 year olds are considered to be adults.

Guns are killing our teens and children. Thank you for supporting the truth.

[km1125]

Firearms were the leading cause of death for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which CDC data is available.

That statement is only true if you include 18 and 19 year olds in the numbers. They accounted for almost half of the gun related deaths. Last I checked, 18 and 19 year olds are considered to be adults.

And if you pull out the gang-bangers numbers -regardless of their ages- from those "kids" stats, just how low do those numbers drop?

[Bryce]

Firearms were the leading cause of death for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which CDC data is available.

That statement is only true if you include 18 and 19 year olds in the numbers. They accounted for almost half of the gun related deaths. Last I checked, 18 and 19 year olds are considered to be adults.

Guns are killing our teens and children. Thank you for supporting the truth.

So are cars. Should we raise the driving age to 21 for non farming related driving?