this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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I'm not a republican, but I don't think anyone is saying gun crime doesn't happen.
It's easy to say that banning guns = no more gun violence. But the devil is in the details. Given the U.S.A's history with guns, banning them will have consequences. Not can, will.
Let's not forget that a gun ban will only affect law abiding citizens.
Comics like the one in OP always ignore the primary underlying difference between US and the other developed nations: free, nationalized healthcare vs the Insurance Apocalypse that is the American healthcare system
Yup. If Americans struggling with poor mental health had better access to professional help, crime as a whole would go down. But it's not the only factor. Things like financial strain and environment also contribute. Crime is a slippery slope. Not a leap.
Agreed, but financial strain is part of what keeps people from getting care in the USA
Free healthcare would alleviate some of that
Agreed, but it's a vicious cycle.
It does cost money to provide healthcare. Funding doesn't come from thin air. But healthcare in the U.S is also ridiculously expensive. A lot of people can't afford it without insurance (if your insurance even covers what you need). The system needs fixing.
Americans pay 10x per capita for their healthcare, compared to other countries like the Nordics or Germany. Still, the costs of the war on Iran would have funded public healthcare for all for how long? Decades?
Americans subisdize Israelis free healthcare that includes access to abortion care
Then tax the rich. There's no reason for Jeff Bezos to pay less money than someone flipping burgers at McDonald's.
Unfortunately we're caught in a Republican scheme to remove government benefits by gutting taxes that was started during Nixon's adminitration
I don't disagree with you there
Exactly this. If the US had proper social safety nets and low income inequality, all violence (which includes gun violence) would drop.
Also note that the arguments like in the OP only ever mention gun violence. It seems dishonest that they need to be that specific to get the narrative they want.
Well it's a start.
You could also then make sure that America doesn't have a gun centric industry that is saturating your market with easily accessible guns.
Then also make sure your society is restructured in a way that actually prevents people from mentally breaking down so far that they'll cause extreme violence.
In the end it will still require banning guns.
True. But the U.S. has more guns than people. And a lot of them aren't registered, so law enforcement doesn't know they exist. Plus the people who own them won't just happily give them up. So if you ban guns, how do you reasonably plan to enforce it? (That wasn't a rhetorical question, by the way.)
That's not my main issue with gun control, but the way I see it guns are just a tool used to commit those crimes. You want to put a stop to it, you go to the root of the problem. Banning guns would be treating the symptom instead of the problem.
Not making a specific argument for or against your argument, but I'd like to object to this like:
I've seen this argument used a lot, but it's a broad generalization. You are assuming all criminals are the hardest criminals who will disobey any law, but a lot of law breakers and a lot of gun violence perpetrators are first time offenders, or someone who thinks they can get away with minor things.
A lot of people will do legally ambiguous stuff if there's a low chance of being caught and punished but wouldn't put themselves on the line for more heavily enforced things, plus even just the hint of illegality will put a type of social pressure on someone.
Will hardcore criminals still get and use guns? Absolutely. Are all gun deaths perpetrated by hardcore criminals? Absolutely not. Even that annoying brandishing couple at the BLM protests a while back would likely not have had the courage to bring out their weapons were it illegal to do so, since they tended to abuse law and loopholes rather than outright break them. They're a milder case, but the point works with others who carry for "personal protection" but are a little too trigger happy. Plus stuff like legally owned but carelessly stored etc.
Are you saying that committing a mass shooting is legally ambiguous and people think they are likely to get away with it? Because buying a registered firearm in the U.S. Isn’t illegal. I'm not sure what you're getting at. You're also kind of implying that people who do shootings are mostly opportunistic, when in reality there are likely other factors at play.
Nah, I'm mostly saying it isn't black and white. It will have some effect on all layers, but I agree it wouldn't stop all violence. To take your note about school shootings; yes, many of them are from legally purchased firearms, often a parent or something. Not all of course, so a gun ban would probably reduce, but not eliminate, school shootings. Plus outright bans aren't the only form of gun control the US hasn't tried, there are multiple things that can be done to limit without outright ban guns.
That's true, and I can't argue with you there. Banning guns would solve some problems, but you'd also be opening pandora's box.
Given the US' history with guns, banning them would almost certainly fuel a violent black market, making it easier than it already is for criminals to illegally obtain unregistered firearms. And with an estimated 400 million guns already in existence in the US, it would be really difficult to enforce, even if you did manage to pass a law. And loopholes exist like gun shows and private sales.
Regulating but not banning outright would be a slightly better solution, but it wouldn't be a silver bullet (pun not intended).