I think you hit every handwaving deflecting argument possible here, well done. The NRA would be proud.
Should I jump for that? Ok, here I come..
Numbers of instances are so low it might not even be worth talking about them. Trying to minimize them is still a 'noble' cause - if you are so inclined.
Numbers of people killed in school shootings is a factor lower, than that. Yet people talk about them with much more urgency. With a higher emotional connection. And with more identification.
THEN I EXPLAINED WHY.
Because after school schootings, society holds mass rituals, with figures of importance holding speeches, with children in states of shock, crying their eyes out, with media reporting on that. (Aiding a shared 'healing' and 'mourning' process.) And every emotionally driven idiot in the world, SUDDENLY. Brews up a storm, and formulates in one insanely loud voice: "This has to stop. Never ever again."
NICE SENTIMENT.
I agree. But you still only did it, because you thought by media representation of an event, you could judge, the size of an issue. Which you couldnt. (Not fake news though, reporting of an actual event, thats different, Its just that 'what that event means (in terms of influencing realpolitics)' that peoples opinions might diverge on.)
Now, lets change it (play through that process), because getting those numbers down is still a noble cause.
I basically insisted, that you cant ban guns.
I havent yet explored argumentatively why not.
Because laws, dont make a thing, go away. If you ban something, and cant enforce it - you loose societal recognition as a state.
Because if you ban something categorically, and this something has an aura of power, or forbiddeness to it, it automatically becomes more desireable.
Because if you as a nation serve the function of offing every other interest group that even remotely objects to the current international order, its hard to then integrate your soldiers back into your societies, if you tell them - you know what, guns - very bad, so bad. You wouldnt know.
So as a freaking insult throwing, non arguments wielding SJW, could you please have the decency to acknowledge, that those are real arguments as used in politics today (not in activism coming from the NRA), and that you poor wanting to make the world better people, based on everything emotional you see in your social media feeds, have to acknowledge political realities at some point, and dont just make up the world in a fashion, that you decided on - but people never agreed or voted on.
I hate this attitude so much, that I want to leave you with the following outro. If you have something to say - come prepared to discuss, and not to preach. Bring arguments. Be prepared not to just being the bestest white knight in the room, by simply signaling some virtues.
And check your sources - because none of that was "deflecting as taught by the NRA". I presented what I indicated to present in here, which was an 'institutional perspective' on the matter.
Also look at numbers for once in your life, and not just at feels.
It is possible to reduce the number of people dying from school shootings even more. Look at europe as an example. But you dont do that, by stating - you are more noble than anyone, and therefore should be allowed to draw up bans and prohibition on all guns.
And a little thank you would be nice, if someone like me tells you not to spread stories like in the OP for 'activism' purposes, because they backfire. Watch and learn.
You campaign on parents being very concerned and having done everything right, and still having lost their children. Not on parents having left their gun laying around and having hired the wrong babysitter. Because the second one produces so much cognitive dissonance, that no one will be in favor of your cause after having milked that story for more than a faint glance of it in a social media feed.
You dont know what you are doing. If you are part of an organisation that works towards banning guns, ask your PR person.
So how do you do it? Mitigation. You make guns harder to acquire. You make people think about them differently (not letting them just lay around), you implement procedures that might help them doing so. You basically manipulate the living sh*t out of them ("Look, bullets are so dangerous, I have to put them in a safe!"), but as a result everybody wins.
You dont play SJW has seen the light, and now does some activism. And if you are very attached to activism, good luck - again, the cause is noble, its just that the issue might be too small once anything comes along that removes it from the top of other peoples minds. Activism still works. Just rarely. And never in the way you are proposing that it should. ("Just because my opinion is so obviously the truth, no argumets are needed. I'm a SJW. I'm the better person.".)
Just never, and thats life advice, tell people how much your feelings dictate reality, and then leave the room waiting for everyone to be impressed.
