Soon after news broke on Wednesday that a gunman had opened fire on a social service center in San Bernardino, Calif., killing 14 people and wounding 17 others, the liberal Daily Kos website published an opinion piece under the headline "Your opinion on gun control doesn't matter." It crystallized much of the anger and frustration that gun-control advocates were expressing on social media in the wake of another American mass shooting.

"If you still bristle at the idea of gun control, fine," declared the author, Josie Duffy, an attorney who writes on criminal justice issues for the site. "All I'm asking is that you call a spade a spade. To you, the right to own a gun— including one of those assault weapons that looks like what a robot might utilize to kill the enemy in a movie called Robot War 3—is more important than people’s lives. People’s lives matter less than your gun."

This is a common - and increasingly exasperated - refrain from gun-control advocates. They see passing stricter gun laws as a common-sense response to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, and they bristle at those who disagree.

KnightsFan wrote:WaPo isn't entirely wrong in their summary. Though I would like to see the number of Democrats who think the gov't is too intrusive into private lives.

The blog also brings to my mind a difference in view point that I've never thought of before. Or at least never realized the importance.

Gun owners see firearms as an individual thing. We recognize that our firearms can't be lumped into firearms used in crime.

Restrictionists see firearms as all alike. Whether owned by a law-abiding target shooter who keeps ammo and weapon in separately locked container, or by a gang enforcer who robs convenience stores.

This leads to a difference in view on whether gun laws are an example of government interference in personal lives and individual behavior. A restrictionist sees it as the gov't trying to fix a social problem. Gun owners see it as the gov't interfering with them as an individual.

rgomezer wrote:Smells like the abortion debate.

A new bill from State Rep. Stacey Newman attempts to tackle Missouri’s gun violence problem by applying the restrictions placed on women seeking abortion services to all prospective firearm purchasers, such as a requirement that anyone buying a gun first watch a 30-minute video on fatal firearm injuries.