News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by post_break on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:32PM (#29100575)
I find this part hilarious "Durr said he entered the race after being denied a concealed carry permit despite having a clean record."

So the state with one of the most strict gun laws burns someone, and now he's probably going to win. I wonder if he's going to start turning screws to get their permit issue laws changed. Did you know in NJ you can not posses hollow point bullets? You can go to jail. 18 months in prison. You need to be extremely careful when driving through that state so you don't forget if you have some in the car.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by yeuxardents on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:37PM (#29100642)
Thats not exactly correct. You can own hollow points in NJ, but you may only transport them from place of purchase to your home, or from your home directly to the range where you intend to shoot them, or from range back to home.

It is most certainly illegal to use hollow points in any instance in a case of self defense, even if the self defense is warranted.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by post_break on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:40PM (#29100671)
If that's the case, it's still completely dumb. If you shoot someone in self defense with ball ammo it's definitely going to over penetrate and keep going possibly hitting anyone or anything behind the threat.

And what happens if you are driving from the range and experience a flat tire, have to use the restroom, an emergency where you need to go somewhere else. Bad laws.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by sjg007 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:48PM (#29102038)
Hollow points are more destructive and dangerous to the person who was shot. They cause so much internal damage that the person will not survive a wound that may have been survivable otherwise. They are banned by the Geneva convention.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @08:48PM (#29102456)
I'd like a source on that final sentence if you have it.

I get the arguments for and against them, but I generally favor leaving those decisions up to the people involved.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by sjg007 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @08:50PM (#29102467)
Why don’t you Google it? Easy to find.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by portpecos on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @11:55PM (#29103547)
>It is a common misapprehension that hollow-point ammunition is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, as the prohibition significantly predates those conventions.

There ya go. Easy to find.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by post_break on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @08:24PM (#29102301)
Why do police use them then?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by namelessoracle on Thursday November 04, 2021 @02:18PM (#29110694)
Because they are less likely to also shoot the person behind the person you shot.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by mikestew on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:08PM (#29101022)
It is most certainly illegal to use hollow points in any instance in a case of self defense

What the hell else am I supposed to do with hollow points but shoot someone? Target practice? That's a waste of good ammo and money. I lean left enough to feel that our gun laws are way too lax, but this particular law as described is just pointless posturing. It reminds me of "cop killer bullets". Umm, you mean rifle rounds, that can penetrate an armored vest? No, you mean a Teflon coating?[0] Well, turns out...

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon-coated_bullet

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:43PM (#29100698)
> It is most certainly illegal to use hollow points in any instance in a case of self defense, even if the self defense is warranted.

That makes no sense and if that's the case, it's definitely unconstitutional.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by xanaxagoras on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:01PM (#29100913)
Also, who shoots hollow points at the range? They're super expensive.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by to11mtm on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:07PM (#29100998)
Random guess; Carve-out intended for off duty LEOs?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by schoolornot on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:11PM (#29101042)
New York and specifically, New York City has the same issue. Year long application approvals with concealed carry permits granted at the discretion of the NYPD. There were supreme court arguments about this very issue today.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by tootie on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:41PM (#29100683)
It's so bonkers. America has the most unfettered gun ownership laws in the developed world by a mile and somehow it's still a political wedge that can outweigh healthcare, fair taxation, education.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by post_break on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:57PM (#29100867)
Show me someone who is for healthcare, unions, college, but also doesn't want to take a black marker to the second amendment, I'll wait. Until the left stops going after guns, single issue voters will keep voting the way they do.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by jimmygrapes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:08PM (#29101698)
Well I'm right here, but I don't know how to run for office and I probably would get crucified for entirely unrelated opinions (which I would be willing to change if given adequate reason). Probably a lot of people like me (and I assume you?) out there. We just aren't on the ballot, even if sometimes we might be entirely qualified.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by Intermernet on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:08PM (#29101021)
Have you ever considered why there is a strong correlation between beliefs in healthcare, unions and college and a belief in gun control laws?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:05PM (#29100968)
Show me someone who opposes single-payer healthcare, unions, affordable college costs but also believes that the second amendment did not and does not constitute an unfettered right to do more or less anything with guns. I'll wait. Until the right stops viewing the 2nd amendment as the benchmark issue, progressives will continue to see their position on it as just another part of their uniform opposition to a more modern society.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @10:13PM (#29102952)
Then they can continue to lose the opportunity to do real, valuable reform by throwing a fit over a wedge issue.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by tootie on Thursday November 04, 2021 @08:45AM (#29106442)
Well that's exactly my point. People like you who think gun rights supercede everything else. It's ludicrous. Almost nobody needs a gun. Most other wealthy democracies have universal healthcare and near total bans on private gun ownership and they're doing way better than America. Proof is in the pudding.

But even so, your opinion is clearly colored by propaganda. Gun control isn't a popular topic on the left. The second amendment remains inviolable and has greatly expanded in the last twenty years. "They're coming to take our guns" is a cry of right wing media because they know it will scare people into voting irrationally.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by mygoodaccount on Thursday November 04, 2021 @11:38AM (#29108516)
> People like you who think gun rights supercede everything else. It's ludicrous. Almost nobody needs a gun.

> But even so, your opinion is clearly colored by propaganda.

> "They're coming to take our guns" is a cry of right wing media because they know it will scare people into voting irrationally.

Generally speaking, this is a poor way to convince someone. Comments like this are likely to embolden the parent's views. I say this as someone who holds neutral views on the matter.

Consider for a moment you have actually proved his point.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by tootie on Thursday November 04, 2021 @12:41PM (#29109365)
I honestly have no idea what would convince someone who is so bent on being irrational. But one thing I find does get people riled a bit is convincing them they've been tricked. And a lot of gun rights people definitely have been tricked.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by caeril on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:47PM (#29102034)
Yes, it's weird that infringement of the fundamental right to self-defense is taken more seriously than things that are not fundamental rights.

Weirdest thing I've ever seen. Those wacky Americans and their crazy belief in liberty, or like, not wanting to be a victim of democide.

Say what you want about Hitler and his whole disarming-the-Jews thing, but healthcare for everyone else was pretty top-notch.

And if you ever feel sad for all the people murdered by Stalin after being disarmed, just remember how good the USSR mathematics program was.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by tootie on Thursday November 04, 2021 @10:19AM (#29107501)
Yeah. But replace your sarcasm with sincerity. Proof is in the pudding. Germany, France, Britain, Japan, Australia and many others have long ended the right to gun ownership and it has not decreased their freedom at all. The second amendment was a direct descendant of British Common Law and Britain severely curtailed personal gun ownership over the course of the 20th century and managed to not only remain a vibrant democracy, but have even marginalized their monarchy through popular sentiment without shooting anyone. They even survived a wave of terrorism without. The reach of the second amendment goes far beyond what is needed for personal defense and, in fact, was most certainly not intended for personal defense but rather defense of the nation. We could shrink gun ownership laws by 90% and not prevent people from defending themselves. But, really, we can't because the second amendment says Congress, states and cities are not allowed to.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by namelessoracle on Thursday November 04, 2021 @02:22PM (#29110742)
Have you not paid attention to anything at all going on in Australia right now?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:51PM (#29100787)
New Jersey (along with NY, CA) has the most unconstitutional gun control laws in America.

If I have a daughter who's returning home late at night from University, I would want her to be armed for her own protection. Things like "taxation" are not the most important thing to her.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:07PM (#29100995)
When my daughter(s) returned home late at night (or perhaps better described as early in the morning) in Berlin, they didn't need guns, and the taxes helped pay for a transportation system that meant they didn't need to drive either.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @10:15PM (#29102965)
Well the difference between your daughters and my daughters is that they're reliant on a giant system and the good will of others and mine are reliant on themselves. When they walk home late at night they don't need to worry either, because they have guns.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @10:24PM (#29103027)
the giant system is more powerful and has been around much longer than the guns. and when you say "they're reliant", you make it sound as if somehow the citizens of berlin get offered the chance make a daily choice to be nice, when in reality, it's baked in at a much deeper level. there are hardly any crazy people in berlin (in the sense of wanting or needing to assault people). your daughters live in the middle of a giant system too, but instead of one that puts a priority on the kinds of things that berlin does, its a giant system that "requires" them to have guns. not only that, but they still have to worry: you don't get to pull out a gun in a dangerous situation without adding to the potential danger.

btw, i live in new mexico now, and my daughters are both grown women who live in chicago and philadelphia, and still do not carry guns.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @11:07PM (#29103282)
It doesn't require them to have guns. There are wild animals outside too, maybe we can make a system where that doesn't exist.

Berlin sounds real nice. You never need to think about protecting yourself when things are going great. It may feel baked in at a deeper level, but don't forget, Berlin has at one time relatively recently been a very terrible place to live, especially for those that didn't have guns.

The entire idea of having a gun is to make a dangerous situation more dangerous, it creates symmetry, an aggressor is now equal to his or her victim.

New mexico is pretty nice too. Did you know that anyone who wants to can openly carry any gun they want in new mexico?

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by MisterBastahrd on Thursday November 04, 2021 @05:44PM (#29112875)
Your daughters ARE worrying. And the proof is that they have guns.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Thursday November 04, 2021 @07:09PM (#29113556)
That's a ridiculously empty self supporting meaningless assertion, care to elaborate?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by MisterBastahrd on Friday November 05, 2021 @12:08PM (#29121242)
Statistically, gun owners are far more likely to be injured by their own weapons than the weapons of others, and the sheer availability of firearms forces law enforcement officers to escalate situations far more quickly than they otherwise would. It follows that people who are walking around with guns live in fear of confrontation with other people who have guns.

I have had five personal relationships with people who have died due to firearms. They are as follows:

1. My cousin, who killed himself while hunting ducks

2. My childhood friend, who killed himself while cleaning a rifle

3. My childhood friend, who was killed by cops after falling asleep at a railroad crossing and dropped his phone in the car when the police approached

4. My uncle, who committed suicide

5. Another childhood friend, who was drunk and disorderly and shot to death by cops while unarmed in the front yard of his house

On the flip side, I don't personally know a single human being whose life was either saved or made better by possessing or being around someone who possessed a firearm.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Saturday November 06, 2021 @01:11PM (#29131940)
Statistically, you're an extreme outlier if you know 5 people who died of gunshot wounds.

Of those 5 though, two were killed by cops. Can I draw from the fact that you included those that you don't want police to have firearms either?

When you say "killed himself" for 1 and 2, do you mean deliberately?

Again though, you're an extreme outlier. And even more so that you don't know personally a single individual who even once was saved by proximity to a firearm, such as for example saved from domestic violence by the arrival of armed police. I live around guns and people with guns, there are literally hundreds of guns around me within a quarter mile radius right now, I only have three gun deaths of anyone I have ever known, one was a suicide, one was an old lady who defended her orphanage from an armed intruder, and another was a man shot by his ex girlfriend while he attempted to assault her. The last two of course are examples of lives saved or made better by possessing a firearm.

Then there are the other reasons to have them besides personal protection. Particularly there's the ethereal "deterrent to tyranny" you hear cited, but practically speaking there's also the ability to procure meat without a massive supply chain and the ability to defend against wildlife in areas where that is a tangible threat.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by willvarfar on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:03PM (#29100942)
It would be better to live in the kind of country where girls can walk home at night safely without guns?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by betwixthewires on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @10:17PM (#29102978)
It would be better to live in the kind of country where girls can walk home at night safely. Whether that's with or without guns doesn't really matter.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by oh_sigh on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:58PM (#29101589)
Yup, now OP just has the choice to make...completely rewrite American society, or go down to the gun store and buy a gun.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:54PM (#29101538)
I am originally from India.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by mrverify on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @08:34PM (#29102375)
Hmm. Doesn't India have severe gun laws? Why aren't women safer in India yet?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by foolinaround on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @08:53PM (#29102492)
Well, India's population is a multiple of that of the US.

However, many areas include Delhi - the rate of violence against women is just unbelievable!

If such a city had gun laws like Texas, you might see the crime rate come down drastically.

In India, the rich can afford guns. That is the sad truth.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @09:22PM (#29102662)
India has extreme gun control laws unfortunately. If you are rich or politically connected, you can own guns or have bodyguards in India. Most people don't have that luxury there. Going through the process and it costs more than the average Indian's annual salary. Carrying guns in public places in most of India is prohibited.

At least in the US, you can afford one fairly easily as long as your background check passes.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by tootie on Thursday November 04, 2021 @10:33AM (#29107692)
That's irrational. She's probably 100X more likely to be hit by a car than be a victim of crime. And more likely to be victimized by someone she knows than random street crime. Not to mention the risk of serious illness or injury via accidents. A reflective vest and health insurance will do far more for her safety than a gun. Not to mention, no one is really saying that personal weapons will be ever be gone. She can protect herself with pepper spray. Or really she can kill whoever she wants with a small caliber revolver and we can still ban military-style weapons (or we could if voters were rational).
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by beervirus on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:35PM (#29100608)
New Jersey has some of the absolute worst gun laws in the country.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:41PM (#29100678)
New Jersey is an example of the 30 day delay and often those 30 days turn into 7-8 months. I know several people there who went through this last year when the riots were happening and they wanted to purchase a firearm for the first time only to realize how strict the laws were. Ironic enough, they had themselves voted in these laws which were now causing them the problems. This changed the minds of at least 10 friends of mine on gun control.

Tim Pool, popular YouTuber went from anti-2A to SUPER-PRO 2A last year and he's from New Jersey and went through this process. Here's forums of people complaining about this. You can find several similar examples:

https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97756-pis...

https://bearingarms.com/staff-ba/2021/03/26/new-jersey-gun-p...

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by akomtu on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:42PM (#29101413)
Most of the time the voters are given no choice or a couple bad choices. For example, I liked Bernie for his ambition to reform healthcare, but of course that was bundled with anti 2A rhetoric.

It would be interesting if candidates had to declare their intents in a formal way, just like a phone app has to formally request access to mic and cam, and if they are elected, they'd have to stay within the bounds they'd requested. So a guy who wanted to reform healthcare wouldn't be able to change his mind later and start reforming education.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by op00to on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:37PM (#29101945)
New Jersey has some of the best gun laws in the country.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by beervirus on Thursday November 04, 2021 @04:18PM (#29112064)
Yeah it’s a real hoplophobe’s dream.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:37PM (#29100635)
Gun control is over in Virginia at least. The Lt. Governor's election campaign was her at a gun range. And Governor Youngkin is also pro-2A.

When 25.8% of the shootings are coming from Chicago which has just 0.8% population, maybe it's time to focus on gangs instead of making life miserable for legal gun owners.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:11PM (#29101043)
When 15% of world gun deaths are coming from the USA which has just 4.25% of the world population, perhaps it's time to focus on national level issues instead of using excuses.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by jimmygrapes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:12PM (#29101731)
Assuming those stats are both correct, it seems like an unusually high portion of global gun deaths per capita still come from Chicago, so maybe start at the smaller level.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:37PM (#29101364)
> gun deaths

That's a meaningless stat. The point of my Chicago stat is that vast majority of the shootings are coming from gang members. A gang member shooting another gang member isn't a relevant stat. And shootings in self defence is one of the purposes of owning a gun (though not what the 2A is only for).

That's like saying my daughter would be safer to live in my home country India where she may not get shot but she may get raped late at night. Or like saying Afghanistan is safer somehow?

Estimated 800,000 to 2.45 million defensive uses of firearms per year in 1993 national survey.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/PS94/rpt/olr/htm/94-R-0798.htm

Another 2008 study by National Academy of Sciences showed 500,000 to more than 3 million "Defensive Use of Guns". Simply having the gun on your or brandishing it prevented crimes from happening. This was in 2008. That numbers is even higher now.

Source:

https://www.nap.edu/read/18319/chapter/3

Page 15 of the study talks about the defensive use part. You can download the PDF by using the "guest" option and entering any random email (doesn't have to be real). Another related source:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2018/04/30/that-time-...

> "Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million, in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008."

> "In 1996, 1997, and 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted large-scale surveys asking about defensive gun use (DGU) in four to six states. Analysis of the raw data allows the estimation of the prevalence of DGU for those areas. Estimates based on CDC’s surveys confirm estimates for the same sets of states based on data from the 1993 National Self-Defense Survey (Kleck and Gertz 1995). Extrapolated to the U.S. as a whole CDC’s survey data imply that defensive uses of guns by crime victims are far more common than offensive uses by criminals. CDC has never reported these results."

> "One CDC official in the 1990s openly told the Washington Post that his goal was to create a public perception of gun ownership as something “dirty, deadly — and banned.” Given that history, I can’t dismiss Kleck’s critique."

How do you propose these people - wives/daughters/elderly/handicapped/living close to cartels/over 800K-3 million defensive uses should defend themselves?

Also, U.S. has world’s highest rate of children living in single-parent households, something which is well known for kids to grow up into criminals:

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/12/u-s-childre...

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:48PM (#29100755)
Democrats still control the senate in virginia so I'm not sure gun control is over.

Biased because I live in Chicago, but it's legitimately impossible to stop gangs as long as it's possible to get a gun. As soon as someone is arrested there are 5 kids ready to take their place. The only solutions to gun violence here are end poverty or stop guns from out of state from entering the city.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by subsubzero on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:59PM (#29100901)
You take guns away and they use knives and cleavers. Look to London for what would happen with guns being banned. The solution is to not ban an object but provide opportunities for people. Jobs, education, paths that pave roads to a career. Nothing drives more people to crime than feeling like they are in a hopeless situation.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:12PM (#29101062)
Are you seriously suggesting we compare the deaths (you can include injuries if you like) from guns in the US with those caused by knives in the UK? Do you understand how this comparison is going to come out?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by sjg007 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:53PM (#29102089)
They don’t understand it and always present false equivalences as fact.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:04PM (#29100957)
> knives and cleavers

or vans here in Canada.

According to the FBI homicide stats for US, 297 people were murdered by a rifle in 2018 in the US.

1,515 on the other hand murdered with knives, 443 from blunt hammers, 672 with hands, feet:

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-...

EDIT: I specifically stated "rifle" not all guns. Because saying we need to take away all guns is pie in the sky thinking. Dems run on "taking away AR-15" but the stats show that isn't going to achieve anything.

In 2008, there were 800k-3 million defensive uses of guns.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29101364

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by sharkmerry on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:17PM (#29101120)
>> According to the FBI homicide stats for US, 297 people were murdered by a rifle in 2018 in the US.

Holy misleading data excerpts batman...

there were 10k homicides by gun, but you choose 1 type of gun and not the most common.

2014 - 2018 knives 1545 -> 1515 Blunt objects 431->443 Hands, feet 668->672 Guns 7803->10265

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:58PM (#29101591)
I stated "rifle" not all guns. Because saying we need to take away all guns is pie in the sky thinking. Dems run on "taking away AR-15" but the stats show that isn't going to achieve anything.

In 2008, there were 800k-3 million defensive uses of guns.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29101364

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:09PM (#29101028)
2/3 of murders were with guns. Would people still kill each if they didn't have guns? obviously. Would they do it less? Hard to say since research into gun violence is banned by the government.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by rsj_hn on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:12PM (#29101063)
> Hard to say since research into gun violence is banned by the government.

It's not banned. The government isn't going to fund it, but you've jumped the shark if you think that means it is banned.

And part of the reason it's not being funded is that this is political in nature. How do you look at the hundreds of thousands of assaults that were thwarted with guns used in self-defense? Guns are primarily used for self-defense. How do you measure the lives saved? And when an attacker is shot and killed, is that a life saved or a life lost? This is a political debate not a scientific debate. Once you accept that the rapist shot to death and the person who commits suicide as being the same as some random person shot to death, then you've already politicized the work.

It's also far outside the purview of the CDC, which is what this "banned" canard is about - the left wanted the CDC to treat "gun violence" as a thing -- like "fist violence" -- or "knife violence" -- why do they always want to classify disagreement as a "disease"? Everything is a "safety" or "health" issue with them, amenable to handing our public policies over to some bureaucrat. Fortunately there was sufficient pushback to block funding of that. That is what your outrage is about.

But don't worry, there is a push to classify racism as a disease and have the CDC lab coats study it, so you will get some politicized "public health" research to tide you over.

In the meantime, you are welcome to donate to one of the many think-tanks that do these studies on guns, violence, and criminality - of all political persuasions. There are lots of studies even without bringing the public health bureaucracies into the mix.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by DanBC on Thursday November 04, 2021 @08:11AM (#29106112)
> It's also far outside the purview of the CDC

What? no it isn't. CDC report on a wide range of harm. It's baffling to think the CDC can be funded to research on road traffic deaths but not gun deaths. Or, to use your examples, that they could be funded to research knife deaths but not gun deaths.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:59PM (#29101607)
> Hard to say since research into gun violence is banned by the government.

That's plain false.

The reason they stopped studying because it didn't fit the narrative.

In 2008, there were 800k-3 million defensive uses of guns:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29101364

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:13PM (#29101084)
The bit you missed out from that link was:

   Total firearms: 10,265
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:01PM (#29101617)
I stated "rifle" not all guns. Because saying we need to take away all guns is pie in the sky thinking. Dems run on "taking away AR-15" but the stats show that isn't going to achieve anything.

In 2008, there were 800k-3 million defensive uses of guns.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29101364

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by PaulDavisThe1st on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:25PM (#29101846)
No, here's what the link you give actually says:

> Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million (Kleck, 2001a), in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008 (BJS, 2010). On the other hand, some scholars point to a radically lower estimate of only 108,000 annual defensive uses based on the National Crime Victimization Survey (Cook et al., 1997). The variation in these numbers remains a controversy in the field. The estimate of 3 million defensive uses per year is based on an extrapolation from a small number of responses taken from more than 19 national surveys. The former estimate of 108,000 is difficult to interpret because respondents were not asked specifically about defensive gun use.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by dang on Friday November 05, 2021 @04:44PM (#29124549)
Please don't copy-paste comments on HN. It lowers the signal/noise ratio. If you want to refer to what you said elsewhere (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29101591), that's fine, but please use a link and explain why it's relevant.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:05PM (#29100970)
> Nothing drives more people to crime than feeling like they are in a hopeless situation.

Couldn't agree more, which is why eliminating poverty was the first solution I said. We're doing that. Unfortunately it takes decades to work because of the shit family dynamics that exist. Should we just let gun violence run rampant until then?

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @05:57PM (#29100863)
> stop guns from out of state from entering the city

Stop letting them use gun control to ignore the underlying issues in the community.

ME: Chicago has strict gun control but high gun violence.

Gun Control: They get guns from states with loose gun control.

ME: But those states don't have the same gun violence

Gun Control: Places in Chicago are poor & neglected so there's more violence.

ME: BINGO, it's a socioeconomic issue not a gun issue!

Last I checked on July 13, Chicago has 25.8% of shootings despite having 0.8% of the population.

Mexico has extremely restrictive laws regarding gun possession. There is only one gun store in the entire country, and it takes months of paperwork to have a chance at purchasing one legally.

Similar in India. Making guns illegal doesn't stop any of that. In India, underground criminals make the guns out of everyday stuff. And now a days, 3D printing had made this process even easier.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:04PM (#29100958)
> Stop letting them use gun control to ignore the underlying issues in the community.

I'm glad we agree that poverty is the root cause of gun violence, but realizing that does nothing to stop gun violence. Poverty isn't something that can be solved with the snap of a finger, although I certainly think we are on the right track. What do you think we should do to stop gun violence in the mean time? Nothing is a valid answer, but I don't think it's acceptable to a majority of people in this country.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by busymom0 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:05PM (#29101661)
The problem isn't simply about poverty/money or racism or past inequities, it's about corruption, gangs, fatherlessness, teacher unions and lack of school choice.

Chicago has been fully one party ruled since 1931. Baltimore since 1963, Detroit since 1962 etc and so on. Why has none of the lives improved in these cities and they keep having gang problems?

If Chicago hasn't been able to fix anything for almost a century, maybe it's time to either vote for another party or start a new party and vote for them.

Related, 13 Baltimore City High Schools, Zero Students Proficient in Math. Baltimore is 2nd in per pupil spending. This is not because the schools dont get enough money. In fact its just about as far away from that as you can get. If despite getting the 2nd more funded, the students still can't do high school math, someone needs to look at what's going on in these schools.

https://old.reddit.com/r/news/comments/7bvreb/13_baltimore_c...

https://archive.ph/VfciU

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-05-21/news/bs-md-ci-ce...

https://archive.ph/cqIZd

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:51PM (#29102061)
> Why has none of the lives improved in these cities and they keep having gang problems?

Because the people are still poor?

> lack of school choice.

Most of the poor kids here are in charter schools.

> Fatherlessness

Agreed this is a major problem, it's mostly caused by poverty.

> corruption

Absolutely agree this is a huge problem. We tried to solve it by electing an outsider mayor, everyone hates her because she can't get anything done due to obstruction from corrupt politicians. Even if we ended corruption tomorrow, that would only move the end of poverty from many decades away to a few less decades away, not really a solution to gun violence.

> gangs

We arrested all the gang leaders. Now the gangs are just 10 dudes who went to elementary school together. Without leadership there is no one to stop them from shooting each other, it has made things quite a bit worse imo. As I said it isn't possible to just end gangs, there are always new people to fill the power vacuum.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by jimmygrapes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:14PM (#29101746)
I still cannot really fathom this logic. Why would you not want to address WHY guns are used?
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by colinmhayes on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:42PM (#29101987)
I do. I'm working hard to end poverty. It takes a long time. Many people will die before the situations that cause gun violence are solved.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by caeril on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:57PM (#29102126)
What was the homicide rate in the depths of the Great Depression? What is the current homicide rate of rural rust-belt America, with lower per capita incomes than poor urban areas?

Poverty isn't the cause. Sorry you've been wasting your time.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by TheCoelacanth on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @10:01PM (#29102874)
Gun control has never been a big thing in VA. Even Democrats are not pushing very hard for it.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by sjg007 on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:52PM (#29102072)
Chicago ain’t in Virginia.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by AlbertCory on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:55PM (#29101548)
"turning screws"??? He's (presumably) going to be a legislator. One of many. He's not an executive, let alone a dictator.
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by gbronner on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @09:28PM (#29102702)
As a legislator, he'll have a very good reason to get a concealed carry permit...
Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by AlbertCory on Saturday November 13, 2021 @12:33AM (#29207689)
If that's what you meant by "turning screws" then yeah, you're right.

I thought you meant changing the whole system, which is well beyond the powers of one legislator.

Re:Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $15... by adolph on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @07:52PM (#29102076)
2014: Single Mom Who Admitted to Bringing Legal Gun into NJ Now Facing 11+ Years in Prison

https://reason.com/2014/08/11/single-mom-who-admitted-to-bri...