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A comment on Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms (2015). Parent comment

Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by wyager on Thursday May 26, 2022 @09:27AM (#31518083)
> Guns add little value to people's lives

This is a facially absurd claim to make based on the extremely motivated behavior of tens of millions of Americans.

> are likely to amplify poor decisions into death and serious injury

For a very questionable definition of "likely". As someone who actually performs explicit risk calculations, I am vastly more worried about hundreds of other risk sources to which I have daily exposure.

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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by paulryanrogers on Thursday May 26, 2022 @02:32PM (#31521854)
Risk factors aren't mutually exclusive. People can advocate and the government can act on more than one issue at a time.
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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by wyager on Thursday May 26, 2022 @03:52PM (#31522646)
People should pursue risk mitigation strategies which are efficient at the margins, if at all.

I would capture marginal utility by making life more risky and less fearful, so I'm certainly not going to accept the piss-poor risk reduction returns of going after assault rifles.

Do some research on who is actually dying, who is killing, and with what weapons. I think no honest and well-adjusted person who does that can agree with popular gun control initiatives.

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