I have found that those who talk about "gun violence" are far more interested in eradicating private ownership of guns than they are in reducing criminal violence.
For all the talk of how the US compares with other nations, notice the selective comparisons. We are a nation of ~330 million persons with a high degree of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, religious views, anti-religious views, cultural values, etc. Our nation covers a good chunk of an entire continent.
Against whom are we compared? Japan with 126 million racial, ethnically, culturally highly homogenous citizens and a dominant culture so strong that it doesn't even think bigotry or xenophobia is a bad thing?
Or maybe England. An island nation of 55 million. France? 66 million with a government office whose job it is to preserve the integrity and purity of their language. Germany? 80 million people whose grandparents were responsible for starting both world wars?
The Canadians? Turns out Utah has effectively the same homicide rate as does Canada.
Sweden, Norway, Denmark? Switzerland?
Notice against whom the US is never compared: Mexico, Venezuela. Why not? Because their citizens are brown and speak Spanish? Or because they have drug wars or other problems? Well, what is the cause of most of the violence in this nation if not the war on drugs?
Northern Ireland. Why not? Because their violence was specifically due to religious and political differences? How much of our nation's angst is due to differences on the role religion should play in public life? Or is it simply because Northern Ireland was having violence?
Russia or any of the former Soviet/Eastern bloc nations? Why not? Because Eastern Europe is expected to be violent? Because they have never emerged from the dark ages? Did not Yugoslavia host a wonderful winter Olympics back in the 80s a few years before social order broke down and genocide set in?
We are never compared to any African nation. Why not? Racism? Why isn't the US constantly in a state of open warfare among our various States, regions, ethnic groups, etc?
Can anyone find me many nations of comparable size, geographic area, and cultural/racial/religious diversity to the USA that have a lot lower violent crime rate? I'm thinking that the gun haters compare us only to nations that are currently peaceful (That whole French Revolution things was kind of a cluster I recall). Any nation with serious violence is excluded for one reason or another. Turns out that tyrannical governments, civil war, and genocide can turn a 1st world nation into a 3rd world cesspit pretty quickly.
And even among the nations to which we are compared, the comparison is always the dishonest and meaningless comparison of "gun deaths". Sure, because being knifed to death, run over by a truck, or killed by an IED are somehow less dead, less maimed than if a gun were used.
Compare violent crime to violent crime, or homicide to homicide. We are not in terrible shape comparatively.
