Just to lighten the mood. An Australian approach to US Gun control.

@2cool4school Did you read back what you just wrote and think is sounded a little odd??? I am sure it does to some of us...

@whowasthatmaskedman not sure what you are trying to say?? Perhaps you could just spell it out?? Really...

@2cool4school Pardon my typo. It should read "I think it sounded" What I am trying to get across is that managing a "Modern country" with a third world correctional system and a barbaric capital punishment philosophy may be a little counterproductive. Driving whole classes of people into crime through social neglect, endemic poverty and institutionalized lack of opportunity, and then deciding they are a problem that can be killed off is totally barbaric.

@whowasthatmaskedman that’s not really what I was implying but I’m sure you know a lot more about this first hand and I’m just relaying what I’m aware of from reading and other media that has been hurled at me over the years. I don’t know much about the prisons and have only seen Casarina (sp?) in a documentary and I’m pretty sure that was to show an example of one of the prisons that I believe are “for profit” now country wide and I find that almost more disturbing than anything no matter where it is done. And I do think Australia is just a little ahead of the US as far as privatization of the prison system/industry and that’s what makes a true class/caste system out of the the debate between prison for punishment or prison for rehabilitation. I’m simply stating that once a death penalty has been revoked there is a psychological barrier that is now removed because the most important deterrent for murder for one example is now removed. Or leaking state secrets to another nation say China ?? Not 100% sure on Australian treason and the punishments but I’m using the US as an analog in the general sense of comparison. I’m aware of the many differences (not all but some) and I was simply stating what I believe is the worst outcome from removing a corporal punishment for a capital offense. That’s all.

@whowasthatmaskedman I do understand that a lot of the blame lies with a socioeconomic inequality and I just don’t accept the excuse that people have to commit a crime. Have to sell drugs because they live in a bad area where that’s the only way that they can survive is not something that I can accept and I’m not just looking at this from the position of and with the limited experience of a general citizen and civilian but I don’t expect other people to have my perspective. I’m not trying to be “right” or win the argument of the minutia that is SW. I’m simply saying that I don’t think it’s a good idea to follow Australia in the way that they attempted gun control with the buyback but I am definitely interested in seeing better background checks and other systems in place in the US to keep guns out of the wrong hands. And I am starting to feel that anyone that can’t see that the gun control/reform issue is just as important for society right now as anything that is racially motivated based etc because it’s all connected at this point and I think it’s pretty sad that some people feel that the best way to move forward is like nothings happened instead of trying to make sure nothing like what’s happening (and you can put a lot of stuff in the blank ___________ civil unrest racism classism elitism and the rest of the headlines that have made this a very dynamic time for change with some major changes happening or happened and certainly more major shifts to come. I just hope that it’s for the best and it’s significant enough to inspire more so that we can improve things. I’m talking about homelessness and mental health for the ones that may need it most and have in the past and currently have the least amount of access to get help from addiction to depression and anything else I know that 49% of US prisons are filled with drug offenses and the legal situation in many of the places that had the worst problems per Capita with drug use now have become the models for change only time will tell if decriminalized heroin is better for society or worse than locking up people for a personal choice and often an addiction that’s not really a choice anymore. So that’s what I’m saying.

@2cool4school I actually seem to agree with many of your points. A gun buyback in America is pointless. Its too late and I dont have the solution. We are however NOT further down the track inprivatising prisons and our system is not without its problems. Also many of the solutions to the prison problems lie outside prisons in the forming of the "criminals".
For some reason we just seem to disagree on the conclusions that brings. A little confusing. I think I will let it go..

@whowasthatmaskedman well I think I got mixed up as I was sure that I read the entire Australian prison system had gone private. I’m getting too old to go off memory alone and I apologize for not having my facts straight. I’m reading now that “ Out of a total of 101 prisons in Australia, private contractors operate nine facilities in five different states: two prisons in Queensland, two in New South Wales, one in South Australia, two in Victoria and two in Western Australia.Jun 15, 2016”
That’s far less than the US as well.
I think it’s sad it’s too late but I also think it’s rigged in the sense that the gun industry caters to the North American market because it’s the biggest group of civilian gun owners in the world and even foreign companies that have been forbidden from it have set up American companies for their products to skirt the laws and I’m not just thinking of the Kalashnikov Arms corporation. Anyway I don’t know how to make any significant changes for the betterment of our society. I’m a gun owner and I’m not usually in agreement with other owners because it’s not something that I want to feel like I have to own for personal protection and I’m not trying to expand the “rights” of gun owners. I think we have a pretty good idea of what happens when a person has a gun (and not much control) at a protest or a riot (I’m not going to debate legal right to assemble or not) and I think I will wait and see how K.Rittenhouse ends up after his case is tried.
I do want to have more conversations on this topic. Because I feel like in a time when we have a lot of cameras and are “focused” or focusing on how “woke” it takes to be PC a lot of information and therefore people are getting lost in the shuffle and the damage to society continues. I’m just not sure if I see things improving as fast as they slid into the current state of affairs. Thank you for your input and I have some research and reading to do. I can’t just rely on what I feel like I knew. Hope you’re well and look forward to seeing you around SW again.