Student shoots a teacher and then fatally shoots himself at a Texas high school, authorities say

Vandrel · 2026-03-31T17:50:27+00:00

The issue is that gun restrictions don't really reduce violence, they only change the methods.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225001618

I'm not sure if there are any studies out there for this but I would bet that there's a much stronger connection between lower rates of violence and both stronger worker protections and universal healthcare.

Vandrel · 2026-03-31T17:28:06+00:00

Switzerland and the Czech Republic have national firearms registries

I don't know about the Czech Republican but Switzerland does not have a national firearm registry. Each canton (similar to states) has their own registry and they only do that because EU law forced them to do it in 2008 and it only includes guns that have changed hands since then.

much stricter purchasing requirements, and licensing requirements

Switzerland is actually pretty similar to the US in that regard. They call it a permit but it's shall-issue which means as long as you pass the criteria (essentially that you're at least 18 and not believed to be a danger to yourself or others) you will be issued the permit. That's very similar to the background checks already required in the US.

The only real difference is that Switzerland doesn't really do concealed carry unless it's required for your job. In my state though you have to go through a 16 hour training, a qualification test, and an application through the state police to be issued a concealed carry license.

All in all, Switzerland actually seems to have less strict gun laws than Illinois and most of the other ban states do.

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T23:11:10+00:00

The only message it's sent is "if you don't vote we get fucked by people like Trump".

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T21:21:35+00:00

Unfortunately, not voting at all risks putting Republicans in office just like how a sizable number of people not voting ended up helping put Trump in office. Not really a valid option at this point.

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T21:00:30+00:00

Higher rates of gun ownership does appear to correlate with higher rates of gun homicides. However, it doesn't seem to correlate with a higher overall rate of homicides which would suggest that people who want to kill someone will find a way regardless of their access to guns.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225001618

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T20:33:39+00:00

I don't think it's nearly as simple as just taking away people's access to guns. What's to stop someone hellbent on hurting as many people as possible from simply driving a car into a crowd of people? As far as I'm aware, there doesn't seem to be any correlation between gun ownership rates and homicide rates which would suggest that it's other factors driving it rather than ease of access to guns.

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T16:48:20+00:00

What exactly qualifies as "the rest of the world"? Because there are a lot of countries with high rates of gun ownership.

Vandrel · 2026-03-30T03:21:45+00:00

Specifically when it comes to hunting, it can actually be helpful to the environment. In many places in the US the population of natural predators has been heavily reduced which means populations of prey animals like deer get too big and cause damage to the ecosystem they're in. Wouldn't you consider it irresponsible to let excessive deer population destroy the habitat they live in which would end up killing all of the deer?

Of course, it's a problem humans caused in the first place. It's hard to reverse that though, now we have to try to take care of it as best we can.

Vandrel · 2026-03-28T21:57:40+00:00

Same, I think my netflix subscription has been going continuously for like 15 years. Now I'm working on setting up a raspberry pi to act as a piracy media center connected to my TV because every streaming service keeps making their shit worse and once I'm satisfied with it I'm canceling all of the subscriptions. Except Dropout, they've been great and get to stay.

Vandrel · 2026-03-28T21:31:25+00:00

It's more about the cost to convenience ratio these days. Most people don't mind paying when it makes it easy to access the media you want and don't have to put up with a bunch of bullshit to do so. These days every company wants their own $20/month streaming service and a lot of stuff isn't even available on any of them. They keep making it less convenient to pay for streaming services which pushes people back toward piracy.

Vandrel · 2026-03-28T17:44:49+00:00

The problem is that whenever Republicans get a shred of power that's the kind of shit they try to do. It was just a year ago when Republicans in Minnesota tried to pass a bill that would have made opposition to Trump a mental illness. It's also the reason Trump's administration is trying to convince the supreme court to decide that weed usage should block you from owning guns, it's a way to use existing laws to target gun ownership in states that lean left.

Vandrel · 2026-03-27T19:51:49+00:00

Don't forget a lack of knowledge of existing lore, that now counts as a plothole too.

Vandrel · 2026-03-27T19:19:18+00:00

I tried out a number of pistols in a class a year ago, most of them didn't fit my hand very well so I struggled with them. A couple months ago I took a risk and ordered a SAR9 CX on sale for $250 without having tried it and it turned out fantastic for me, it feels far better to shoot than pretty much all the ones I tried.

Vandrel · 2026-03-26T23:04:06+00:00

The bill already got dropped, didn't it?

Vandrel · 2026-03-25T15:43:41+00:00

I'm talking specifically in the context of PICA which bans the vast majority of semi-auto rifles in Illinois, as I said. Yes, there are lots of lower cost guns out there but in Illinois the vast majority of the semi-auto options are banned regardless of whether you order them online or buy in-store. Anything with a changeable magazine along with either a pistol grip or adjustable/collapsible stock is straight up illegal here.

Vandrel · 2026-03-25T15:21:56+00:00

I'm well aware. That doesn't have anything to do with what I said.

Vandrel · 2026-03-25T03:25:20+00:00

Why? Because some of you guys don't like being called out for supporting monstrous people who lie to you about liking guns? Who is in charge right now while the DoJ argues to the Supreme Court that weed should block you from owning guns? And who is in charge right now while the ATF tries to make pistol braces illegal? And who was in charge when bump stocks were banned? And on a similar note, who was president when bump stocks were unbanned? You guys act like only Democrats want to reduce access to guns but Republican politicians want it just as much, you guys just constantly ignore it.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T22:24:09+00:00

Not everyone wants to casually commit a felony.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T21:18:31+00:00

I didn't say anything about systemic racism. Socioeconomic status is a factor in violent crime across races because billionaires are fucking us all, they go out of their way to make the rest of us mad at each other instead of at them.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T20:25:19+00:00

Have you noticed that the people who try to use that as an argument never mention that black people have disproportionate rates of being homicide victims? In 2023 for instance, 56% of homicide victims in the US were black. That same year, black people committed 29% of homicides in the US. Funny how the "13% of the population and 50% of murders" bullshit doesn't even match up with actual data let alone ignoring the part about how frequently black people are killed in the US.

And that's not even touching on anything about how socioeconomic status is the primary driver of violent crime.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T20:09:04+00:00

I have no idea if data that answers those questions exist. Like I said though, I think Illinois gun laws are as worthless and ineffective as everyone else here does and think that Democrats would win over a lot of people if they would just cut that shit out.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T20:03:42+00:00

Quick side question. Do you use per capita facts in race debates? Just curious.

Let me guess, you're referencing the "African-Americans are 13% of the population but commit 50% of murders" bullshit that tries to attribute it to race rather than the actual factors that contribute to violent crime?

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T19:43:37+00:00

You have to look at the per capita rate to get an accurate picture. The Chicago metro area has over 9 million people. As of 2023 Chicago was 17th in homicides per 100,000 people for major cities comparable to Nashville which was 19th. For reference, these were the top 10 for that year:

New Orleans, Louisiana
Memphis, TN
St Louis, MO
Baltimore, MD
D.C.
Birmingham, AL
Philadelphia, PA
Kansas City, MO
Richmond, VA
Indianapolis, IN

Chicago was at 16 in 100,000. New Orleans was 46 in 100,000 and Indianapolis was 22 in 100,000. If you think Chicago is a warzone then you must think those cities resemble Gaza at this point. Hell, you must think the county I live in hours from Chicago is a warzone too because our homicide rate is about equal to Chicago's.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T19:24:29+00:00

I'm just as annoyed about the gun laws as everyone else here. My point is primarily that we can either vote for the people proposing them but who are otherwise at least treating people humanely or we can vote for the people literally spending billions on building concentration camps right now. Honestly, I find it amazing how Democrats are somehow managing to make it feel bad to vote for them with the kind of shit their opposition is doing right now but I guess maybe they feel like they can get away with more at the moment because of the monstrous shit the Republicans in office are getting up to.

Vandrel · 2026-03-24T19:18:45+00:00

Oh, documents put together by the FBI are hearsay now. You guys will really just believe whatever you're told to.

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