wmw999

Which makes it fit in with the “well-regulated militia” part of the second amendment. The US isn’t likely to repeal the second amendment in my lifetime; too many diehards have to die first. But this is a step that fits into the “reasonable” box for some people who would never vote to repeal the amendment. Wendy P.

And that's where Bigun's plan is an entry point. It's not comprehensive, and might not move the dial noticeably on the number of guns, but it's more likely to move the dial on people's perception that guns are, in fact, part of the problem, and should be regulated. Small steps are better than no steps. Wendy P.

While we certainly don't have that level of EV ownership, a 90-year-old friend of mine just bought one, simply because she likes the thought of the technology. By no means a trend, but given how technophobic so many seniors are, it's refreshing (and probably part of why she's so young at 90) Wendy P.

You must be thrilled Wendy P.

I think it's much more the second of those. He always has an eye out for himself. Wendy P.

And how many school districts, that are already often underpaying their teachers and aides, can afford to hire trained guards as well? Which of those districts will happily vote in a tax increase? Wendy P.

This, exactly. It's their history, but their history is only a piece of history, just as mine is. Just as the history of Pekin, IL High School includes a mascot named the Chinks. That history still exists, right? History does, in fact, include Jim Crow, slavery, and institutionalized racism (think redlining). Even if it makes some people embarrassed. We choose as a society what we want to highlight, and we might choose otherwise as individuals. And what we choose changes with the times; the KKK is no longer considered to be a defender of freedom by most people Wendy P.

While I think that shouting a speaker down like that is generally dumb, are you saying the students shouldn’t have the right to do so? Maybe Hillsdale College should invite Diane Feinstein to come talk Wendy P.

Can you think f anything that would be more effective in prevention? Wendy P.

The shooter was assigned female at birth, and lived a large part of her life that way. She only used male pronouns on social media -- is your use of the male pronoun acknowledgment that she may have been misassigned? Wendy P.

While I agree that fewer guns is the best, we're not going there anytime soon, so waving our hands and saying "fuckit and fuck Republicans" isn't going to change anything. You can only get to where you want from where you actually are, not from where you'd like to be. Bigun's proposal makes sense. If nothing else, calling it "responsibility" will get buy-in from some people who see it as a people issue, and not a gun issue -- and what's needed is buy-in for anything to happen. Call it our 3/5 compromise -- it's better than nothing, and so far nothing is what we have right now. If in 200 years people talk about what chickeshit assholes we were for not taking it farther, that'd be evidence that it went farther, right? Wendy P.

Nope, it's about combining getting a wider range of inputs, because groupthink is only good when you're interacting entirely with that group. Wendy P.

Ooooh. Yeah, they didn't mean it that way. Wendy P.

Maybe, but it's also what I think. Too mature and entrenched a power system generally becomes more about maintaining power than actually serving the original perceived need or purpose that led that system. Mainly because too many humans are basically control freaks, with plenty of yes men who are happy to bask in reflected power. And all political parties are is a mechanism to control access to elective office. The thing is that direct democracy breaks down when it gets too big -- look at all the New England towns that are doing away with their annual Town Meetings in favor of a representative structure. Because everyone wants someone else to take care of things. Wendy P.

That's about it. Another high bar, eh? Wendy P.