[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Glice

Yeah, I do realise this. I don't want to sound like a reaming hippy, but I think it's sort of important to demand more from politics. Some demands will likely never be met (say, communism or my desire to have sex with Nigella Lawson) some are met in spite of a lack of public support (Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, Obama's health care reforms if you read the right-wing press) some are part of ongoing struggles (end of apartheid in SA, abolition of slavery in general)... I think the point that lots of people are saying 'it's the way it is' is really defeatist. Sure, America has a weak form of government (many years ago I read up loads on how it works, and it baffles me quite frankly) but it's hardly like America is completely incapable of making lasting and meaningful positive reforms.

but the people have to WANT TO make those reforms. you can't impose an unpopular law from above. "hey, i'm the king of england, and i tell you americans you can't own guns". well...

i don't think that people want to have gun reform legislation at this point. that is a matter of state by state. california, by the way, has one of the most stringent gun laws in the country, and look at the murder rate in los angeles.

actually, states with more permissive gun laws have a lower homicide rate. the argument is that criminals can always get guns if they want to and you're only restricting law-abiding civilians with the laws. i don't think this is such a simple argument, but that's how it goes.

by the way, health care was overdue-- it's been attempted for 100 years! theodore roosevelt first proposed it! and the majority of people filing for bankruptcy do so because of medical bills. so while there was tremendous opposition there was also overwhelming popular support for health care reform. the medical system has been broken forever and people were just fucking fed up with it.

it's just not the same case with guns. americans at large don't believe that they have a gun problem. some people do, but i don't think it's the majority of the country. if anything, there is a movement to expand "gun rights" at the moment. d.c. just had its gun ban lifted in court and there are lawsuits in other cities that ban guns-- like chicago. see: http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-i...-gun-mindset-1

the electoral climate is not there to amend the constitution or to fuck with the regulation provided by each state. it's not a monolithic government. while from the outside this might look terrifying i don't think this is a priority for most people in this country. really. what people want is to keep guns away from criminals, but not to curtail the rights of civilians to own guns. it's a different country and it wants different things from yours.