Gun Control

I support gun control because I do not trust the average “responsible” person’s judgment about how and when to use deadly force. I am an average and responsible person who may not even entirely trust my own judgement. I trust police and military more because at least in theory, they’re in a context where that kind of mental preparedness and decision-making training can be not just made available, but mandated. If it is not (and in reality, probably isn’t, at least not well), the solution to irresponsible gun use on the part of authorities is better decision-making training or taking away their guns (which some countries do), not putting guns in the hands of equally mentally-unprepared and irresponsible average citizens. “Good” average people can be trigger-happy, can snap and get angry and do something stupid, can get depressed and act in a way they normally wouldn’t, can get scared, can make a mistake. I do not think there is a clear divide between "good" people and "bad" people a priori when it comes to many types of gun violence, except to say that obviously violent criminals are far, far fewer in number than the rest of the population. Therefore, I do not trust my fellow American citizens who are so afraid of everyone else that they only feel safe if they themselves own a deadly weapon, if they feel they must live in a virtual cold war in order to have peace and security. If guns don’t kill people, that attitude does.