I understand what they're saying is the motivation. They're saying it's irritating them that these mass shooters are usually advertising their intentions with colorful animated gifs on Facebook, and nobody knows that when selling them a gun.
However, this is kind of a stupid and superficial way to approach it. It's not going to solve the problem. If someone wants to shoot up a school with a new rifle, and decides to post about it, then they could just... not provide that account. Say that they don't use social media.
It'll catch people who are essentially willing to turn themselves into the police through a background check for a gun. Which means it will catch some people, because some people don't act rationally, especially from the population of potential mass shooters.
But probably not enough to be worth collecting this type of data on gun owners merely because they're gun owners. That's far too wide and deep a net to use for such a small potential benefit, if any at all.
I do not like being forced to provide data so that the government can go searching for a crime in it.
It is a stupid and superficial way to approach it because that is what works as a justification. Stupidly simple. They set it up like that, its not even real. The goal is not to interdict crazies, it is to disarm sensible people. So at best they let them slip through, at worst make it happen. Sinister.
The only thing that gives me any concrete hope is America being armed. (If it ends it means more than disarmament, it means total demoralisation and helplessness)
I understand what they're saying is the motivation. They're saying it's irritating them that these mass shooters are usually advertising their intentions with colorful animated gifs on Facebook, and nobody knows that when selling them a gun.
However, this is kind of a stupid and superficial way to approach it. It's not going to solve the problem. If someone wants to shoot up a school with a new rifle, and decides to post about it, then they could just... not provide that account. Say that they don't use social media.
It'll catch people who are essentially willing to turn themselves into the police through a background check for a gun. Which means it will catch some people, because some people don't act rationally, especially from the population of potential mass shooters.
But probably not enough to be worth collecting this type of data on gun owners merely because they're gun owners. That's far too wide and deep a net to use for such a small potential benefit, if any at all.
I do not like being forced to provide data so that the government can go searching for a crime in it.
It is a stupid and superficial way to approach it because that is what works as a justification. Stupidly simple. They set it up like that, its not even real. The goal is not to interdict crazies, it is to disarm sensible people. So at best they let them slip through, at worst make it happen. Sinister. The only thing that gives me any concrete hope is America being armed. (If it ends it means more than disarmament, it means total demoralisation and helplessness)