"It's always too soon to talk about gun control"

[Labster]

My mother makes fun of me, because whenever I do a public protest, I end up talking to one of the crazies there for 10-20 minutes.  For some reason, they're attracted to me.  The type that says that we need to kill all of the X, or that we need to secede, or that we we need to ban all oil production.  You know the type.  And the words I use most often are, "But the world's more complicated than that!"

If you've ever done anything resembling science or engineering, you know you need to pay attention to a lot of things that don't seem necessarily related to the issue, but end up having an effect anyway.  The relevant problem in this case is: What are the causes of human mortality, and how can we reduce them?  Guns, being devices designed to inflict mortality, are naturally part of the discussion.  All uses of guns.

The primary cause of gun deaths is suicide.  The primary cause of drug deaths is overdose.  So, self-inflicted for both.  If someone argues that having gun deaths is the price we pay for a free society, then doesn't it follow that drug deaths are the price we pay for a free society?  If not, why not?  Automobiles, too, are a massive cause of death.  Are cars too the price of a free society?

None of these social rules are forgone conclusions, as much as Americans would like to believe they are.  Back in the 1920s, the President of the National Rifle Association argued for strict gun control.  In the 1900s, many communities raged against the danger to their children posed by automobiles moving at 25 mph to kill people while polluting their homes.  Some towns banned cars.

I guess the main problem for me is that yes, guns are for the most part a harmful part of American culture.  But on the whole, more harm is done to the social fabric from guns than by other causes of mortality.  For the United States, this means lawlessness and violence in both the U.S. and Mexico.  The mortality winners, however, are disease, accidents, and cars.  The Effective Altruism community seems to be mostly focused on disease cures, because this is the most effective approach to fighting mortality and suffering.  Antivaxxers are much easier to fight than the car industry or gun lobby, so that's where we should be doing our work.  For now, anyway.

I believe that gun use is a problem, but not worth fighting about, other than to keep the line for now.  Not until we have mass shooting much larger than this, are Americans going to want to get rid of the things.  Sorry, Mexico.