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USA kicked the smoking habit, why can't they do the same with guns?

BAW

BAW

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,275
Pardon the naivety of my question, but couldn't the same example be followed here?
In the 50s and 60s smoking was everywhere, the mega corporations advertising it with full force, marketing it to children even. A few decades later, it's a night and day difference. Americans are vehemently anti-smoking, to an extent us Europeans can only dream about!
Was it difficult? Of course it must have been, as tobacco is extremely addictive. But it happened, the public understood what is good for them and they made the obvious choice: smoking just isn't worth it.
You're telling me the same can't be done with gun ownership? Something that doesn't even involve addictive substances? Why not?
What I'm saying is: smoking was deep rooted in American culture. Just like guns. Both backed by all-powerful lobbies. But when it comes to smoking, the public opinion changed. There must be something we can do to change it for guns too.
 
JustinP

JustinP

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,341
People would be chainsmoking all day long just to spite liberals if smoking was turned into a Republican thing.
 
Zhukov

Zhukov

Banned
Dec 6, 2017
2,641
Well, if it was revealed that guns gave their owners cancer I'm pretty sure that would do it.

As it is, many people scared of people with guns are convinced that the solution is to get their own gun.

If the tobacco industry had made the argument that you can beat lung cancer by smoking it out then you'd probably all still be puffing like chimneys.
 
Hamchan

Hamchan

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,804
Because smoking mostly hurts yourself and guns mostly hurt other people, and America is built on caring about yourself and not other people.
 
Davilmar

Davilmar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,696
Gun ownership is explicitly protected by our Constitution, making this next to impossible to make a huge change. The comparison to smoking is rather odd.
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,632
people had a hard time kicking smoking because of the buzz. not because of cultural identity reinforcement
 
ToddBonzalez

ToddBonzalez

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,132
It is understood that smoking is bad for everyone without fail. Every self righteous gun owner thinks that other people are the problem.
 
Ethereal Ardor

Ethereal Ardor

Member
Oct 31, 2017
167
Maybe if guns somehow caused higher fatality rates to their owners. Until then it'll be a perennial part of American culture.
 
OP
OP
BAW

BAW

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,275
Ethereal Ardor said:
Maybe if guns somehow caused higher fatality rates to their owners. Until then it'll be a perennial part of American culture.
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Pretty sure that lots of gun owners have been shot by their own gun. Shot themselves by accident, the intruder grabbed it from their hands and shot them, etc.
 
OP
OP
BAW

BAW

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,275
skeezx said:
people had a hard time kicking smoking because of the buzz. not because of cultural identity reinforcement
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It was never "just the buzz". What about all those cool Hollywood actors in their cool scenes having cool smokes and the people that emulated them? Together with cool imagery like the Marlboro Man? Wasn't that cultural?
 
Conciliator

Conciliator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,249
BAW said:
Haven't enough people died from firearms?
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Apparently not. I guess we've just accepted that sudden mass murder with firearms w/ potential racial and religious hateful motivations from young men radicalized from decentralized online sources is just part of our reality. If we wanted to address that we'd have to make some real meaningful change in this country, but it's not clear if people are ready for that yet.
 
Ethereal Ardor

Ethereal Ardor

Member
Oct 31, 2017
167
BAW said:
Pretty sure that lots of gun owners have been shot by their own gun. Shot themselves by accident, the intruder grabbed it from their hands and shot them, etc.
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I grew up in a family of 6 with 10+ plus guns going to the shooting range every weekend. Out of my family only my dad smoked (since 13 years old) and he's lucky to be reaching 60 from that. I can't imagine that we'd all still be alive and in good health if all of us smoked. But I can assure you that owning guns will cause very little mortal harm to ourselves from all the time we've handled them.

You get safer and efficient at handling guns but you don't do that with cigarettes.
 
YMB

YMB

Member
Nov 6, 2017
420
Smoking kills nearly half a million people a year. Even second hand smoking kills more people than guns per year and that includes suicides. Youre hurting everyone around you when you smoke to some degree in public. Someones gun isnt going to magically jump out of someones holster and start shooting.

And unlike smoking there is a practical usage for firearms depending on the areas youre in and professions you hold.
 
TheMadTitan

TheMadTitan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,091
Bernard Coleslaw said:
Just go paintballing, mate.

Or some other less cunty passtime.
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I don't paintball and I rarely shoot in general; still see the fun in the sport side of it.

Paintball and airsoft have limitations, especially when the factor of range comes into play. Both are limited to relatively short distances. It's like saying people who shoot arrows either with a standard or crossbow should switch to foam arrows. Might not make much when it comes to speed and accuracy, but limits the scope of competition when things fizzle out in 1/1000th the distance.

Heavy regulation and eventual winding down in the cultural phenomenon where everyone and their dog has a gun for "protection" doesn't diminish the fact that sport shooting and competitions have their place just like competitions with every other dangerous weapon.
 
smileyforall220

smileyforall220

Banned
Mar 3, 2019
1,831
Bernard Coleslaw said:
Just go paintballing, mate.

Or some other less cunty passtime.

Like crochet.

Also "marksmanship skills". lol. Have a word with yourself.
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Not much different than archery or skeet shooting, it’s a sport. I feel like this is a cultural barrier that causes you to act this way, in the country, sport shooting is much more popular because people hunt as well, and those skills factor in.
 
matrix-cat

matrix-cat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,417
We have shooting ranges in Australia, but you don't bring your own gun to them. They provide you with a gun, you spend the day shooting stuff, then you give it back and go home. Same as going bowling and getting shoes, or going go-karting and driving one of their karts. You can still have sport shooting without allowing every citizen to have their own private arsenal.
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,632
BAW said:
It was never "just the buzz". What about all those cool Hollywood actors in their cool scenes having cool smokes and the people that emulated them? Together with cool imagery like the Marlboro Man? Wasn't that cultural?
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sure 50s americana was a factor, along with some insidious marketing practices. but firearms are more rooted in tribal culturalism. people see them being "taken away" as an existential threat (as dumb as that is)
 
PhallicBaldwin

PhallicBaldwin

Member
Nov 3, 2017
62
I can’t believe someone made this post. I was thinking about this myself the other day.

People are approaching this in the wrong way. Our goal should be to reduce the amount of deaths, pain and suffering in the world. We didn’t make cigarettes illegal...we just changed attitudes about them.

One of the major problems with guns in the United States is that we simply have an enormous amount of them. We need 20 year campaigns to change attitudes about gun ownership. We need 50 year goals. 100 year goals.

I want people think of guns in the same way that my father did after WW2. He viewed them as a symbol of failure of humanity. He vowed to never shoot one again in his life and he lived another 50 years without doing so.
 
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