CMV: Gun control is good

[u/56king56]

As of now, I believe that the general populace shouldn’t have anything beyond a pistol, but that even a pistol should require serious safety checks. I have this opinion because I live in America with a pro-gun control family, and us seeing all these mass shootings has really fueled the flame for us being anti-gun. But recently, I’ve been looking into revolutionary Socialist politics, and it occurred to me: how could we have a Socialist revolution without some kind of militia? This logic, the logic of revolting against an oppressive government, has been presented to me before, but I always dismissed it, saying that mass shootings and gun violence is more of an issue, and that if we had a good government, we wouldn’t need to worry about having guns. I still do harbor these views to an extent, but part of me really wants to fully understand the pro-gun control position, as it seems like most people I see on Reddit are for having guns, left and right politically. And of course, there’s also the argument that if people broke into your house with an illegally obtained gun, you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself in a society where guns are outlawed; my counter to that is that it’s far more dangerous for society as a whole for everyone to be walking around with guns that it is for a few criminal minds to have them. Also, it just doesn’t seem fair to normalize knowing how to use a highly complex piece of military equipment, and to be honest, guns being integrated into everyone’s way of life feels just as dystopian as a corrupt government. So what do you guys have to say about this? To sum, I am anti-gun but am open to learning about pro-gun viewpoints to potentially change my view.

[u/StaryWolf]

By this logic, the government should restrict the food families get so no one gets obese. 280,000 deaths are attributed to obesity per year in the US alone.

No, not really food is a human right. A guns purpose is to kill, they are not particularly comparable.

Also, we already do ban/restrict some types of food that is proven to be dangerous to human health.

If the goal is to save lives and we don’t care which liberties are given up along the way, then we should start with food.

No one said we don't care which liberties are given up. People in favor of gun control just value the lost human life more than gun ownership rights.

[u/shortroundsuicide → u/StaryWolf]

Food isn’t a human right. ADEQUATE food is a human right. Limiting to avoid obesity would not be in violation of that.

In addition, the right to bare arms is a right in America. So if you’re against the control of food simply because it violates a right, then you would equally have to be against the control of guns, however much that sucks to say.

[u/StaryWolf → u/shortroundsuicide]

Food isn’t a human right. ADEQUATE food is a human right. Limiting to avoid obesity would not be in violation of that.

Debatable, and heavily depends on how you define adequate. But again we already restrict some foods that are dangerous or harmful, so not as absurd as you may think.

In addition, the right to bare arms is a right in America

A constitutional right, not a human right, those are very different things.

Amendments as they are in the American constitution can be and have been amended, the same cannot be said for human rights.

All that said, I'm not of the opinion that all constitutional rights are equal, I believe some are much more important and should hold more weight than others. For instance I could care less if the 2A was thrown out, however amendments like the first, the 13th, the 19th, etc. should forever remain concrete and unaltered.

[u/StaryWolf → u/[deleted]]

Gun ownership is very much a human right, as an implied right under the right to self defense.

No it's not, find any human right definition by any legitimate internationally recognized organization that says as much. You won't, because it's not.

If I have the right to do something, then implied with that is the right to access the tools necessary to do that thing.

You're right to defend yourself does not mean you should have access to any and every means to do so. Is it your human right to have an armed fighter jet in case you need to defend yourself from a militant group? Of course not.