Why does America lose its head over 'terror' but ignore its daily gun deaths?

[alarimer]

This is a great piece from the Guardian. The excerpt starts a few paragraphs in

In some regards, there is a positive spin on this – it's a reflection of how little Americans have to worry about terrorism. A population such as London during the IRA bombings or Israel during the second intifada or Baghdad, pretty much every day, becomes inured to random political violence. Americans who have such little experience of terrorism, relatively speaking, are more primed to overreact – and assume the absolute worst when it comes to the threat of a terror attack. It is as if somehow in the American imagination, every terrorist is a not just a mortal threat, but is a deadly combination of Jason Bourne and James Bond.

If only Americans reacted the same way to the actual threats that exist in their country. There's something quite fitting and ironic about the fact that the Boston freak-out happened in the same week the Senate blocked consideration of a gun control bill that would have strengthened background checks for potential buyers. Even though this reform is supported by more than 90% of Americans, and even though 56 out of 100 senators voted in favour of it, the Republican minority prevented even a vote from being held on the bill because it would have allegedly violated the second amendment rights of "law-abiding Americans".

So for those of you keeping score at home – locking down an American city: a proper reaction to the threat from one terrorist. A background check to prevent criminals or those with mental illness from purchasing guns: a dastardly attack on civil liberties. All of this would be almost darkly comic if not for the fact that more Americans will die needlessly as a result. Already, more than 30,000 Americans die in gun violence every year (compared to the 17 who died last year in terrorist attacks).

What makes US gun violence so particularly horrifying is how routine and mundane it has become. After the massacre of 20 kindergartners in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, millions of Americans began to take greater notice of the threat from gun violence. Yet since then, the daily carnage that guns produce has continued unabated and often unnoticed...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/21/boston-marathon-bombs-us-gun-law

We are inured to the daily toll that guns cause. Terrorists could only dream of causing so much carnage. 30,000 deaths a year. That is an astonishing figure.

[Gregorian]

1. Or nicotine?

Meanwhile, cannabis is illegal? WTF?

I think that's the first wtf I've ever used. Forgive me!

[BlueCaliDem]

6. That's a simple case of accounting.

Although tobacco is a natural plant and therefore cannot not be patented, altered tobacco {with nicotine additives} can be legally patented and sold for profit. They can maybe alter weed, but it's an herb that's easily grown - even in people's spare bedrooms. There's no profit in that.

Also, the UN sends millions of dollars from drug raids to the U.S. to keep MJ a Schedule 1 drug. That's millions of dollars Congress would lose if they break away from the UN and legalize cannabis, and Congress really do luvs them some extra dough.

[Deep13]

2. or its tobacco deaths, auto deaths, poverty, prison violence...

...deaths of civilians from drone strikes, domestic violence deaths, etc. etc. etc.

I can only assume that violent one-off events are news while all those other things are somehow normal.

For 9/11, we rearranged the whole Federal govt., resorted to torture and detention without trial, made everyone do silly things at the airport, and went on an endless war. Yet every year, gun murders (not accidents, just murders) are triple the number of the 9/11 casualties.

[alarimer]

11. It seems insane to the rest of the world

And probably is. Which is the whole point of the article, I think. It's not that one thing is worse than the other, but that we are kind of blase about gun deaths.

Some of it is that we are just used to it, the gun violence, as opposed to other kinds of violence which have been relatively rare.

[still_one]

3. Sorry but the people are upset about gun violence. Because congress votes against their

Wishes has everything to do with the gun lobby

[alarimer]

12. Yes, and I think that explanation was lost on the author.

I don't think he quite grasped how Congress works and how money from lobbyists poisons everything.

[still_one]

13. understood, thanks

[kestrel91316]

4. Americans killing Americans is just proof of the existence and

gloriousness of our freedoms.

Terrorists killing Americans is proof that brown people are evil.

You didn't know this??

[bowens43]

5. It's crazy, the NRA and it's evil minions are responsible for far more deaths then terrorists.

We don't care about dead Americans. We only care about sensationalism.

And the gun fetishists will flat out tell you they don't give a flying fuck how many people die they will oppose any and all legislation that places restrictions on weapons and ammunition.

The real danger in this country are those who support the so called 'gun rights'. Rights they pulled out of their collective asses.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. But-but-but - the Guardian is a liberal news source! And, and, and

stats can be manipulated and skewed! And, and, and DON'T TOUCH OUR FREEDUMBS!

[Zoeisright]

8. Yep.

And only idiots would compare these violent deaths to deaths from cigarettes, car accidents, etc. etc. etc. Because they haven't learned logical reasoning skills or reading comprehension.

[BillyRibs]

9. Why you ask?

Because the MSM does it job well.

[Doctor_J]

10. the terrorists need a lobbying arm

They should pool their resources and register the NTA to buy congressmen and judges.

[firenewt]

14. I think it reflects how many Americans view a large number of victims of gun violence as somehow

sharing some of the responsibility for being shot. In the case of a terrorist attack, the victims have no responsibility for being attacked in any way.