Having grown up in the brick-red state of Nebraska and currently residing in a rather conservative town in Ohio, it's safe to say I've been largely surrounded by Republicans for most of my life. Due to that, it was all but inevitable a decent percentage of my friends, or at least those with whom I interacted, would be of that political persuasion. Fortunately, while I tend to try and stray away from political banter with most of these individuals, a majority of them have told me at one time or another that I was their favorite liberal or that, while they may have disagreed with me, they respected me.
That brings me to Saturday night, when such a person, who happened to be drunk at the time, approached me right after I entered a bar, and started going on a political rant. As, given his inebriated state at the time, there was really no point in me debating him, I just listened. Here were some of the highlights:
- "Hemorrhoids kill more people than guns!"
- "Who cares if Trump slept with a prostitute? We've all slept with prostitutes!"
- "If it weren't for that Las Vegas shooting, only 9 people would have died of gun violence last year!"
- "More people die from cars than guns!"
- "The people whining the most about guns and everything don't vote!"
- "The problem isn't the guns or the regulations; it's the people!"
- "Trump's a big ball of sh*t, like Hillary and Obama, but he's a different big ball of sh*t, and I'd vote for him again."
- "Obamacare was doomed to fail. That's not even debatable."
- "I believe in sensible gun laws, but no matter what they are, criminals are going to get their hands on guns anyway."
- "The things those kids are protesting against are already illegal. Like assault weapons for example. They've been illegal since the 1980s."
There were other such quotes in the rant, but those are the first ten which spring to mind. Since I was unable to do so that night, I'm now going to respond to each:
1) "Hemorrhoids kill more people than guns!"
I have to admit, this is a new one. Upon first hearing this, I couldn't help but chuckle, until I realized he was serious. Let's look at the data. Between 30,000 and 35,000 people die via guns every year in this country. On the other side of the coin, approximately 17 people die every year from hemorrhoids. Even if you remove three zeroes from the gun-death numbers, they'd still exceed that of hemorrhoid-related deaths. So, as the saying goes, close, but no cigar...
2) "Who cares if Trump slept with a prostitute? We've all slept with prostitutes!"
I have a feeling he was referring to Stormy Daniels. First off, she's not a prostitute. She's an adult-film star (or porn star). Secondly, I personally don't know anyone who has slept with a prostitute or a porn star. Yes, perhaps that's my fault. I apparently don't get out enough...
3) "If it weren't for that Las Vegas shooting, only 9 people would have died of gun violence last year!"
Since the CDC hasn't reported the gun violence statistics for 2017 yet, I'll showcase what the number was from their 2016 report. Over 38,000 people died from gun violence in 2016. A total of 59 people were killed in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. So, let's check the math: 38,000 - 59 = 9. Okay then...
4) "More people die from cars than guns!"
If this were Politifact, it'd probably receive a half true or mostly true grade, as it is largely accurate, but misses some key context. The fact is there have been more automobile-related deaths than gun-related ones in the U.S. However, the two numbers have been inching closer towards one another, especially in recent years, and why? Largely due to increased regulations on automobiles and decreased regulations on firearms. Until similar regulations are imposed on both, this becomes an apples-and-oranges comparison. Also, it's quite comical to hear conservatives spout this argument, because what they're unintentionally bringing attention to is the effectiveness of automobile regulations.
5) "The people whining the most about guns and everything don't vote!"
Is it really possible to prove or disprove this claim? Yes, the March For Our Lives rally was largely geared toward high schoolers, but there were also thousands of middle-aged individuals and even elders in attendance. Granted, the 18- to 24-year-old crowd is typically the least reliable voting bloc, but it's also unfair to generalize the passionate supporters on hand at the rally in this nation's capital as people who stay at home on election day. Also, if there's one positive thing Trump's accomplished while in office, it's unintentionally fire up young voters. We'll see if that continues through November when the midterm elections are held. At this point, though, it's just mere speculation on the rally's make-up and what percentage of the participants will be active voters in the coming years.
6) "The problem isn't the guns or the regulations; it's the people!"
Why are gun violence and gun reform proposals such black-and-white issues to so many? The act of gun violence contains three common denominators: 1) A gun, 2) A shooter, and 3) A victim. Without any of these denominators, we wouldn't have a case of gun violence. So he was partially right. Gun violence is partially about the people. It's also partially about the guns and the regulations.
7) "Trump's a big ball of sh*t, like Hillary and Obama, but he's a different big ball of sh*t, and I'd vote for him again."
Sadly, I think many Trump supporters hold a similar mindset. They view all politicians as "bags of sh*t," so they lean towards the different "bags of sh*t" instead of asking themselves why they think each individual politician is a "bag of sh*t" in the first place. He can despise Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama all he likes, but they're nothing like Donald Trump, and to compare them all to "bags of sh*t" immediately does away with his argument.
8) "Obamacare was doomed to fail. That's not even debatable."
Actually, it is debatable, and 20 million people, including yours truly, now have health insurance to prove it has made a positive impact on our lives.
9) "I believe in sensible gun laws, but no matter what they are, criminals are going to get their hands on guns anyway."
So why have any laws? There's no such thing as a perfect law. Laws are going to get broken. We can't do away with a law as soon as it gets broken. If that were the case, we'd be a lawless nation. The point of a law is to help decrease crime in that specific area, but it can never completely do away with it.
10) "The things those kids are protesting against are already illegal. Like assault weapons for example. They've been illegal since the 1980s."
The assault weapon ban was enacted in 1994 and expired in 2004. We can get into fine detail about what constitutes an "assault weapon," but based on the criteria provided in the bill, assault weapons were effectively banned for 10 years, but have been back on the market for the past 14.
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