Previously I outlined my assumptions, biases and agendas in regards to this discussion about gun control. I want to outline the perspectives that I have seen and interacted with or at least my perception of what those perspectives are. This will not be a complete list, but it will be a good start to help inform further discussion about guns.
These are lists of things I have seen, and do not necessarily relate to each other at all.
Assumptions:
1. Guns lead to violence. Some people draw a very close association between violence and guns and conclude that the one is at least in part caused by the other.
2. People are fundamentally good, but messed up systems make them act poorly.
3. Terrorism is far away and won't affect me.
4. The police's job is to protect us.
5. We live in a law abiding and stable society.
6. The government can be trusted to protect us.
Biases:
1. Come from a big city instead of the country.
2. Come from foreign countries where guns are viewed differently for many reasons.
3. Never were around guns growing up.
4. Military background instead of civilian.
5. Rich vs poor
6. How guns were used around them (primarily associated with crime or hunting or war, etc.)
Agendas:
1. Desire to just be safe.
2. Desire to get rid of all guns.
3. Desire to be be able to own any and all weapons as desired.
As you can see reading these, a person's past as well as their fundamental beliefs and ethics can go a long way in shaping their perspective on this. Despite having such wide spread starting points though, I think given the opportunity for honest and open discussion a lot of clarity can be brought to the discussion. There are sides in the gun debate that will never be brought together, but I suspect they are not the sides that are normally presented.
I will update this list as I think of more.
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