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ballastboy1 t1_j5yg6b4 wrote

Reply to comment by Tahh in DC man sentenced for shooting death of father while walking with children by Ninjroid

Figure out how to fix incompetent parents and how to eradicate a localized subculture that is perpetuated among a small number of young men who glorify and normalize gun violence as a way to prove their status among peers and to settle petty feuds.

One policy isn’t going to do it. DC launched a program to identify people at high-risk of committing or being targeted by gun violence using evidence-backed and data-backed approaches. A majority of gun violence is committed by a small social network of men who generally know each other. This program found most high-risk men (eg, had a history of carrying guns, committing violent crime, or living with men who do so) didn’t want to be identified or offered job training assistance, mental health services or diversionary support. How does a government fix that? I don’t know.

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Tahh t1_j5yoxc1 wrote

Thanks for that article, I don't know how it slipped by me, it might have been right before I bought my subscription.

I don't think the evidence is there to say that most people in the list unequivocally do not want help and never will. A lot of them haven't even been contacted there are kinks they clearly need to work out in the program, least of which is simple PR.

Though any more, I view the whole issue as partly a failure of the government and society to provide a convincing argument to get off the streets and behave. Suicide rates and depression has spiked even among affluent teens (and is highest among white men), I have yet to find someone who really enjoys their job and would do it even if they could retire. More middle aged people see no point in having children because the world is going to shit, and the old people I know are bitter and grumpy. Not much of an incentive to work hard and not just do whatever the hell you want.

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ballastboy1 t1_j5yzue2 wrote

Why is it the failure of the government to convince young men that not shooting and killing people is bad? 99% of citizens never shoot anybody. Why not their parents? Families? Peers? Communities?

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Tahh t1_j606isi wrote

*and society. The government in particular though should be interested in trying to understand why some of its citizens don't view it as legitimate or worth listening to.

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ballastboy1 t1_j609md4 wrote

“Society” as an abstract undefinable force a deflection from the immediate contributors to these young men’s behavior: their parents, families, peers, friends, social groups, and the subculture they choose to inhabit.

What part of “the government” is responsible for changing the way parents parent and adjusting individuals’ agency and decision making that normalizes gun violence?

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Deep_Stick8786 t1_j60sj6q wrote

There is another element here: The amount of guns readily available make this easy. That is a policy choice and can be addressed by elected officials, even without repealing a right to own a personal firearm. Regulating manufacturers, taxing weapons, anything to reduce the volume can help. Ease of access to guns make it easy for misguided young boys and men to kill and get killed.

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