Bill Maher's "Real Time" panel had a great, however brief, debate over gun regulation policies and America's unique gun culture. And by panel, I really mean the one-on-one that took place between author Sam Harris and Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey. Part of the debate concerned a blog Harris wrote several weeks ago, which you can read here.
This particular clip demonstrates how complex the gun-violence issue is to address in America. Even on a very liberal panel, there are vast differences of opinion as to how to tackle the problem. Responsible gun owners clearly are not limited to members of the Republican party.
Harris's blog, "The Riddle of the Gun," has also sparked an informative and interesting debate between Richard Dawkin's RDFRS. (I'm not sure if there's some sort of prize if one side succeeds at out-reasoning the other).
According to data compiled by Slate, more than 1600 people have died in America from gun violence since the Sandy Hook school shooting in December. By any stretch of the imagination, that is a hell of a lot of people. Slate has arranged the data into an interactive map that shows the date, age, sex and state, where gun-deaths have occurred. The point is, every day gun violence occurs in both Red and Blue states and an individual's opinion about gun laws and how to prevent gun violence is not limited to where one lies on the political spectrum.
For NTQ!'s take on addressing and reducing gun violence, check out Nathan Rothwell's editorial here.
