You don't mean that though. No liberals do. That's why conservatives won't budge on this issue, because they know whatever ground they give will never return and liberals will always be pushing for more.

Conservatives won't budge on this issue because they're cunts. They don't genuinely believe the "mental health" excuse and will actively fight any healthcare reforms because they will cost money that they could be shoving into the pockets of the lobby groups that own them.

The entire purpose of the line is to create the illusion of being reasonable by pretending they'd entertain the idea of gun control if only these damn progressives would meet their impossible requirements first.

We are at least 100 years from a mental healthcare system that is capable of quickly and cleanly curing "I want to murder people", let alone one that is free and available to everyone (even if they don't want help).

There's 20,000 mass shootings and 100,000 preventable deaths between us and that bullshit goal but Republicans couldn't care less. The voters will have their guns and the politicians will have the $1.6 billion dollars the lobbyists slipped in their pockets.

Even with the increases in mass shootings, the vast majority of gun violence is down to crime, which mostly affects poor, non-White people living in urban areas.

That's not how their cult works. When children survive school shootings and speak out against ineffective gun laws, the pro-gun community unite to spit on them.

Not only did a legal gun owner put them through the most traumatic thing they'll ever experience, more legal gun owners queue up to abuse them for having the gall to be traumatised.

This issue is really complex

It genuinely isn't, the pro-gun community just works hard to ensure the issue is so wrapped up in bad-faith bullshit that no progress is made.

They've spent decades lying and pretending they alone know the "one true cause" of gun violence, finally settling on "mental health" so they didn't have to give up their video games and rock music either.

The whole "cause vs symptom" argument is nothing more than a way to waste more time. They're fully aware that not only does it not matter, it's not even how doctors work -- they'd lose their license immediately if you turned up with a clearly broken arm and they denied you painkillers because "pain is just a symptom" and insisted on checking "the real cause" wasn't menopause or feline aids first.

So fuck em.

Introduce firearm licenses like the rest of the world, requiring a background check, safety training, mandatory safe storage, gun registration and actual waiting periods.

Make it a felony to buy or sell a firearm without one. Confiscate the guns as evidence of a crime then try them in court. They get their due process and when they're convicted, they lose their second amendment rights just like every other convicted felon.

If they'd rather follow through on their threats to become domestic terrorists than demonstrate their ability to be the "responsible gun owner" they claim, they can be gunned down by police like every other domestic terrorist.

Since 80% of mass shooters are already legal gun owners, I'm not even sure we'd notice.