Is Anyone Else Surprised...

RotaryRex wrote:
Do the people that are moaning about this task line even watch the show?? The Simpsons has always come close to the wire in the past and aslong as the Simpsons is around it will take serious issue and put a spin on them. People need to take the comments for what they are serious issues with a twist of comic relief highlighting the stupid/funny aspects of these issues.

Seriously, what with all these whining gun nuts? The Simpsons leans left politically! Up next, water as wet CONFIRMED!

I consider myself independent but I've never understood the right wing agenda of being against more thorough background checks for gun buyers. We have a system in place to prevent felons from purchasing guns, but there's a glaring loophole in that anyone can go to a gun show or convention and buy weapons and ammo without the background checks as required by brick and mortar stores. There's absolutely no logic to that, and even less to the argument that this is a precursor to the government trying to take guns away from law abiding citizens. That's ridiculous. Ive asked for some of my right wing buddies to show me any evidence or proof of that claim...still waiting.

And yes, this quest line does toe the line and probably crosses it in a few cases, but again, the show is known for its satire and over the top political commentary, it makes sense the game would as well. That said, while the show does a fairly good job of balancing the satire of both political parties (after all, Quimby is a continuous jab at the Democrats), the game is leaning pretty blatantly to the left in terms of that political commentary. Still, the gun debate is a hotly contested issue and both sides have their valid points, but the right has failed to illustrate that point in a valid way when it comes to the increased background check debate. You wouldn't give a drivers license to a blind man, why would you give a gun to one who's mentally disturbed? And yes, the 2nd Amendment outlined the right to bear arms, but keep in mind at that time guns were single shot pistols and rifles. The founding fathers could never have forseen the ability to unload a 15 round clip within as many seconds on a crowd of innocent civilians. The whole debate is insane.

Another thing to keep in mind is that more Americans have been killed by guns (relating to homicides, suicides, or accidents) since 1968 than soldiers in every war in this country's history. So basically, almost 1.4 million Amercans have been killed by guns in the past 45 years, while less than 1.2 million American soldiers have died in every war or military conflict in 237 years.

That's a pretty eye opening statistic.

But how many of those were from legally owned guns as opposed to illegally possessed or acquired guns I bet a huge portion of that is from guns that were illegally bought and not from guns that were acquired legally.

FoolishDoughnut wrote:
There's a big different between being political, and being "in character". Is the game religiously political because you can make Ned preach, or that there is a Christian-oriented church depicted, but really nothing else?

Well there is the Buddhist Temple. ;)

All the gun stuff is just in character with the one-armed guy (can't remember his name) and spiced with a dash of the usual over-the-topness of the Simpsons we know and love.

Just relax and play the game; it's not going to turn you--or anyone else--into a lunatic of any kind.

Well said. I think some people just look for reasons to take offense when something doesn't fit their specific political, religious, or moral agenda. Which is too bad, as that approach to life invariably limits your outlook.

I don't care, I'm, thankfully, not American :)

WalleyePete83 wrote:
But how many of those were from legally owned guns as opposed to illegally possessed or acquired guns I bet a huge portion of that is from guns that were illegally bought and not from guns that were acquired legally.

From the statistics I found, about 1/3 of gun deaths are related to illegally possessed guns. In 2011 just under 32,000 people died from guns, and just over 10,000 were guns illegally owned or obtained. So about 1/3. That means 2/3 of gun related deaths occur with legally owned firearms, whether as a result of homicide, suicide, or accidents. Firearms account for 68% of all homicides, so therefore about 22-23% of homicides involve illegally owned guns.

That also means better background checks could eliminate a large portion of those homicide deaths.

My point is that either way, there's no valid argument against tighter and better background checks for gun buyers, not only to see if youre a felon, but have a history or family history of untreated mental illness or violent tendencies (which may not have resulted in a felony conviction but could still culminate into violence against others). I've heard arguments that knives, since they can be used to kill, might also have to be put up to the same standards. Another stupid argument. Knives are used in cooking, hunting, etc, a variety of uses other than proposed homicide. Guns are made for only one reason: to kill or maim, whether its in self defense or for illegal purposes. That doesn't mean they should be outlawed, as law abiding citizens have a right (both by our Constitution and a moral right in my opinion) to own and use guns for self-defense and hunting. Unfortunately special interest groups like the NRA have lobbied and paid off politicians (or threatened them politically) to vote their way instead of on the opinions of their constituents. What was it, like 85-90% of Americans agreed we needed tighter gun control and better background checks after the Sandy Hook shootings, yet the politicians didn't pass it? There's a problem when the vast majority of your citizens are ignored in favor of a special interest group, which recently happened again with the Monsanto voting. Our system is broken with corruption and greed, and no longer works for the benefits of its citizens, but corporations and special interest groups. This aspect of the gun debate is a perfect example of that fact.

cjryder625 wrote:
this quest is pretty much how people in the UK view the lunacy of the USA's right to bear arms.

+1 from Belgium. I can't understand what's the problem with background checks.

petergeenen wrote:

cjryder625 wrote:
this quest is pretty much how people in the UK view the lunacy of the USA's right to bear arms.

+1 from Belgium. I can't understand what's the problem with background checks.

+1 from Australia.

petergeenen wrote:

cjryder625 wrote:
this quest is pretty much how people in the UK view the lunacy of the USA's right to bear arms.

+1 from Belgium. I can't understand what's the problem with background checks.

About 90% of us Americans wanted it, so we're not all gun nut cowboys. Though I do like to wear spurs.

cjryder625 wrote:
this quest is pretty much how people in the UK view the lunacy of the USA's right to bear arms.

+another one from Australia

We had a gun massacre here in 1996 and gun control laws were tightened (and from all accounts at the time ther were stricter than the U.S. is now) and we increased the controls.

From my viewpoint, the quest is hilarious as it just shows the lunacy of those in the US re gun laws.