Stop blaming mental health for gun violence. The problem is guns.

[Maedhros]

7. I'd say the problem is not guns, per se, but GUN CULTURE.

Canada has more guns per capita than does the United States, but only a fraction of the gun violence.

Our problem is that many Americans have elevated the gun to the status of a spiritual fetish: an inanimate object imbued with spiritual power, in this particular case "freedom." To take away their guns, or to restrict their ability to carry or use their guns as they wish, is a direct assault on their "freedom." This stifles any attempt at reasonable regulation, because one side of the argument is not reasonable.

The problem is that guns do not represent "freedom" - they represent the ability to kill another person. That this has become a central idea of "freedom" to so many people is frightening.