America's Gun Rift: Cultural Clashes, Suicide Surge, and the Overlooked Health Crisis
Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley dive into the fiery debate on gun ownership in America, unpacking cultural divides between urban and rural views on firearms. They spotlight gun violence stats, where suicides—especially among veterans—dominate, tying into a broader mental health emergency. Comparing firearm deaths to heart disease and car accidents, they call for balanced regulations and holistic public health approaches, pushing informed fixes that tackle both gun control and emotional well-being.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Introduction and Setting the Stage
- (00:46) Trigger Warning: Guns in America
- (01:59) Cultural Perspectives on Gun Ownership
- (03:06) Statistics and Public Health Concerns
- (03:47) Personal Experiences with Guns
- (05:59) Gun Ownership for Defense and Hobby
- (12:33) Mental Health and Gun Violence
📢 Solving America’s Problems Podcast – Real Solutions For Real Issues
Transcript
Here we go.
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:Ladies and gentlemen, we are back.
3
:Another episode, another great amount
of time together to discuss something
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:that many people find valuable.
5
:Many people find important
and many people find.
6
:What's the word, Dave?
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:Debatable.
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:It's in conversation.
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:Dave: I think it's
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:Jerremy: It comes up
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:Dave: I think it's just scary for
folks, like it's either, just like
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:super scary or I don't want to hear it.
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:Yeah.
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:What would you say I, I, not debatable
'cause a lot of things are debatable, but
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:what do you think the vibe is on this?
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:Jerremy: Yeah, abrasive, right?
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:It's yeah, Grumpy's a good one.
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:Dave: nobody goes, yay.
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:Jerremy: I think the, yeah, I
think the title of this per,
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:is perfect Trigger warning.
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:We're talking Guns in America, folks.
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:That's what we're diving into.
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:Dave: Guns, and more guns.
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:Jerremy: And I think really to just
have this discussion openly and just
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:talk about pros, cons as it builds
into, as always, my ultimate thesis,
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:which is keeping our school safe and.
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:Education reform in America.
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:Most importantly, make America rich.
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:Make America happy, vibrant, and healthy.
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:Do all those things you
make America wealthy.
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:But looking at this from a perspective
of, I will absolutely be fully
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:aware that I don't think that the
second amendment's ever gonna be
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:changed or like massively ratified.
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:So I'm gonna go down that route.
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:Kinda freedom of speech,
you're owning your guns.
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:Got it.
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:High fives all around.
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:Alright.
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:Dave: but, but all the, all of those
rights in there are also have limits.
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:I'm very much like a
free speech absolutist.
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:And even when I'm an absolutist,
I'm like yeah, there are certain
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:things you're like, ah, like we
gotta pump the brakes on some of it.
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:So every single one of those
rights in that constitution has
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:a, an interpretation around them.
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:I think that this discussion,
particularly on guns, is one where
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:it's okay, so where are these laws?
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:Where are these lines?
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:Where are all these, where, and
that's why I was saying, Hey, this
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:is a scary topic because there are,
certainly plenty of people in that I've
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:known that, that grew up with guns.
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:It's like a no brainer.
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:It's not something they even think about.
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:And then there are people who grew
up like me in big city suburbs
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:where it's no one had a gun.
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:It's and it was foreign.
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:And it took, me having to have people in
my life and learning about weapons and
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:getting familiar and comfortable around
'em because I wanted to be familiar and
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:comfortable around them before I was like,
oh, okay, yeah, these are not a big deal.
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:But I think a large segment of the
population are in, are in that realm.
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:Realm of, I don't know what
they are, but they scare me.
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Makes sense, man.
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:Firearms in the United States of
America embody a big core tension
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: between, like we're talking
about right now, constitutional rights,
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:and then you have, self-defense.
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:Then you have what you mentioned,
cultural traditions of ownership.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: And then what
about sport RK hunting?
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:Are you gonna hunt with bow and arrow?
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:How you gonna hunt?
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:And then heritage of like how people
grew up and what we've been doing.
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:And then you have, what about all
the significant public health risks?
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:Because it, I guess these numbers
aren't gonna be exact, exact what?
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:They're pre dang close over the last
two years, 44,000 deaths in the us.
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:A hundred thousand injuries.
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:And of those 44,000
deaths, 62% is suicide.
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:Dave: Yeah I, that deserves
like its own discussion.
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:So can we put a pin in that
and come back around to that?
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:Jerremy: Yeah
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:Dave: that was like a big piece of this.
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:All right we could do it now if you
want to take a little bit of a side
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:Jerremy: it's I think it's a number
that many people don't know or
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:haven't heard about, that's for sure.
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:That's a big one, man.
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:Dave: I think I wanted to roll back, like
I, I grew up in those suburbs, right?
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:So it was unusual.
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:It wasn't crazy to have guns.
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:Like there, my, my
family did not own guns.
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:But we had friends who did, and they
were hunting enthusiasts, right?
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:Like they, I grew up in Virginia, so back
when I was growing up, you could, you
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:could roll out like, a 45 minute drive
and you're out in the middle of nowhere
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:and you are definitely hunting deer.
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:So that was pretty common.
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:But you grew up in a
different part of the world.
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:You did, you grow up around
guns and hunting and ownership.
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:Was that different for you?
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Every day
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: it was all around me.
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:It was very normal.
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:It was quite open.
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:Most people or most families that I
know had one and yeah, we would hunt.
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:It wasn't necessarily like
specifically you had to hunt to live.
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:Wasn't that, although I guess it
kinda depends on the week every
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:now and then, but ultimately, yeah.
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:Very common.
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:Have 'em in the back of
your truck, have 'em in your
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:vehicles, have 'em in your house.
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:And it was something that
people had to talk about, right?
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:Gun safety.
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:My dad actually cared a lot about it.
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:One of the things he told me and
taught me it was, every gun is loaded.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: one thing, you gotta,
every single gun, if you see it,
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:you assume that it's not only
loaded, but it has a round in it.
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:That's how you have to treat it, even
if you know that it's not, 'cause you
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:put it, you know you're holding it.
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:It's nope.
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:Consider it to be loaded so you
don't point it at anybody ever.
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:You don't pull the trigger ever
unless you're fully 100% ready for the
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:repercussions of that trigger pulling.
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:And it was just a, yeah, it
was a conversation that we had,
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:man, pretty, probably once a
month as I was a younger boy.
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:And then he would, we would do
target practice and we would
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:shoot squirrels, with a 22 rifle.
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:And then we would start doing bigger
target practice and we'd go out into
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:fields and man, during Thanksgiving
and different holidays when a lot of
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:the family was around, it was extremely
common for everyone to go get their
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:shotgun or their pistol or their 22.
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:And we would all just do target
practice and see who had the best shot.
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:Dave: So what was the
flavor of gun ownership?
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:What I'm hearing is target
practice and some hunting.
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:So it was hobbyists and hunting.
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:Was there an aspect of also defense
or safety around it as well, or less
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:Jerremy: yeah, they're always.
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:Is for people.
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:Like I have pini of very pro guns,
friends and they will say that it's
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:for defense, but then they got 30 guns.
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:I'm like, okay, if it's for defense,
we're gonna shoot all of them at once.
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:Who are you really
protecting yourself from?
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:And a lot of gun owners, not all of
them, but there's definitely a percentage
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:that's probably more than 20, that they
always have this belief somewhere that
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:zombies civil war, something wild's
gonna break out and they're gonna be
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:prepared 'cause they got all the guns.
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:And I'm certainly not gonna say that's
not correct or it's not possible.
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:But there's always that flavor
of, that's their self defense.
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:Their self defense is, they're getting
prepared for civil war or zombie outbreak.
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:Dave: That, that came up in our
research where 30% of the adults own
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:like most of the guns, so there's like
a small handful of people that own
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:all of the guns, and then everybody
else, has this, will have one gun,
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:it's 40% of all households have a gun.
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:And then of that, like a third
of those own all the weapons.
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:Those are the guys that have 30 guns.
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:And I'm like, Hey, God bless you.
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:I so
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:That's
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:Dave: yeah.
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:I hear you on that.
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:I think, I think that there's, I
think there's the hobbyists, right?
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:I think that there's the
self-defense, which I think, you
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:know has some validity there.
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:They all have validity.
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:And then there's the the hunters
and they all seem to be a little
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:bit, a little bit different.
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:Like if your main gig is hunting, that's
a very, like you do it every now and then.
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:And, but I, there's very much
an urban rural, God, there's
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:that word again, rural divide.
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:It wasn't until I moved to Colorado
where I, almost everybody owned a
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:gun and no matter who they were,
and it was really like, it was a
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:no brainer because it was a tool.
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: When you're in, when you're in a
part of the world where it's you're not
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:gonna call the police and expect them
to be there in under an hour or two,
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:you're going to be in areas where there
are large animals that do not like you
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:or if they're scared will really make
you, really make you know how they feel.
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:And so there are, you just have it as
a tool not to not for self-defense, not
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:for anything other than this is a tool.
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:I'm in an area it's the equivalent
of, having an extra can of gas or
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:having a blanket in your trunk.
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:It's and you have a gun.
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:And that's really what it is because
when you need it, you definitely need it.
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:And they know when they need it.
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Dave: that's that urban, rural divide,
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:Jerremy: yeah.
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:Yeah, it's definitely there.
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:And I think those are some
really interesting, statistics.
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:Here's a couple more.
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:You have of gun owners, 107
million, adults who own guns?
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:Dave: that's a lot of people.
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:Jerremy: yeah, exactly.
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:A lot of people 43% of those are men.
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:22% are women.
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:Dave: Fastest growing wom women are
the fastest growing that came up.
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:Jerremy: Yeah, I like that
just makes sense statistically,
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:Dave: yeah, it says overall
female ownership holds it
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:20 to 25% as of last year.
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:But it's it's really been
driven by self-defense concerns.
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:Jerremy: no, yeah.
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:Now here's a, I don't know, I thought it
maybe be a little bit less disparaging.
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:45% of Republicans, 20% Democrats.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: Whoa.
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:Whoa.
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:Dave: That's also saying that
most republicans and most
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:Democrats also don't own guns.
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:That's another way of looking at it.
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:Jerremy: Which is all no, but
again, that's the disparity.
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:I would not have, I would've not
have guessed that your way I wouldn't
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:think that the majority of people
would not own guns in the US.
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:'cause you, when you talk about,
when you talk about guns in general.
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:You feel like every single
person is just pro army.
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:Like they got all the guns in the backpack
and they just carry 'em around all day.
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:'cause it just fires people up and
they just get, so don't take my guns.
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:Like that's just how everyone feels.
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:Like it just feels that way when
you post anything about this.
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:And we're gonna get tons of these comments
and tons of, that's gonna flood the
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:socials and the posts, which is great
and we wanna have these conversations.
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:But again, that's just
an interesting number.
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:I just thought it would be a lot more
from a percentage standpoint of people.
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:32% of adults own guns, which
is:
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:Dave: Which means 60% of
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:Jerremy: don't exactly, it's a minority
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:Dave: Like in every single demo, what,
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:Jerremy: every demographic.
229
:The majority doesn't own
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:Dave: There's no, there's nothing to say.
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:This is a gun owner in the United States.
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:There is nothing that says,
oh, that person's a gun owner.
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:Is it more likely if
you are in a rural area?
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:Yeah.
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:But that's it.
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:That's the, that's,
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:Jerremy: you're a, if you're a white
Republican man who lives in a rural area,
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:Dave: you're more, more likely than
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:Jerremy: more likely, but
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:Dave: but it's not a majority.
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:Jerremy: advantage.
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:Yeah.
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:It's, it is still not a majority
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:Dave: no.
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:Not at all.
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:Jerremy: but that's wild
if you think about it.
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:Dave: Yeah, you think you, in your
head you think, oh, that's a gun owner.
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:Nope.
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:You'd be surprised.
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:I, let's swing back to the what came up
in the initial research of this because I
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:use a lot of AI and because we don't know
much about this other than how we grew up.
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:And I think we have an idea about what
this is gonna be, but I was like, okay.
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:For for those listening to this we
do this big research thing and maybe
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:I'll do something different this time.
255
:I'll actually put a link to our
research in the show notes so that
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:you can take a look at what we're
looking at and the first batch of.
257
:Research I got was, I would describe
it as very heavy on the, we've,
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:we've got to do something about this.
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:This is like the craziest thing ever.
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:It's like how, the United States
is insane and we've gotta,
261
:take away everybody's guns.
262
:A little bit of an exaggeration,
but not it was as strictly
263
:through the lens of gun control.
264
:I'm like, okay, I get it,
that sounds reasonable.
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:It's something I've heard all
my life and it's like more guns,
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:more death and United States as
an outlier as far as gun violence.
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:And I'm like, okay, great.
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:But then I read the research
and really dug into it.
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:And the thing that absolutely
blew me away was how we count
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:gun, quote unquote gun violence.
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:And yeah, there are 44,000 people
every year that die from a gun.
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:And that is a scourge.
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:And that is something that is
an huge outlier in the world.
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:Like no other nation on
the planet has that kind.
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:None of them post those kind of numbers.
276
:But the key here is one thing, 62%
of those are suicides, and they
277
:are suicides of men, and they are
suicides of men in rural areas.
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:So if if you are a man in a rural area and
you take your life, you do it by a gun.
279
:So think about this, 62% of all
guns, of that 44,000, meaning
280
:27,600 of these are suicides.
281
:And I'm like, okay, then suddenly
we're not talking about guns anymore
282
:because, that's a whole different
discussion that we've gotta be having.
283
:It's like when we're talking about quote
unquote gun control and lowering that
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:number that has nothing to do with gun and
gun violence because, like men are going
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:to take their lives any way that they can
clearly, but that's a mental health issue.
286
:And none of the not one of the laws or
regulations, none of them address the
287
:main thing, which is mental health.
288
:Now look, there's still 36% of those
are homicide, which is $16,000.
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:$16,000, 16,000 people.
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:That is something that we
should be talking about.
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:But that is, those are completely
different strategies than we
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:have a clear mental health
problem in the United States.
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:That is, is bonkers.
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:Jerremy: You think you can fire up
that AI and ask of those suicides?
295
:How many are veterans?
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:Dave: Oh geez.
297
:I did.
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:Jerremy: Because I would
guesstimate that it's over 80%,
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:Dave: Oh, for sure.
300
:Jerremy: Of the suicides that happened
that 20,000 number, which is unfortunate
301
:Dave: Yeah.
302
:73%.
303
:73%.
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:Jerremy: I said 80, right?
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:That's 73.
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:Dave: This is what it is.
307
:I'll just read this out, huh suicides
account for 62% of gun deaths.
308
:The intersection of
mental health is nuanced.
309
:Most individuals with mental
illness are not violent, and that
310
:stigma can deter, help sinking.
311
:Oh, here's something I didn't know.
312
:There is something called
the 9 8 8 Lifeline.
313
:Have you heard of that?
314
:Like we all know what 9 1
1 is in the United States.
315
:It's hey, I need help right now.
316
:There's also a 9 8 8, and
that's for suicide prevention.
317
:So if you dialed 9, 8, 8, you are
connected to suicide prevention.
318
:And I, that is I was this years
old when I learned that we
319
:actually have a 9, 8, 8 number.
320
:So that's, that is something
for everybody to know.
321
:If they're, if you're in
trouble, dial 9, 8, 8.
322
:So yeah, for veterans, 73% of suicides
are firearms related for veterans.
323
:And if you are a rural man facing
isolation, peer led groups like
324
:Walk the Talk America normalizes
conversations and gun shops and ranges.
325
:So like there is a, an, like
there is, there are veteran
326
:advocate groups that we know.
327
:They really want to scale up 9, 8, 8.
328
:And ensure that it also
addresses these suicides with a
329
:majority of them being veterans.
330
:Bonkers.
331
:Like a diff it's a totally different
conversation if we're talking about
332
:veteran suicides, which is the most of
this and not one of the laws that we're
333
:talking about, as far as seize the weapons
334
:Jerremy: Ry is addressing
335
:Dave: is addressing that issue.
336
:Like that, like we're talking so
337
:Jerremy: That's a monumental thing, man,
because I, we're over here talking about
338
:solving America's problems and here's
America saying we have a gun problem.
339
:Everyone's killing themselves.
340
:Tons of people.
341
:Like you can't walk down the
streets of Chicago without
342
:getting shot at by a gang member.
343
:That's not what the data says at all.
344
:There is obviously, there, there
is murder in America and it's
345
:always unfortunate, always.
346
:It's never something that
I'd ever condone ever.
347
:However, the majority of gun
deaths are self-inflicted.
348
:Dave: Let's.
349
:Let's also put it in perspective.
350
:I'm not trying to minimize it
because I'm I'm thinking, one of
351
:our conversations that we're gonna
have are victims of gun violence.
352
:That is a thing.
353
:We were just at an event this
last weekend about, victims of gun
354
:violence and it is heartbreaking
355
:Now, 16,000 people.
356
:That's nothing to sneeze at.
357
:That is very serious.
358
:Those are homicides.
359
:That's 43 people a day, right?
360
:43,
361
:Jerremy: Yep.
362
:Dave: Heart disease,
that's:
363
:Look, we're not talking about
diet and exercise enough, but
364
:we will talk a lot about guns.
365
:Cancer is 1700 people a day.
366
:Like we're not, screaming about
smoking bans and screenings.
367
:108 people a day.
368
:That is almost, two, almost two, two and
two times more than two times than guns.
369
:That's car crashes.
370
:And we are not saying ban cars and
wear your seatbelt and more airbags and
371
:Jerremy: or more control of
who can drive and who can't.
372
:Or stricter laws about driving.
373
:I know that sounds wild and maybe this
is way off the beaten path and you know
374
:how I am with my tangents and my rabbit
375
:Dave: yeah.
376
:Jerremy: I'd sign off on a bill
tomorrow that said every car has
377
:to have a breathalyzer in it.
378
:You cannot drive.
379
:I would sign off on that tomorrow.
380
:Yeah, boo.
381
:You wanna
382
:You radical dictator
383
:Dave: boo.
384
:Would it also scan for weed?
385
:Would it be a weed weedly.
386
:Jerremy: Yeah.
387
:Yeah.
388
:Any, anything that inhibits
you from driving legally
389
:Dave: what your Tesla has
all sorts of cameras on you
390
:being like, you're distracted.
391
:Should it be like, oh,
you're a little boozy too.
392
:Jerremy: but you could have
legal limits like this there.
393
:The Georgia, or maybe not Georgia,
Florida, I think Georgia's a zero
394
:tolerance, but like Florida is like 0.08.
395
:So you, you could have, you can have
two beers and legally drive in Florida,
396
:unless you're like a hundred pound person.
397
:But that can be really easily created.
398
:But here's the reason
I'm bringing that up.
399
:Yes, guns is the hottest topic and
if you go to Australia, which I
400
:just came back from, or really any
other country, uk, South Africa.
401
:Bali.
402
:I'm trying to think of some other
places like, Canada, everyone's like
403
:America's just, everyone's rocking
around with a gun, just shooting people.
404
:That's the narrative.
405
:The gun deaths, again, we'll
always preface, no one wants,
406
:I don't want anyone to die,
407
:Dave: No.
408
:Jerremy: is one of the lowest categories
of humans passing away by a magnitude.
409
:Dave: is, we're down in
the shark attack category.
410
:Jerremy: Yeah.
411
:Sharks and hippos and dogs and guns.
412
:Like those four.
413
:Dave: do get injured.
414
:That is like a
415
:Jerremy: Yeah.
416
:A hundred thousand people.
417
:A hundred thousand people a
418
:Dave: that's a lot.
419
:And so we're not saying that we
shouldn't be doing something.
420
:We're
421
:Jerremy: dude, that many people
probably get injured from fireworks.
422
:Fire up Chad.
423
:GPT, ask, it's probably a hundred thousand
people get injured by fireworks also.
424
:So those are just people that
shouldn't own guns, right?
425
:Those are people that should have to go
through some type of screening protocol.
426
:I'm, for as conservative as I am, which
is not massively conservative, I'm just a
427
:little bit more conservative than you are.
428
:that's but that's okay.
429
:We're on the spectrums.
430
:We have conversations about,
that's what's amazing.
431
:The realization is I'm actually pretty
for yeah, we should not only should we
432
:have stricter laws around guns and who
can own them, by the way, mentally, right?
433
:Who should go in and get checks and
get, Hey, yep, you can still have a gun.
434
:I feel like you're perfectly okay.
435
:I feel like you don't
have a bunch of anxiety.
436
:I feel like you're not depressed.
437
:We feel like you're in a healthy
place where you can own some guns.
438
:Like Dave, I love you.
439
:I'd let you have all kinds of guns.
440
:I can have all kinds of guns.
441
:Like I don't battle depression.
442
:I don't battle anxiety personally.
443
:And so I really never, ever will fall
into that category where I feel not
444
:safe around guns personally, however.
445
:I also would sign off on the, let's make
cars so much more of a topic, because
446
:that has way more implications than
gun deaths and is way more dangerous.
447
:And there's way more people, how
hard is it to get a driver's license?
448
:And a car can do more damage
generally than a gun can.
449
:Dave: Yeah,
450
:Jerremy: That's ter man I, hold
on one, one jerk of the steering
451
:wheel and 10 people are massively
affected for the rest of your life.
452
:One little slip up with your arm, you
get a, you get something, ha whatever.
453
:One jerk of the steering wheel, boom.
454
:Tons and tons of people
are affected negatively.
455
:And if you are under the influence
and you damage or kill someone,
456
:you are going to prison, right?
457
:Dave: we've we know them.
458
:Jerremy: We know them.
459
:We met them, we've talked to them.
460
:You will go to prison if you injure
or kill someone in a car, if you're
461
:under the influence and shoot, even if
you're not under the influence you're
462
:gonna go to court and the prosecutor's
gonna really push for something.
463
:So the reason that I think I'm
bringing up and you're bringing up
464
:in such a ve way is we aren't really
discussing when people just go off
465
:of this, on this gun flip out we need
to have such crazy, strict protocols.
466
:I'm like, we can increase those protocols
and I'm actually for it because the
467
:people that need it, they can, bad
people are gonna get guns no matter what.
468
:We, no, no matter what policies we
create, bad people will do bad things.
469
:You can have whatever strict policy
you want, they're gonna go get
470
:guns illegally and they're gonna
go try to hurt people illegally.
471
:But they can do that with planes,
they can do that with cars.
472
:They can do all kinds of things.
473
:And heart disease killing 1800 people a
day and cancer killing:
474
:That's 4,000 people a day relative
to four to 40 people a day.
475
:That's 100 times more People every day die
from things that no one's talking about
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:in an aggressive format on social media.
477
:Dave: No
478
:Jerremy: those are the stats people.
479
:Dave: And it's, and it's a
highly specific problem, and we
480
:want simple, large solutions.
481
:Alex: Jerremy shares his rural
upbringing around guns as tools and
482
:traditions, while Dave contrasts his
suburban view where they felt foreign.
483
:But if ownership divides us so
sharply, what happens when regulations
484
:try to bridge that gap—next?
