A buyback is impossible. There's roughly 1.3 firearms PER PERSON in the :amerikkka:, so it is reasonable estimate around 430.3 million serialized guns (1.3*331M population). Keep in mind that if you use your own tools you can make one for your own personal use totally legally from an 80% finished receiver, and it doesn't even need a serial number AT ALL except for in a handful of states.
If we arbitrarily assume that Biden's arbitrarily determined policies will classify **half ** of guns as assault weapons or otherwise bannable semiautos, and then we extrapolate that these guns cost $500-$1000 each (a VERY conservative estimate in my opinion), you would need between $107,575,000,000 - $215,150,000,000 to do a "fair" buyback of stuff people bought legally in this hypothetical scenario.
Even if they decided to just MMT their way into this money (totally possible and very easy to do, but totally undermines the deficit myth) you have to wonder whether people would notice that they could have used that money to simply provide housing for people, or healthcare, for example.
The situation runs a lot deeper than the economic factors, though. It's honestly draining to try to articulate all of this, but basically guns are a part of culture in the US. Look at this picture someone uploaded to a Palmetto State Armory review of 30 round magazines as an example of what I mean (I redacted): https://i.imgur.com/szgz4VB.jpg.
I'm not sure what else to say about it. ...Chris Hedges (actually I think this was an excerpt from Ralph Nader lol) talks about how, if you walk into a bar full of country folk, you can hear extremely lucid and thoughtful analysis of things like sports statistics, as this is one of the few hobbies our society allows people who work themselves to death to express their creativity within. Guns is another one of those things. The set up, the customization, the investment of not only money, but also intellectual effort that many people put into their firearms is no different than car hobbyists or gaming computers.
I am not encouraging or advocating for it, but if dems sweep into office, especially considering everything that's happening right now, and try to tell people "that $5000 worth of gear you saved for two years to buy is illegal now", people are going to go APE SHIT
I'm just referring to deficit fear mongering, sometimes called the "Two Santa Claus" theory. Conservatives "spend" tons on tax breaks when in office and drive up the deficit. Then when they lose office, they get to blockade all federal funding for social programs and the safety net, and sometimes even cut them in the "service" of lowering the deficit.
Of course since our modern democrats are really just conservatives, they do this too. Hence Nancy Pelosi letting some members of the squad into certain committees on the condition that the House DEMOCRATS reinstated Pay-Go.
The Deficit Myth is the name of a new book from Stephanie Kelton that breaks it all down in layman's terms. Some people I know who are obsessed with studying heterodox economics say that, while it doesn't perfectly explain everything about how our economy and banks really work, it is an excellent primer.
A buyback is impossible. There's roughly 1.3 firearms PER PERSON in the :amerikkka:, so it is reasonable estimate around 430.3 million serialized guns (1.3*331M population). Keep in mind that if you use your own tools you can make one for your own personal use totally legally from an 80% finished receiver, and it doesn't even need a serial number AT ALL except for in a handful of states.
If we arbitrarily assume that Biden's arbitrarily determined policies will classify **half ** of guns as assault weapons or otherwise bannable semiautos, and then we extrapolate that these guns cost $500-$1000 each (a VERY conservative estimate in my opinion), you would need between $107,575,000,000 - $215,150,000,000 to do a "fair" buyback of stuff people bought legally in this hypothetical scenario.
Even if they decided to just MMT their way into this money (totally possible and very easy to do, but totally undermines the deficit myth) you have to wonder whether people would notice that they could have used that money to simply provide housing for people, or healthcare, for example.
The situation runs a lot deeper than the economic factors, though. It's honestly draining to try to articulate all of this, but basically guns are a part of culture in the US. Look at this picture someone uploaded to a Palmetto State Armory review of 30 round magazines as an example of what I mean (I redacted): https://i.imgur.com/szgz4VB.jpg.
I'm not sure what else to say about it. ...
Chris Hedges(actually I think this was an excerpt from Ralph Nader lol) talks about how, if you walk into a bar full of country folk, you can hear extremely lucid and thoughtful analysis of things like sports statistics, as this is one of the few hobbies our society allows people who work themselves to death to express their creativity within. Guns is another one of those things. The set up, the customization, the investment of not only money, but also intellectual effort that many people put into their firearms is no different than car hobbyists or gaming computers.I am not encouraging or advocating for it, but if dems sweep into office, especially considering everything that's happening right now, and try to tell people "that $5000 worth of gear you saved for two years to buy is illegal now", people are going to go APE SHIT
what is the deficit myth?
I'm just referring to deficit fear mongering, sometimes called the "Two Santa Claus" theory. Conservatives "spend" tons on tax breaks when in office and drive up the deficit. Then when they lose office, they get to blockade all federal funding for social programs and the safety net, and sometimes even cut them in the "service" of lowering the deficit.
The truth is that taxes don't actually function this way at the federal level. Federal programs are not funded by taxes.
Of course since our modern democrats are really just conservatives, they do this too. Hence Nancy Pelosi letting some members of the squad into certain committees on the condition that the House DEMOCRATS reinstated Pay-Go.
The Deficit Myth is the name of a new book from Stephanie Kelton that breaks it all down in layman's terms. Some people I know who are obsessed with studying heterodox economics say that, while it doesn't perfectly explain everything about how our economy and banks really work, it is an excellent primer.
edit: fixed some links and stuff