From PZ Myers:
I’d also add that 8chan is the holy scripture of its acolytes, a meandering screed that combines the mindless repetition of a manic prayer wheel with the ravings of the book of Revelation. Free Speech is its shibboleth.
Until law enforcement, and the media, treat these shooters as part of a terrorist movement no less organized, or deadly, than ISIS or Al Qaeda, the violence will continue. There will be more killers, more gleeful celebration of body counts on 8chan, and more bloody attempts to beat the last killer’s “high score”.
There’s a radical suggestion right there. If there were an online forum in which Muslim terrorists gleefully shared tales of glorious murder, urged each other to outdo each other in suicidal mass killings, and celebrated every time one of these incidents occurred, the FBI would be all over it, tracing communications and working to arrest the ringleaders. 8chan, though, is fueled by the frustrations of disaffected middle class white men, so no, nothing will be done. It will continue to fester and spread its toxins.
So, here’s my first radical suggestion.
I read the whole posting. Shutting down 8chan might be doable, legally — but then it or something like it would probably be back online very quickly, based in some jurisdiction immune to pressure from the US, if it could be located at all. And of course if the US government had the authority and power to shut down websites it objects to, then with the present composition of the government, you can just imagine what kind of websites they’d go after. I wouldn’t trust Republicans or anyone with that kind of authority.
Implementing the rest of his ideas would take at least three Constitutional amendments. Might as well call for a decree requiring the sun to rise in the west. As for criminalizing gun manufacture, it’s been possible for at least six years to make an AR-15 at home with components made on a 3D printer. All the necessary information is on the internet. If the government tried to remove it, it would immediately be reposted on sites based in places where the US government has no access.
Anyway, even stopping gun manufacture wouldn’t do anything about the 400 million or so existing guns in private hands. That would require large-scale gun confiscation, which would probably mean another civil war, likely bloodier than the original 1861-1865 one.
I realize that post was probably written more to vent anger than as a practical program, but it does illustrate what was wrong with Warren’s much touted zinger during the last debate, about running for President to talk about what can’t be done. It’s important that candidates for office be aware of the limitations set by the Constitution on the government’s authority, so they don’t end up promising things that would be undeliverable or even illegal.