Look, I get it...

There are millions upon millions of wonderful peaceful Muslims in the world who only want to voluntarily follow the tenets of their religion, mind their own business... and leave others alone. 

I do not hate them. I don't even dislike them. I would love to go visit their various home countries, eat their food, and experience their culture. 

The fact that there are good and peaceful Muslim people is a GIVEN, even among the most xenophobic of conservatives, and many are our countrymen. 

I get that. You don't have to reassure me of something I already know.

The true militant bomb-chucking jihadis on the planet are thought to only number around a million or so (out of 1.6 billion). They are spread all over the planet, and will always be with us, though we could crush a large portion of them quickly if we ever decide to. Right now we are just toying with them like a cat with a mouse. This is because we are good people and don't want to unleash the hell we would need to unleash on innocent and guilty alike in order to fix the problem. (If we hadn't knowingly bombed innocent people in WWII, the Reich and Imperial Japan would still stand. True war is terrible. You cant interview everyone you shoot at.)

but nevertheless... 500k to one million jihadis aren't the biggest issue, they are only the most pressing one. The bigger issue is the slow creeping spread of non-militant Islamic fundamentalism.

IF we extrapolate from the 2013 Pew Research poll of the Muslim countries, here is what we get. I am not claiming these numbers are completely accurate... (it depends on your faith in polling)... but we have to start somewhere.. so we will take the poll and assume it is somewhat representative of the muslim populations as a whole.

If it is... then...

237 million Muslims on the planet believe people should be executed for leaving the faith.
345 million support honor killings.
540 million believe sharia law should be the law of the land.
281 million believe in whippings and cutting off hands, etc. for burglary.
289 million believe in stoning spouses for adultery.

Just for reference, there are 310 million people, give or take, in the US.

Are those not extreme views? They seem fairly extreme to me. 

They make Westboro Baptist Church look like the harmless morons they are. WBC are assholes and their interpretation of Christianity is as f-d up as a football bat, but they haven't killed anyone yet... and if they ever did... it would be other Christians who would end them and salt the earth where their church once stood... where are the moderate, kind Muslims who should be reining in the crazies?

I figure the numbers above overlap... so... no... my problem is NOT with ALL Muslims... or even HALF of them.... not quite even a THIRD...

It is only with the 500+ million extremists who believe... say... that women should be forced to wear burquas... and NOT drive (OK I can see that maybe)... and that homosexuals should be executed.. 

Of course, Most of the polled people will never leave their home countries and don't particularly want to.

so... as terrible as it is... as long as they stay in their own sandbox and continue to shoot each other, they are like inner city gangs. They are a self-correcting problem for the most part, (though a hands-off strategy at this point means we just sit by and watch them decimate Christians, Jews, and others in ways that make Hitler seem positively humane. I have come to accept the fact that most people simply DO not care, and WILL not care, until it interrupts THEIR wi-fi signal.. )

For the west, expansion is the primary issue that needs to be dealt with... and they ARE committed to expansion.

There are a number of ways to take land and wipe out other cultures. The guys with the bombs are only the dumb and impatient ones. The smart ones will move the lines by moving in to Europe, having huge families on public support (while screaming racism if they are not supported fully).. taking over whole neighborhoods so the police fear to even enter them... and establishing sharia courts... and eventually vote themselves a caliphate. (All above board, mind you.)

This is what is happening all across Europe. Country after country are slowly starting down the path to cultural suicide. It will take some time... (OR there will eventually be a slapback that will make the third reich seem like a practice run)... but I dont personally see how we will ever get to that peaceful Utopia we all want if 540 million people absolutely refuse to play nice. (Not that America has always played nice, mind you, but we generally don't support whippings for dress code violations) 

Maybe I am wrong, but that is my concern.

If you are hostile to the entirety of Christianity because a handful of bakers wont bake a cake for a gay couple... yet defend Islam as a persecuted minority even though 500+ million people would summarily execute aforementioned gay couple based on the tenets of their faith... you might need to tune up your outrage-meter. 

So... here is a question...

   

                                                "Flower Power, 1967" - Bernie Boston

I like to think I am a man of good conscience. (Maybe not a patient man. Maybe not even a particularly friendly one, but that has more to do with my awkwardness in social situations and self-doubt than any ill will. )

But I am a peaceful man... and I hate murder and violence as much as anyone. Can’t we all just be happy and row our own canoes?

I assume that most, if not all, of my friends on either side of the political fence are people of good will. We only disagree about HOW to get us from here to some more peaceful place. It is a long way to Utopia, but we ALL agree we can at least make some progress.

Now... Let’s say, just for argument, that you convince me that making guns completely illegal to own would make the streets safer. Everest might be an easier hill for you to summit, but lets say that through patient and respectful discourse, you have made your point and won me over.

How do YOU suggest you proceed? Here are the facts on the ground as I understand them.

There are around 750,000 to 800,000 Law Enforcement Officers in the country if you pile them all together. This includes all the overweight donut eating desk jockeys, old men past their prime, and right wing second amendment guys who spend all their off time at the gun range. These are same LEOs who, (though many of them are doing the best they can every day), can not manage to make the tiniest dent in the flow of drugs, or even people, in to the country.

                                                                  VS.

100 million people (Including 22 million veterans from the toughest military the world has ever known)... with 300 million guns (Including a couple million... ahem... “assault rifles”)... and billions upon billions of easily hidden rounds of ammunition, which can stay on the shelf for 70 years or more and still fire just fine.

Last night, (the San Bernadino event on 12/2/15), I watched on my TV as 500+ freaked-out police responded to take down two or three committed but completely untrained gun persons. Ten cops should have been able to handle that situation.

If 1% of the gun owners took exception to being disarmed and decided to act, the police are completely outnumbered.

HERE IS YOUR QUESTION.

Even if I were to agree with you that we should get rid of all the guns... or just all the... ahem... “assault rifles”... (SPOILER... I do NOT)... 

Where exactly would you start? How would you proceed?

“I just know we have to do SOMETHING” is not an acceptable answer. If you just want to do SOMETHING to fight gun violence... then... I dunno... maybe you can dress up as cookie monster and ride a unicycle through a burning hoop while singing “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon. That is SOMETHING. Maybe it will work. We won’t know until you try.

Let’s talk about ACTUAL, actionable, strategies. 

How do you propose we disarm even say... 2% of the 100 million people who believe (IMHO correctly) that their right to bear arms supersedes even the constitution that clearly legally reinforces it. 

Remember, as a starting point, that you do not know for sure who owns a gun... what guns are owned by who... how many guns exist... etc. 

How do you do it? Do you just pass a law knowing everyone will just ignore it and that your law enforcement mechanism has no way of ever enforcing it on 1% of the population before the political winds change and the law is simply overturned? 

OK... pretend you’ve convinced me. Lets get rid of the guns. What is your first step, and what result do you think your strategy will produce? Show your work.