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[i]In the 17 months since 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adult staff at Sandy Hook, more than 70 further shootings have occurred on US school campuses.[/i]
It's not often the news surprises me, but 70 shootings at schools in just 17 months! Madness.
But the guns are for protection!!!!!
From that link [i]"...90 gun deaths that happen in our nation every day..."[/i] 😯
Makes you wonder why they make so much fuss about a couple of office blocks having aeroplanes flown in to them, when there's the same number of people being shot every month.
The only American solution is for students to carry guns.. they would then be able to shoot the crazy ones.
Truly sad.
Don't give nutters guns... and as it is not that easier to tell who they all are just give no one any guns seems the best solution.
Americans will no doubt respond with an NRA sponsored "guns for todlers" policy or something.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27562743 ]you can't say it any better than this[/url]
Michael Moore, he of 'Bowling for Columbine', commented the other day:
[i]With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.[/i]
The reason behind the shooting seems to be utterly bonkers too (not that there would ever be a sane reason) - apparently the lad was in a strop because he wasn't a hit with the ladies, and felt that it was unfair that he was still a virgin at the age of 22. :/
Talk to a lot of highly educated people in the USA and "But the guns are for protection" they take this view. Quite a few of the people who work for my company in the USA come to work with their guns.
That is the issue really guns are so ingrained into American society they seem to find it incomprehensible to think they are not a good idea.
Much the same as cars here really. Too many idiots give the responsible majority a bad name.
Much the same as cars here really. Too many idiots give the responsible majority a bad name.
😆
Back to the story though, he must have been seriously off the handle as he stabbed to death his first three victims in the same house.
The US is in an impossible situation. Having so many legal / illegal firearms in circulation means that even if the NRA and pro 2nd amendmant politicians are marginalised and gun control is legislated for, only the law abiding will comply, leaving them in a worse state than now. Where can they go from here?
you can't say it any better than this
WOW and I agree heart breaking
Historian Lucy Inglis has written a very good article on this case:
https://medium.com/p/eaee5b1fe1f3
Most Americans think the current situation is crazy too. None of my American relatives have ever owned a gun, for instance. The problem is the gun lobby is very powerful, and no-one knows how to de-escalate the situation - people buy guns for "protection" so criminals go armed, so more people buy guns for protection.
Give your kids the thumbs up to have/do something they want to and then later try to tell them they can't have/do it any more. See what happens.
Owning a gun is considered a right/privalage and no one likes to have their rights or privalages removed. Particularly if they are a well balance and lawfull individual who is respectful of those rights.
"apparently the lad was in a strop because he wasn't a hit with the ladies, and felt that it was unfair that he was still a virgin at the age of 22."
I'm only reading the papers the same as you, but that is a slight misdescription of the man's mental state.
apparently the lad was in a strop because he wasn't a hit with the ladies, and felt that it was unfair that he was still a virgin at the age of 22. :/
Several papers running with photos from his Facebook / Twitter feeds showing his lavish lifestyle. More than one are taking the time to point out that the photos of him enjoying First Class on a plane are on a Virgin flight. Classy reporting....
Obviously a very damaged individual. this is a sad sad story and I don't think has any bearing on the American gun laws - he probably would have killed just as many people if he was in a different country.
There appear to be many failings that lead to this incident, not least his mental state. Blaming it on the gun laws loses sight of this real issue.
From the Independent
President Obama claimed at least one small triumph last year, when he signed an executive order lifting a 1996 ban on federal research into gun violence.
Really, they actually banned research into gun violence? I knew things were bad but that really is unbelievable.
I don't think has any bearing on the American gun laws - he probably would have killed just as many people if he was in a different country.
Really, in most countries he'd have no access to guns....
Obviously a very damaged individual. this is a sad sad story and I don't think has any bearing on the American gun laws - he probably would have killed just as many people if he was in a different country.
Rubbish.
Guns make it easy to kill lots of people very quickly. In the UK he would have found it very difficult to get hold of any sort of firearm, and much more likely to be stopped before the victim count increased. You also need to consider that mass shootings / killings is predominately (although not exclusively) an American thing. Michael Moore quote above seems to sum this up quite well
The US is in an impossible situation. Having so many legal / illegal firearms in circulation means that even if the NRA and pro 2nd amendmant politicians are marginalised and gun control is legislated for, only the law abiding will comply, leaving them in a worse state than now. Where can they go from here?
By growing a pair. Ban the ownership of guns, the sale of guns and the sale of ammunition. Enforce the law and accept that it will take many years to resolve the problem but you have to start somewhere.
[i] In the UK he would have found it very difficult to get hold of any sort of firearm[/i]
And his next problem would be then actually getting any ammunition.
This is interesting:
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#page/indexes/global-peace-index/2013/GBR,FRA,ESP/OVER
Much the same as cars here really. Too many idiots give the responsible majority a bad name.
The UK has one of the worlds best safety records on the roads. Yes we have some problems but we are a leading example of what is possible in terms of road safety.
I think we all accept that America needs to take action on their gun laws. But the first problem is to reduce the level of influence that the NRA and Gun manufacturers have in America and in it's Legislative procedure.
That means the American public voting for politicians who have an anti-gun stance - and that won't happen because those politicians don't have any money to campaign because they're not supported by enough people.
The American people have the American laws THEY want!
I have - had - a friend on Facebook, American chap, very clever, very funny, but a gun nut and you absolutely could not convince him that there was any merit whatsoever in banning guns. Shootings in schools? Give the teachers guns! Logic like that I couldn't argue with.
The issue in the US is not just gun ownership its the amount of money and investment that is not available for critical mental illness care. There are a lot of people who go undiagnosed and untreated that go on to do harm both to themselves and others.
If you're interested in seeing firsthand experience of life in The Land Of The Free then check out LiveLeak for US police brutality videos.
America has a culture of machismo. It's all over the place. Even looking at kids' movies and TV, there's plenty of instances where the 'goodie' punches out the bad guy even in strongly family orientated films.
Back to the Future is a good example.
America has a culture of machismo. It's all over the place.
Yep, within 24 hours of landing I was wandering around in Camo gear with a loaded AR-15, just to buy a pint of milk....
[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2655/3972924986_86b4e12cae_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2655/3972924986_86b4e12cae_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/745hbE ]Trying to fit in ;-)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/75003318@N00/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
^^ erection just out of shot
USA is bonkers, in some states women can buy guns from a supermarket but need a doctors prescription to buy a vibrator 😯
It's pretty bonkers that it's more acceptable to show violence on TV than sex.
How many times an evening does a channel show violence and murder, compared to the number of times they show people copulating? *
One involves pain & suffering, the other is fun.
We're strange, I tell you.
*I'm excluding those special channels & interweb porn
One involves pain & suffering, the other is fun
Some religions have got it wrong then.
Kill the blasphemers!
But no naughty stuff - its naughty.
The American gun situation is just simply barking.
cloudnine - MemberThe only American solution is for students to carry guns.. they would then be able to shoot the crazy ones.
IIRC an NRA spokesperson made a similar statement after the Aurora cinema shooting. You couldn't imagine the carnage!