I may not be an American, or live in
the land of the free, but as a global citizen, I can't help but pass
comment, about yesterdays slaughter of twenty school children by
another gun toting crazie. Surely it is time for the NRA (National
Rifle Association) and those Americans who believe in the second
amendment and right to bear arms to take some sort of collective
responsibility for the actions of those who have abused this right,
by taking the lives of the innocent.
I'm not gonna list all the massacres
that have happened across the united states over the years, and yes
for every maniac, there are probably a hundred responsible gun
owners....but I do wonder Just how much freedom can be endured? and
is it found down the barrel of a gun?
6 comments:
That's a sane reaction, Nuzz. The argument over here to that is "If gun were outlawed he would have stabbed them to death, " but I'm not sure I buy that myself. The other argument is, no matter how much you regulate or even if guns were outlawed, maniacs would find a way to do something crazy. My wife postulates it's not our gun laws that need fixing, but the way we handle the insane and mentally disturbed. I'm not sure myself and only know it's a damn shame.
Good lord you're a clueless twat. And loud about your ignorance too yet. Each of these massacres were at "gun free" zones. Law-biding citizens giving up the right will not make guns disappear. Cocaine exists, does it not? Chicago has the strictest gun laws, yet the highest gun crimes per capita.
Yours is an absolutely a common knee-jerk reaction, but an illogical one.
I did think/hope/wonder if this post might cause a reaction among my readers from over the pond.
Yeah it may have been a knee jerk reaction, so what? Perhaps that just means it's a common sense logical reaction, simplistic maybe, but....1) Guns are designed to kill. 2) People use guns to kill. Therefore People + Guns = Death. Whether that’s on the streets of Chicago or in a school in Connecticut.
Any society that has given its citizens the means to kill as a right, is gonna have problems. Britain has strict gun laws, but there have been incidents of massacres; Hungerford, Dunblaine, so really it's like what you said Matt; it doesn't matter what legislations are in place, if someone wants to kill, and has the will, they will kill! But I believe that the right to bear arms has become engrained and enshrined in the American psyche, good old mom’s apple pie and a Magnum 44. The gun has become normalised, it's just like owning a car. The will to kill becomes more likely especially if there are underlying and unaddressed psychological issues, and with easy access to the means. BANG! If American politicians want to take 'meaningful action' about guns, then they first need to take responsibility for their part in maintaing the levels of violence in their citizens lives, from The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the violent films and video games.
The only reason I can see for citizens being armed is if they have to defend themselves against their own government, but if freedom is found down the barrel of a gun, then it is maintained through the barrel of a gun. A nation held together by fear and the need for protection, from what? Itself! Well after the shootings at the school, the answer would appear to be yes!
I'm sure there will be no changes to gun laws in America, and if there are, they will be slight. Guns and politics go together like Tom and Jerry, and those with the real power i.e. the money are the organisations with the guns, i.e. the NRA, and the politicians fear upsetting these people, in case they withdraw their political support. But hey what do I know, I'm just a clueless twat!
I think calling you a twat is not just knee-jerk, but jerk in general. Ian's comment is just as common and reactionary as yours might be, but the key to discourse is civil behavior, I think. So fuck his aggro nonsense. I'd be surprised if he was American, as "twat" is a kinda limey word to use. (No offense.)
Maybe not a twat, but clueless. If you choose to give up your liberty for safety (as we have done, since 9/11) you deserve neither. If you take away all guns these people will still perform their acts of hatred. Just using another method. Hell, on Friday a guy in China attacked a school using a knife. Just think of the damage that could be done using regular household chemicals to make a bomb or poisonous gas. This could be worse than with a gun. I think that a better question is how do we correct the moral rot in our society that seems to fuel these events. I have an 8 year old daughter, so these thing do matter to me. But giving up my liberty of gun ownership does not make me feel that my daugher is any more secure. As far as the comment about defense against our Government. I can only imagine the control they would have on us if they could. I guess my point is you have the freedom to own a gun or not. If you do not want to own a gun, that is your right. But do not force your ideals off on me. I am only 39 years old and the amount of civil liberties that I have lost in my lifetime just amazes me. It seems this trend is accelerating. I believe this is how the powers to be want it.
Noooooo! Don't take away our guns! Don't take away our freedom! Don't take away our right to defend ourselves against alien invaders!
It's quite simple: make all private ownership of guns illegal and then anyone who's got one after that clearly wants it for the purpose of perpetrating a crime. If you want to use guns for sport shooting, join a gun club and all the guns can be stored there. Would this really be such an infringement of your personal rights?
Why can't some Americans see the connection between gun laws and gun deaths. Eighty percent of violent crime in the States involves firearms, and there are about forty times more deaths by firearms than in the UK, where there are strict gun controls.
And yet there are now people saying teachers should be armed!?!?! That's a good idea, fill the school with guns, that'll stop people getting killed!?! What kind of future would that bring? Oh, yes, the wild west... That's obviously what these people want. Just live or die by the gun on a daily basis.
Obviously a complete ban on all firearms won't stop people using them if they want to, but at least everyone will know which side of the fence they sit.
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