Massacre At Primary School In Usa

[magsmay]

Just heard this on the News - heartbreaking I am in tears - those poor little children and those devastated parents. What is Humanity coming to ;-(

[naomi24]

//How many people posting here have a gun//

I do. We have two in our house.

[emmie]

i also see more armed police officers than ever, i did think it might have been to do with the security surrounding the Olympics, but i have seen plenty in recent days.

[ummmm]

It's attitude. I could get a gun; if I wanted, we're not programmed that way. We're not programmed to shoot people.

[daffy654]

I know there have been occasions where I am very glad I do NOT have access to a gun for fear I may have actually shot someone in anger.

[LazyGun]

This is obviously a tragic event - mass killings of children and their teachers is truly shocking.
It would appear that the young man responsible was unbalanced, and as others have pointed out, being mentally unbalanced with access to guns compounds the damage that can be done.

I think there probably are more americans now who would like greater restrictions on gun or ammo ownership, due in part to the way these shocking events keep repeating themselves, but I doubt they are yet in a place where they would seriously consider repealing the right to bear arms - its part of their psyche, their DNA.

It cannot be just an issue of the availability of guns though - Some documentary I watched made the point that there were at least as many guns per head of the population in Canada, but deaths due to guns were nowhere near US levels. There is something in the combination of current gun laws, the amount of ammo you can have available, and the laws and mentality of US citizens that combine to such tragic effect.

Cannot remember who is was, but some commentator outside the US recently made the observation, flippant but grimly ironic in its timing, that "the right to bear arms makes as much sense as the right to arm bears"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

[ummmm]

"the right to bear arms makes as much sense as the right to arm bears"

Say no more!

[naomi24]

The thing is, people with ill-intent don’t usually acquire guns through legal channels – they don’t apply for licences and undergo interviews with specially trained policemen – so whether guns are legal or not, they’ll get hold of them if they want to.

[sandyRoe]

The gunman at Dunblane, and the one in Huntington, did get their weapons through the proper channels.
It's the madmen with legally held weapons who are the greatest threat to innocent people. Guns in the hands of gangsters are usually aimed at other criminals.

[naomi24]

I said 'usually',

[RATTER15]

I no longer have a gun, I used to have up to five guns as part of my work, I once very nearly used a gun to prevent an attack on my step son when two heavy weights came to my door looking for him, I was very aware that I could have legally (probably) shot both of these guys in self defence and I did consider it, thankfully I dealt with it by persuading them that he wasnt home, it was a very close call! I dont have guns any more as I prefer to save life not take it.

[naomi24]

Ratter, I shoot nothing more than clays.

[sandyRoe]

Naomi, I don't see your point there. People with ill intent do usually acquire the weapons through legal channels. I can't think of a major outrage on the British mainland where the weapons weren't legally held.

[LazyGun]

Just finished reading an article in the Guardian talking about the US attitude towards gun control.

It seems there is an increasing polarisation of attitudes in the US - You do have various initiatives and activists wanting to reform the law - Mayors against Illegal Guns, for example - but , and perhaps surprisingly, various opinion polls suggest that support amongst the public for increased gun control is at an all time low.

Smith and Wesson reported a massive increase in sales in the last quarter alone - up 48%.

And there are several states in the US where they have either enacted, or are wanting to enact various amendments to the law to make it easier to obtain a gun, to carry a concealed weapon in a public place like a bar, even to take a gun into work....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/14/obama-meaningful-action-newtown-shooting

[naomi24]

sandyRoe, I don't know, so I can't comment on that. I just know that in general criminals don't apply for licences.

[RATTER15]

Naomi, I assumed they were your husbands guns actually, I didnt really imagine you as the hunting sort, whatever sort that maybe.

[naomi24]

I have my own gun Ratter - but you're right - hunting is not for me or my husband. Hate it.

[anotheoldgit]

Yes very, very tragic news, and my heart goes out to all those who have lost much loved ones, be them children or adults.

One ABer wrote /// Ive been around guns all my life and I have never noticed this type of attitude here. It really is scary stuff. ///

To that I must agree, it matters very little of the laws regarding guns, as has been said if a person wants to get a gun they can easily get one.

It is not the gun, a gun is a static piece of ironmongery, it is the person who picks it up, points it and presses the trigger.

We have to look at the mind-set of such people, and why these types of massacres are more prevalent in the USA? Could it all be down to the huge ethnic mix of the population?

They do say that when the US sneezes, and Britain catches cold, I only hope that this is not the case.

[sp1814]

AOG

You asked:

and why these types of massacres are more prevalent in the USA? Could it all be down to the huge ethnic mix of the population?

How could the racial make up of a nation be a contributing factor?

[Goonermatt]

"A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of the guns used in the attack may have belonged to Lanza's mother, who had legally purchased five weapons."

http://news.sky.com/story/1025795/us-school-shooting-gunman-kills-27

The mother, a teacher, whose son by all accounts suffered some kind of personality disorder, kept guns in the house?

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

/// How could the racial make up of a nation be a contributing factor? ///

Various nationalities bring in their own crimes, take the gangster era in the USA for example, mostly of Italian and Sicilian descent.

And this taken from a piece regarding crime committed in the US by foreign and American born Mexicans.

/// All this applies to both the foreign and American born Mexican. Broken homes, liquor, loose morals, are also contributing factors. All of these, and other factors, are the cause of the Mexican youth remaining within their own racial groups, resulting in what is now practically gang warfare—not only among themselves but also between them and the Anglo-Saxons ///

I could provide other examples, but I think you can get the idea.