Hey, thanks Jon, for raising this:
This is surely one of the most upsetting stories to come out of the U.S.A. in quite some time. And I say this as someone who loves and admires the United States, for many of its achievements; who counts many Americans as his best friends (despite what some sceptics on here might presume); and who is dating an American.
However, this is MADNESS. And part and parcel of a subculture (which doesn't represent the majority of Americans, I think, but a large and vocal MINORITY, spearheaded by the NRA, which I regard as a
terrorist organization) that believes handguns in CHURCH, and handguns wielded by teachers in
elementary schools, are the best way to combat violence in society.
I grew up on a farm, in Canada. My Dad had a .22 rifle, and a shotgun - which were needed for various forms of pest control. My step-sister's son is a celebrated owner of a hunting store, and instructs prospective hunters in the proper use of firearms. Farmers and hunters need firearms. (Though they ought to be properly trained and certified in the USE of them; I don't think there is a country in the Western world that doesn't require a driver's licence, for someone who plans to get behind the wheel. . . why shouldn't similar training and certification be required of people before they own, and use, firearms???)
However - in a civilized society -
no one needs a handgun. And
no one sure as hell needs an UZI. Or a Bushmaster. Perhaps trained and licensed target-shooters ought to be able to own handguns, for the purposes of target-shooting: but beyond that, NO. And military-purpose firearms ought to be restricted, by law, to military uses, ONLY. PERIOD.
I don't think there is anything "complex" about this issue, whatsoever. I think the facts are as clear as a bright-blue Texas sky.
*The NRA is a terrorist organization, on a par with Hamas, or Hezbollah, which advocates death and destruction in churches and schools and wherever it can happen - as long as there benefactors in the gun industry, can make more money. They have long since ceased to represent ordinary gun-owners; they are highly paid lobbyists serving corporate masters, and every time there is a mass shooting (as at Columbine or at Newtown) - they generate more profits for their masters, by ramping up hysteria and inducing their partisans to buy
even more guns. http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-industry-funds-nra-2013-1
*The United States doesn't have the highest rate of gun-related violence in the ENTIRE world (it's safer than Honduras, or Uruguay): but it does have the highest rate of gun-related violence in the DEVELOPED world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...homicides-compare-with-the-rest-of-the-world/
(Most recent stats ~ though precise year-to-year comparisons are difficult, given differences in the gathering of vital statistics ~ gun deaths per 100,000 of the population are approximately 0.25 in the United Kingdom; 0.46 in The Kingdom of the Netherlands; 1.06 in Australia; 1.24 in Germany; 2.38 in Canada; 3.01 in France; and 10.30, in the U.S.A.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate
*After the massacre of innocents at Sandy Hook, there did seem to be a moment of national introspection, and reflection, in the U.S.A. Many people who had hitherto been silent, came forth and said, "This must never happen again." There was serious political discussion. The NRA even held its peace for a day or two. . . before it finally emerged to suggest that if only the teachers in that school had been armed with guns, everything would have been OK.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/nra-wayne-lapierre_n_2348277.html
And, of course - nothing happened, in terms of legislation or policy - because, to a certain large, vocal, and RICH sector of American society, the right to own guns and USE them in an unlegislated and unrestricted fashion. . . is an article of RELIGIOUS FAITH.
*BTW, here is a MAP of all the school shootings, since the Sandy Hook massacre, which is quite up-to-date:
http://www.vox.com/2014/6/10/5797306/map-school-shooting-sandy-hook
And here's an article, which offers comment:
http://mic.com/articles/76637/44-sc...ndy-hook-america-is-failing-miserably-on-guns
In the single year after the Sandy Hook incident,
Slate magazine's reporters estimated that there were over 12, 042 gun-related deaths in the U.S.A. More current figures, for this year, are available at the Gun Violence Archive Project:
http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/welcome
*Since 1968, more Americans have died because of gun violence, than all servicemen who died in ALL of AMERICA's WARS throughout history - beginning with the Revolutionary War.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...mmentator-mark-shields-says-more-killed-guns/
And statisticians now project that, by NEXT YEAR, the number of people killed by GUNS, in America, will exceed the number of people killed in traffic accidents.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...ths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.html
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As a naïve Canadian, I don't think there is anything complicated about this situation,
AT ALL.
*Despite wildly psychedelic mis-readings by Mr. Justice Antonin Scalia and others, I have no doubt that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment was never intended to let little girls play with Uzis ;-)
*All modern societies insist that, if you are about to get behind the wheel of an automobile - which is a great convenience, but can wreak death and destruction upon others, if not properly and carefully operated - one must have both certified training, and a LICENCE, subject to periodic testing and revocation, if one has demonstrated incompetence in the use of such a vehicle. So it ought to be, with firearms.
*Everyone who wishes to purchase or own or use a firearm ought to be subjected to thorough background checks, such as obtain in Canada and most other industrialized countries.
*Handgun restriction should be severely restricted, to only those collectors and target-shooters who are properly certified. The ownership of military-grade automatic and semi-automatic rifles ought to be prohibited, to the civilian population. (If you live in the suburbs - what do you NEED a Bushmaster for, anyway????????)
*Though it is unlikely ever to happen in my lifetime, I think the U.S. could benefit greatly from the example of the Aussies, who after a number of tragic firearms-related incidents, imposed more restrictive gun laws, and a buyback program to enable owners of prohibited firearms to turn in their weapons without penalty. This has worked well in Australia - a culture which is well-noted as a fiercely independent one - and greatly reduced the number of accidents and suicides involving citizens of that country.
Because, of all the tragedies involving guns in the U.S.A, perhaps the greatest ones are that parents who purchase a handgun to keep on their bedside table, as protection for their family, wake up to discover that one of their children has had a terrible accident. . . or that a family member who suffers from an undiagnosed depression finds it simply too easy, one dark and melancholy night, to open that bottom drawer, and put a bullet in his head.
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It's true. as the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people: people, do." Yes, that IS true. The same could be said, about automobiles.
But, by making it possible for people to purchase lethal weapons cheaply, and without responsibility; by making it possible for them to conceal them and carry them everywhere (including into schoolhouses, churches, and - worst of all, bars); and by making it possible for untrained and unskilled civilians to purchase and use military-grade weapons, whose only design and PURPOSE is the swift and efficient killing of OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. . . the various local, State, and federal governments of the
