School shooting: but don't mention guns!

[Multivac]

This person was deranged he is not normal he is dangerous ...

So why was he allowed access to guns?

 

[rikzilla]

Exactly.

This is a genuine question, not an anti American rant: Why are many Americans so paranoid about their government, that they feel the need to be armed in case the government tries to become a dictatorship.

two words: FOX NEWS

 

[RemieV]

I've been following the various post-Newtown and the pro-gun advocates have convinced me that general gun control is very unlikely to make any difference as to whether this kind of spree killing is likely to happen. In any case, in the context of U.S. gun deaths, spree killings are very rare and a tiny proportion of annual gun deaths are attributable to spree killings.

If the government was somehow able to enact legislation and put into place measures to eliminate all school-based spree killings (which would presumably be a combination of locking down schools, aggressive proactive management of the mentally ill and gun control), it wouldn't have a measurable impact on the total number of gun deaths. It would also likely result in schools being like prisons (armed guards, high security, regular drills) except in this case the idea is to keep the bad people out.

If there is an appetite to reduce the number of gun deaths in the U.S. then it would make sense to try to address the largest causes of death (and those which are disproportionately high if the U.S. is compared to developed countries):

• Suicides - although the U.S. suicide rate isn't worse than comparable countries maybe there isn't too much scope for improvement here. Just getting people to switch method of suicide doesn't sound like a good idea.
• Accidental deaths - there are several hundred accidental deaths and many thousand non-fatal accidental injuries annually: Source. Reducing these could be a reasonable objective
• Gun-related homicides - these do seem to be very high

Accidental deaths and (heat of the moment) homicides don't necessarily require restrictions on gun ownership (though fewer guns would result in fewer deaths if the rate of death per gun remains constant) but better education and/or more secure gun storage may make a difference. Of course that would restrict the use of guns for home defence (a gun that's safely locked away with ammunition stored separately is useless for home defence) - but personally I'm not sure whether that's a bad thing. I've searched for, but cannot find, a study which compares the extra deaths relating guns being in the house against lives saved by having guns in the house.

(bolding mine)

There is no way to enforce this as a law.

 

[Multivac]

because civilians don't need guns

you need food and shelter and education and medical care.

You don't need a gun as a civilian

Well said. Thankyou.

 

[Multivac]

God,your self righteouness is sickening.
And we AMericans are wierd:We are extremly reluctant to give up individual rights.
And we AMericans also resent being told what to do by citizens of a foreign country.

Which is kind of ironic, as Americans aren't usually reluctant to tell the rest of the world how they should behave, or what kind of government they should have

 

[Multivac]

Fine. In the UK you can get a gun and a gun licence for shooting and legitimate hunting. We have no problem with that. Farmers keep guns for shooting predators and stray dogs etc. We allow guns for legitimate purposes

We don't allow civilians to own or carry guns as it's not neccesary.

It works fine. I think you should try it. I recommend it. After all, what do you really have to lose other than a right which seems very antiquated in this modern world.

But the evil goberment might try to take over. Or something.

 

[Multivac]

Colonials.....thanks of confirming what I suspected you think of Americans anyway.
Makes me very glad we kicked out the Brits in 1781....

You did indeed. Well done. Just what we would have done in your position.

Now we are not charging all over your country and annoying you, you don't really need the guns anymore.

Just making sure you don't come back.

I'm glad they kicked us out as well and, don't worry, we have no intention of coming back.

 

[Multivac]

This opportunistic idiot (I'd call him other names, but they'd be auto-censored out) thinks he has the answer to school shootings: Blame the separation of church and state

What a pile of crap.

 

[StankApe]

The blame lack of prayer people are wrong, the ban all guns people are wrong, the blame the liberals people are wrong, the blame conservatives people are wrong.

You know who is right? The blame Adam Lanza people.

 

[Multivac]

stundie worthy.............


Pray tell , inform us how your keen insight into the criminal mind would have you identifying these people due to gun illegality.

Because simply owning a gun would be illegal and he would be arrested or shot by armed police if seen carrying or using the gun.

 

[Multivac]

and pardon me for saying this, but anyone who doesn't live in the USA has no business telling us what we should or shouldn't be doing in regards to our constitution.

It's a shame the American government doesn't take the same attitude towards Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea.......

 

[Multivac]

I can't speak for Scarlett, but I don't live my life worrying that something like this is even remotely possible. It must be debilitating to live with such fear.

Agreed. In the UK the only time I have seen guns in real life, is on armed police at the airport. I don't think about guns, or worry about being attacked in my home, or shot by some passing lunatic.

 

[Multivac]

I DO think having an armed security officer at each school would be a good idea though....

Maybe excessive and expensive, but I notice none of these shootings happen at inner city schools where there is an armed officer on site.

Personally, I can't think of anything that says "our society has failed" more than needing armed guards in a school.

 

[Multivac]

I'm not talking about allowing anyone to do anything. I'm expressing a view that a nation where the (perceived) need for self defence is so prevalent, is somewhere I'm glad I don't live.

+1

 

[Multivac]

On behalf of the American people, I thank you.

BTW, it's spelled "defense" not "defence".

[EDIT]
Apparently it is spelled that way in gun free Australia.

It is "defence" in the UK too.

 

[Dcdrac]

the english I leaernt has defence spelt with a "c"

And no civillian needs in an semit automatic or automatic weapon.

 

[Multivac]

In terms of our repressive country, you might want to have a look at these indices of freedom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_freedom_indices

The political freedom index is quite telling, with Australia judged to have a full democracy, while the US has a flawed democracy.

The UK comes out of that pretty well, but not as good as Australia.

 

[Dcdrac]

It strikes me as odd that someone can only feel secure if they have access to a minature arsenel, the fears that drive that desire msut be incredibly intense.

 

[The Don]

(bolding mine)

There is no way to enforce this as a law.

We have this law in the UK. Here is the guidance from the home office regarding gun storage:


http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/police/firearms/security_leaflet.pdf?view=Binary

Of course that doesn't stop people having secure storage and just leaving their firearms lying around the place - that's where the education element would come in.

 

[Multivac]

quit projecting your values on us, in fact mind your own business.....It's rude

Perhaps I'm in the wrong place, but I thought this was a discussion forum? That means that people will have varied views and opinions on a subject, which they wish to share with others.

Telling people to mind their own business is rude.