"Guns don't kill people, people kill people."
But if we comparatively reflect on two elementary and primary school tragedies last week, we come to an unrefutable conclusion.
"It's easier and faster to kill people (and kids) with guns......muskets, no that's ancient history, military style assault rifles."
On the same day 20 children (6 and 7 years old) and six adults were killed in Connecticut a .223 Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle, 23 primary school children were attacked by a knife-weilding man apparently with mental health issues. All of the injured students survived.
So where do we go from here in the United States, where in our 330 million population, we have an estimated 300 million guns? According to the Brady Center there have been 95,151 people shot this year. Maybe a handful were hunting partners stung when the deer danced away.
The President called "meaningful action." Somberly, seriously is this a, 'Yes, we can' issue?
Two proposals make you wonder if we can come to pluralistic solutions to make us safer in our American gun culture.
(From PBS, Newshour)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, has pledged to revive a law banning assault weapons at the opening of the next session of Congress. Gwen Ifill talks to Feinstein about the chances a new ban will pass after its 2004 expiration, and how it might eventually make weapons like those used in the Sandy Hook shooting less available.
LANSING, MI — MLive readers are sounding off on a gun control bill sponsored by a mid-Michigan-based state senator.State Sen. Mike Green sponsored Senate Bill 59, would allow citizens with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms into previously “pistol free” zones — including schools — after additional training and an exemption provided by a local sheriff.
The state Senate and House of Representatives approved the measure on Thursday, the day before a mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
A spokesperson for the Mayville Republican says, considering the shooting, Green won’t discuss the bill until “the time is appropriate.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2012/12/connecticut_school_shooting_co.html
Blog here any ideas on reasonable common sense gun control legislation. Is it possible in the United States?
3 comments:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/opinion/what-drives-suicidal-mass-killers.html?hp&_r=1&
Are Mass Killers Terrorists?
NY Times opinion piece makes case that four American mass murderers have similarities with four Muslim suicide terrorists.
"Over the last three years, I have examined interviews, case studies, suicide notes, martyrdom videos and witness statements and found that suicide terrorists are indeed suicidal in the clinical sense — which contradicts what many psychologists and political scientists have long asserted. Although suicide terrorists may share the same beliefs as the organizations whose propaganda they spout, they are primarily motivated by the desire to kill and be killed — just like most rampage shooters.
In fact, we should think of many rampage shooters as nonideological suicide terrorists. In some cases, they claim to be fighting for a cause — neo-Nazism, eugenics, masculine supremacy or an antigovernment revolution — but, as with suicide terrorists, their actions usually stem from something much deeper and more personal."
Timing may be everythingd. As USA Today reports, Michigan's governor used some common sense and used his veto power.
DETROIT -- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have allowed gun owners with extra training to carry their concealed weapons in schools, churches, day care centers and stadiums.
In his veto letter sent to the Legislature, Snyder said the bill had a fatal loophole that didn't allow for those institutions to opt out of the new legislation and prohibit weapons from their buildings.
"I believe that it is important that these public institutions have clear legal authority to ban weapons from their premises," he said in his letter. "Each is entrusted with the care of a vulnerable population and should have the authority to determine whether its mission would be enhanced by the addition of concealed weapons."
Snyder did sign two other pro-gun bills Tuesday. One streamlines buying handguns, the other allows residents to buy rifles and shotguns from any state. Previously, Michiganders could buy rifles and shotguns only from contiguous states -- meaning Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and, because of their Lake Superior border, Minnesota.
When I look up the definition of terrorist I find this: a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism. But that does not really answer the question so I look up terrorism and find this: the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. If we use this definition I would have to say no the mass killing was not an act of terrorism in a sense for a political purpose. However, it was an act of violence that is unforgivable. When people think of terrorism they usually think of someone from another country that is intentionally attacking the United States out of malice. So this is a tough question to answer.
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