What should America do now?

17 December 2012

We have all seen and read about the tragic events in the USA.  This is not the first time something like this has happened there and this is not a problem for the USA alone, indeed in the UK we all remember Dunblane and then there was the recent Scandinavian incident.

In the UK after Dunblane we had a knee-jerk reaction that led to legally held handguns being banned. This left plenty of illegally held guns around and did nothing to stop gun crime, it served only to punish law-abiding target shooters and end an Olympic sport in the UK.  Even prior to Dunblane we had some of the toughest gun laws in the world and what we had was a failure by the police to apply those laws properly.

In the USA there will now be a chorus of people calling for guns to be banned.  The USA, of course, has a gun problem on a much greater scale than in the UK.  There is a constitutional right to bear arms and getting a ban will not be easy.  There are an awful lot of guns in private hands there.

But is banning them the right thing to do?

I am not sure.  Indeed I believe that such a ban will cause even greater problems without necessarily making anyone safer.

Guns are not the problem, people are.  A nutter will get hold of a weapon regardless of any ban.  Money spent on research on why some people turn to the mass murder of children might be better than spending it on attempts to ban guns.

I do not have any answers.  There are no easy answers.

• Guest 698 wrote:
  The strange thing about US gun statistics is that while the number of guns is forever rising, the number of gun owners is falling. So fewer people are collecting more and more guns.
  http://www.cnn.co.uk/2012/07/31/politics/gun-ownership-declining/index.html
  Perhaps a tax of $100 a year on the first gun then $1000 per gun thereafter might deter people from having multiple weapons.
• Guest 640 wrote:
  Yes indeed people are the problem. But that of course in itself is the problem wrapped up in a nutshell.They cant be trusted. The guns are inanimate objects as we know, but capable of mass destruction in the hands of these aforementioned problem people. If the guns weren't available so widely, the destruction would be limited...it wouldn't be eradicated completely but you couldn't for example do anything like the same level of killing with a knife. One young child was shot 11 times I believe. Awful. Blazed at with one of these automatic rifles. It has also emerged that his mother was one of those doom laden post nuclear holocaust types loaded up with weapons and supplies...he grew up in an unfortunate and disturbed environment or so it seems.
  
  Some of these shooter guys think they are in a video game..I'm convinced of it.
• Guest 655 wrote:
  I understand that automatic rifles are banned in the USA and any held in private hands are illegal anyway. Automatic firing assault rifles are not appropriate for either defending your home or hunting after all. This just demonstrates the complexity of the issue. In you were starting with a clean sheet of paper then you would have laws to prevent gun ownership except in limited terms but in the USA you do not have a clean sheet and are presented with a much more complex problem.
• Guest 710 wrote:
  There are bans on assault weapons and the carrying of concealed guns which seem to be country wide, although there is at least one place where sporting a weapon is commonplace, rather like the wild west.
  They could do in the US what we have done, and fence-off all schools and employ telecom entry systems, and add a rifle in the front office...just in case.
  The smart thing to do would be to reduce weaponry held in the hands of officials. Show initiative from the top. As things stand;one rogue gunman equals hundreds of gun totting law enforcement officers, the lock-down of large areas and the further danger of death.
  The comedian Chris Rock suggested that the gun laws could stay the same, but that bullets should be $1,000 each.
  Some countries are famous for clocks, for cooking and for corks around their hats, but has America enjoyed a sufficient age of peace to develop any trait other than the gun?
• Guest 710 wrote:
  I have just received the following from the USA...
  
  "A Note From Michael Moore
  Sunday, December 16th, 2012
  Friends,
  I am truly beside myself this time. I tried to ring a warning bell about this a decade ago. The disease has only gotten worse.
  But...you feel something different in the air across America tonight, don't you? People have had it and the outrage is loud and visible. I'm convinced the majority of Americans will now back strong gun control laws. And a better mental health care system. And perhaps a few are willing to look at the deeper issue of how this country officially sanctions violence as a means to an end.
  The NRA, for the first time ever, has gone silent. They've taken their Facebook page down. They know they can't show up in Newtown next week and stick it to the people there, like they usually do after one of these mass killings. Let's face it, the gun lobby tonight is on the ropes. Now is the time to act. We can't let this sad moment pass without a true response and a president willing to be a strong leader... "
• Brian Dixon wrote:
  possably inplode on its self.