Last night, at the opening night of The Dark Knight Rises, a gas-masked gunman opened fire at a theatre full of people, killing twelve and injuring dozens more. From CBS:
The violent and chaotic scene erupted about 12:30 a.m. local time as the suspected gunman, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, stood at the front of one of the Century 16 theaters at the Aurora Mall where the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises was playing. Witnesses reported that the gunman entered the theater through an emergency exit door and threw a gas canister before opening fire.
He reportedly had a shotgun, two pistols, an assault rifle, gas canisters, and potentially explosives in his home.
This is a horrible tragedy. Children as young as three months old were sent to the emergency room.
What I don't understand is how it can possibly be alright for a civilian to have access to these kinds of weapons. I don't understand how these shootings can happen over and over again, and we have state governments who seem to have their hands tied by gun lobby groups like the NRA. It is outrageous. Innocent people are being mowed down because it is incredibly easy for anybody to acquire and carry assault rifles, handguns, and even automatic weapons. In some states, anybody can walk around with a concealed weapon. In other states, you can shoot somebody if they are on your property. I live in Canada, but even here there are clearly enough guns to go around.
Did you know that the United States was reported to be the most armed country in the world, with 90 guns for every 100 citizens? There are 270 million firearms in the U.S. alone as of this report, which means it is almost 300 million now. I hate to use an individual tragedy to make a political point, but to me there is a direct relationship between the high volume of gun ownership, easy access to weapons, and widespread gun violence. In the U.S. in 2011, there were an astounding 12,996 murders, 8,775 of which were caused by firearms. America leads the world in school shootings.
Violent incidents like what happened in Aurora, Colorado exist within a larger cultural, legal, and social framework. If we continue to ignore that framework and the root causes of this violence, we do so at our peril. My heart goes out to the victims of this horrible incident in Colorado, I hope the perpetrator is locked up forever, and I hope that we really consider what steps we need to take to stop this violence from recurring again.
Originally posted on goodmenproject.com.
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Building up the nanny state even more to protect people in a bubble from the world isn't the answer.
Surprisingly, criminals don't follow the law and sweeping gun bans have only ever been promoted and carried about by some of the worst genocide in human history.
Try again.
The Canadian problem is a porous border with guns being shipped in along with meth and coke. Did you think it was just contraband cigarettes crossing through first nation territories?
Gun control at least in terms of automatic weapons and hand guns will only be effective by putting the squeeze on the source. How many more people would die from prescription drugs if licences to sell were handed out as easily? Make it a free trade issue at the next round of NAFTA.
All that happens with the banning of firearms,as one recent commentator stated is that ordinary citizens are deprived of the means to defend themselves.
A final comment, yes the United States does have a high murder rate, but most people forget (or don't realize) is that after China and India, the U.S. (with a pop. of 310 million) is the third most populated country in the world. For comparison, the pop. of the WHOLE European Union is something like 450 million. A large population equals a large crime rate.
Yes, I actually believe in the maxim "that people kill people." A firearm is an inanimate object. It can be used for good or evil. It cannot move on its own; it can not just jump and start shooting people. It can only do that when a human being picks up the gun, loads it, points it and starts shooting.
The rifle used (AR-15) was semi-automatic not automatic and therefore unable to fire a "hundred" rounds a minute. Even so, he was still able unleash hell on earth. That was because he had a 100 round magazine fitted to the rifle. Why they allow the manufacture of 100 rd mags is beyond me there are no legit reasons to have one. Good thing the rifle jammed or it could have been worse.
You seem to have missed my point that if someone is planning to commit mass murder they will find a way to do so. Whether its by manufacturing a bomb(s) (e.g. Oklahoma, Air India) or plowing a vehicle into a crowd of people (which has also happened before) they will get their moment of glory.
The US was settled by the gun ... it is part of the culture.
Tragic.
The second difference is that in Canada law enforcement/local government closely followed the settlers or in some cases actually preceded the settlers. The opening-up of western Canada is a good example of this; compare the early history of Canada with that of the western U.S.
As for not knowing anyone who owns a gun, it depends on where you live. I grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and practically every household had one or more firearms in it.
My uncle was a Mountie and, albeit, he retired in the 1960's, never carried a gun.
I grew up in Islington in Toronto ... middle class ...
I probably should have stated we don't get our identity from a firearm ... how's that?
Cheers from Lambton Shores
Alison
Do you live in the city?
Try again.
Canada -30.8- rank #13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
Just try, even. Facts are your friend.
There has to be a limit somewhere.
Criminals can find guns.
It isn't hard to do, even under the most strict of conditions. Just more risky.
Look at the history of gun control laws in the world and see that they all result in groups of people being rounded up and exterminated. Is the USA next?
You gotta realize that the 'lone wolf' storyline is a slap in the face to all intelligent people. Unemployed student with $20,000 of serious weaponry is a SERIOUS contradiction.
Unless they're going to start restricting currently-available methods to procure fully-automatic weapons and gas canisters, this event MUST NOT influence gun control laws.
Spin however you want, people with guns kill, every minute of every day...
As it turns out, gun laws didn't make any body safer, because gun laws ensured that the lunatic had the monopoly on the usage of force!
Gun laws disarmed the victims.
During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew
most Americans were ARMED!
SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!
SWITZERLAND'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS AND ISSUES EVERY ADULT A RIFLE.
SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
The Swiss government does this because of their history of being a small country vulnerable to attack from larger neighbours. The training is part of overall military reserve training, which makes every adult male a member of their military reserve. Gun ownership is embedded in a culture of social responsibility. When the US establishes a culture of responsibility and requires military reserve training for everyone who owns a gun, then maybe Americans will be able to handle a high level of gun ownership without killing each other at alarming rates.