Conneticut Shooting.

[amyuilani]

Do we need better gun control laws? Definitely. As of today, you cannot buy a gun on ebay, but you can buy the individual parts for the gun and build it yourself with no restrictions. Here in Oregon, and in other states, you can walk into a gun show and walk out with guns on the same day. We have done this. But gun control is not the only thing we should be talking about. The mother of the shooter had those guns because the 2nd Amendment said she had the right to, and she was not wrong to have them. She does not deserve to be blamed for exercising her rights. To talk about gun control is to barely scratch the surface of everything that should be talked about. Why don’t we talk about the rapid decline of health care, making it nearly impossible to treat those with mental illness or abnormal rage issues? Why don’t we talk about the chemicals and pesticides in foods that expectant mothers are eating, potentially causing developmental problems with their babies? Why don’t we talk about the economy, where parents have to choose between spending time with their children and taking on extra jobs in order to make ends meet? There is no one issue that needs to be reformed. We are so broken as a country that unless we really get to the heart of these problems, they will continue.

[Dean from Australia]

I just saw the Piers Morgan blow up on CNN where it was said that 77% of registered NRA members are in favor of stricter gun controls and that the debate, to date, has been manipulated by a selected and powerful few.

There are most certainly the means to address all of things you highlight above, there just isn't the will. Your country is beholden to the interests of a powerful few who, in my mind, are a bunch of idiots.

Obama's in his second term now. I woulda thought that he could take off the gloves and go for broke now. Could he not just step up and go for it? Announce a raft of new gun control measures and just push real hard? It's not like he has to fight another term after this. If anyone has a problem with it, he could just slap down a photograph of a five year old girl from the Newtown massacre with a bullet hole in her head. Powerful argument I reckon.

[Dean from Australia]

Newtown Parent Connection are taking donations for the victims and their families.

Newtown Parent Connection, Inc.

I'm in. Your turn...

[amyuilani]

Originally Posted by Dean from Australia

... has been manipulated by a selected and powerful few.

Every issue is manipulated by a selected and powerful few. We typically refer to them as elected officials and lobbyists.

One of the biggest problems we have is that we are inherently selfish people. We all want reform, but none of us are willing to pay for it. If the best gun reform bill you have ever heard were to come up, but passing it meant taxes were to go up, people would cry foul because they wouldn't want to pay for it. This would be the case in a healthy economy as well. No one is willing to make personal sacrifices for the greater good anymore. They'd rather donate a clearance toy or the cans of beans from their pantry that they're not going to eat and consider their good deeds done. People need to be prodded into doing things that matter.

[Dean from Australia]

Ahhh yeah...the problems of the first world huh.

[DaveNJ]

Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob

About 12,000 people die from homicides by guns in the US a year. Much of that is related to gangs and carrying out felonies. We kill more than twice that many people by exercising our right to convenient transportation (and a substantial portion of them are children).

This is happening because America rewards killers with immortality. No single person has more power over the American public's mind than a mass killer.

Taking away guns will never take that appeal away. The mass murderer has learned the power he has. That will not stop until Americans learn how to be decent people with the mass media.

On the other hand, regulation in this regard, which was prioritized on a national level, has led to 90% fewer fatalities per mile driven.

We made a concerted national effort in that area, and while people still die as a result of driving, the numbers are much lower than they could be. I don't believe that gun control regulation would bring gun violence down to zero, but regulation in the other area you mentioned brought fatalities down by a huge margin, so why not here?

[Dean from Australia]

Vale...

Charlotte Bacon, 6 Daniel Barden, 7 Rachel Davino, 29 Olivia Engel, 6 Josephine Gay, 7 Ana Marquez-Greene, 6 Dylan Hockley, 6 Dawn Hochsprung, 47 Madeleine Hsu, 6 Catherine Hubbard, 6 Chase Kowalski, 7 Jesse Lewis, 6 James Mattioli, 6 Grace McDonnell, 7 Anne Marie Murphy, 52 Emilie Parker, 6 Jack Pinto, 6 Noah Pozner, 6 Caroline Previdi, 6 Jessica Rekos, 6 Avielle Richman, 6 Lauren Rousseau, 30 Mary Sherlach, 56 Victoria Soto,27 Benjamin Wheeler, 6 Allison Wyatt, 6

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob

This is happening because America rewards killers with immortality. No single person has more power over the American public's mind than a mass killer.

you are right but when it comes to mass shooting i always have the feeling that the killers dont have the same fascination that kmaybe serial killers had. You remember and fetishize a Charles Manson or Dahmer for killing people or guys like The Unabomber who actually toyed with the public for a while , becomin some sort of story or a boogeyman. But these shooters? i honestly cant recall one name. Maybe i recall Klebold from Columbine but not many more. So i wouldnt be 100% sure that they could be attracted by that.

[Junkenstein]

true. its still way too much coverage. some say that its necessary for the clarity of information to mention them but in this case, a person who murdered chiòldrten, shouldnt be mentioned or shown.

Also fuck the new reporters who interview the surviving children and ask "what did you feel?"

[Dean from Australia]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Also fuck the new reporters who interview the surviving children and ask "what did you feel?"

Yeah, that one I found particularly galling when I saw the footage today. Reporters wouldn't have a hope in hell of getting anywhere near a child in those circumstances in Australia because you'd have the police, the government and parents willing to fillet said reporter if they so much as tried. In Newtown, it was like "Sure! I'll subject my kid - whose just witnessed possibly the most heinous crime in US history - to the the TV cameras because, Hell, she always dreamed of being on American Idol."

The craziness continues.