Another school shooting in America

What a load of absolute twaddle. How do you think the average citizen is fairing right now?

 

No, it was definitely the flute thing! Ha Ha Ha

 

I struggle with the concept of gun ownership full stop. As mentioned above, Scandinavian countries allow gun ownership, but under strict control. I still don't get it.

I mean, even if I could accept an American wanting to own a gun for the right reasons, what I can't get my head around is why he or she would want a SEMI-AUTOMATIC ASSAULT RIFLE WITH HIGH-CAPACITY CARTRIDGES. I fail to understand how and why a civilian is able to get hold of that. I mean ......... why?

 

FREEDOM!

But in all seriousness I can't get my head round it either. Guns are now the leading cause of death for kids over there. The right wingers are doing everything they can to ban abortion, but are happy to ignore actual kids dying with increasing regularity. Properly barmy.

 

Just been on news that he bought 2 assault rifles on his 18th birthday … completely legal and can’t get/ drink alcohol for 3 more years

 

While that is madness, imagine how many more incidents there would be if you could be p*ssed up and holding a semi-automatic rifle at 18.

 

Scandinavia - or at least Sweden and Finland - have been under semi-permanent threat from those nice Russians over the border for 70 years. That tends to persuade you to have a well-trained (both have had conscription for men) and well-armed civilian population for if they ever have to face another invasion. On a separate note, I did read that all bridges and tunnels in Finland are designed with "weaknesses" - areas where explosives can be placed to collapse the tunnel/bridge in the face of an advancing army.[/QUOTE]

 

[/QUOTE]

Very interesting stuff

 

Buy a gun at 18. Wait until 21 to be able to drink.

Weird country.

 

I remember being on a work course in the US, mainly with Americans, we had some banter flowing and this one guy asks me in front of the group if we celebrate the 4th of July in the UK, I told him, no, we celebrate Mayflower day - the day we put our religious fundamentalists on a boat and shipped them to the other side of the world. He wasn't sure if I was joking or not!!

 

Add to that drive at 16!

 

Gradgrinds

Common sense that limiting who can own a gun and the sort you can own would result in less to no school shootings.

 

200 mass shootings. This year alone.
An average of 12 Schoolkids killed every day.
The land of the free and home of the brave. WTF.

 

That's absolutely spectacularly awful.

 

The vast majority of gunshot injuries and deaths in America are with licenced firearms. Remove those and you remove the vast majority of gunshot injuries and deaths.

It's also much easier to get rid of illegal guns when there aren't millions of guns floating around. If I see someone in the UK walking down the street with a gun I'd assume it's illegal, so would the police, and they'd act appropriately. If I walked down the street in Arkansas and saw someone walking towards me with a gun I'd assume it's a legal gun as it's perfectly fine to wander around with a gun on show without needing any kind of licence or permit at all.
Ban guns in Arkansas and if the police see someone with one they will assume it's illegal making it easier to deal with.

Also innocent members of the public having a gun in their bedside drawer deters absolutely nobody from committing a home invasion. If it did then the number of home invasions wouldnt be absolutely through the roof. A burglary every 15 seconds. What do you reckon? If guns are banned it will move to every 10 seconds?

 

This is what the ‘muricans think. It’s a false flag to take the guns away.

I’m not even going to bother blurring the names, they said it in public. These are people my other half had to grow up around.

f’ckin hopeless.

 

A few years ago I was talking to a yank.. who was really into Darts, he played in a pub league in Pennsylvania, he was telling me that he and his son had an AK47 for target shooting on the range but in the darts league they were only allowed to use darts with plastic points.

 

I think it's illegal for them to sell you a gun if you are crying, apart from that, fill your boots; M16, Uzi 9mm, howitzers etc

 

I don't understand their culture at all - guns are crazy to me as an Englishman.

But I thought gun control, background checks etc were already in place?

The Americans are mad on their constitution. I don't think it'll change for many a year. It sounds alien over here to suggest what I'm about to say, but surely it's time to have an armed security at schools? I think it's over 90% of mass shootings are done in no gun zones, which in a morbid sense, makes sense if you're off your rocker it'll be one of the first places you'll go. Same with churches & shops.

With the increase in homicides & riots in recent years, I don't think a vast majority of Americans will give up their guns. At all. They make the point that the citizens of Ukraine wished they were all armed now with Russia - which I suppose is true, however, it's a bit of a strawman argument, because nobody in their right minds would invade America.

I couldn't imagine walking around town for the football, and thinking to myself 'I wonder how many people here are carrying a loaded gun'. It's crazy. The one thing I agree with Republicans on is, I do think these young gunmen are hindered mentally by not having a nuclear family, especially (please don't take this the wrong way) fathers not being in their lives. By no means am I saying if their dad was involved in their lives they wouldn't commit this heinous crime, but I really do feel it has a major impact.

Can't imagine what the families are going through - bless them all and I hope the victims rest in peace.

 

Where I lived in Georgia most schools already had armed guards in 2013-15