Quote:
Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum
I see.
There's always going to be ill and deranged people who will shoot people. The only way to stop that is to end their access to weapons.
Gun crime seems to be a problem that's particular to The America's (and South Africa). There's a perception that so many Americans are inward to the fact that gun crime just isn't an issue in the majority of the rest of the world. That's not to say shootings don't exist- of course they do, but they occur so infrequently that its not a worry that you live with on a daily basis. Touch wood, major mass-shootings tend to occur only once every ten years or so in the UK. Unfortunately terrorism like the recent US incident is difficult to account for. You take a country like Tunisia that has the lowest rate of gun crime in the world (gun ownership is strictly prohibited) and yet they still had the recent terrorist beach shootings. Wide-spread gun ownership though does nothing to stop terrorism.
I can understand why average US citizens feel they have to own a gun but it's a sad state of affairs to be in. You might as well go back to the wild west days and have everyone wander around with a gun in a holster at their side ('cos thats going to make everything so much better). It's so seems so strange that the one of the most advanced countries in the world is in some ways amongst the most backward. Continuing with the status quo means gun violence will continue to occur in your schools, colleges, universities, malls, streets etc. And yes, as you say Olive, 'Conservatives' will continue to implore people to pray (though I'm pretty sure there are many, many people who identify with 'Conservatism' in the US that would whole-heartedly welcome intelligent strategies aimed at cutting gun crime). Some Conservatives just dont get it. Never have never will.
But of course, it's an American problem and its not really my place to comment.
btw, as a Brit I don't identify with the term 'Liberal'. Nor do I identify with 'Progressive'. I'm happy to identify with 'Socialist' (I know there's a stigma in the US for some reason). Indeed, I'm happy to be a humanist socialist.
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I agree with you on a lot of points, but I think that just because we're not in the US it doesn't mean we shouldn't say anything.
America is one the most advanced country in economy and military, but that doesn't guarantee unfortunately that everyone in the US has the same mind. I remember yesterday my national news told that in the US the victims of shootings perpetrated voluntarily or not by citizens is various times the number of the victims of terrorism.
About the Liberal thing, I am not a specialist but I know that liberals in America isn't a synonymous of Conservatives nor Democrats and many members of both parties identify with the term Liberal so I didn't really understand.
Yes, I noticed the US seem to have a bias toward the words "Communist" and "Socialist" that probably stems from the times of the World War II and of the Cold Wars, but the fact is that in Europe these terms don't have the same meaning.