I was very upset to learn of another shooting at a university campus, this time in Virginia. Latest reports tell us that 32 people died, including the gunman. There were two shootings, happening 2 hours apart. Although this is the worst such instance in US history, changes in gun control legislation seem highly unlikely. Particularly as I understand that one part of gunlaw, related to assault rifles, has been allowed to lapse. BBC News showed a filmclip tonight, featuring Charlton Heston declaring that they'll have to wrest his gun from his cold dead hand. He is, of course, a leading light in the National Rifle Association of America.
Now I do appreciate that it is enshrined in the US constitution for all Americans to keep and bear arms. But I wonder whether events like today's, which have been occurring at sad intervals over at least the last 40 years, are ever going to be matched with common sense. Guns appear to be for sale for all and sundry, even if they would appear to be wholly unsuitable for possessing a firearm.
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Hugs Guido, I remember way back when Charleston Heston parted the sea's for all the Hebrew slaves with a giant staff, he raised a pillar of fire using that great staff, then he brought manna from heaven to feed all that were hungry with that great staff, plus he set God's people free with that giant staff before the throne of Rames's in Egypt! Imagine the work he could have saved himself using his gun instead of the wooden staff! sheesh, will they ever learn, if you live by the sword you die by the sword, I think it pretains to guns too!
ReplyDeletePS...the parting the sea wasn't meant to be said irreverently, but Heston played alot of major religious figures in the movies and now using him to push everyone having the right to bear weapons is a bit of a kick in the teeth! :)))))))) Doreen
I have never had to think about gun control very much although lately we here in Britain are seeing more of it in the inner cities.
ReplyDeleteI too was extremely upset that it is possible for anyone to get inside a campus with a gun of any kind. Especially in a country where everone who is anyone is allowed to own one. Perhaps my thoughts on this are naive, through ignorance I will grant you, but I feel that because everyone has a right to own one then this must also make it much more easier to use one too. If it wasn't there it wouldn't be so readily available to hand. Especially as a mass murder weapon. Yes their are very conscientious gun owners, but methinks if they were abolished, impossible I know, then it would naturally lower the rate of crime instantly in the states. People wouldn't feel then they needed to own one to defend themselves from the madmen of society. Unfortunately I could never see this Utopia ever becoming a reality.
Owning a gun is too deeply embedded into the phsyche of the American public.
This is a sad..sad...day. People the world over will be praying for these massaced young adults. Such a wast of life!
May God Bless them all. Jeanie
The whole world seems to be going crazy at the moment. Why would anyone want to go into a college and kill innocent kids????? I don't think any amount of banning guns would stop anyone who is intent on murder from getting hold of one and using it. It's a sad day.
ReplyDeleteJenny <><
Very sad about the shooting. I just don't understand it. <shaking head>
ReplyDeletePam
These things are tragic. Problem with giving government the go to decide who can or cannot purchase firearms is that no matter how sound and sane your description today, it leaves the door open for any group or description to loose that right. - Barbara
ReplyDeleteIt hurts so much, I really don't know what to say, except to tell you again, how much I appreciate your friendship. I learned working in the ER, many years ago, that ya' better tell someone that you love them, or appreciate them, or whatever: RIGHT THEN. You never know if they'll be back.
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andi
ps: I will get going re: gun control, or the very clear lack thereof, later. Just too worn out now. My thoughts are with everyone connected with this awful tragedy.
Over here, if you purchase a gun from a store, there is a ton of paperwork and on the spot FBI checks done. On the other hand, if you look up a classified ad, you can buy privately in a heart beat. I see that as causing a major meltdown in who can purchase a gun. The biggest problem is, how does anyone know who is capable of shooting people and who isn't? I'm not sure, even with major gun control, how the problem will ever be fixed without a worldwide ban and destruction of guns and that would never happen.........
ReplyDeleteA no win situation......
Rebecca
I am very against the gun laws over here! In the Constitution when it states that We have the right to bare arms....they need to remember when it was also written. The Government has changed so many different things from it like taking the Ten Commandments out of our courts and God out of our schools...but, they can't seem to take the gun control and try to fix it for "today's" society? It doesn't make any bit of sense to me! It's not like we live back when it was written..we have way too many people now and too many drugs and wrong doings now! And it's just being over looked! gggrr. :o( Sad.
ReplyDeleteLisa
We can debate gun control into the wee hours of the night....then come to the realization if it where not gun control, it would be something else. My feelings as human beings in sorrow of this latest tragedy are we should instead take a look at what we are offering this younger generation. All the violence and disrespect in the media outlets, the breakdown of the family itself. We as a people need to start choosing more wisely what we want out of this life and the best way to obtain that without violence. In short today we are desensitized to common sense and compassion that is in our make-up. When violence is a every day occurance how is anyone suppose to understand a different way of life??? (Hugs) Indigo
ReplyDeleteI think guns are so deeply entrenched in American consciousness that I do not see any restrictions becoming law any time soon. Americans seem willing to sacrifice the lives that the availability of guns might peril. Gerry
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