Monday 13 June 2016

Not rocket science

Shawn makes the valid point over on her blog that the gun laws are to blame for the seemingly endless shootings in the U.S., not any spurious connection between religious extremists of any kind, and she is right.

Since the law that prohibited the sale of assault weapons to anyone other than the military lapsed in the U.S. (I have only just discovered that there was such a law), most criminal street-gangs consider at least one Uzi machine-pistol to be a requirement of being worthy to be called criminal.

Hand-guns have been banned in the U.K. for quite a few years, and licensed, smooth-bore, semi-automatic shotguns are limited to three shots maximum - also by law. Any more than three shots in the chamber and you need a firearms licence, not a shotgun certificate, and you need a very good excuse to own one - trick-shot display shooters are the only people I can think of that need rapid fire. Being caught with an unlicensed ten-shot shotgun means an mandatory 5 year prison sentence.

Obviously, you can kill a lot more people with an automatic weapon rather than a single shot rifle or 8 shot pistol, and also it gives the authorities much more time to shoot you back if you have to stop every few seconds to reload.

If the President of the United States of America has no power over a private organisation like the National Rifle Association, then it is going to be a long time before the U.S. can begin the massive task of clearing the nation's streets of weapons which were bought legally to be used illegally.

16 comments:

  1. The people in US that already have weapons for illegal purposes are never going to willing give them up.

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    1. No, you are going to have to shoot them first. In this country, there used to be amnesties for people to hand in guns to police stations, but when they had the last one, they said that there would be no prosecution for the ownership of the gun, but they would prosecute for any other criminal activities whether the gun was used or not. No real criminals handed any guns in, of course.

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  2. Our gun laws are a shame and a disgrace. When I saw that nothing was going to be done after a bunch of little children were murdered at Sandy Hook, I knew that it was hopeless. Now we just sit back and watch as the horrors mount.

    Recently on my blog I mentioned that sometimes I'm ashamed to be American and a couple of readers gently chastised me for it. But the tragedy in Orlando and the fact that nothing will change is just the kind of thing I'm thinking of when I say such a thing.

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    1. Not your fault/s. Blame the system, which has not much to do with ordinary people.

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  3. My own mother thinks I am naive because I don't own a gun.

    Currently, both houses of our Congress are controlled by the Republican party. The Republicans have opposed just about every Presidential proposal. Of course, we do have another election coming up this November.

    Tom, I could go on and on about this, but will edit myself this time. The weekend Florida news was horrific.

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    1. Get yourself a gun - and live!

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    2. Nah, won't do it. The gun part. I do like the living part.

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  4. It is going to be a long time before the U.S. can begin the massive task of clearing the nation's streets of weapons which were bought legally to be used illegally. And, the president has no power. The Congress has the power, and access to the deep pockets of the NRA.

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  5. France is awash with shotguns. In the past, blasting blackbirds or sparrows out of the skies was almost obligatory for country folk. Nowadays the laws are more strict, but the shotguns (and wartime souvenirs) are still there.

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    1. I remember a time in France (not long ago) when shotgun cartridges were on the shelves next to pet food in supermarkets.

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  6. If the US showed it cared about its people they would be happy and stop killing. Get kicked about by the government and the people will kick back at everybody and everything. The US is not a happy place.

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    1. Well it may not have the best model of freedom in the world, but there's no way of predicting mental illness behaviour.

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    2. I think it's a happy place for those who are healthy & have a bit of money. Fall ill, be out of work & it's a tough place to live, to be sure.

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  7. Our elected representatives care only about their own careers and do whatever it takes to be reelected. Fortunately, some live in liberal constituencies. However, the Republican controlled state governments have carved up the voting districts in a way that favors their party, making it harder for Democrats to get elected to Congress. Maybe more detail than you actually wanted, Rachel.

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    1. The last bit was useful, but the first bit applied to us as well.

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