27 dead in a kids school ...!!!

[Martin Ward]

I own a gun. I have always owned a gun. Back home I always have it handy, hence I can sit with my door open, letting the breeze in.

Everybody knows I own a gun.

I have pulled my weapon in self defence and was in a position to phone for the police, and transfer custody of the bad

guy that intended to do me harm.

I like my right to own a gun.

I think there should be much stricter laws on aquiring a gun (Psych background checks etc.) , but unfortunately the bad

guys can and will get a hold of weapons if/when they want. Or else resort to meat cleavers and knives.



I do not like the kneejerk reaction of condemning America. There are good guys, bad guys everywhere. Do our numbers.

What's the population of the States right now ? 309 MILLION people !! You are bound to get some psychos ..



It is indeed a very sad day, an unspeakable tragedy. And what is even sadder, is that it might have been prevented with

better social services, by being better neighbors and better families and paying more attention to the person next to you..

Anywhere.

In the world.

This is interesting

I am not sure why anyone other than Rambo would need automatic weapons?. Guns can be used for sport or even defence, but people walking around with an Uzi or an AK like someone from NWA is highly troublesome for me.

Also, too many guns in a society means that anyone who anyone who blows has direct access to weapons. People who are having a breakdown are still unlikely to go to the bad parts of town to buy a sub machine guns and THEN go to the school.

I liked Bowling for Columbine and the concept that it is the media generated fear factor that makes the place so dangerous

[Stephanie]

This is interesting

I am not sure why anyone other than Rambo would need automatic weapons?. Guns can be used for sport or even defence, but people walking around with an Uzi or an AK like someone from NWA is highly troublesome for me.

Also, too many guns in a society means that anyone who anyone who blows has direct access to weapons. People who are having a breakdown are still unlikely to go to the bad parts of town to buy a sub machine guns and THEN go to the school.

I liked Bowling for Columbine and the concept that it is the media generated fear factor that makes the place so dangerous

There's much wrong with the gun laws, but I do not see a workable solution :

-- US has a large hunter population. (I doubt any government would be able to disarm such a significant proportion of its citizens.)

-- I (and many) do believe there's a role for handguns in self defence.

But I am flabbergasted when the NRA try to defend citizens' right to own assault weapons.

Why on earth would a private citizen need an assault weapon ?

Yet most of these tragedies have been carried out by handguns ? Hunting rifles ?



Also, about the assault weapons : almost any gun with a magazine, can be converted to an automatic weapon in a mere few minutes..

...............................

[Martin Ward]

I personally don't see a solution either.

Guns can be used properly, but in an ideal world they should be licensed. My Dad was a top clay pidgeon shooter and he never blew anyone away.

But if I went mental now, I could not get hold of a gun unless I made a real effort. I couldn't go into Wall Mart and get one off the shelf. I would need a license and police checks, and would then need to go to a gunsmith.

I think you have the right to have a weapon at to protect yourself, as long as you prove you are capable of wielding it and you are stable. It shouldn't be in your handbag, so when I get drunk and slap you on the bum on the way past in a bar, you get it out and put a cap in my ass.

But this 'constitutional right to bear arms' is ridiculous, IMO

[kazgar]

Sickend absoultely sickened - 1n the space of 18 hours, 43 kids were killed by 2 psycho's who were able to just walk into a school and kill innocent children. 20 in America - HEADLINE NEws, 23 in china , shhh!!

even on here only Steph mention the Chinese incident and still the talk carried on about the idiotic gun laws in the U S of A

they talked about it on Sky and said that the most recent killings in the US have been by the kids aged between 21 and 25, who have rich parents with no worries in life except trying to please mammy and daddy, who's brains have not fully matured and as a consequence have developed a mental disorder that if treated will disappear by their 30's

So in the free and liberty boasting USA you can't drink until 21 but you can sure as hell own a gun and go out and shoot someone

[kazgar]

I personally don't see a solution either.

Guns can be used properly, but in an ideal world they should be licensed. My Dad was a top clay pidgeon shooter and he never blew anyone away.

But if I went mental now, I could not get hold of a gun unless I made a real effort. I couldn't go into Wall Mart and get one off the shelf. I would need a license and police checks, and would then need to go to a gunsmith.

I think you have the right to have a weapon at to protect yourself, as long as you prove you are capable of wielding it and you are stable. It shouldn't be in your handbag, so when I get drunk and slap you on the bum on the way past in a bar, you get it out and put a cap in my ass.

But this 'constitutional right to bear arms' is ridiculous, IMO

The amount of paperwork and bs I had to go through to get my shotgun for clay shooting in the UK was ridiculous, and then the checks at my house were never ending. where in the house I would be storing the gun, where the ammo would be kept, was there enough distance between them so an intruder would not be able to combine them and be able to shoot me. then once the safes and they are safes were installed, more checks to makes sure they were secure, then had to get professionally installed security boxes in the car for safe transport of the ammo. Full background checks on not just me but of family and friends. page after page after page

in UK and Ireland you have the right to own a gun, they just make sure that you are suitable to own a gun,

[Stephanie]

Sickend absoultely sickened - 1n the space of 18 hours, 43 kids were killed by 2 psycho's who were able to just walk into a school and kill innocent children. 20 in America - HEADLINE NEws, 23 in china , shhh!!

even on here only Steph mention the Chinese incident and still the talk carried on about the idiotic gun laws in the U S of A

they talked about it on Sky and said that the most recent killings in the US have been by the kids aged between 21 and 25, who have rich parents with no worries in life except trying to please mammy and daddy, who's brains have not fully matured and as a consequence have developed a mental disorder that if treated will disappear by their 30's

So in the free and liberty boasting USA you can't drink until 21 but you can sure as hell own a gun and go out and shoot someone

Just as an aside : this kid used his own Mother's guns. He did not go out and buy his guns at Walmart or anywhere else.

The guns were legal, legally purchased by the shooter's MOTHER.


This situation is more of a mental health issue than anything else. Where are the social services, where is the societal support for

a mother who struggled alone to raise and possibly control this kid ? Albeit she never let on that she was having serious

difficulties with him, but it was an open secret in the community. She did not ask for help and no one offered. By all accounts she

was a happy woman, keeping everything in order, she was 'secretive' about home life, and guess what :

She recently took up target shooting !

So this particular kid did not go out and just buy his guns. Facts.

His mother legally obtained them, just as she would have been able to legally obtain them in UK, or even Ireland. Fact.


..

[justfrank44]

I heard on the radio yesterday that she might have been one of those doomsday preppers that sky had a series on lately, if so then maybe she had her own problems to contend with. I also heard someone on complaining on this mornings radio about mental health issues being at fault, and while this may be true, having access to multiple high powered weapons makes the fallout much worse.
Steph, I am not totally sure of the gun laws in Ireland or the uk but I don´t think it is that easy to go out and buy a rifle, two automatic pistols and a shotgun with the same ease that you can in the US, especially after the dunblane shootings 16 years ago.

[Stephanie]

I heard on the radio yesterday that she might have been one of those doomsday preppers that sky had a series on lately, if so then maybe she had her own problems to contend with. I also heard someone on complaining on this mornings radio about mental health issues being at fault, and while this may be true, having access to multiple high powered weapons makes the fallout much worse.
Steph, I am not totally sure of the gun laws in Ireland or the uk but I don´t think it is that easy to go out and buy a rifle, two automatic pistols and a shotgun with the same ease that you can in the US, especially after the dunblane shootings 16 years ago.

Thank you for your post xx

I am not familiar with the law in UK or Ireland either, but my understanding is that for sport or for hunting purposes it is possible

to legally acquire and keep weapons ?

But you are right : There is absolutely no room for assault weapons in a civilized society.



The link below is an in depth, comprehensive, critical look at US gun laws and situation :

http://www.vpc.org/index2.htm

[Martin Ward]

The amount of paperwork and bs I had to go through to get my shotgun for clay shooting in the UK was ridiculous, and then the checks at my house were never ending. where in the house I would be storing the gun, where the ammo would be kept, was there enough distance between them so an intruder would not be able to combine them and be able to shoot me. then once the safes and they are safes were installed, more checks to makes sure they were secure, then had to get professionally installed security boxes in the car for safe transport of the ammo. Full background checks on not just me but of family and friends. page after page after page

in UK and Ireland you have the right to own a gun, they just make sure that you are suitable to own a gun,

One of the reasons he got rid mate!!!

[kazgar]

One of the reasons he got rid mate!!!

prob better off- I haven't even tried to get one here in Ireland yet, my kids aren't old enough yet in my mind to not look at a gun as a toy (didn't take up shooting til mid 20's myself) and I will wait until they are about that age before I bring them out