American Bashers be delighted. The US just suffered the largest mass shooting in history.

[Khor tose]

https://www.theguardian.com/us

[joe552]

Who do you think could be delighted at this terrible news?

[cdnmatt]

This one was huge. Hopefully it gets law makers off their ass, and finally agree to pass some sensible gun control laws.

[jfs]

Not going to happen. The NRA has loads of cash to make sure politicians see things their way!!
And in America, politicians never say no to cash.

[arsenal]

This kind of thing is virtually impossible to stop.

[cdnmatt]

Oh no, it's definitely possible. Take the latest attacks in places like UK, Australia and Europe. They didn't involve fully automatic assault rifles.

Gun control works. It's pretty obvious.

Then you have the NRA coming out with arguments like we should give teachers guns, and all will be well. Yeah, the divorced, lonely 40yo sixth grade teacher. Let's give her a gun!

[jfs]

I'm pro-gun control...and not an apologist for the NRA.

But don't fool yourself into thinking the NRA isn't a force to be reckoned with here in the US.

[cdnmatt]

Oh, I know the NRA is a force to be reckoned with. Otherwise, Sandy Hook would have been more than enough to get some sensible gun control in place in the US.

You don't need to have a society where you can buy a semi automatic assault rifle from your local Walmart for $1000. That's stupid.

[jfs]

It's absurd !!

But it'll be a cold day in hell when politicians will get off the dime and do something about gun control with all that NRA money floating about clouding their minds.

And don't get me started on rabid NRA supporters...they've never met a gun they disliked.

[cdnmatt]

I think there's a good chance it's more than just the NRA, and a decent chance the Pentagon is heavily involved in the gun control debate.

Tehere's a reason the US has the largest, most powerful voluntary military force in the world. They don't want gun control.

[joe552]

Tehere's a reason the US has the largest, most powerful voluntary military force in the world. They don't want gun control.

Genuine question Matt. What is the "largest, most powerful voluntary military force"? Are you talking about the actual military (e.g. army, navy, etc) or are you referring to all those citizens bearing arms. Not sure what you mean.

I just watched an interview on BBC with a guy from Washington State, who said it was "too early" to say what prompted the gunman. Yes, it is. But his defence of the gun lobby just sounded obscene.

[bobsaigon2]

Who do you think could be delighted at this terrible news?

Indeed. The title of this thread is quite ill-considered.

[joe552]

I know this is being pedantic, and maybe seen as uncaring, but it's not intended to be. The title of the thread should read "in America's recent history". No First Nation victims of the US state?

[Moses]

Calendar 2015. USA.

5523

[Moses]

Shooting crisis in full is here https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/02/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence

Death (1,719 total)
Injury (6,510)

[arsenal]

The U.S. has more guns per capita than any other nation and more people in prison per capita (excluding The Seychelles) Any correlation between those two.

[FarangRuMak]

Oh no, it's definitely possible. Take the latest attacks in places like UK, Australia and Europe. They didn't involve fully automatic assault rifles.

Gun control works. It's pretty obvious.

Then you have the NRA coming out with arguments like we should give teachers guns, and all will be well. Yeah, the divorced, lonely 40yo sixth grade teacher. Let's give her a gun!
I wouldn't give the happily married 40 yr old 6th grade teacher a gun either.

[cdnmatt]

Genuine question Matt. What is the "largest, most powerful voluntary military force"? Are you talking about the actual military (e.g. army, navy, etc) or are you referring to all those citizens bearing arms. Not sure what you mean.

I just watched an interview on BBC with a guy from Washington State, who said it was "too early" to say what prompted the gunman. Yes, it is. But his defence of the gun lobby just sounded obscene.


I mean the actual US military. For national security, the US needs a gun loving culture, because if you start shooting and falling in love with guns when you're 10 years old, by the time you're 18 there's a better chance you'll be attracted to the idea of signing up for the military.

[joe552]

Thanks for clarifying that Matt. However, I joined the army when I was 18, had never seen or held a gun before. You might say the Irish army is a bit of a non-entity, although we have a proud legacy of UN peacekeeping (in which I was proud to serve in Lebanon in 1978). Of course, for 30 years we had also had a Provisional army operating mainly in Northern Ireland (not a group I supported).

[jfs]

According to cdnmatt:
"For national security, the US needs a gun loving culture, because if you start shooting and falling in love with guns when you're 10 years old, by the time you're 18 there's a better chance you'll be attracted to the idea of signing up for the military."

From my experience as a DOD civilian working with active duty military, the number one motivator for servicemembers joining was simply education...college education benefits earned by signing up for military service.

[joe552]

How many of the US "gun lobby" would actually join the military if the need arose? Not too many, I suspect.

[gerefan2]

I mean the actual US military. For national security, the US needs a gun loving culture, because if you start shooting and falling in love with guns when you're 10 years old, by the time you're 18 there's a better chance you'll be attracted to the idea of signing up for the military.

So you,are telling me that the US government regard gun ownership a valuable recruiting tool?

What utter tripe.

[cdnmatt]

You're telling me having a population that's absolutely in love with guns isn't beneficial to the military?

I think common sense trumps you guys on this one.

Look gerefan, it's 5:20am. I couldn't possibly be in Thailand! I should be sleeping.

[jfs]

To quote comedian Dana Gould:

"The gun legislation was doomed the minute it became associated with the words "common sense"."