Biden, Assault Rifle Ban

Yet another school shooting tragedy. And according to the Washington Post, here is the congressman who represents this area of Nashville toting a gun on his family Christmas card.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/27/tennessee-congressman-mass-shooting-school/

Beyond words.

What would it take ? You wonder. It is no longer surprising which is a shocking state of affairs.

The number of firearm deaths in the U.S.A. in 2022, excluding suicides, was 20,138. Of these, 648 were mass shootings. So every day, an average of 55 people were shot to death. Tens of thousands more were injured. Whilst banning assault rifles would be a welcome move, although yet to be approved by Congress, it' would be rather like providing an Aspirin when major surgery is required. Any major improvement in the statistics is unlikely, given the strength of the pro-gun lobby, backed by the powerful National Rifle Association. So the prospects for any real progress are still depressing.

I thought Biden was known for having shares in weapon manufacturers. In which case he will do absolutely nothing.

Unfortunately nothing will happen, the gun lobby is far to powerful in the USA.

Why does the right to carry arms have to include assault rifles for goodness sake? As you say nanna the fact we are no longer surprised by these stories coming out of America demonstrates how shocking it is.

Is the US a paranoid society?

There are a lot of comments on Twitter, around photos of various politicians’ gun-toting family Christmas cards (it must be a trend ), to the effect that if only these families and their guns had been at the school, or if the teachers had had their own guns with them, they could have stopped the shooter.

I just can’t get my head round that mindset.

Maggiemaybe

Yet another school shooting tragedy. And according to the Washington Post, here is the congressman who represents this area of Nashville toting a gun on his family Christmas card.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/27/tennessee-congressman-mass-shooting-school/

Beyond words.

OMG !!! That Christmas card is horrific!

Better background checks is probably the best that is likely to happen, even then if assault rifles were banned there are so many guns in circulation it would be easy to get an illegal weapon.
We should be thankful we have a well regulated system in the UK and few illegal weapons available.

Any step, is a step in the right direction as long as they keep walking

I'm so tired of hearing about children in schools, it's too awful

I’ll believe it when it happens!
I was horrified by this news last night. It’s too awful.

I find a huge 'disconnect' with those God-fearin', bible-thumping, right-wing Christians who proselytise about abortion because of the belief in the-right-to-life of a foetus, calling those who undergo the procedure "murderers", but become enraged when a mother or father who's lost their child to yet another senseless gun massacre, campaigns for tighter gun-controls.
And I'm sick of hearing "people kill people, not guns". Even more sick of the trope that if teachers, etc, were armed, these tragedies could be prevented.
Can you imagine the scenario? An individual starts firing randomly at anyone and everyone, teachers and other staff run in the general direction of the sound and everyone takes out their guns - how the heck - in such a dramatic moment - do you work out who is the perpetrator when everyone is running around with a gun in their hands? Does everyone immediately recognise each other as an employee or teacher - especially in those large schools? And the culprit might actually be one of the staff.
Utter madness.

Sure, banning assault rifles is a no brainer. However in the longer term popular consciousness must include consciousness of the paranoia that makes so many of us exclude certain social groups from status as full human being.

This true because most if not all of these shootings are caused by feelings of resentment.

We have some very good American friends, we agre on most things but not guns. They get terribly angry if we dare to say guns should be banned . " guns don't kill people, people kill people " is their mantra. My response is " but people with guns kill people "

Shame that the Americans are more concerned with abortion laws than people being shot. Why can’t they keep their children safe in school 😞

The right to bear arms goes back to a time when there was no standing army in the US, and the firearms were (I believe) muzzle loading one-shot guns, not anything like what is available today.
If every type of gun were banned and only the type of gun that was what was available when the constitution was drawn up was allowed, there would be no more mass shootings etc.
Just my opinion.
I don't understand the mentality of anyone who wants to own any type of gun (unless it is for a legitimate reasons eg vermin control, etc).

some Americans, many do want tighter restrictions and bans on certain types of gun or all of them

My grandchildren are at elementary school in the US, the same age as the children who were gunned down in Nashville. My heart goes out to their families.
I do not understand the mentality of a nation that puts the right to bear arms above the lives of their children. Banning assault rifles would be a start, more stringent checks on who can own a gun would help and perhaps a campaign to shame gun ownership might make people have a different perspective on carrying a weapon.

I am heartsick at the state of my/our divided country because of guns, abortion, immigration, taxation, white supremacy , fascism and Trump issues. I hope I can finish out my days w/o the US falling into an open civil war. (Although the on-going civil war in the media is as bad.)

There are more guns, legal and illegal, owned and on the streets than the entire population of the US. Statistically every baby owns a gun. GrannyGravy13 you are correct - the gun lobby here is far too powerful to overcome. The GOP (Republicans) REFUSE to say anything in fear of being primaried and replaced, so those individuals have placed gun ownership (and lack of safer laws) over the safety of children. It’s sheer insanity!

No one will speak up and nothing will change until some unspeakable tragedy hits these politicians personally. That’s how I feel. But even then, they might back down in deference to greed and need to stay in power. I find most politicians the heighth of hypocrisy. Biden has strong anti-gun support in Congress but not enough to overturn laws. Perhaps the 2024 elections will yield even more Democrats to help in the fight.

Are we paranoid? Political climate can do that to some. You never know when you kiss your children, husband/wife goodbye in the morning if you’ll ever see them again. You can’t take anything for granted anymore.

Luckily, I am surrounded by rational thinkers (family, friends, former coworkers, neighbors) who are not likely to fall into a cult.

This is the longest response I’ve ever posted here and I apologize for my rant. May everyone everywhere stay safe… wishing you CLEAR SKIES AND WIDE EYES as we all confront these issues globally.
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USA Gundy

*Caleo I was just thinking that myself this morning What with their obsession with guns, and their ridiculous attack on any Social Media that isn't run by Americans. They seem to be isolating them selves and going backwards in their civil rights.

Powerful and wealthy lobby groups can manipulate vast numbers of people into set ways of thinking. We should take care that does not happen in the UK anymore than it does already. Better education is the answer in part.

I suppose out of a population of over 300 million there is a tiny percentage who are, tragically, victims of an even smaller percentage of people with major mental health problems who obviously never get the real help they need. Should the majority be denied the freedom to bear arms to protect themselves because of those that, even if guns were banned, would still manage to get hold of some? Surely, rather than employ 87,000 IRS people with guns. Bearing in mind that most people with guns probably only every fire them on a firing range in their entire life.

effalump

I suppose out of a population of over 300 million there is a tiny percentage who are, tragically, victims of an even smaller percentage of people with major mental health problems who obviously never get the real help they need. Should the majority be denied the freedom to bear arms to protect themselves because of those that, even if guns were banned, would still manage to get hold of some? Surely, rather than employ 87,000 IRS people with guns. Bearing in mind that most people with guns probably only every fire them on a firing range in their entire life.

One word answer effalump: yes.