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World Terrorism and War in AfghanistanDiscuss the GWOT, how to defeat terrorists, and the effects of terror around the globe.
I most certainly do remember Port Arthur (to which I referred a few posts ago) and Monash Uni shooting. Add to those Queens Street massacre and Hoddle Street massacre (I knew the shooter in Hoddle Street) The reason I remember these events is that they were utterly sensational and 'spectacular' crimes here. everytime I see or read of 'another' shooting in the US, it just blends in with all the others.
The gun laws changed in this country after the Port Arthur massacre where 37 people died including a mother and her two young daughters. The gunman chased a two year old girl around a tree, playing with her for some time before killing her.
After that, military style and semi auto weapons were banned here. My point was (and is) that we don't have the same gun-crime as the US. Even when we had guns.
Kids don't have access so can't take them to school. It's not a part of our culture to own guns. As I said; We don't have Columbine type shootings since the guns were banned. Sorry...it's just how it is.
There will always be crime. What should we do...arm everyone just in case? Is Bagdhad the test city for that?
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The truth? You can't handle the truth! No truth handler you! I deride your truth handling abilities!
Sideshow Bob.
Man, what a guy. Telling everyone to disarm so they can't defend themselves. Now tell me again, which position on the Democratic Party are you running on again?
The impression that mass killings in the US just fade into the background of current events is just that, an impression. It is also wrong. Two examples of this are: 1)the national conference on school violence a couple of weeks ago 2) the fact it has been an issue in a number of political races across the nation.
That may be true pmririshman and I'm willing to take your word for that.
As for the phenomenon of these crimes all blending together just being an impression, that may also be true. I believe the US is trying its best to solve this issue but with guns so deeply embedded in the psyche of its population...good luck.
After Columbine I remember reading an article by a teacher who stated that 'If all the teachers and students were armed...none of this would have happened.'
My point was, and still is, that in Australia we haven't had an equivalent crime to Columbine since the gun laws came into force.
To me...a non-gun kind of guy...this pro gun 'don't disarm us otherwise we can't defend ourselves' argument sounds paranoid and like victim talk.
I don't feel the need to defend myself. Against what? Who? I don't live with that kind of fear. Nobody's got a gun so I don't need one, nobody gets hurt generally. You can't eliminate all crime but I believe you can de-escalate it. Now it's organised crime that are armed and they can kill each other as much as they like as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway...we seem to have got off topic here.
__________________
The truth? You can't handle the truth! No truth handler you! I deride your truth handling abilities!
Sideshow Bob.
I don't look as good as Jessica Salinator. I don't even look as good as Justin Timberlake, but I sing better than he does! Let's see...I look a bit like Jeremy Irons but less leathery...I stay out of the sun.
__________________
The truth? You can't handle the truth! No truth handler you! I deride your truth handling abilities!
Sideshow Bob.
Things aren't as idyllic in other countries as some of the posters on this thread are implying.
Nobody is suggesting that they live in a utopian society because gun ownership is not the norm. Crime rates vary and lumping all crimes together makes any sort of reasonable statistical analysis meaningless. As an example, I think you'll find that the 85.5517 crimes per 1000 population per annum in Britain are overwhelmingly petty offences, thefts from motor vehicles, public order offences etc. If you drill down and analyse the relative murder rates you will see a very different picture. The murder rate in the US is *three times* higher per capita than that of the UK, the overwhelming number of those murders carried out with guns. I'll happily accept the increased risk of my car being broken into or vandalised, in exchange for a much lower chance of being a murder victim.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geek44
I most certainly do remember Port Arthur (to which I referred a few posts ago) and Monash Uni shooting. Add to those Queens Street massacre and Hoddle Street massacre (I knew the shooter in Hoddle Street) The reason I remember these events is that they were utterly sensational and 'spectacular' crimes here. everytime I see or read of 'another' shooting in the US, it just blends in with all the others.
Indeed, here we had the Hungerford massacre in 1987 and the Dunblane killings in 1996, both of which were exceptional and so far from the norm that they are still well known events decades later. Whereas random slaughter in some school or other seems to be a weekly occurrence in the US.
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