Richard Wolffe: The heartbreaking stupidity of America's gun laws // The Weapons Of War Used In Mass Shootings
NB: American capitalism is devouring its own children. Can worshippers of free market economics (profit above all else) stop smoking whatever it is that the NRA dishes out (or is it just hard cash?) and use their minds for once? Or will you simply wait until the next massacre; when you will again send your worthless 'thoughts and prayers' to bereaved families and traumatised children. The American ruling establishment is worse than totally bankrupt - it is criminally insane. What a way to celebrate Valentines day, America. DS
Mass Shootings Are a National Security Threat
Top political recipients of National Rifle Association funds
(All are Republicans, and all are reported to be praying for the victims)
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
Autopsies Reveal The True Brutality Of Mass Shootings
They say there’s no one more optimistic than an American teenager. But now we’re teaching them how to save their lives from a gunman. This is no time to talk politics, we’re told by gun-loving conservatives. This is a time for prayers, we’re told by Donald Trump. “There really are no words,” we’re told by the local sheriff. So it’s OK, everyone. We can get back to the latest blather about tax cuts for corporations or billions for a border wall. Those are the things that politics, and presidents, and words, can handle. But if we can’t talk about saving the lives of our children, if our politics can’t keep our schools safe, if we can’t talk about the mass murder of innocence, then what on earth are we talking about? What’s the point of any politician if they can’t do this one simple thing: protect our youngest citizens?
Mass Shootings Are a National Security Threat
Trump signed
a bill last year making it easier for
Americans with serious mental health disorders to obtain firearms.
150,000 American Students Have Experienced a School ShootingTop political recipients of National Rifle Association funds
(All are Republicans, and all are reported to be praying for the victims)
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
Autopsies Reveal The True Brutality Of Mass Shootings
They say there’s no one more optimistic than an American teenager. But now we’re teaching them how to save their lives from a gunman. This is no time to talk politics, we’re told by gun-loving conservatives. This is a time for prayers, we’re told by Donald Trump. “There really are no words,” we’re told by the local sheriff. So it’s OK, everyone. We can get back to the latest blather about tax cuts for corporations or billions for a border wall. Those are the things that politics, and presidents, and words, can handle. But if we can’t talk about saving the lives of our children, if our politics can’t keep our schools safe, if we can’t talk about the mass murder of innocence, then what on earth are we talking about? What’s the point of any politician if they can’t do this one simple thing: protect our youngest citizens?
If
this was the eighth terrorist attack of 2018, don’t you think every
member of Congress – not just
Democrats – would bleat on about taking urgent
action? If Isis-inspired gunmen had just mowed down 17 high school students in
their classrooms, how long would it take before our president spoke in front of
the nation’s TV cameras? Instead, we’ll have to
settle for a tweet. Because when we need leadership the most, there’s no point
in raising your hopes with the man who watches Fox News all day inside the
White House.
The heartbreaking stupidity of America's gun laws
Here’s how demented our gun debate has become: for all the fear and loathing of potential terrorists, it is still perfectly legal for people on the terrorist watch-list to buy as many guns as they want in the United States. We won’t let them board a plane, of course. But we will let them purchase an assault rifle like the Ruger AR-15, a semi-automatic modeled on the standard military issue.
Why is there such a
gaping hole in our national security? You might ask the National Rifle
Association that question. On the other hand, ask the members of Congress who
are so ready with their outrage about Islamist terrorism but so silent about
domestic terrorism. Texas governor Greg
Abbott sounded surprised by the fact that this shooter got his hands on an
AR-15 when he was refused a Texas gun license. “By all the facts that we seem
to know, he was not supposed to have access to a gun,” Abbott told CNN. “So how
did this happen?”
Come on, Governor.
Don’t act so dumbfounded. You have personally championed the unrestricted sale
of guns to all-comers at gun shows and in private sales. When President Obama
tried to close the gun-show loophole after the Sandy Hook massacre, you tweeted
this: “Obama wants to impose more gun control. My response#? COME & TAKE
IT.”
Just to be clear about
your intended audience, you tagged the National Rifle Association in that
tweet.
The NRA’s position
is as
clear as it is nonsensical. Only guns will save us from guns. We must
have a national database of the mentally ill, but we cannot have a national
database of gun owners. We must confront Islamist terrorists but we cannot stop
them buying guns. Hollywood is to blame for the culture of violence, but the
gun culture itself has nothing to do with it. Donald Trump is right.
This is a mental health problem at the highest level, and our leaders need
urgent treatment. In the meantime, let us pray for them to come to their senses
as soon as they can...
