Friday, 6 October 2017

Lone Gunmen

What can one say?

Close to sixty people gunned down dead in yet another US mass killing. Stephen Paddock, the man named as the "lone-wolf gunman", was killed as well (although who cares about that snivelling shite?) ....

The US Has An Ambivalent Attitude To Lone Gunmen
The US Has An Ambivalent Attitude To Lone Gunmen

..... and so another sorry chapter is added to a list, that is already far too long:

These are the just the major killing fields .... there are many smaller lone gunman episodes:
  • Las Vegas - Nevada 2017 (50+ killed and 400+ wounded)
  • Orlando - Florida 2016 (49 killed 51 injured)
  • San Bernadino - California 2015
  • Sandy Hook - Connecticut 2012
  • Binghampton - New York 2009
  • Virginia Tech - Virginia 2007
  • Columbine - Colorado 1999
  • Killeen - Texas 1991

I only bothered to list the numbers killed on the latest two of these events .... but there does seem to be both a growing frequency, and casualty rate, for these murderous killing sprees.

The American Dream - Has A Nightmare On The Dark Side
The American Dream - Has A Nightmare On The Dark Side .....

Will the US do anything about stopping it, or rather the conditions that allow them, and other similar incidents to occur with such depressing regularity? Nope they wont. The fact is that guns and mass shootings are now as American as Moms Apple Pie. They are wedded to the culture, and nothing will change that .... the US has always had an ambivalent attitude to the idea of 'Lone Gunmen'. However surely its not beyond US politicians to take automatics and semi-automatics from the public's hands?

Gun Control Debate Rages
Gun Control Debate Rages ...

It would be at least a start in cutting back on the ability of one person to cause such destructive carnage ... surely no one could object?

In the meantime, we can only think about the victims families. So many young lives taken, and so many more ruined, its a great sadness not just for the USA, but also the world.

6 comments:

  1. After this atrocity I was shocked to hear a (British) newsreader assert that this was a terrorist attack thereby expanding that category to any intentional large scale killing. Such erosion of the language if it continues will have train crashes classed as terrorist events!

    According to the New America Foundation, jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and 2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot dead, Politifact reports.

    And a survey on this link showed that Americans are more afraid of restrictions on guns than they are of other stuff including getting hurt by them! That people make decisions based on emotion is understandable if annoying, but that Government does it is ridiculous and inexcusable.

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    Replies
    1. I have added a cartoon being twittered about the web (I altered the rude word), which sums up at least part of the gun debate argument. As for the PC attempt to describe this as 'terrorism', I agree that American gun killings shouldn't be classed as terrorism.

      Terrorism should be restricted to events with a political or religious cause e.g.

      Attacks on Abortion centres.
      Bombings or Shootings of Kaffir Crowds.
      Attacking people because of their political affiliations.

      ... to list but three.

      Americans just going out with a gun, and killing anyone (strangers against whom they hold no political or religious objections), whose path they cross, shouldn't be tagged as terrorists (even if they planned the event).

      Of course once we accept the new designation of what's a terrorist event, then we can stop using the term Jihadist in relation to these attacks. This would suit a left wing agenda. Which I guess is the point of all this eh?

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    2. I like the cartoon, simple and to the point. Unfortunately it's preaching to the converted; the religious will dismiss it because god does exist (that's their opinion, so there!) and the NRA hold similar views about guns and will just use the cartoon as target practice.

      That said one mind was changed after this event, Caleb Keeter saw the problem with letting just anyone own whatever guns they want!

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    3. Not being a country music fan I had to look him up.

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    4. I did include a link above (one mind was changed) but it doesn't highlight until you hover on it. I think I made an error in syntax...

      Better late than never!

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    5. Its never too late on this blog

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