Two students, aged 16 and 14, have been killed, and three others injured, by a gunman who opened fire at Saugus High School, in Santa Clarita in California.
Nothing new here, in fact its said that Saugus was the 85th incident of gunfire at a US school this year alone.
The attacker, Nathaniel Berhow, a 16 year old boy, was celebrating his birthday and had no known connection to the victims. The school immediately followed its active shooter drill, similar to those that many schools have implemented in recent years.
Berhow, then shot himself in the head, and is in a critical condition ... presumably he didn't fancy spending 60 years in the US prison system (the death penalty is effectively ended in California). The motive for the attack is unknown, but he reportedly had a girlfriend and was a boy scout.
Ironically the US Senate was actually debating gun control legislation while news of the attack came out. Not that this will change the entrenched positions on the subject of gun control, even though its estimated that more than 230,000 children and teens in the US have experienced gun violence while at school, since the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999. 2018 was the worst year for school shootings, with 113 people having been killed or injured in school shootings in the United States ... a record that's likely to be broken soon.
But with 40 per cent of Americans saying that they own or live in a household with a gun, there is little chance of the US politicians taking the steps to change this, and in fact acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement, that his department took school shootings "very seriously" and would help the authorities "develop trainings and resources to improve response capabilities and better protect soft targets". Not restrict the access to guns ... just "improve response capabilities and better protect soft targets."
So the rate of murder or manslaughter by firearm in the country remains the highest in the developed world. For context the total number of homicides (all types, including guns) in the UK and USA were as follows:
But, this slaughter is just the price of of the American Dream
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| The Innocent Face Of A 16 Year Old Killer .. |
Nothing new here, in fact its said that Saugus was the 85th incident of gunfire at a US school this year alone.
 |
| Active Shooter Drills Are Now Regular Events At US Schools |
The attacker, Nathaniel Berhow, a 16 year old boy, was celebrating his birthday and had no known connection to the victims. The school immediately followed its active shooter drill, similar to those that many schools have implemented in recent years.
Berhow, then shot himself in the head, and is in a critical condition ... presumably he didn't fancy spending 60 years in the US prison system (the death penalty is effectively ended in California). The motive for the attack is unknown, but he reportedly had a girlfriend and was a boy scout.
 |
| The Debate On Mass Shootings In Schools Aren't Always Logical .... Even From The President |
Ironically the US Senate was actually debating gun control legislation while news of the attack came out. Not that this will change the entrenched positions on the subject of gun control, even though its estimated that more than 230,000 children and teens in the US have experienced gun violence while at school, since the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999. 2018 was the worst year for school shootings, with 113 people having been killed or injured in school shootings in the United States ... a record that's likely to be broken soon.
 |
| Gun Related Homicide Rates For Comparison |
But with 40 per cent of Americans saying that they own or live in a household with a gun, there is little chance of the US politicians taking the steps to change this, and in fact acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement, that his department took school shootings "very seriously" and would help the authorities "develop trainings and resources to improve response capabilities and better protect soft targets". Not restrict the access to guns ... just "improve response capabilities and better protect soft targets."
So the rate of murder or manslaughter by firearm in the country remains the highest in the developed world. For context the total number of homicides (all types, including guns) in the UK and USA were as follows:
- There were 780 homicides recorded in the UK (pop 67m in July 2018), in 2018/19, slightly fewer than in the previous reporting year of 2017/18, when there were 802 homicides.
- According to the FBI, there were 14,905 murders in the USA (pop 327m in July 2018), in 2018. This a decrease from the 15,129 murders recorded for 2017.
But, this slaughter is just the price of of the American Dream
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