Lots more jingoisms

[steveindenmark]

I read this article about a shooting in the USA today. The reporter has added a description I have never heard before but am sure will be picked up for everyday usage, "Domestic terrorism". Thats an American going nuts and killing other Americans.

It just astounds me how the American government can put billions of dollars into fighting IS and so little into gun control. When guns in Americans hands kill so many more than IS does.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34987697

 

[winjim]

Terrorism is a word bandied about all over the place these days, even when it's not appropriate. On similar lines, the Boston marathon bomber was charged with use of a weapon of mass destruction. For a pressure cooker bomb.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

If only those goddam yanks were perfect like us.

 

[midliferider]

Imagine the situation if all the good people there had guns with them. Theu could have shot those two evil people instantly. The problem is that all people are not carrying guns. It should be mandatory that all citizens carry guns.

I am really at a loss why people outside USA does not understand this simple theory.

Look at what happened when that reporter was shot live on air. Gun sales went up. People realised they have to protect themselves.

It is good for industry and business as well. More manufacturing, more jobs etc.

 

[Flying Dodo]

It just astounds me how the American government can put billions of dollars into fighting IS and so little into gun control. When guns in Americans hands kill so many more than IS does.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34987697

It's not the American way. For the rest of the world, it's an extremely hard concept to understand why the USA has this strange conflict, but it's because the concept of gun ownership is so deeply entwined in their history, it now has it's own mythology and belief in the Second Amendment. For the USA to impose gun controls similar to what we have in the UK would be like to expecting every driver in the UK to suddenly stop using their cars and ride bikes instead. It's just not going to happen.

In the same way that around 2,000 deaths on UK roads are expected as a "norm" and part of the routine of driving, Americans accept a mass shooting at least every couple of days as the price to pay for everyone having access to guns, and of course many see that as the justification for having more guns.

You're more likely to get shot by a toddler in the USA than killed by an IS terrorist, but facts are less important than heritage and supposed constitutional rights.

 

[mickle]

Imagine the situation if all the good people there had guns with them. Theu could have shot those two evil people instantly. The problem is that all people are not carrying guns. It should be mandatory that all citizens carry guns.

I am really at a loss why people outside USA does not understand this simple theory.

Look at what happened when that reporter was shot live on air. Gun sales went up. People realised they have to protect themselves.

It is good for industry and business as well. More manufacturing, more jobs etc.

You've not thought very deeply on this subject have you?

 

[Cubist]

You've not thought very deeply on this subject have you?

i thought ( and hope) he was being ironic.

 

[Spinney]

You've not thought very deeply on this subject have you?

I assumed that post was intended as irony...

edit: Cubist - snap!

 

[mickle]

Irony? Before 9:00am??

 

[Spinney]

Irony? Before 9:00am??

I can manage it when I try...

 

[Cubist]

Domestic terrorism isn't a new concept though. The Us have the term embodied in legislation since 2001. If anything it helps to differentiate between foreign influence terrorism such as we tend to see more of nowadays, but the U.S. historically have been surprised that its own citizens could resort to violence to influence popular and political will, working either statelessly or from within that protective state. Here in Europe we have seen terrorism on a much wider scale, and are more au fait with the concept. European history has seen acts of terrorism from organized groups and individuals for decades, - Red Brigade, Bader Meinhoff, IRA, and many more,.... All fitting the original definition of terrorists. Nowadays, even in the UK, people tend to think of terrorists only in the context of jihadi extremists, but counter terrorism work doesn't take its eye off the internal threat from other organizations or lone actors.

 

[Cubist]

Irony? Before 9:00am??

Ah, but is Northampton in the same time zone as we are?

 

[steveindenmark]

I dont know if they have ever called one of these mass shootings "Domesticated terrorism". They may have done. Does it make it more palatable than "Yet another crazy American going amok with a gun?"

What the Americans are missing is that the amendment to bear arms was when the population was a fraction of what it is now and it took forty seconds to load and fire each round. If the founding fathers ever saw an AK47 in action, they would never have put that clause in. If they insist on bearing arms, give them all flintlocks, the Novelty will soon wear off. The amendment says they have a right to bear arms, not which arms.

 

[winjim]

The second amendment allows for the formation of armed militia against a tyrannical government. In that context it actually makes more sense to allow assault weapons than it does other types of firearm such as a hunting rifle or pistol. For an anti-government militia to be effective, it surely needs to match the state in terms of firepower.

 

[Drago]

US gun control will only ever be a mythical chimaera. Weapons, often very powerful assault weapons are so widespread and so poorly documented they could ban them today and significant levels will be in circulation for centuries. The ammunition will go bad with age before the weapons themselves are all gone.

Then there are borders so poorly controlled that even if they did successfully ban them it's be easy for any passing jihadi to get them. Hell during the cold war the USSR looked at smuggling nukes into the US (Operation Backdoor) and concealing them in the hearts of cities ready to detonate if war came. They concluded it would be rather easy, and only fear of political backlash or Western nations pulling the same stunt in return stopped it from happening.

A significant part of American culture is fundamentally ill because of slavish adherence to a constitution that is largely irrelevant to modern society.