Last Friday two mentally ill men went to two schools and carried out two horrific attacks against children and teachers.
In Connecticut, USA, the man used semi-automatic guns and killed twenty-six people.
In Henan Province, China, the man used a knife and killed zero people.
Please don't make this about mental illness. As a country, the way we have neglected our mentally ill citizens is shameful. But this is about the guns.
More here: Loving killing machines is the real issue.
AMEN!!!
ReplyDeleteYes! I think Rage Against the Minivan had great things to say on this topic, too. I cannot figure out why ANYONE would need the kinds of weapons that are used to carry out this kind of mass killing.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I feel so much safer living in a country where guns are rare and controlled. The regular police are unarmed. It works.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is!
ReplyDeleteWhen I posted about not understanding gun ownership on my blog, I was shocked that most of the people who commented were playing the mental health angle above all else. Because you are right: it's about the guns. Period. The type of mental illness that leads someone to commit this kind of act is not easily treated, and the best solution is to restrict access to guns. I've been trying to respectfully disagree about this with people, but really, I have a hard time respecting people that value gun ownership above saving children's lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm SO with you. Mental health care is incredibly important (I know this firsthand as my mother-in-law was a paranoid schizophrenic who did get violent from time to time... although nothing like this, thankfully) but I cannot ignore the fact that guns are dangerous and powerful and deadly. That's what they're meant for - to hurt and kill. Get them in the wrong hands, whether someone who is perfectly healthy, mentally ill, or sociopathic, and that's what they're going to do. Plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteI am being assured by a "lifetime NRA member" that studies prove that in areas where gun control laws are strictest, death by firearms is greatest. This study was done in the US only, where there are .88 guns for each person, or some such alarming statistic. (And I have not reviewed it nor looked for any studies that contradict these findings yet, not enough time since this conversation just took place this morning) But let's look at other countries: Japan, England, Ireland, etc. where gun laws are very strict. Rate of death by firearms: statistically nearly zero. After Australia's last mass murder shooting tragedy, in 1996, they said, "ENOUGH!" and bought back every semi-automatic they could get. They made it illegal to own them and they bought them back from people. The number of mass murders via guns since then? Zero. It IS about guns, particularly guns that are designed to kill as many people in as little time as possible. The "right to bear arms" was written when a gun held a single bullet and it took 60 seconds to reload. That would be enough time for a teacher to hit a gunman over the head with a chair and take him out. The second amendment disallows ownership of bombs and chemical weapons. There is room to disallow firearms that are designed as human killing machines, except for members of the military and law enforcement.
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