One wonders if memories of the
shocking events at the school in Newtown, Connecticut have faded or been
superseded in the minds of Americans. To recall, shortly before Christmas,
2012, twenty eight people, mostly young children and two teachers, were gunned
to death. A man using a number of weapons, including automatic rifles, gunned
himself into American history.
This is not an isolated incident
in American schools. Since January, 2000, there have been one hundred and forty
seven separate shooting incidents. A staggering one hundred and eighty seven
innocent children and teachers have been murdered. Take this year alone: in
less than four months, there have been thirty three occasions when a gunman has
been apprehended in a school. Nine people have been killed. In any other
western country, this would be called an epidemic. What laws exist to protect
those in schools? Effectively none, save standard criminal laws against
violence.
The Second Amendment to the
Constitution is construed to mean that all American citizens have the right to
bear arms. But the Amendment was ratified in 1791, a time so totally different
to now. The Amendment states the right to bear arms is conditional upon
providing a well-armed militia, in other words an army. The Amendment was
passed to ensure that the United States could lawfully defend itself against
the British and others when no regular army was not in being. Nowadays, America
boasts of the strongest armed forces in the world.
The subsequent sweeping interpretations
of the Second Amendment by the American law courts begs the question whether
gangsters in Chicago or wise New York guys or wackos form part of the
authorised American armed forces. There are now so many gun laws passed by
Congress and the states that one might imagine there was gun control. There are
all kinds of rules about concealed and disclosed weapons, numerous regulations
relating to semi-automatic rifles as opposed to automatics and even stock
sizes.
But when anyone can go to a gun
fair and have a weapon at their disposal after the briefest of checks, how is
this control? How can school children be protected? Surely, there should be a
law, pure and simple, that it is a federal offence, punishable by a lengthy
prison sentence, to be in possession of any kind of armed weapon within four
hundred yards of a school. I accept this won’t deter an assassin armed with a
long-range assault weapon. Many schools operate airport-style security measures
at great expense. But this does not seem to prevent determined kikllers from
plying their ghastly trade.
The Bush administration did
nothing to cure gun problems. The National Rifle Association is one of the
strongest lobbying groups in America and its Board is full of Republican
supporters. For eight years under Bush, gun supporters were not touched, not
even a scratch, courtesy of the NRA. The Obama administration tried to make
changes, especially after the Newtown shootings, but the gun lobby was far too
strong for the White House. Congress kicked into touch even the most minor
ameliorations proposed by President Obama.
Why do so many Americans feel it
is their birth-right to own guns? Do they not realise that checks on who may
buy and possess weapons of death are so weak as to entitle mentally challenged
people to arm themselves? The Newtown killer had serious mental problems for years
before the attack but he had four weapons on his person when he committed
appalling violence on innocent children.
Do Americans really want such a
violent society? Is it really a total vote loser for any American politician to
back resistance to armed weapons? I suppose the answer must be “yes.” There
seems to be no moralist movement which advocates repealing the Second Amendment
and setting out legislation which states: “Unless you come within a listed
exception, you may not own any kind of gun.” The exceptions could include gun
clubs where guns are held under lock and key in the club premises, guns to kill
animals humanely and shooting rifles for hunting which would be licensed.
If Americans want to know why
western Europeans are different, here is a good example. We in Europe see no need
to arm ourselves as no one is likely to come gunning for us. The trouble is
that even if there was an anti-gun movement that achieved a repeal of the
Second Amendment, there would be so many guns held by Americans, who would
refuse to hand them back, that the repeal would be meaningless.
Ask yourselves, who suffers? Just
look at the school shooting numbers. Is it worth all those lives just to have
the right to bear arms?
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