Quote:
Originally Posted by spindles
Even if the US introduced a zero gun policy now, it would be fairly ineffective in that there are already millions of guns out there. In Australia following the shooting in Port Arthur, there was a huge tightening of gun laws and an amnesty allowing people to just walk in and 'give' their guns back to the government. From memory the govt paid for them and the guns were destroyed. Prior to this, you could own a gun if you got a license and there were gun shops around. Now, the only people who have access to guns have a legitimate reason e.g. farmers, law enforcement, hobby shooters (like at a gun club). I'm unsure what the hobbyists do with their guns when not at the range and I have absolutely no idea how to go about buying one. The access to guns is very minimal and there is a *very* low incidence of gun crime.
There are obviously still guns in Oz and therefore there is the possibility of a shooting happening, but the possibility is surely lower than it would otherwise be.
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Same thing happened here in Belgium after some kid just started shooting people on the street in Antwerp. After that, gun laws got even tighter than they were, but still people seem to be able to find ways to get them legally, even if they don't actually have the right to own them (e.g. gun clubs etc.) So like Spindles said, as long as guns can be obtained aside from law enforcement and the like, there will always be the possibility of a shooting. Luckily enough, Belgium's a pretty safe place when it comes to that. I honestly shit my pants when I actually do see a "real" weapon; there's a shop that sells hunting rifles not too far from my house, so whenever I walk past their window I start walking a lot faster.
About the shooting in Germany - being a neighbouring country -, this morning the first reports mention the same old same old: the kid lived a very average life, had nothing to complain about at home, had friends, money, ... BUT: two things did appear that also tend to show in these kinds of shootings. One: no one hardly noticed he was around; two: his father was a member of a gun club and had about sixteen guns around at home. Now as far as I know, the gun laws in Germany kind of resemble the ones here in Belgium, so it's the same problem as always: as long as there is access to weapons, there's always going to be people who'll
want one. If the kid really didn't get noticed at all, maybe it was killing him inside. Not all kids like to share feelings with a schoolpsychiatrist or school counselor; not all kids want to talk at all about any problems, so put two and two together. It's very possible the boy just crashed, saw the guns and thought: fuck it!
Not that I agree with his actions or anything, but unfortunately, the amount of pressure youngsters are under nowadays (adolescent boys and girls shouldn't have to live under the same kind of stress of having to do school, work in the weekends, have hobbies, find a girlfriend, have a social life, have to fit in, etc...) can really get some kids to break down in a way modern day society doesn't know how to cope with, since everything has to be positive, and especially since apparantly every ache can be cured.
That's in (very) short what my view on the affairs is.
Sorry about the rant
