First of all_ has ANYBODY noticed that this is reportedly the FORTY FIFTH spree killing(esp at a place of education) in the US this year???
Just as predictably as a Kabuki dance, the Left(broadly associated with the Democratic Party) will call for tighter gun control legislation, the Right( associated with the Republicans) will argue that now is not the time to politicize a tragedy for partisan advantage( where was this sentiment in 2001 when certain conservative commentators chose to blame 9/11 not on Al Qaeda but"feminists. liberals and socialists"???) and then disengenuously assert the NRA trope"that the only answer to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNTIL THE NEXT SPREE KILLING!!!!
For some time, my American friend Julia Millard and myself have been arguing as to whether my concern for her physical safety is overblown- she makes the point that violent crime levels in the US have been dropping since the 1990s and anyway spree killings such as Virginia Tech and now Oregon college are comparatively rare. I reply that these incidents might be rare comparatively but to those literally "caught in the crossfire" this view is cold comfort)either to them or their grieving relatives- I rest my case.
Speaking as a citizen of a polity(the UK) where guns and other deadly weapons are at least modestly regulated by law, I can only heave a sigh of relief that I am not an American citizen or resident!
Terry
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