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The title to this posting may sound a bit callous or sarcastic, but it is certainly not meant to be. I put that title there because there has been so many dramatic and tragic shootings this year, it seems that we are always waiting for the next one. This morning (Cambodian time) I was horrified as were most other people who watched or read the news, and learned of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people dead - twenty of them young children - and six people injured. Nothing less than horrific. But that isn't all. The same day a man walked into a mosque full of people in Freemont near San Francisco and threatened to shoot everyone. Fortunately in that case he was accosted and stopped but managed to get away. The police are now searching for him. Last Tuesday three people were killed in a shopping mall in Portland, Oregon in another shooting spree. That is three shooting related matters in one week. No wonder it seems like "another day - another shooting".
Speaking on television, Mr. Obama said "Enough is enough". He is right on that and I hope now he will follow through and do something about the gun situation regardless of the fact that the National Rifle Association will protest loudly. It was scary to watch the Piers Morgan programme on CNN today when he had a member of the National Rifle Association I believe it was, on saying that if more people had guns there would be more protection. That is total and utter nonsense and anyone with a modicum of sense would see that. America has more guns privately owned per capita than any other country according to published reports. America has more horrific shootings and gun related deaths than any other western country. Some 12,000 people are shot to death every year and yet the NRA people spend millions lobbying in Washington against laws that might control guns.
I wrote an article last July following the Aurora, Colorado cinema shooting in which I mentioned that in 2008 Mr. Obama stated very forcefully that if elected to the White House he would push through legislation that would effectively control the use and sale of guns. That did not happen. Obviously the reason was the influence of the NRA and the fact that he would be seeking re-election. The situation today is different. He has been re-elected and therefore will not be facing another election. Therefore, Mr Obama, please see through on your promises in this respect. What are the NRA people thinking? They throw out the Second Amendment as their reason, but you don't have to be an A+ graduate of Yale to see that the Second Amendment was inserted to allow people to defend them selves in times of war. There is no war in America now.
Of the many "experts" and "analysts" who have appeared on the television and given their opinions on this shooting in Connecticut, most of them point to the fact that it would seem the shooter - apparently a man by the name of Adam Lanza - must have been mentally unstable. That may well be the case, but you cannot stop there. His mother - who unfortunately was shot and killed also - had three guns licensed in her name at her house; two hand guns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer as well as a semi-automatic .223 Bushmaster. I have to ask just WHY does someone need to have two hand guns and a semi automatic - in fact why does a person need a semi-automatic in the first place? And if Mr. Lanza did have mental problems, those guns should not have been kept in a place to which he had access. You cannot stop there either. If there is supposed to be back ground checks and whatever when people buy guns, why would the sale of three such items be permitted to one person? Something is wrong somewhere.
There are shootings in almost every country these days at some point but certainly nothing like the 12,000 a year we are told happen in the U.S.. People ask me why I live in Cambodia which they describe as a dangerous country, but here children can walk to school unaccompanied without fear of being kidnapped or shot. Parents don't have to be afraid that their child will not come home. I can go to a cinema and not worry about being blown to bits.
This is not a subject for politics. This is a plain, straight forward matter of keeping the general populace safe. There should be no "ifs or buts" about it. Mr. Obama and all the other politicians and "wanna-bees" in Washington, just take your hands out of your pockets, stop the "our hearts go out to you" talk and do something practical about these weapons before more innocent people - women and children are massacred.
