[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Kids aren't allowed guns, it's 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns (most commonly used in these sorts of shootings because they can be hidden)...

For that reason, a change in the law would make very little difference. The guns are "out there" and obtainable (most criminals who own guns are not licensed to own them in the first place, making it illegal would make zero difference) and the incidents of high school shootings are a cultural phemomenon... in the sense that "it happened, so it will continue to happen". Essentially, some messed up kid did it and it got a huge amount of media attention, so now any messed up / angry kid with a death wish who wants to go out in a "blaze of glory" in the US has that image culturally imprinted in his mind.

I'm not saying that I agree with the fairly easy availability of firearms in the US, per se... the number of accidental deaths with them makes a good case for stronger restrictions... just that I don't think it would alter the "high school shooting" situation at all. If someone wanted to get hold of one, it would still be easy enough (it's not THAT hard in the UK, if you have the cash and know who to ask) and let's face it... someone who's planning to shoot up their school and then turn the gun on themselves isn't going to suddenly stop and say "Oh no, it would be illegal for me to have a gun! Back to the drawing board..."

Argh. I worded it quite wrongly. Mind I thought the license age was 16 for some reason

But sooo many kids grow up with guns in their house, due to their parents having one. If there wasnt a gun in pretty much every home, these children would find it hard to get hold of them

Its not that hard in the uk you say...but how often do you hear of a shooting here compared to america?

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Argh. I worded it quite wrongly. Mind I thought the license age was 16 for some reason

But sooo many kids grow up with guns in their house, due to their parents having one. If there wasnt a gun in pretty much every home, these children would find it hard to get hold of them

Its not that hard in the uk you say...but how often do you hear of a shooting here compared to america?

America is a really weird place, and gun paranoia is fueled by the right and the NRA, who just basically lie about government conspiracies etc.

In terms of guns in the US, the number of individuals owning guns is actually decreasing, but the people that own guns, are actually buying more and more guns.

[arista]

Originally Posted by The Baby Jesus

America is a really weird place, and gun paranoia is fueled by the right and the NRA, who just basically lie about government conspiracies etc.

In terms of guns in the US, the number of individuals owning guns is actually decreasing, but the people that own guns, are actually buying more and more guns.

Yes True
as they fear soon they can no longer buy them.


America was built by Shooting the British out
they should have left us there in control of the North.

Originally Posted by arista

Yes True
as they fear soon they can no longer buy them.


America was built by Shooting the British out
they should have left us there in control of the North.

Because of people like Glenn Beck/Wayne LaPierre who tell them the government wants to come and take them away from them.

[arista]

Originally Posted by The Baby Jesus

Because of people like Glenn Beck/Wayne LaPierre who tell them the government wants to come and take them away from them.

True again

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Its not that hard in the uk you say...but how often do you hear of a shooting here compared to america?

Well that was actually the point of half of my post... that it's a cultural issue rather than an issue regarding the legality of owning guns. You (almost) never hear about these things happening in the UK, because a very small number of people in the UK own guns. But this isn't because it's illegal to own one. Maybe there's a misconception that it is... I don't know... but it simply isn't, gun ownership (besides handguns) in the UK is perfectly legal and obtaining a license isn't a difficult process (for those without a criminal record)... and yet, not many UK households do so compared to the US. That is why making firearm ownership illegal in the US wouldn't "fix" the issue... because legal ownership isn't the issue in the first place. "High School Massacres" are a cultural phenomenon unique to the US in their frequency, and would continue to be so even if every single civilian-owned firearm in the entire country was seized and destroyed. The firearm is the tool... a tool that is available in countless other countries that don't have this problem... the *problem* is the mindset.