Florida shooting ...

BigBearKris

Here we are again...it's so sad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43066226

The deadliest since Sandy Hook massacre - and the number of casualties will be probably higher than 17 which is the current estimate.

Wonder how will Americans react to that one. Mr Trump?

HAL9000

Sad indeed. As usual there will be a lot of ‘thoughts and prayers’ but nothing will actually happen. Had the shooter been an immigrant (legal or not) Trump would be using this to push his agenda of banning immigration rather than banning guns. Since the shooter is white nothing will change.

Sporky

The only solution is more guns.

In the same way that we treat burn victims with fire, and wipe our hands with e.coli after pooping.

munckee

HAL9000 said:

Sad indeed. As usual there will be a lot of ‘thoughts and prayers’ but nothing will actually happen. Had the shooter been an immigrant (legal or not) Trump would be using this to push his agenda of banning immigration rather than banning guns. Since the shooter is white nothing will change.

Totally agree the NRA have such influence that this will just keep going on and on, they will end up issuing kids with guns to defend themselves.

Sassafras

The only people to benefit will be gun shop owners.
Americans get all tooled up after these habitual gun massacres imagining that will somehow allow them to fight back against a concealed sniper.

digitalscream

So sad

It occurs to me to wonder if this is what Gene Roddenberry had in mind when he came up with the idea of the Prime Directive.

VimFuego

I'm sure it'll be the fault of video games, Or a musician. Yup, them for sure and not at all the massive proliferation of easily available firearms and a culture that glorifies their use. 

Flink_Poyd

"The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"

It's just nuts

Teetonetal

Sadly, noting will happen. There is not enough appetite for change in America.

Flink_Poyd

The best they can hope for is something like bulletproof closets in each classroom as it seems this us where people try to hide. 
 Trump will do nothing, the NRA will stand firm and it'll all happen again. It's reported There's a shooting in or near a school once a week in the US. We only get to hear about the deadliest ones

CHRISB50

One of my best friends from school moved to the States 10 years ago. He comes back every other year and we all go out for a curry and a catch up.

He's now the owner of 2 handguns and an assault rifle "...it's only a .22..." lol.

Over the curry we got talking about guns and laws and he's completely lost it. Trying to argue that guns don't kill people, people kill people etc. He sounded like a fucking lunatic.

I honestly can't see any solution over there. The facts are obvious but just seem to get ignored. They have a huge, huge problem.

RIP the victims.

HAL9000

Flink_Poyd said:

It's reported There's a shooting in or near a school once a week in the US. We only get to hear about the deadliest ones

I gather that this is the 18th this year.

ICBM

The really shocking thing about all this is that in 1979, school shootings were so rare and shocking that someone in another country wrote a (great) song about one.



But in 2018, they're so common that they only get reported internationally when they're far worse than the one Geldof was writing about... which was two dead, nine injured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)

Neil

A tragedy but nothing will ever change. America will never give up its guns.

With guns is it is so impersonal, you can kill people from a good distance and a lot of them at a time.

In sharp contrast to the kid over here who stabbed his headmaster to death. A terrible tragedy but would have been much worse had the perpetrator had access to firearms.

I love a lot about America, my son and daughter in law live there and I'm popping out for a month quite soon (Florida as well) but the funny thing is nobody ever talks about guns, you never know who is a gun owner and who isn't.

 It only takes one red mist moment to turn somebody into a killer if they are armed. Possibly why you don't see so much road rage out there. 

One thing I will say is that gun ownership does even up the playing field. An old person doesn't have to live in fear of intruders/burglars or being beaten as happens here if they are handy with a pistol/shotgun and with the Castle laws enacted in many states in the US anyone breaking into your property is fair game.

VimFuego

one of the things I've never got is why do they always have to shoot up schools? I mean, of all the places, why a school? You could shoot up a gun shop and you'd probably get major social justice kudos. Kill 17 gun shop customers and there'd be a lot less angst*.














*caveat in case it's not obvious, I am not advocating the shooting of gun shop customers, anyone who does must accept full responsibility for their actions. 

TheBigDipper

The trouble is, lots of people 'like" guns. They shouldn't, but they do. In the US, the genie has been out of the bottle for a long time and the people who like and own guns won't want to give them up just because someone else was unstable and didn't exercise the same control over using them that they do. Until, maybe, when that person uses their guns against them or their family. Then they might understand. 

If a party ran for office and promised gun control in their manifesto they would lose. It's a dead argument because the US is too far down that road.

sinbaadi

The press are once again eager to please and dutifully give the shooter the notoriety/fame they perhaps lust after.

Phil_aka_Pip

VimFuego said:

one of the things I've never got is why do they always have to shoot up schools? I mean, of all the places, why a school? You could shoot up a gun shop and you'd probably get major social justice kudos. Kill 17 gun shop customers and there'd be a lot less angst*.

gun shop customers at least have a sporting chance of retaliating. schoolkids don't

crunchman

I think a ban on assault rifles would be feasible.  People are getting more and more fed up.  You don't need and assault rifle for hunting, or for basic self defence.  A lot of states have already banned heavier weaponry like that.

I don't think you will ever get rid of handguns, but limiting magazines to something like 6 shots would be a step in the right direction.

I think things like that would be feasible eventually - although it will probably take more incidents like this first.

Heartfeltdawn

BigBearKris said:

Wonder how will Americans react to that one. Mr Trump?

With platitudinous comments and prayers on one side, and demands for greater regulation on the other which will be scoffed at. 

Legionreturns

Every time this happens, the rest of the world shouts about it and we don't understand how America can tolerate it without at least the desire to change things. 

At what point does it just become us shouting at clouds? Just build a wall around the whole place and forget about them. They're lost.