Barack Obama - Now More Than Ever Is The Time To Change USA Gun Laws

[Beach Hut]

Please be strong and change the laws, this madness of mass shootings has to stop.

 

[algie]

I read somewhere that gun sales in the US have gone up by 15% after this latest shooting.

Yanks are worried new tougher laws will be brought in.

 

[SeagullSongs]

Political suicide, but the right move.

 

[Beach Hut]

Political suicide, but the right move.

How can it be he has 4 years and something surely has to happen to stop this madness of wreckless loss of life for no reason at all.

I sincerely hope he has the backing for change.

 

[Gazwag]

I read somewhere that gun sales in the US have gone up by 15% after this latest shooting.

Yanks are worried new tougher laws will be brought in.

It was just on the news a gun shop owner was saying today was his biggest day ever of gun sales, and he thinks he will sell even more tomorrow

 

[vegster]

Strangely enough, just as Muslims are bound by the Koran and its edicts which sometimes do not sit well in the modern world, so America is bound by its founding constitution, which equally does not sit well in the modern world. Congress, Senate and the President are all checks and balances upon each other and as such, stifles any real fundamental change.

No matter how many tears Barack Obama sheds over these killings, he alone is powerless to change the constitution in any shape or form. Sadly and inevitably, these atrocities will continue.

 

[woodster]

Not political suicide at all. In fact he's more likely to go for it this term than before re-election. He can not stand again as a candidate and so has nothing to lose. The law lapsed on gun control, after that dim wit bush failed to do anything about renewing the legislation......there's a surprise.

 

[woodster]

And the constitution merely states....the right to bare arms, not quite the same as owning an automatic rifle capable of the tragic scenes we are witnessing now. And you can buy ammo in the supermarket in some states!!!

 

[Brixtaan]

I've said, after previous shootings, that they've GOT to change things now but this time SURELY !? Its too horrific NOT to do something. I sense a boiling rage very much under wraps with Obama right now.

 

[Brixtaan]

Even without the human tragedies, the sheer scale of wildlife annihilation being undertaken currently in the US is enough to stop this neanderthal gun hobby of the Americans

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Right to bare Arms but not a right to hold ammunition. Ban ammunition and after a while the finite resource runs out no matter what the constitution says.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

It's not possible or a good idea. Currently two sets of people own guns, 'gangsters' which are illegal guns and 'civilians' which own licensed guns. Take away the licensing and you are left with the gangsters having the guns with civilians having nothing to protect themselves with.

 

[half time scores]

Their right to bear arms I am ok with.

Their right to bear children however...

 

[beorhthelm]

And the constitution merely states....the right to bare arms, not quite the same as owning an automatic rifle capable of the tragic scenes we are witnessing now. And you can buy ammo in the supermarket in some states!!!

a sensible observation, one lost on the pro-gun lobby. when the founding fathers wrote their bill of rights, they had muskets and were thinking about protecting their homesteads from an attempt by the British to recapture the lands. 200 odd years later they have children killing other children with automatic rifles, whilst having the most powerful army in the world. i really think they'd have omitted that clause if they had predicted this possibility.

anywho, there want be any gun ban, what will probably be the out come is schools turning into prisons and if the NRA get there way, teachers being armed.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I've said, after previous shootings, that they've GOT to change things now but this time SURELY !? Its too horrific NOT to do something. I sense a boiling rage very much under wraps with Obama right now.

I'd agree - and it's not just Obama who has had enough. All of my American colleagues at work and friends outside of work are all saying the same thing. Seeing the photos of the poor kids that died in the papers and online is very powerful. He went to Connecticut very much as a father first and President second. He is now a second term President and doing something about gun control would be a suitable legacy. It's about more than rhetoric this time.

 

[beorhthelm]

It's not possible or a good idea. Currently two sets of people own guns, 'gangsters' which are illegal guns and 'civilians' which own licensed guns. Take away the licensing and you are left with the gangsters having the guns with civilians having nothing to protect themselves with.

oft trotted out arguement, however gangsters dont go shooting random people in schools, cinemas and offices.

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

Funny that when the 'Batman shooting happened he said very little...

Politics got in the way of the right thing to do, HOPEFULLY now what he has been re-elected he can have a firmer stance, but I expect it will take a long time to change.

For people expecting this to happen in a one term I'd just point out Medi(Obama)Care which A/ Isn't in the Constitution and B/ Guns laws will be fought much more ferociously by Republicans.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Nothing at all will happen. How could it, in a society where extreme, casual violence is endemic. We see this in American fiction – mainstream movies, TV cop shows, shoot 'em up video games… And in American reality – violent criminality and a horrific murder rate, unmatched in the Western world, that seems totally undeterred by capital punishment.


America's obsession with violence, allied to a love affair with guns – and, bizarrely, God – seems unstoppable. Display so much as a single nipple on prime-time television and the phones go into meltdown. Broadcast as much graphic, bloody violence as you want, and nobody bats an eyelid.

That is one seriously f***ed-up society. Nothing is going to change.

 

[Bozza]

I'm just not sure what they can do when there are so many guns in the wild already - nearly one for every man, woman and child in the country.

I have a friend in Long Beach - a decent well-educated and professional lady and she thinks it is entirely natural that they have guns at home. Her fear is that if they don't have guns then they are powerless against the baddies.

However if the baddies expect everyone to be armed then they will arm themselves, wont they? It's a vicious circle and I'm not sure how it can be broken - it just feels too late.

 

[AZ Gull]

In July, a prominent local Arizona politician made comments on Facebook blaming the victims - yes, the victims - for the Aurora, Colorado shooting massacre a few days before: Russell Pearce Blames Aurora Victims. In his view, if someone else had been armed and brave enough to tackle the shooter, the tragedy could have been prevented. So the "solution" for these appalling tragedies is to have many more armed individuals in public places. And this in the State that suffered the horrific "Gabby Giffords" shooting in Tucson only 18 months previously.

All the time there are elected politicians with views like this, it is difficult to see anything changing. There is a fundamental cultural difference in the way the US public views gun ownership and individual "rights" compared to the UK. Whilst most Brits would think "another terrible shooting rampage, surely gun control must be tightened", there is a significant rump amongst the US public that will think "all the more reason to have higher numbers armed and carrying weapons to defend themselves".