Another campus shooting in the US of A. Tragic, considering the number of lives lost.
Young ones at that. India also has reason to grieve - two of them were of Indian origin.
But does it surprise anyone who knows of the gun culture in the US and the easy
availability ? Years ago when I was in the US for the first time, Wal-Mart was to me
a shopper's dream come true. A shop that had everything under one roof - groceries,
toys, medicines, clothes, electronic items, white goods, and so on - you name it, they
had it. What could be more convenient ?
But I was surprised to see a section for guns too. That was new to me - never saw one
in India or even Europe. The only sighting of a store selling guns in India was a shop I
saw somewhere on Mount Road in Chennai years ago. Don't know the exact location,
but I guess it is somewhere near Wallajah Road signal. Never had any need to go to
that shop. And anyway I don't think we can just walk-in and buy a gun in India.
For some days or even weeks, we will have the media making a big noise about needing
gun control. Like in the past, these will stay in the media and in the public consciousness
for some time and then people will move on. Till the gun strikes next.
Ofcourse the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the arms lobby will come out in
defence of the gun culture. As in the past, they will use the argument that "the right to
bear arms" is enshrined in the US constitution.
Yes, the constitution has it. But remember when the constitution was drafted? Like 300
years ago. At that time, it might have been relevant. Then, might was right in the States,
with personal security being the responsibility of the individual. With a good law enforcement system in place today, citizens need not be personally armed to be safe.
And ofcourse, it is not like the constitution is something sacrosanct. It's just a guiding
framework drawn by a few guys and mainly relevant to the time when it was created.
When any part of it becomes irrelevant, it needs modifications. That's why we have constitutional amendments. Atleast in India, we do.
They will also say that "It is not guns that kill, it is people". Yes, morons, we very well know
that a gun can't go off by itself and needs a human to trigger it. But then, without guns
available easily, does it not make it that more difficult for a person to go on a shooting spree ?
Ofcourse the really determined criminal will still find a way to get his hands on a gun. But,
atleast it will limit guns from getting into the hands of school kids, due to Daddy getting a
gun easily and not taking care to lock it up safely.
There is no easy way out here. Control guns if you do not want things to spiral out of control.
Owning firearms in the US does not seem to be problem to me. In Virginia State there are certain controls - such as, that you can not buy more than two guns in a month. The problem is really when these weapons get into the hands of some mentally screwed-up psychos. Over all in the US the crime related to gun fatality is much more smaller as opposed to bombs, knives, swords, guns(too), public violence, road accidents, assaults, theft, robbery, burglary, murder, rape, kidnap and public property damages in other countries. In my opinion, the risk is every where; either it is the school or a night club in the US. But it is still better than other countries at higher risks of fatality.
ReplyDeleteyo man rajesh,
ReplyDeleteHmmm, i am glad firearms have not posed a problem to you yet. I would rather you or your family dont face any such thing.
You say that a limit of 2 guns a month is a control ? You must be kidding me. Is 2 guns a month not bad enough? Actually we think even 1 gun in a person's lifetime is bad, if it gets into the wrong hands.
The gun fatality rate that you quote is just some comforting statistic put out by the arms lobby in the US to justify themselves.
You might be right about the risk due to guns in the US being less than other countries - you know like Iraq where the fatalities are higher due to the yankees trying out their more powerful armoury on a helpless nation. Hmmm.
-BlackCat