1984phins wrote:
My statement is a broad point that I stand by.
You're missing a parallel here besides these being crimes committed with guns.
All of these shooters are or have been on some sort of medication. Either they are on it and come off it, or they take too much and go nuts.
I think the bigger root cause here is mental health. What are the mental health specialists in this country really doing to solve patient problems? They just dose them up on drugs that mask symptoms but have dangerous long-term side effects, and the more drugs they prescribe, the bigger the prize.
Criminals are going to get guns, whether you ban them or not. If they are choosing to murder, what are they going to care about breaking a gun law? That is not the solution. That would not have prevented Columbine or Aurora.
Case and point, South Africa. The process to legally obtain a gun in South Africa is far stricter than in the U.S. Sometimes you have to wait up to two years to obtain a gun. And yet the rate of murder with firearms is 340% higher and the highest in the world.
Colombia is another country with strict gun laws. All guns are manufactured by the government and only small arms are allowed. Entire cities, such as Bogota, have even banned guns.
The murder rate with guns is the second highest in the world.
Same in Thailand in regards to small arms and the registration process is strenuous.
Three examples of countries with stricter gun laws and a much higher murder rate through the use of guns.
The fact of the matter is that while the United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world, the rate of homicides with guns is lower than Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, Mexico, Guyana, Guatemala, South Africa, Venezuela, Belize, Argentina, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Brazil, Barbados, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, Salvador, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Phillipines, Zimbabwe, Israel, Ecuador... I could go on and on.
And take a wild guess who is generally obtaining guns in these mostly third world countries and committing these crimes.
Criminals.
Despite stricter gun laws, criminals are getting the guns and victims are defenseless to do anything about it except take a bullet to the head.