Another mass killing in the US...

Peter Wu & Others

17 December 2012

Peter Wu: What the hell is this world getting up to?

If it’s not mass killings one day, it’s havocs wrecked by the weather the next, or massive frauds, the Global Financial Crisis, or mindless and senseless sensational stuff from the internet.

Just yesterday, I saw an article in the NY Times about the debates in one of the states in the US to allow people to carry fire-arms to work.

Do they really think by carrying fire-arms to work they can prevent a mass killing of this nature?

Tell me, how many times have mass-killings or heinous crimes been prevented because the victims happened to have guns and could hit back?

Shortly before Obama was returned to a second term, the sales of fire-arms really spiked because many Yanks think he would tighten gun control.

So he should given such senseless acts of murder which are repeated with chilly frequencies.

I am not saying other places of the world are squeaky clean in crimes of this nature. Just the other day, a mentally deranged person in China had managed to injure many school kids. But he did it with knives.

Guns are a completely kettle of fish so it deserves urgency in control.

If you watch the Doomsday Preppers programme on Sky, you will be struck by the amount of fire-arms these people stock-pile. Do they really think they have a chance to use them all when aliens/disasters strike? Tell you what and I am speaking from experience about this: if you are really good in certain things, you only need the most basic and minimal of equipment. Have you not heard of the saying KISS – Keep it simple stupid.

It’s only those who don’t know what they are doing tend to go overboard with equipment – to compensate for their lack of substance.

I really feel for the victims’ families, friend and relations, just as the US is heading towards the festive season. To turn a tragedy like this around, the Yanks really need to ask themselves what’s important – freedom to own fire-arms or public safety and security. They have to make full use of the democratic process if they really want to stop a similar thing from happening in future.

OK so much for this doom and gloom. On a lighter note, let me wish you all a very Maori (and Merry) Christmas and safe holiday. Please make sure you carry your guns when you go out!

Bob Choi: The US gun-control debate has always been an economic issue. The gun lobbyists are paid to keep the gun manufacturers in business, and they will come up with all kinds of reasons why there should not be stricter gun-control. I highlight these below with my rebuttal:

1. "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." True, but why should we provide them with guns to do the killing? Why should we make it easy for them?

2. "Some countries with strict gun-control e.g. Mexico have the worst gun-related incidences." Yes, it's pretty bad in Mexico, but the majority of the killing there was committed by the drug cartel, not the ordinary people. I should also add that MOST countries with strict gun-control e.g. Hong Kong have the lowest gun-related incidences!

3. "Guns are not the problem. Killers will kill even without guns. There are other weapons around." Read my rebuttal to no.1

4. "We need guns to protect ourselves." No, we don't! This is not the wild west when gunslingers rule the day. If we don't do something about the gun laws we will return to the "good old days" when only the "Clint Eastwood" type survives. Please ask yourself: do you feel lucky today? Punk!

Stella Tse: I can't help but having the terrible thought of all the parents who lost their dear young children, and can't even go to them as the authorities were still working on the crime scene; just imagine how these parents lasted the night, very sad!

I just caught a CNN interview of some Republican women, and all she sticks to is the mental illness issue, they need to be waken up …

Yes, how many ears must one man have

before he can hear people cry ?

Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows

that too many people have died ?

The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind.

The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Johnson Yue: Bob, I don't think this kind of tragedy is going to end anytime soon. Unless the US constitution is changed, the right to gun ownership is pretty much guaranteed. Recently the District of Columbia enacted some kind of restriction on firearm and immediately the court strike it down for violating the constitution. President Obama might have the will to do something, I don't think he go very far.

Dr. Hon: I'm truly shocked and feel tremendously sad for the parents who lost their dear little darlings and the school children who lost their brave teachers. It's only eight months after the shooting at Oikos University, California and now it has happened again!

It is true that gun massacres have happened many times in many countries. Of course, in these difficult ages, all societies have deeply troubled and alienated young people, some of them end up violently lashing out at the world. In every other country, gun laws have been tightened to reflect these tragedies. In consequence, in every other country, gun massacres have subsequently become rare. In the UK, there were only two large scales mass shooting, the Hungerford massacre 1987 and the Dunblane school massacre of 1996, each led to strong public outcry and political demands to restrict firearm use and tightening of laws. In countries with strict gun laws, angry young people don't have easy access to firearms and a gun culture that glorifies their deeds.

Nowhere have rampant shootings happened so frequently as in the US and nowhere has the policy reaction been so pathetic. The people who fight, lobby and legislate to make guns easily available are complicit in the murder of these innocent children. For them, the possession of guns is far more important than children's lives.

If Obama wants to leave a mark on the American history, now is the time for him to stand up against the NRA and initiate a national debate to bring in stricter, more comprehensive gun control that place the values of public safety and security above the value of hunting and a perverse ahistorical reading of the Second Amendment.

Stella Tse: Agree with you 100% Dr. Hon!

Peter Wu: One the ancient arguments – going back to the Cold War Day – advanced by the pro-gun lobby is to deter the Russians from invading the States.

True, the Yanks have far more guns per capita – I think it is 89 guns per 100 people – than any country in the world.

But the Cold War has well and truly ended. The Soviets no longer poses any threat to the US. They have no money, no battle-ready armed forces, no landing crafts, no serviceable missiles.

But the pro-gun lobby is now saying that being armed to the teeth will deter the Chinese also.

Ha, they got it wrong. Totally wrong.

Chinese don’t like guns. They love casinos. If the Yanks want to stop the Chinese from invading, they should de-emphasise the attraction posed by the casinos in La Vegas.

That’s exactly what Shelton Addison and Steve Wynn are doing, with backing from the CIA and the National Security Agency. They are building huge casinos in Macao to stop the Chinese there. By the look of it, it is having considerable success.