Monday 2 October 2017

The Las Vegas Massacre

So what do those crazy American gun lobbyists say now? "If this is the price we have to pay for allowing people to own assault rifles capable of discharging multiple rounds in matters of seconds, so be it.That freedom is worth the lives of 50 people." Really? Because there is no other defense. There is nothing else to be said about allowing people to own weapons capable of killing on that kind of scale at that speed. The shame is that there will still be people who make these arguments, people who think that it is morally defensible to allow people to possess that kind of killing power. And even more upsettingly, because the gun lobby is powerful, there will be strong republican voices to influence the legislative process in an obstructive way. If nothing changes after this with regard to ownership of guns in the USA then they have lost all sense, and lose all respect in the eyes of the world, (what shreds are left that is, given Trump's insane outbursts).

The worst of it all is that this was an event just waiting to happen. Those opposing gun ownership on the liberal and permissive scale permitted in some states, could see this. And why is it that we always have to wait until lives are lost before our authorities lift a finger to do anything? It's because money and winning votes still matter more than anything, including human life. But even one life lost to one handgun is too many, is not worth the freedom of being able to easily own a gun. It is bad enough that other methods of slaughtering people are too easily accessed, such as owning a car. And even in this regard there are people who rail at the loss of freedom and invasion of privacy that speed cameras and average time cameras present. I for one welcome their presence on our roads if even one life is saved. That makes them worth it. Freedom to drive as fast as we like, freedom to own guns, is not worth the life on one single person, end of argument. We cannot ban the use of cars, or car ownership, but we are trying to make our roads and  vehicles ever safer, thank goodness.  Unlike car ownership, the owning of guns in the USA could be dealt with by drastically revising the laws, and this would have powerful and positive benefits. Come on America, listen to and act on this wake up scream.

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