If this were true then school shootings would be evenly distributed throughout the world. There is plenty of mental illness in places without school shootings.
The Marysville shooter was not mentally ill. Neither are the police who shoot unarmed civilians. Desire met opportunity.
This was successfully tested 4 years ago: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22421185. The technology behind 3D printing keeps getting better every day,
If 3-D printed weapons become commonly used to perpetrate massacres, I think we will scramble to address how to detect and prevent their use, particularly if they’re used by “Islamic” terrorists. We may not care enough when Americans shoot up high schools, college campuses, classrooms of 6yr. olds, concert crowds, or theater goers, but when guns that can’t be detected are used in “terror attacks” (ie., those committed by brown people), the collective outrage will probably be deafening. Only then will something need to be done. Question is, how do we then suddenly close the pandora’s Box that we’ve happily allowed to remain open for decades?
Please. If it was about mental illness, you’d see similar rates of school shootings over the rest of the industrial world. It’s not just a matter of everywhere else having better access to mental health treatments (though this it is true that basically everywhere else has infinitely better mental health treatments).
It’s quite simple really. There is one common denominator that applies to the US that doesn’t apply anywhere else. But, we’ve collectively decided as a country that we’re willing to spill children’s blood- CONSTANTLY- to keep that common denominator. If we weren’t, we’d be protesting and demanding change. We’ve proven as a country that we can mobilize quickly against what we perceive to be injustices.
“TooOldforSchool: This is about mental illness, not guns. You also didn’t hear about 4 people killed and 15 shot over new years weekend in Chicago - which is pretty light weekend by Chicago standards. It’s only shocking because it happened in a rural area.”
Yes, this is only about mental illness. We have had guns in this country since pioneer days, and you didn’t see kids out mowing down their friends or classmates.
“Romani: Please. If it was about mental illness, you’d see similar rates of school shootings over the rest of the industrial world. It’s not just a matter of everywhere else having better access to mental health treatments (though this it is true that basically everywhere else has infinitely better mental health treatments).”
You have just answered your own question. We have one of the worst “health care” systems in the world - unless it is about high tech dice and slice or high profit drugs. That’s all we do, cut and drug. This country is only about sick care, and only in those limited areas.
Today I got a message from my reading pal’s mom (I have been reading with this 9th grader since she was in 2nd grade) telling me that her daughter has been afraid to go to school the last few days. When I was at the school this afternoon, my pal told me that there had been some threats made about a planned shooting for their school, A number of adjacent counties, including mine, have had threats made regarding potential shootings in their high schools. Police presence is up for all of the high schools in the area and they are communicating that through Facbook and the media.
I have had to talk to my classes about active shooter plans and availability of counseling on our campus. So many of my students are from Marshall County and they are completely torn up about this. Some have younger siblings in that school. The ripples from these events spread wide into our communities.
A friend from my closed political Facebook group is planning to start a Moms Demand Action chapter here. She is a survivor of the school shooting we had locally 20 years ago and a real dynamo. So many members of the group have chimed in to say they are on board. Not sure what effect it will have, but it won’t hurt to try.
Imagining the sound of that phone ringing over and over and over while Bailey lay dying. I can’t imagine the mother’s terror. I feel sick just reading it.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/25/us/kentucky-school-shooting/index.html
It’s not about guns. It’s about people and their blatant disregard for one another.
@TranquilMind So, do the people of every other civilized nation on earth have more regard for one another? I think we all know the answer to that.
Yeah, the answer is that they harm people in different ways, if they are of a mind to do so.
Yeah, that didn’t really answer my question. So, you’re saying that the crime and death rates in every other civilized nation on earth are similar to those in the U.S., only people use different weapons? Seriously?
I also happen to know a lot of atheists (“people who depart from the standards of God”) who are good people, love their children, and respect their fellow man and communities. There are plenty of people who profess faith who are terrible people. Good and bad people can be found everywhere regardless of religious affiliation.
I think the insinuation above is subject to plenty of debate, but of course that subject is not up for “discussion,” just thrown out there with the implication that it shall not be questioned (TOS I guess).
I agree that we have a sickness in our society that grows more and more out of control. We stand in huge contrast to other Republics and countries with allegedly similar demographics and ideals.
Always a mom:
https://crimeresearch.org/2014/03/comparing-murder-rates-across-countries/
I’m saying there are other countries with high rates of violence and murder. I’m saying it is not the fact that we have guns. Israel and Switzerland have high rates of gun ownership, for example, and not high rates of murder and regular shootings.
Might I suggest that you have a closer look at other organizations that track these stats? Like the UNODC, and not a group that is promoting gun ownership?
Their most recent compiled figures for murder rates per 100,000 in population are quite startling, and for some reason won’t allow me to enter a link. (Easily google-able).
USA 4.88
Canada 1.68
UK 0.92
Japan .0.31
Israel 1.36
Australia 0.98
Netherlands 0.61
Greece 0.85
Italy 0.78
Spain 0.66
Germany 0.85
Switzerland 0.69
My guess is that the vast majority of USA homicides are committed with guns. In Toronto, one of the largest cities in North America, where I live, there were 61 homicides in 2017, 39 of which were by gun.
It baffles me that anyone can believe that the US does not have a gun problem. There are clearly many factors in the high rate of violent crime in the US and the easy availability of guns is one of those factors. There is no easy solution, even if there was the desire to make changes, which far too many people will never have. It is a very sad situation.
There are a lot of nations with higher homicide rates than the US. What nations do you think aren’t civilized?
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Stating, “And because we can’t get into some topics here…” doesn’t mean it’s OK to go ahead and post about religion or politics. We would appreciate if instead of responding to posts like this, users would report the post. I just had to spend several minutes deleting and editing posts.
@roethlisburger please tell us which DEVELOPED nation has a homicide rate higher than the US.
Are we really getting into semantics here? Is it that important to you @roethlisburger ? We’re talking about developed countries. Do you really want to tout the fact that the USA is better than, say, Rwanda or Colombia or Iraq or Russia, or any of the other countries whose homicide rate happens to be worse?
This is one of the articles mentioning the number of school related shootings so far in January.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.courierpress.com/amp/1066011001