What America Needs Now...

Following the assassination attempt of US Senator Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, the US needs to wake up to the danger of allowing free access to guns to almost all citizens without stringent checks, and needs to tone down the violent rhetoric in it's political debate.

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution allows all citizens "to keep and bear arms", this has lead to a situation where a majority of Americans believe it is within their rights to own a firearm. Currently, for every 100 US citizens there are 90 legally owned guns.

Whenever there is a major shooting in the UK, the debate that follows is almost always on the control of guns and of the environment in which the shooting occurred, as seen with last years Cumbria Shootings and Northumbria Manhunt. But, because of the Second Amendment in the US the control of guns portion of debate is always missing, no politician will go near it, suggesting Americans should give up their guns is political kryptonite.

So, what should be done, I believe the senate needs to have an open and honest debate about the place of guns in society, with the aim of implementing Canadian-style gun control.

In Canada citizens are legally allowed to own guns but there are 4 steps to go through before being allowed a licence:
1. Pass a gun safety course
2. Provide three character references
3. Provide information on your marital status and financial affairs
4. Post this off and receive your licence within 4-6 weeks.

One other difference between the US and Canadian law is that in Canada self-defence is not a valid reason to hold a gun. This means that in Canada a much more reasonable proportion (22%) of households hold guns.

Now the other half of this debate is about the environment and glorification of guns, especially in politics. The Republicans (but to some degree Democrats too) have allowed a culture of violence to appear in their politics, instead of disagreeing in an open debate, senators have (literally) been making targets of those they disagree with, this simply has to end.

And no matter how you defend it, if your response to the shooting of someone you disagree with is to scrub your website of any inappropriate messages, then you have a guilty conscience, and for good reason.

Sarah Plain's map of senators who voted for a health care bill she disagreed with...

Glenn Beck being his usual opportunistic, hypocritical self:

Anyway, i'll leave you with this impassioned speech by Keith Olbermann on the shooting:




Shep