Virginia Tech - 32 dead

[greenie_breizh]

How many more shootings before you guys introduce some fucking serious GUN CONTROL LAWS?

I try and understand. Differen culture, different history, different country. I really do try to understand. But sometimes, you make it really fucking hard.

Fuck the NRA.




In the meanwhile, here, the Kegelin family lost a young daughter in 2004. Now they stand up in a court and say they refuse to wish for the murderer's death, that they're trying to forgive. Every time someone finds that much strength, it should remind us to thrive for the same. They're admirable.

Death is never the answer to death.

Comments

[kowaio.livejournal.com]

affreux...

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

Mais même pas étonnant. Ca me dégoûte.

[themegs.livejournal.com]

Exactly. EXACTLY.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

Can you guys please please please elect the Green Party in 2008?

[themegs.livejournal.com]

They usually get a teensy percentage of the vote. Teh Billie voted for Nader.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I know. But a girl can still hope, right? Nader is love.

[shadesofbrixton.livejournal.com]

Regarding the shootings at Virginia Tech, after the respectful prayers for the victim's families:

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

*facepalm*

You think it's going to take a certain number of shootings before we introduce gun control laws? It would be nice if it were that easy. It really, really would be nice.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

Well. It's not like any molecule of me was hoping this administration would suddenly grow a brain.

Yeah, and you know what? I'm not even surprised. It's not a shock. And I don't expect it to any of the consequences such a horrifying event should have on any given society. What an appalling world.

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

america will never introduce country wide law regarding gun control because there are too many right wing NRA loving bible thumping people in country, not to mention the government itself.

i hate it. this country needs to get in shape, but it's sure as hell not going to happen soon. those people won't elect a woman OR a black man as president. therefore, democracy will die. voting polls don't even matter anymore.


gahhhh. have you seen "children of men" yet? you need to. i have a feeling that'll be the world soon enough.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I'm not as pessimistic as you seem to be (at least on the topic of electing a black man or a woman), but on gun control laws... yeah. Don't have much hope. It's ridiculous.

I've seen the movie, yes, loved it. Entirely too depressing and realistic.

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

only because i see those people day to day.

i pretty much have a standard hatred for humanity as a whole. granted, there are a lot of great people, but i've stopped giving people the benefit of the doubt, so that when they're great i can be surprised and happy. yeah.

blahhhh.

[gabby-silang.livejournal.com]

I really, really agree. On the note of "don't understand." And I'm not only American, but Filipino, and in the Philippines, banks and various other establishments are guarded by police or guards with huge-ass machine guns.

Somehow, as a society, we've lost the notion of the horror of guns. The absolute horror of the idea. I honestly don't know what it would take to get that back.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's possible to take that back, yeah. I just... in the face of ALL EVIDENCE and fucking COMMON SENSE, the US clings to its guns, and I can't get it. I just can't.

[gabby-silang.livejournal.com]

I've learned to keep my mouth shut when I'm in the States and gun control comes up. Too many time I'm having a perfectly rational conversation, I express my views, and it turns out that the seemingly rational, normal person I've been talking to has either grown up with a parent or parents who owned a gun (or more), go hunting regularly or know someone who does, or they themselves went out and learned to shoot, or they regularly visit a shooting range, or SOMETHING, and suddenly I'm talking to someone who could kill me in a second if they wanted to.

Of course, this is a country where the majority (I'm educated-guessing here, no statistics on hand) supports the death penalty.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I only really discussed it once during an English class - I just remember the Japanese girl that was in the class with me and how obvious it was to us that gun control laws would reduce the number of gun-related incidents (especially of the school-shooting type...).

I just don't get it. I don't even get hunting. I know we had to do it before, that's how we survived. But this is the TWENTY FIRST CENTURY, helLO. It's disgusting to me that killing anything could be considered a hobby, a game, whatever you call it. And to worship guns? What a fucked-up society, I'm sorry, but seriously. It's just seriously wrong.

And don't even get me started on the death penalty. There's a reason I chose a Canadian school to go to next year.

[gabby-silang.livejournal.com]

Maybe growing up abroad, my mother being an immigrant, gave me some perspective that just isn't ingrained in society here, I don't know, but I like to think that I'm not alone as a US resident who thinks this way.

There's the argument (that I saw on my own flist today, scarily enough), that a gun is just a tool, and the person who wields it holds the power, not the tool. But that isn't quite true. Take away the tool, and the power is greatly reduced. Take away the ability to kill in an INSTANT, as a snap decision, with a tiny flick of a finger, and the person is a person again.

The whole idea of guns scares the crap out of me. There's got to be something that changes in you when you have that sort of power. By holding it, accepting it, you're also reducing the value of life, just like that. Because if an individual has the right to end someone else's life, then life can't be all that important.

Anyway, like any free-thinking American, I'm planning on leaving the country by hook or crook.

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness, I totally believe there are a number of US residents who are totally rational about this.

I hate the "guns don't kill people, people do" argument. You're totally right - guns might not kill on their own, but they certainly help A LOT. They make it so simple, so easy - who can't pull on a trigger? - and so fucking scary. Plus, it's not just "a tool". It's not like something else you could murder someone with, like an iceax or something. The SOLE purpose of guns is to harm, to kill. That's why guns themselves are a problem.

[gabby-silang.livejournal.com]

Totally right! Even a knives, which I think are coming under some sort of legal jurisdiction in the UK, have perfectly peaceful uses like chopping vegetables. There's no use for a gun that isn't violent.

I remember one day, early last year, walking down the high street in Canterbury and passing by a police officer. And I noticed that they didn't have a gun. And I thought, "Holy crap. Nobody on this street has a gun. I can be nearly sure of it." That was amazing. Sad that it was the first time I could feel that way, but still.

[petit-rhino.livejournal.com]

>>gun control laws would reduce the number of gun-related incidents<<
And not just shootings like this one. Accidents too. I don't remember the number of times I've heard about a kid killing himself or someone else, because they were playing with firearms.

I really don't like guns (in RL. I don't mind them on the screen). Just the fact that you can't defend yourself if someone tries to shoot you is pretty appalling. At least, you can try to defend yourself against someone with a knife.

Hunting is another matter. If I ever did hunt, the sport for me would tracking down an animal, being-in-the-middle-of-nowhere thing. But the killing itself? Unless I need food, I don't see the point and I *hate* pointless killing. Of anything. Sadly, hunting (or how it's done these days) has nothing to do with what I just said. From what I've seen, it's more about pleasure killing, power and trophies, which sounds quite psychopathic.
Breeding (non indigenous) birds, releasing them 3 days before a hunt... You might as well shoot chickens in your yard!

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly. I wish someone would do a study on the ratio of times someone successfully used a gun to protect themselves, compared to the number of times someone just killed/harmed someone because of guns.

Same here, I hate guns for the distance thing. I love how they portrayed guns in Buffy (for anyone who thinks this is a thoughtless, violent show), how even in a world where violence is necessary against demons, guns were still so dangerous and random.

In that case, do hiking and animal-watching. ;) Seriously though, yeah, I can't see hunting as anything but taking pleasure in killing, and I don't care it's an animal that might not be able to reason like we do (and then again what do we really know...). You're KILLING something that was ALIVE. You're taking its life away. Any pleasure derived from that just scares me, because you're right, it's a power thing. If really you want to feel powerful, go play videos games.

[petit-rhino.livejournal.com]

>>In that case, do hiking and animal-watching.<<
*laughs* I already do that. However, if my plane ever crashes down and I have to survive in the wilderness, I'll probably have to start hunting or start eating snails (yuck).

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

If it's a survival thing, it's understandable. Then it's not about power or the pleasure of killing... though I wouldn't be too "yay!" about having to hunt for a living. :)

Do you hike around where you live, or in mountains, or..?

[petit-rhino.livejournal.com]

I hike wherever I'm at the time. I haven't been in the mountains for years, so it's mostly where I live. I usually don't plan anything, but wherever I go, it's usually away from the crowded pathways. Basically, I start on a path, and then wander off wherever my feet take me. That got me lost more than a couple of times, but it's worth it. There a kind a peace walking places where few people go.

Speaking of peace & quiet... C'est le printemps de Bourges sous ma fenêtre: super pour travailler!

[foleydurden.livejournal.com]

I was so shock when i hear the terribole news this morning, nice alarm clock. I don't understand with all the violent gun shooting events that happen in this country they don't do something about the gun policy. It's weird and disturbing.

[foleydurden.livejournal.com]

(ok i love the way i wrote "terrible" lol, seriously it wasn't on purpose)

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

I hate that I wasn't even in shock. It's like - "fuck, one more" but I can't say they even come as a surprise now. I find it totally depressing as well that no event, no matter how tragic, won't bring them to introduce tougher laws on guns.

[petit-rhino.livejournal.com]

What I'm wondering is whether this kind of shooting will encourage people to buy more guns, you know, to defend themselves against shooters. *is sad*

[greenie-breizh.livejournal.com]

In a country that mostly supports the death penalty, yeah, probably. *is depressed*

(And I like your icon - especially the quote)

[gabby-silang.livejournal.com]

I heard that exact response by someone on my flist, something like "the only way to protect everyone is to arm the citizenry." And my God, is that really how some people think? Do we not remember why the Cold War didn't work?