Why America still loves its firearms

Another US school shooting won’t stop the pro-gun lobby,
reports philip delves broughton (The First Post)


Within moments of the school shooting in Pennsylvania, the National Rifle Association, which represents four million gun-owning Americans, was girding itself to respond. With 80 full-time staff and one of the most effective lobbying teams in Washington DC, it is well-equipped to hurl back the comparatively puny battalions of anti-gun activists.

The sacred text for America's gun owners is the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

......

Even in supposedly liberal areas like Northern California, few politicians dare to challenge gun ownership laws. This is partly because so many gun owners are hunters; unlike Britain, hunters come from all walks of life and have been extremely effective in defending their sport.

...... Personally I can't see that shooting defenseless animals is a valid argument for the right to keep and bear arms.

The NRA also argues that gun ownership keeps crime figures down. And while it may be unpalatable in the week of yet another shooting tragedy, it is a fact that as gun laws have eased over the past decade, violent crime in the United States has gone down.

We have had three shootings at schools in the past month and they try to tell us violent crime has decreased!!

The BBC News website charts the history of gun violence in US schools.
October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least three girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself
September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin
November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an assistant principal and wounds two other administrators
March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself
May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a school in Maryland
April 2003 : Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a Pennsylvania school, then kills himself
March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students
February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by classmate in Michigan
November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a classmate in New Mexico
May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in Georgia
April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado
June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage student at high school in Virginia
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after taking a girl hostage
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon
April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania
March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas
December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky
October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others