Other Countries Change Their Gun Laws After Mass Shootings. Why Not America?

Of course if they didn’t change gun laws when kids are killed they certainly won’t change them when black people are murdered, not in America. Particularly when we have the GOP in control of the senate and congress.

But this article seems to prove the fact that America’s love of guns is detrimental to the safety of Americans.


" The Huffington Post | By Eline Gordts
www.huffingtonpost.com...

President Barack Obama responded to the shooting in a solemn address on Thursday. "I've had to make statements like this too many times. Communities have had to endure tragedies like this too many times," Obama said. "Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun. We as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."

The horrifying killings in Charleston, South Carolina, came just two years after U.S. lawmakers failed to pass a proposal for expanded background checks for gun buyers that was drafted in the wake of the horrifying killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The tragic events this week once again prompted activists and pundits to demand tougher restrictions on firearms.

To put those demands into perspective, The WorldPost spoke with Dr. David Hemenway about gun laws and gun violence in other wealthy countries. Hemenway is a professor of health policy at Harvard University and the director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. He headed the pilot program for the National Violent Death Reporting System and is the author of Private Guns, Public Health.

How do American gun laws compare to those of other Western countries?

Other high-income countries have much stronger gun laws than we have. They vary from incredibly draconian gun restrictions in countries such as England and Japan, where almost nobody has guns, to places like Canada, where a fair amount of people own guns.

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guns stomp out evil tyranny....Do not quote Obama.....carrumba...but, but we're the last stronghold....and we are so set for truth and justice, we'll never fall.....it's a God thing.....from Texas.....

a reply to: Willtell

Killing people is bad, no matter the color, I hate that that is such a strong point on this matter. I've been watching the news and police killing people is a problem and bringing race into it only distorts the efforts of fixing this.

That being said, America likes guns, some people use them wrong but those people are psychos. If they didn't have a gun I imagine a sword could have similar effects on unarmed people. If someone wants to do atrocious things and are compelled to they probably will. But all it takes is one gun to stop them. This country was built by people running away from their tyrannical government and wanted to put measures in place to keep power with the people. That sentiment is still strong with many.

Personally I'm not a join the rest of the world thinker, I think things that keep you unique are a lot of the times what makes you you.

But it’s a time to act, and in most countries, when there have been big changes in gun laws, it was because of mass shootings."

Try not to over react. This is 24/ 7 on mass media, I haven't turned on CNN for days. What hypocrisy for a nations leaders and the media to call for arms control when they are the biggest arms suppliers on the planet.

Lets ship military mayhem round the world while clamoring for 'more control' here.

a reply to: Willtell

That's one hell of a copy & paste without using proper quote protocol.

MODS tend to frown on that. Your whole post is C&P.

What are YOUR thoughts on this?

awe....the paste is ok....but quoting Obama is real wimpy.....really reaching for validation huh!!

The more I read ATS the more America appears the most trolled and brainwashed nation that sees things only through the lenses it is fed by their governments /MSM. It appears the US government is not pro rational thinking for the people.

It appears all pro rhetoric, soundbites and propaganda but not logical, rational reality.

a reply to: Willtell

Yeah...then empty all the kitchens of the country of knives, bars and homes of alcohol, close all the roads of cars so no one drives into crowds...change and make laws on that too.

Its not the objects...its the psychopaths that use whatever they can get their hands on to pull off these events. Laws or not....

And that dad should be locked up for giving that racist kid a "present"....he had to know the kid was off in some way, some indication, some signs...and change that law.

But...it wont matter. Not as long as weapons get stolen, traded, given, "inherited from Uncle Joe etc", and come from out of state, and out of country....and the criminals will ALWAYS get their hands on them. Laws or not.

Done now...thanks for listening....
MS
CPL/CCW

a reply to: Willtell

Must we have this same conversation every day.

I do not own a firearm and have never used one. But I will fight to keep my right to have one.

Your OP is redundant to those from yesterday.

Keep this theme alive if you wish, but I stand hand in hand with others who are freaking tired of losing our rights. No one is saying death of innocents by guns is ok. It is not. But gun grabbing isn't ok either. Cars kill people...so do you support the car grabbing legislation that no doubt will someday come.

You may want to live in a governmental controlled internment camp when the time comes...I sure as sheet won't.

The government cares for control and they do this by propaganda that you've bought into. I prefer to keep mine rights, thank you kindly...all of them.. If you want to gift your right away..do so. But don't force it on others under the guise of safety for children against the lawfully owned gun owners.

a reply to: Willtell
Other countries don't have the NRA lobby,the ,or the ingrained philosophy that to be free you need the legal right to have a gun.

The US government is also one of the biggest arms dealers in the world,and have been proven to sell arms to psychotic dictators and drug cartels for decades.

Why would they wish to curtail gun ownership when it is such a divisive issue in society-they crave to keep the populations divided,and guns/civil unrest/racsim are the tools they use to make this happen.

A divided populace is less able to get together and prevent the government agenda.
Its a sick design by people who have lots of money to research and implement said design.
IMO.

a reply to: Willtell

If you want to give in to fear, so be it. I won't.

Give in to your fear of being shot, by giving up your only hope of defending yourself.

Just doesn't sound right to me.

Research helps. Your OP is fatally flawed.

www.popsci.com...

a reply to: Willtell

90% of all murders are done by democrats, let's do away with the democrats.

The premier gun crime researcher is Dr. John Lott (www.johnlott.org...) and he says more guns, less crime.

The USA is highly mixed with various cultures, some with naturally high crime propensities, this in not England where everybody is generally the same nice cultured people.

originally posted by: GBP/JPY
guns stomp out evil tyranny....Do not quote Obama.....carrumba...but, but we're the last stronghold....and we are so set for truth and justice, we'll never fall.....it's a God thing.....from Texas.....

It is a Constitution "thing" actually. You can't just change it. It doesn't work that way! None of it works that way.

a reply to: Willtell
We should change our murder laws and make it even more illegal to kill someone.
Our far too easy truck bomb laws caused the Murrah Federal Building bombing too.
I hope the government passes a law against heroin soon.
That crap is available on street corners.

Just because the rest of the world prefers knee-jerk reactions in their legislation, doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do, or that we should follow their example.

a reply to: Willtell

When will people of Earth realize guns do not shoot themselves. This pandoras box was opened 1000's of years ago, by the first people that decided killing another human being was necessary to defend their fake materialistic property. Taking guns away will not fix the problem. They will just find other ways to kill each other over nonsense. What about the knives, bow and arrows, grenades, poison, bombs...this is a spiritual problem that will only be cured by spiritual intervention.

We are not going to get rid of criminals and not all criminals have the same distinction, not all criminals are perceived as such because of their societal standing, taking guns away will not stop racism. Taking guns away will only prevent people that feel threatened from trying to defend themselves. In reality those same people that feel threatened can not prevent someone with ill will and evil intentions from trying to do what they set out to do.

Guns or no guns, evil people exist and their extermination from the human race will require more than guns.

a reply to: Willtell

That is all.

Well thats all well and good, but here in Australia you do know we had our own mass shooting which is still regarded as suspicious which inturn brought into being our gun laws.
This really changed nothing, the good people complied and the criminal elemant flourished, still armed with hand guns automatic and semi automatic weapons. the only difference is the stiffer penality's if caught with them.
But 7 1/2 years in an Australian prison is like living for 7 years in a 3 star motel.
What Americans have to take into consideration is thier culture and the insaine tyranical ambitions of thier government, which has been on this hell bent road it seems for the last 70 years to jump the modern American citizen at the earliest opportunity ergo bringing the rest of us down with them.