Did you know that, as of last year, firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the United States

[Tuesdayvibes]

Nothing will done, though, will it?

Everyone can say it's not a 'man thing' but mass shootings are, almost always. Ditto family annihilation. And men are more likely to use guns for suicide too.

Maybe women can have guns and men can't. I think Penn and Teller did a bit about painting all guns pink and putting Hello Kitty on them so men wouldn't like them.

And they are so hung up on the constitution and the "right to bear arms". You'd think it was the word of God, not just a list that a few people came up with hundreds of years ago.

Mind you, hiding behind the constitution is probably just an excuse for carrying on with the gun culture - I guess they know they could revise it, they just don't want to.

I don't think it's worth even worrying about. Leave them to it. There's worse things happening in other countries, Sudan for instance.

A thing I also don't get is why cars are so regulated but guns aren't. I think that's a starting point- regulate guns the way they regulate cars. My friend who lives in Texas, when she bought a car she had to fill out paperwork, have insurance, prove she had a license and was allowed to drive, register her car and wait 5 days before she could leave with it. However when she wanted a gun, she walked into a shop bought a rifle and walked out. No checks nothing. That's ridiculous.

So much of the pro gun lobby act like everyone wants to take guns, just regulate guns like cars.

Yes, I've seen this statistic. I'm sure it doesn't mean toddlers getting shot but young kids connected to gangs.

They must feel so proud!

There was much more enthusiasm to get the new anti- abortion law passed and a lot quicker and easier.

You can't change backwards countries. Land of the free? The American dream? They can spout that shit as much as they want they are far from freedom and the dream.

I've stopped reading articles about mass shootings or watching on TV.
Why am I wasting my time getting upset about it when their fellow citizens and elected officials do nothing to make any positive changes and likely never will.

Do you not watch the news?

Well, a person with a brain which was not completely twisted and fed bullshit about American supremacy all their lives would understand that having lots of food banks shows a country's desire for people NOT to starve, versus having people ACTUALLY STARVING on the street in every town in the glorious "land of the free and the brave" US of A.

How someone can be this thick is beyond me.

And there may be more food banks than McDonald's because anyone who is not American is not addicted to the shit McDonald's sell, so the proportion of McDonald's to other eateries that don't sell shit plastic food is much lower anywhere else than the USA, thank fuck.

When the Tories took power in 2010, there were a few dozen food banks in the UK and about 40,000 people used then.

Last year there were more than 2000 food banks used by more than 2 million people.

And you think that's a good thing??? Wow. I'm not the thick one here.

4 million children in the UK live in food poverty. Shall I assume all British people are happy about this? No. Because I do have a brain and understand that politics is complicated.

The number of food banks since 2010 is a result of the explosion in food poverty since the Tories came to power. It's really not a good sign!

Plenty of food banks show the UK have, at the very least, the concern and willingness that their children do not starve. Surely lots of kids starving and few food banks would be worse? (by the way, i'm not British neither do I live in the UK, so I don't particularly side with the UK in anything, but just to follow your strange argument)

What is there in the US to show the concern and willingness that their children stop being killed? Can you show me any proof of ANYTHING in the USA to a similar number of food banks in the UK that show any American gives a shit about mass shootings apart from teary thoughts and prayers?

I understand people find American gun violence horrific and I completely agree with all the condemnation of it.

But don't you dare say that all Americans are happy with it. Do you really think we're happy when our family and friends are killed? I guess it's easier to believe that than understand the complexity of the issue but come on.

Stupid thing is it's an amendment .. which rather implies it can be changed...

But no... It this change... It's in the constitution!

I was not the one who said they were "happy with it", but I do agree that they do not care enough, because f they did, they would do something about it as a country, as they have done in many other areas. So if not "happy", they at least do believe the drip of lives destroyed must be a fair balance to pay, as long as they can keep their guns.

The people's outrage in the country I live in after the one and only mass shooting happened here (and it was perpetrated by a foreigner) resulted in the massive restriction of gun ownership in a matter of MONTHS after the event. So yes, you can give as many excuses as you want, but you and your countrymen and women will be the only ones to believe your own delusions. Your own country is responsible of your own policies, and you as the people have power to change policy, if you want it enough.

And you don't come to a foreign forum to tell people here to "not dare say the Americans are this or that". We say whatever the fuck we want. Do you think we need permission from the USA to have an opinion on you?

Honestly, America is so divided now that it should divide into 2 or more countries. The East and West Coast can become one (or two) countries and the middle bit can become another. They can have a close relationship but have a hard border to keep the guns from crossing. Have a transitionary period so that the people who want to move can do so before the country is split.

https://giffords.org/lawcenter/resources/scorecard/?scorecard=MA

There you go.
You can see all the laws some states have managed to put in place without triggering the courts.
Brady Campaign and Everytown are the big charities in this area.
The Sandy Hook families successfully sued Remington.

Lots of people are doing lots of things. But there's a limit to how far they can go because of the NRA, the Republicans and the Court.

I live in the UK. For nearly 20 years now. Have been on MN for 10. It's not a foreign forum for me.

It sounds like you're in New Zealand. You do understand the US is quite a bit larger and more complicated?

I would absolutely approve of this (I'm originally from the East coast) except that it would inevitably trigger a huge amount of partition-related violence and probably a couple million people would die.

I do think it will happen within the next couple decades though.

I’m shocked but not surprised. Apparently, you also can’t give cpr in the street in case you fail at resuscitation or damage the person (pretty unavoidable) in the process and are therefore sued? Or so I was told by someone while working with New Yorkers this year anyway. I think that demonstrates the difference in overall thinking in the USA, it’s just a very different way of life that UK’ers struggle to comprehend. Then again, I can’t comprehend our own government, so I’m probably not best placed to agree with US laws.

I think it sounds like a very stressful country to live in. There are so many Americans who just want to safely send their children to school and yet their voices so often get drowned out. Did you see the documentary Parkland Rising? Made me sob, but what amazing people those teenagers and Manuel Oliver (dad to Joaquin who died) are. It gave me hope that one day maybe they will see change, it just needs enough people angry enough to take the risk to turn against the NRA. There’s also so much less for people to fall back on in the States. If they have a job they work long hours and often survive on tips. If they lose that job, there’s not the same benefit system to fall back on (I know ours has worsened under Tories but it’s still better even now). Health costs are still high. I think it makes it more frightening to stand up and speak out without the crutches to fall back on. If you lose everything here, it’s horrific, but in the USA I think it has potential to be even worse - plus the mindset of ‘if they wanted it, they’d work for it’ seems even more prevalent than here in the UK. The gun issue is beyond shocking, they also have other rates that are equally shocking - like maternal mortality rates, if I remember correctly. I was also very shocked (as a teenager with anorexia) to find out American teenagers with anorexia continue starving and regularly die because their insurance pulls out before the psychiatric work is complete and so the insurance is the reason the treatment ends and not the doctors deciding they’ve seen enough psychological improvement. ED treatment can be rubbish here, but not that shockingly bad and money driven! There are plenty of positives about the USA, but there just so many things alongside and including lack of gun control that mean I wouldn’t want to ever bring my children up there.

Like you give a fuck about Sudan.

I can't imagine what it must feel like sending your child to school in the US knowing this is a regular occurrence. Just yesterday I read about a transgender teacher who threatened to kill their pupils and was found in possession of a number of firearms.

To quote RATM, "Land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy". They said it decades ago and here we still are.