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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why can’t America ban automatic weapons?

905 replies

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 14/02/2018 22:42

I don’t get it. I honestly don’t. After Sandy Hook that should have been enough... statistics speak for themselves.

Why? What don’t I get?

OP posts:
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26
QueenCity · 15/02/2018 17:41

DD's middle school has an armed police officer permanently based there. DS's elementary school has an armed guard. I hate it and it doesn't reassure me at all. They are now seriously discussing arming the teachers which beggars belief but so many are in favour of it. It is a completely different mentality here which I cannot begin to understand.

LetsGoFlyAKiteee · 15/02/2018 17:45

It's when you read responses such as if the teacher was armed this wouldn't have happened... Erm! Again after the attack in France there were people saying if they had guns they could be taken them down.. Even though there's so many people in the way and having to aim for the right ones!

Why would you want to be in a school where the teachers are armed! The whole gun culture is crazy and yet its the same story. Wont be the last school shooting and seems to be a norm.

Exiguous · 15/02/2018 17:49

Let's be honest, it's not as widespread in the UK but it's not an America problem. Three people I went to primary school with are in prison for gunning down Letisha Shakespeare & Charlene Ellis.

Yes the fact that there's been one mass school shooting in the UK in the last 50 years is totally invalidated by this vital fact Hmm

Exiguous · 15/02/2018 17:53

I think armed teachers in schools actually is a step too far for most Americans. I know I would remove my children from any school that armed its teachers.

QueenCity · 15/02/2018 17:54

There have already been 18 shooting incidents in US schools in 2018. You only hear about the mass casualty ones Sad

Julie8008 · 15/02/2018 18:04

If you have armed guards on the doors of every class room what are you teaching young children? That guns are normal, they are the go to response to violence and the preferred method for airing grievances or angst. That is one of the reasons gun violence is increasing because children are actually being taught its what Americans do.

With a machine Gun in one hand, a Bible in the other and Trump backing you up, what is the USA going to be like in the future. It makes me think China would make a better leader of the free world.

Bekabeech · 15/02/2018 18:08

Does anyone remember the guy who was at the shooting in Las Vegas? He was armed, but when he saw the reality of the situation he realised that that didn't help, he didn't know where the shots were coming from and if he's drawn his weapon could only have made things worse.

Toomanytealights · 15/02/2018 18:19

So many people had voiced concerns- teachers, pupils, staff...Why didnt anybody do anything to help him? He was adopted,lost his mother and was clearly suffering. In the UK any of the concerns people raised would have invoked huge Safeguarding concerns and investigations. They know troubled teens can get guns and shoot. It's incredible.

Do people without insurance get mental health support?

All of those kids have been let down in so many ways and yet still they do nothing.

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 15/02/2018 18:21

Because the politicians get small fortunes from the gun lobby

ToffeeUp · 15/02/2018 18:30

There are already special courses for armed teachers

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42804741

Toomanytealights · 15/02/2018 18:31

It's not just guns though is it. Kids reported him saying on social media he was going to be a school shooter, he wasn't allowed a rucksack in school.Confused

Didn't anybody think he was a tragic event waiting to happen?Didn't anybody look at his history and think he needed support,was angry with the world and clearly suffering?

ForalltheSaints · 15/02/2018 18:33

The US seeks to influence other countries, so perhaps we should try to influence them. Something useful our idiot Foreign Secretary who was born in the US could do.

I wonder if those in Congress who will not vote for modest reforms should be refused entry into the UK (and other countries) on the grounds they care little for children. If they had assaulted a child we would not want them here.

Toomanytealights · 15/02/2018 18:36

If he had been a Muslim teenager reciting the Quran they'd have been all over him like a rash.

DGRossetti · 15/02/2018 18:36

Three people I went to primary school with are in prison for gunning down Letisha Shakespeare & Charlene Ellis.

They were tragically killed outside a hair salon in the crossfire of a criminal gang shootout. You will never stop criminals having guns, and you won't stop innocent people getting caught up in it.

Julie8008 · 15/02/2018 19:01

Imagine what you could do with all the money that was spent on guns, armed guards and all the connected defences. You could hire councillors for mental illness, imrove health care for all, rehabilitation, safety nets, help for the people who are falling into this spiral.

Gun control is the start of a journey that will bring down the number of people killed.

A majority of people 82% support a ban on bump stocks and yet several months after the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history... nothing.

[facepalm]

Exiguous · 15/02/2018 19:03

There are already special courses for armed teachers

There are, but in the story you linked to it also says that when surveyed, nearly 3/4 of teachers said they do not want to be armed.

Glumglowworm · 15/02/2018 19:11

One of the senators who is sending “thoughts and prayers” filibustered a few years ago to prevent gun control being passed.

Thoughts and prayers mean absolutely nothing. Especially when they’re coming from people who not only refuse to take action but actively prevent others from taking action.

The last mass school shooting in the uk was in 1996 because after that security in schools was tightened and gun controls were tightened. It’s not co-incidence. Other countries like Australia have had the same results.

Gun control could save thousands upon thousands of lives. I honestly have no understanding why any decent human being can argue against it.

Backenette · 15/02/2018 19:12

They would even need to take everyone’s guns

Justcthe automatics and assault rifles. No hunter, or farmer or hobbyist needs those.

Backenette · 15/02/2018 19:12

Wouldn’t... autocorrect

noeffingidea · 15/02/2018 19:19

Exiguous I don't know what security the school had, but the shooter did walk into the building. He didn't take a hostage or shoot his way in, and he had already been identified as a risk.
Aperfectsky yes there are certain areas to avoid and binge drinking can cause problems with aggressive behaviour, however the government is trying to tackle the situation. They're not just shrugging their shoulders. That's the attitude I get from a lot of Americans, as if mass shootings are things that 'just happen' almost like natural disasters, and as sad as they are they're just an inevitable part of life.

HowDoYouFeelNow · 15/02/2018 19:20

Another problem with the "give more people guns" argument is - let's say there's a school shooting and teachers have guns they can fire back. Not only does this massively raise the likelihood that other innocent people will be hurt or even killed in the chaos, but how are the police supposed to know who the actual shooter is and who's trying to defend themselves?

No surprise Trump is blaming mental illness. Of course, no mention of how he rolled back checks for people with mental illnesses buying guns. Hmm

MrsSteveMcDonald · 15/02/2018 19:21

I think the only way things will change is when the vast majority of politicians are those who have personally survived a shooting in their school.

Why is it that Americans think that abortion is an evil thing because you are ending the life of an unborn child and yet children that are already born and attending school being killed is just fine and dandy? It just beggars belief that the lives of these schoolchildren are deemed completely unimportant.

I enjoy shooting, guns can be lots of fun and yet funnily enough I have never felt the need to shoot at anything living. I am a qualified air rifle instructor and have taken my Guides shooting. I was taught how to shoot when I was about 13 I think and come from a shooting family. My Dad cleaning his shotgun in the front room was a frequent sight growing up so guns to me are normal and yet I still think America needs to pull its head out of its arse and introduce strict gun controls. Our local constabulary issues more shotgun licences than any other in the UK as we are rural and therefore have lots of farmers but we don't have an issue with gun crime.

ToffeeUp · 15/02/2018 19:32

Exiguous
There are, but in the story you linked to it also says that when surveyed, nearly 3/4 of teachers said they do not want to be armed.

That still leaves 1/4 supporting it which is a scary high percentage. And if sales of weapons increase after a shooting, who knows what happens to that number.
The fact that there are courses like this is chilling.

Julie8008 · 15/02/2018 19:51

That still leaves 1/4 supporting
And what happens if it's a teacher with a gun that flips. They just lock the classroom door and take their time executing every child in the class (30+?) and nobody could even run away.

ToffeeUp · 15/02/2018 19:59

That doesn't bear thinking about but yes it could happen, so many possible scenarios.