According to first reports, the shooting in Las Vegas Nevada
last night is by far the worst mass shooting in recent American history, with
at least 50 dead and hundreds more wounded. The shooter was a white man, apparently
not a recent immigrant, and most likely not Muslim. So this is not a terrorism
incident – this is likely another mentally unstable lone wolf attacker. And
according to police he had a huge arsenal in his hotel room.
What does this say about American gun laws? Clearly no one
is going to take guns away from Americans, but surely we need tighter controls
on who can purchase and own guns and ammunition. It won’t stop all incidents
like this, but it will surely cut down on the number. There is no reason why
people who have a history of mental problems, people who are very young, and
people who have been convicted of an armed crime should be able to purchase
guns and ammunition legally, and without a thorough background check. Nor is
there any reason why gun owners shouldn’t be held legally and financially
liable for damages their guns cause, whether fired by them or stolen/loaned and
fired by someone else.
The NRA will of course fight such steps tooth and nail, but isn’t
it time we got real about this problem. We place restrictions like this on
drivers of cars; why not on gun owners as well? This is not a second amendment issue
– this is common sense.
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