Potpourri: Dec. 24, 2012
In 1996, a sicko with a rapid-fire rifle killed 35 people on Australia's island of Tasmania. In horror, Australia adopted stringent gun-control laws. "The results are hard to argue with," USA Today commented. During 18 previous years, Australia had suffered 13 gun massacres that took four or more lives - but none has occurred since the law change. "In the United States, the 2009 firearm homicide rate was... 33 times higher than Australia's," the paper added.
***
In 1996, a sicko with a rapid-fire rifle killed 35 people on Australia's island of Tasmania. In horror, Australia adopted stringent gun-control laws. "The results are hard to argue with," USA Today commented. During 18 previous years, Australia had suffered 13 gun massacres that took four or more lives - but none has occurred since the law change. "In the United States, the 2009 firearm homicide rate was... 33 times higher than Australia's," the paper added.
***
At the huge FBI center in Clarksburg, federal employees make 12 million hasty background checks per year on Americans seeking to buy guns. But the Clarksburg computer database is inadequate, because many states don't submit records of mental illness, drug abuse, domestic violence and the like.
***
Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper, Charleston's former police chief, told The New York Times he owns guns, but not rapid-fire, military-style ones, because America has "seen too many tragedies now with assault rifles and extender clips." If the Second Amendment gives people an unfettered right to bear arms, he added, it's logical that some could own missiles.
***
After a psycho with a military-style assault weapon and several pistols killed 20 school tots and six teachers in Connecticut, some far-right leaders said what America needs is more guns. Tea Party founder Jerome Corsi said the tragedy "should cause us to embrace our guns and our God."
Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said on Fox News that the massacre happened because "we have systematically removed God from our schools." Good grief.
***
After the Connecticut tragedy caused Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to reconsider his longtime support of unfettered gun-carrying in America, the state Republican headquarters issued a statement saying Manchin's views were "classless, heartless, embarrassing."
Good grief again. Manchin said he has learned "that there are some who will vilify you for being open to a conversation with anyone you might not agree with."
***
Researchers at Harvard University School of Public Health repeatedly have found that states and nations with more guns have higher murder rates. America, with the world's highest gun ownership, has roughly 15 times more killings per-capita than other advanced countries with tough gun controls.
In 1996, a sicko with a rapid-fire rifle killed 35 people on Australia's island of Tasmania. In horror, Australia adopted stringent gun-control laws. "The results are hard to argue with," USA Today commented. During 18 previous years, Australia had suffered 13 gun massacres that took four or more lives - but none has occurred since the law change. "In the United States, the 2009 firearm homicide rate was... 33 times higher than Australia's," the paper added.
***
At the huge FBI center in Clarksburg, federal employees make 12 million hasty background checks per year on Americans seeking to buy guns. But the Clarksburg computer database is inadequate, because many states don't submit records of mental illness, drug abuse, domestic violence and the like.
***
Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper, Charleston's former police chief, told The New York Times he owns guns, but not rapid-fire, military-style ones, because America has "seen too many tragedies now with assault rifles and extender clips." If the Second Amendment gives people an unfettered right to bear arms, he added, it's logical that some could own missiles.
***
After a psycho with a military-style assault weapon and several pistols killed 20 school tots and six teachers in Connecticut, some far-right leaders said what America needs is more guns. Tea Party founder Jerome Corsi said the tragedy "should cause us to embrace our guns and our God."
Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said on Fox News that the massacre happened because "we have systematically removed God from our schools." Good grief.
***
After the Connecticut tragedy caused Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to reconsider his longtime support of unfettered gun-carrying in America, the state Republican headquarters issued a statement saying Manchin's views were "classless, heartless, embarrassing."
Good grief again. Manchin said he has learned "that there are some who will vilify you for being open to a conversation with anyone you might not agree with."
***
Researchers at Harvard University School of Public Health repeatedly have found that states and nations with more guns have higher murder rates. America, with the world's highest gun ownership, has roughly 15 times more killings per-capita than other advanced countries with tough gun controls.
Get Connected