The Austrian government on Wednesday proposed a bundle of new laws on private gun ownership, eight days after the deadliest school shooting in the country’s history.Here in the US not enough Americans care enough about little kids being murdered by big guns to do anything of the sort. It's often said that that was clearly the country's decision after the Sandy Hook school shooting of 2012, killed by a crazy 20-year old who killed 26 people, mostly six- and seven-year olds, and six teachers. (Not sure if that includes his mother, who he shot and killed before leaving for the school.)
The measures include raising the minimum age to own some firearms, including handguns, to 25 from 21, strengthening the mandatory psychological test that must be passed to buy a gun and instituting a four-week waiting period between the purchase and the delivery of a first weapon.
- The New York Times, yesterday (free link)
The country simply shrugged its shoulders and said, "there's just no way to stop this."
There is one particular image about that event I can't get out of my head. About a dozen students and one (I think) teacher went into a closet to hide. It was 3 ft by 4 ft. The shooter came and opened the door and rapidly fired with one of his five guns. Into the closet, packed full of people. One child survived, somehow. Can you imagine. Can you even imagine being the police official who found this scene. Can you imagine being the child who survived. Can you imagine the parents who have to think about this every day since.
Last year there were 39 school shootings in the US that injured or killed someone. Yet not one new law on gun restrictions, as far as I know. We just have to put up with it. My sister had to run out of a store at the mall when a shooting began. I've personally had a neighbor point a rifle at me. (I called the police and he was arrested, lost his & his wife's apartment, but I was never able to ascertain if he had been convicted of anything.)
There is one particular image about that event I can't get out of my head. About a dozen students and one (I think) teacher went into a closet to hide. It was 3 ft by 4 ft. The shooter came and opened the door and rapidly fired with one of his five guns. Into the closet, packed full of people. One child survived, somehow. Can you imagine. Can you even imagine being the police official who found this scene. Can you imagine being the child who survived. Can you imagine the parents who have to think about this every day since.
Last year there were 39 school shootings in the US that injured or killed someone. Yet not one new law on gun restrictions, as far as I know. We just have to put up with it. My sister had to run out of a store at the mall when a shooting began. I've personally had a neighbor point a rifle at me. (I called the police and he was arrested, lost his & his wife's apartment, but I was never able to ascertain if he had been convicted of anything.)
We're just supposed to live with it. This is a very sick country.
No comments:
Post a Comment