A recent spate of mass murders is prompting some criminal justice analysts and government officials to call for a renewed national focus on the violence.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ top staffer says much of the public has grown “numb” to a mounting body count. At least nine mass killings this year have claimed 57 lives, including the fatal shootings last week of 13 people at an immigration center in Binghamton, N.Y.
“As a country, we seem to be more interested in the origin of tainted pistachios, peanuts and ice cream than the people who are being killed in our cities,” says Tom Cochran, executive director of the mayors’ group. He has scheduled a “national conversation” on the shootings when the group meets in June in Providence.
O.K., so we have here the same old worn out arguments to disarm the population. How about a discussion of whether a Christian has a right to use deadly force to save his or her own life or the life of another? There is a theology of “just war.” Are we saying that only the state has the right to use force against its citizens or the citizens of another state, but citizens have no right to defend themselves?
i am mixed about this issue. too many insane people who were not ‘criminals’ before they killed their co-workers and families got those guns somewhere and probably legally. but on the other hand hunters should be able to hunt and people defend their homes in times of crisis(katrina for example). what is the reasonable compromise? can we not do mental health checks on purchasers of deadly weapons? i don’t see it as a slippery slope. those of us who deem it unnecessary to own guns should be able to go into public places without fear of being gunned down. good heavens with so many people going nuts with road rage over minor slights, how safe would we all be if everyone carried guns?
What is the murder rate in Canada compared with the US? I ask it as a genuine question because if I remember the film from-the-man-you-love-to-hate, when he crossed over the bridge from Detroit to Windsor he found that there were (contrary to his expectation) quite a few gun-owners in Canada too. I am making a genuine inquiry here. If there are lots of guns in Canada and fewer murders by far, then the problem would seem to be in American culture. If there are few guns and fewer murders by far, then the issue of gun control comes to the fore.
While we are at it – isn’t there anything we can do with our road laws so that over 50,000 men, women, and children die each year in auto accidents ??
I should have said “.. to protect our citizens so that 50,000..would not die…”