There was another mass shooting in the U.S. on Saturday. No, not that one. No, not that one either. There were seven mass shootings on Saturday. Take your pick.
It wasn’t mental health that killed these people, it was an automatic rifle with bullets.
You know why there are never any shootings on planes? Because guns are not allowed.
You know why there are never any shootings at sporting events, stadiums or arenas? Because guns are not allowed.
You know why Australia doesn’t have any mass shootings? Because guns are not allowed.
Australia’s government banned automatic and semiautomatic guns, created a national firearms registry, and made a 28-day-long waiting period for gun purchases after 35 people died in a mass shooting in 1996. They haven’t had one since.
On a per capita basis, Australia actually had a much higher mass shooting problem than the U.S. prior to 1996. So they went from having a worse problem to essentially having no problem.
You can still hunt. You can still kill a deer or bird. We just don’t need weapons that can kill dozens in a matter of seconds. We can at least do that much.
You know why machine guns are never used in mass shootings? Because the domestic manufacture of new machine guns that civilians could purchase was effectively banned by language in the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986. See, it works and it didn’t infringe on anyone’s rights.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 banned interstate shipments of firearms and ammunition to private individuals and sales of guns to minors, drug addicts and “mental incompetents.”
The U.S. was tired of its leaders being assassinated, like JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King. The law was passed just a few months after the murder of the last two.
Even the President of the NRA said at the time [paraphrasing], “We’re not thrilled with this, but we can live with it. I think it’s reasonable.”
According to Time Magazine, when we were all colonies, there were laws in the 1600’s making it illegal to discharge a weapon near a road, near buildings, populated areas or on Sundays, and that barred discharge of a gun during social occasions. In the old ‘Wild West,’ they took people’s guns away when they were in a populated area, only to be retrieved when they left. That exemplifies how laws were much tougher 150 years ago than in the last 30 years.
We can do something about it. The problem is solvable. We choose not to. Why not? Follow the money.
When something seems obvious, but isn’t happening and you can’t figure out why, the answer is always money.
‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens