School shooting in Texas

[buryboy]

Originally Posted by Bondy007

Shocking. Another stat I read on the BBC was there are 120 guns per 100 resident of the US! Mind blowing…..

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Yep approximately 393 million civilian her firearms .
Just try to imagine that

[theotherblonde]

It is just heart breaking what has happened. I was watching CNN and they had a map of America to show the increase in shootings of children every year from like 2000 and the whole country had red dots increasing more and more every year. Florida and Orlando was very bad.

I love America for the weather, life style, Disney and have been to different places many times growing up (DC, Vegas, Orlando) but these tragedies just puts me off going there ever again. Most of us would be fine but the fear is high especially right now. I don’t see America changing anytime soon.

[Pino_Spetzberg]

Originally Posted by theotherblonde

I was watching CNN and they had a map of America to show the increase in shootings of children every year from like 2000 and the whole country had red dots increasing more and more every year. Florida and Orlando was very bad.

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Yes, saw that.
Very effective info-graphic.

What they didn't mention is that when you look at top 4 countries for gun ownership, depending where you look, after the US in first place, then Yemen (which is presently at war), Switzerland is in third, and Finland is fourth.

Finland and Switzerland have very low levels of gun crime.

CNN carries water for Dems which is why they push their gun control agenda.

cbc.ca/news/world/small-...guns-1.3392204

[GoldenAvalanche]

Originally Posted by Pino_Spetzberg

Yes, saw that.
Very effective info-graphic.

What they didn't mention is that when you look at top 4 countries for gun ownership, depending where you look, after the US in first place, then Yemen (which is presently at war), Switzerland is in third, and Finland is fourth.

Finland and Switzerland have very low levels of gun crime.

CNN carries water for Dems which is why they push their gun control agenda.

cbc.ca/news/world/small-...guns-1.3392204

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Whilst Finland and Switzerland sound surprising, their stats are almost half per 100 people than the USA has, so not exactly a close race. It’s also as much about the gun control measures they have, and the type of weaponry they allow, I’m not sure how the regimes compare but I suspect that will be a reflection on the gun crime, stats are only one part of the picture.

I’m also assuming hunting is rife in Finland and Switzerland, I wonder how many people in the US actually hunt with the guns.

[Peko]

Gun ownership in Switzerland is high because for many it is mandatory, not a matter of choice. Switzerland has mandatory national service for most male citizens, and they remain reservists for many years afterwards. They are obliged to keep a gun as long as they are reservists.

I don’t know if Finland is the same, but it also has a very large military reserve force, so it would not surprise me.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by Nanna Frozen

Statistics on GMTV news this morning- 5 children shot every day in the USA, 2 die every day 😢

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Haven’t read all the thread so sorry if I’m repeating someone, DT reported last evening that more children are killed by guns in the USA than by car accident or cancer. Truly shocking

[Sue]

Originally Posted by theotherblonde

It is just heart breaking what has happened. I was watching CNN and they had a map of America to show the increase in shootings of children every year from like 2000 and the whole country had red dots increasing more and more every year. Florida and Orlando was very bad.

I love America for the weather, life style, Disney and have been to different places many times growing up (DC, Vegas, Orlando) but these tragedies just puts me off going there ever again. Most of us would be fine but the fear is high especially right now. I don’t see America changing anytime soon.

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We’ve been going to the USA for over 30 years and generally not Florida/Orlando - usually road trips out west, national parks, Route 66 and often very rural areas. Apparently nobody goes to North Dakota (even Americans) but we have
Only once have I ever felt worried enough to leave somewhere quickly and that was on the advice of our Route 66 guide (it was a rough part of St Louis).
Generally the people are lovely, the towns very safe and we just love it.
This event is tragic, sadly not unique but it won’t stop us going there again

[2waterford]

So very sad

Just reading a fb post from an American news outlet and I was shocked at some of the replies for Pro Gun people, blaming the school because it didn’t have a perimeter fence etc, it’s school not a prison, kids doing active shooter drills in school, Gosh the local school my kids went to seems so Idyllic.

[Pino_Spetzberg]

Originally Posted by Sue

Apparently nobody goes to North Dakota (even Americans) but we have

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North Dakota was one of the States highlighted on that CNN map that had zero incidents.

For 2022 mid-term elections the three energisers are intended to be climate crisis, bodily autonomy for women, and gun control. Not necessarily in that order.

That's a political choice.

Child and adolescent deaths have risen from firearm related injuries, to overtake vehicular accidents and cancers. That's true.

The biggest rise in child and adolescent deaths is drug related.

Nobody is heading into mid-terms campaigning to tackle drug related deaths.

Same as US has partisan lobbying for guns and against guns, of which NRA is just one factor - the US also has massive lobbying from pharmaceutical companies - which pours billions into Red and Blue.


After the mid-terms nothing will happen to guns regardless of what is said in the next six months.

Similar to how support for Black Lives Matter has fallen within Black communities since 2020.

Gun control issue is just being used to rile up voters on both sides knowing full well nothing is going to change.




" In addition, drug overdose and poisoning increased by 83.6% from 2019 to 2020 among children and adolescents, becoming the third leading cause of death in that age group. This change is largely explained by the 110.6% increase in unintentional poisonings from 2019 to 2020. The rates for other leading causes of death have remained relatively stable since the previous analysis, which suggests that changes in mortality trends among children and adolescents during the early Covid-19 pandemic were specific to firearm-related injuries and drug poisoning; Covid-19 itself resulted in 0.2 deaths per 100,000 children and adolescents in 2020.1. "

nejm/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761

[making49]

Originally Posted by Peko

Gun ownership in Switzerland is high because for many it is mandatory, not a matter of choice. Switzerland has mandatory national service for most male citizens, and they remain reservists for many years afterwards. They are obliged to keep a gun as long as they are reservists.

I don’t know if Finland is the same, but it also has a very large military reserve force, so it would not surprise me.

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We lived in Switzerland during the 80's, we'd see the reservists off on practice, guns slung over their shoulders, riding their bikes.
Periodically they "took over the railway station", quite a shock to go around a corner and find soldiers lying on the ground, guns at the ready.
Sadly, our Swiss next door neighbours had an argument one night, he (a captain) shot his wife dead, injured 2 policemen and then killed himself. From what we knew at the time, although they had weapons at home, they weren't supposed to have ammunition.
It was a shocking time. We have many discussions with American friends over their ownership of guns. It's always in my mind while we're in Florida.