Tuesday 11 January 2011

Guns, guns

...and more Guns.


Another guy gets a gun and goes crazy in the States.

Sad, but nothing new, the only surprising thing is that it was left to unarmed members of the public to stop the carnage.

But when we get the inevitable reports of 'shock' and 'dismay' from leading politicians, the rest of the world will again be left to wonder, just what does America expect?

Such an incident in Sweden is shocking, in England it's surprising, but in America, it's par for the course. In states like Arizona, we probably wonder why it doesn't happen more often.

For sure, this time is slightly different, with attention focused on the background of political intimidation and incitement to violence that preceded it. But the result is the same, more loss of life and more guns for sale.

If a call does come to control gun ownership, it will meet the inevitable response. "Guns don't kill people, it's people who kill people." But that is precisely the point.

When people are doing the killing, why allow so many people to own so many guns?

The fear and outrage generated by these incidents, means there can be little doubt that all across the gun-toting states tills will be ringing with people buying more of their personal peacekeepers, and it's this economic aspect that intrigues me.

Does anybody publish sales figures following these events?

If manufacturers and retailers depend on tradgedy to boost sales, should we really be surprised at how little remorse or concern there is among the gun-lobbyists?

Far from being dismayed at any condemnation coming their way, most will probably feel that there's no such thing as bad, or even very bad, publicity.