Why?
- Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.A. -
Does the right to bear arms trump the right to life? Please forgive me my American friends but many of us in other parts of the world think it is time for you to revisit your 2nd amendment and to implement rational gun control legislation. I have been told that in countries that have strict gun control laws, e.g., Britain, Germany, Canada, Japan and many others that the incidence of death by handgun in all cases last year was less than 60 deaths in each of these countries (less than 10 in Great Britain). In the United States last year there were in excess of 10,000 deaths by handgun ... even if these numbers are somehow overstated, represented in some biased or less than fair way, the sheer enormity of the difference in the raw data speaks for itself.
I acknowledge that acts of atrocity will continue to be committed by mentally ill individuals using guns regardless of what legislation is enacted in any given country but I also think it would be rational and justifiable to assume that a greater measure of gun control would make it a better and safer world for our children.
Perhaps you might make the case that Flickr is not the place to express personal perspectives on difficult global issues but I would disagree. Someone once said that "silence equals agreement" and after hearing of the horror of what happened in that school I find it is impossible to remain silent. I think it is legitimate to use any forum available to us if it might make a positive difference.
Why?
- Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.A. -
Does the right to bear arms trump the right to life? Please forgive me my American friends but many of us in other parts of the world think it is time for you to revisit your 2nd amendment and to implement rational gun control legislation. I have been told that in countries that have strict gun control laws, e.g., Britain, Germany, Canada, Japan and many others that the incidence of death by handgun in all cases last year was less than 60 deaths in each of these countries (less than 10 in Great Britain). In the United States last year there were in excess of 10,000 deaths by handgun ... even if these numbers are somehow overstated, represented in some biased or less than fair way, the sheer enormity of the difference in the raw data speaks for itself.
I acknowledge that acts of atrocity will continue to be committed by mentally ill individuals using guns regardless of what legislation is enacted in any given country but I also think it would be rational and justifiable to assume that a greater measure of gun control would make it a better and safer world for our children.
Perhaps you might make the case that Flickr is not the place to express personal perspectives on difficult global issues but I would disagree. Someone once said that "silence equals agreement" and after hearing of the horror of what happened in that school I find it is impossible to remain silent. I think it is legitimate to use any forum available to us if it might make a positive difference.